Topic: The Movie Thread

The Black Widow movie poster looks awesome. Definitely one of my favourite MCU poster so far.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ESq2JNOXkAA-fig?format=jpg&na...

Also, Dio's Rainbow In The Dark will apparently be use in Thor: Love and Thunder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcWKZTI9OC4
The song's alright but I like the Immigrant Song better.

@FullbringIchigo Yes, I do believe that racebending a minority character to a caucasian is considerably different from the other way around. One is taking away a valuable character from communities that are already underrepresented, while the other way around isn't really affecting anything in the larger scope of things. The idea that the same sentiment should go for both ways is an ideal one for equality, until you realise that that equality is not currently there.

I'll admit that I'm a bit out of my depth in the whole Bond business since I'm only really familiar with the recent films, like I've said before. I think a reboot like you suggested would be wonderful idea for a racebended Bond if racebending with existing lore and history is such an issue for the character. Funny you should bring up Doctor Who, as I have always seen Bond kind of as a character like that. One portrayed by many different actors who each have their slightly different takes on it. I was delighted to see Jodie Whitaker be the newest Doctor Who, although I haven't seen the show. She's an incredible actress.

I do realise that Hollywood's primary interests aren't diversity, but business. Nothing wrong with using their primary interest as a roundabout way to end up favoring the audience! To circle back to an earlier discussion point, that is why actively supporting diversity is important. I realise that it rubs certain people the wrong way, but as long as the majority of people go out and support these movies, that is all we really need to keep our end of the equation going! That is why having minority characters in big blockbusters, racebended or not, will always be important. That is where the big bucks will be made and where it will be the easiest to keep convincing Hollywood to take a shot at it.

@LN78 Thanks for that addendum! I had no idea Nolan was trying to set up Tenet as a long-term franchise. That's fantastic. I wish more filmmakers had the swing to get something like that made. I'll definitely be giving it a looksie once it comes out, although I admit I'm most excited for Elizabeth Debicki. That woman can do no wrong.

And as a short, final addition to the racebending conversation. Disney has just cast Peter Pan for their upcoming live action adaptation, and it's a kid of Middle Eastern descent. With that and Aladdin getting a sequel, I'm glad to see that demographic get some more recognition too. They have to be easily one of the least represented ethnic groups in Hollywood at the moment. There's change happening, and we need to make sure it stays that way, whether we always agree on the best methods or not!

@Tjuz I just feel that race/genderbending characters is low-key an insult because they could have just written a movie about a character who embodies their community through more than just what they look like, you know? The Bond name would actually get the movie a big budget and advertising campaign though, a movie about a black spy would absolutely not get that level of attention otherwise.

@Tjuz Disney's deep dive in to the orientalism of the Aladdin story aside - I do agree with LN - they're in it for the money. Currently they think that money is to be found by virtue signalling.

@Tjuz like i said, it's not what they are doing but HOW they are doing it

@nessisonett Totally agree that a character written first and foremost with the minority race in mind is preferable. Like you said though, Hollywood is unlikely to take risks with big budget movies if it hasn't previously been shown that such movies can be consistently successful. An entirely new IP would not get the backing that an established, popular IP would get, which is where racebending can occasionally become useful. Once they get through that initial hurdle and said movie is hopefully a success, and there end up being enough of those, then we'd start seeing more bigger budget movies with minority characters in major roles show up. It's all a very precarious situation, but for now we're making progress!

Initial reactions for Mulan.

The live-action movie is replacing Shan Yu with two new villains played by Gong Li and Jason Scott Lee.

@WanderingBullet It’s a shame the main lead sunk the movie through support for the Chinese government and police against Hong Kong. I was kinda looking forward to it as it looked like a proper wuxia movie but it’s hard to tell how much of the bad press is due to the movie or the actress. Plus, poor Shang has been removed. He’s an icon given that he’s clearly attracted to ‘Ping’ even though a crucial plot point is him not knowing she’s a woman 😂😂

@nessisonett Yeah, Shang was replaced with another new character as Mulan's love interest.

@LN78 had to google to see if F&F9 was actually called that.

@LN78 I didn't realise they were doing a 9th movie. As the 8th movie had the definite ending sounding name "The Fate of the Furious", I assumed that would be the last one outside of spin-offs.

I've generally found the Fast and Furious movies to be enjoyable in a guilty pleasure kind of way, and I'll be up for watching Fast and Furious 9 when it finally releases.

I think of The Fast and the Furious movies as the equivalent of Call of Duty in the gaming world. Annualized hormone-fueled action with enough familiarity to just keep the masses coming back for more, time after time. Lots of explosions and dude-bros flexing while they quip back and forth as they wade through a shallow sea of retreaded pop culture iconography. They print money, so they keep making them. And despite fitting the target demographic, I just can’t seem to muster any interest in seeing them.

If I were the theater chains, I’d close for a while. I can’t imagine why many people would want to go to the theaters right now anyways. Looks like MGM had the right idea with delaying No Time To Die for such a long period.

Speaking of Mulan... that's now also delayed. Not a surprise honestly, and Disney was probably waiting to simply not be the first. In other news, A Quiet Place: Part II has also been delayed and it upsets me that I now have to wait an indeterminate amount of time more to see Emily Blunt in action again. Maybe it is time to finally watch Devil Wears Prada.

@Tjuz have you seen my summer of love? It's an early Emily blunt film, well worth a watch if you are a fan

@LN78 @Th3solution That franchise just doesn't make sense anymore. It went from illegal street racing to XXX meets Mission Impossible. Hobbs and Shaw even had some sci-fi elements.

@crimsontadpoles Same. I still go watch them for some reason even though I think the movies are pretty average.

@Tjuz Did they announced the new dates for Mulan and A Quite Place II?

@ralphdibny I haven't seen My Summer of Love actually! It's a lot of her older stuff that I haven't seen. Thank you for the recommendation however. I will watch it this week to replace A Quiet Place: Part II and report back with my thoughts.

@WanderingBullet No new dates for either Mulan or A Quiet Place: Part II unfortunately. Both will be a pain in the bum to reschedule I'm sure, having spent all of their ad budget already. I doubt they can delay them for too long without it becoming stale, but it'll be hard finding space for them in an already busy fall schedule. End of summer is probably the best bet for both of them at this point.

@Tjuz I see... With Mulan, China is obviously a huge concern for Disney.

@LN78 Thank you, I'll be sure to pick that up when I have an opportunity to, I'll look forward to watching them all.