Topic: The Movie Thread

@WanderingBullet Regarding Reeve: That's what natural conditioning looks like in an era of sensible aesthetics. No steroids required!

I like the look and bulk of Batfleck. He was huge, intimidating and brutal; and the design of the suit and what Affleck managed to do with his physique in BvS nailed that perfectly.

@RogerRoger I actually really liked the dynamics (chemistry) between Stewart's Professor X and McKellen's Magneto.

@KALofKRYPTON Yeah, it didn't bother me either but I that's one of the complaints some people had about his version of Batman. I thought the suit overall was not bad except for the neck portion. It doesn't look good sometimes especially when Affleck's turning his head.

@WanderingBullet I really like the BvS cowl (they ruined it for JL) - and the Burton/Schumacher era cowls too. Very much form over function, but the DK/DKR separate neck just looks horrible.

@KALofKRYPTON Not a fan of the separate neck look either. I prefer the one piece look as well even though they may restrict the actors movement or look weird sometimes.

@RogerRoger I did love Spider-Man 1 & 2 back in the day, but I'm not sure how much of it was due to being at the right generation at the right time, i.e. it's what I grew up with. It's been forever since I've seen them, so it would be fun to rewatch them and see what I think of them now.

Spider-Man 3 was okay, but I wasn't so keen on that one.

@RogerRoger Good write up Rog!

3 stumbles because Raimi really wanted to go one way (which itself, isn't all that great IMO), without including Venom. Sony insisted, so he tried to keep to as much of his original vision as possible while cramming in a charater who deserved a lot more than being 'another villain'.

Narratively - it isn't vastly different that Spider-Man 2 with the amount of threads happening.

As I recall, 2.1 mainly adds in more footage to the train fight. There are a few other bits and bobs, but no major scenes.

@RogerRoger Ah right, the Venom 'talking' to Eddie wasn't really a thing back then. There was always a communicative element to the bonding with the simbiotes, but it was more of an intuitive thing. Spider-Man 3 runs with that.

I actually prefer the original train sequence. It goes on too long in 2.1 and exemplifies my only real gripe with Ock as a villain in the film; Spidey hits him (less tentacle deflections) hard, a lot. 🤔

@RogerRoger Make sure to keep your eyes out for Bruce Campbell’s cameos! Once you watch 3, read up about Raimi’s plans for the 4th one, it makes for some fun reading.

@KALofKRYPTON @nessisonett To this day I still can not work out what they were trying to do with that dance scene in Spider-Man 3! Proper cringe!

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (DVD) - What I'm assuming is a direct to video sequel to 47 Meters Down (which my father thought he was ordering. I'm guessing the Uncaged bit threw him off and he thought it was marketing wording for an "unrated" version of the original, rather than a sequel).

Anyhow it's a shark movie that sees a foursome of teenaged girls decide to get into mischief by scuba diving into underwater Mayan ruins (the father of a couple of the girls is an archaeologist, and they knew where his team left some of their gear), and once an accident closes their way out, they must make their way through the dangerous labyrinthine ruins to find another exit, all the while their air is running out and they're hunted by a shark that calls the ruins it's home.

It's very much a horror b-movie with all that entails (the obviously bad decisions, an extended scene of young girls/women splashing around in almost nothing, albeit with no nudity, a bad CGI shark(s) that gobbles people up in surprise, bloody attacks). While the location is kinda neat, overall it's just okay. The type of thing you'll know whether or not you'll like just based on it's premise/description.

@RogerRoger Spider-Man 3 is entertaining, if totally off the wall. Looking back on the trilogy, it’s easy to see why they’re revered compared to the TASM movies. I love Dylan Baker, he’s brilliant in the Good Wife-verse as a creepy wife-killer and he brings a massive presence to every project he’s on. I might now go back and watch them, you’ve got me in the mood for the trilogy and hey, I really enjoyed the DCEU movies on second viewing so maybe I’ll change my feelings on Spider-Man 3!

@RogerRoger
Glad you enjoyed Spidey 3.
I hated it when I first saw it at the cinema, I don't like it much more now other than for a couple of the set-pieces and effects work.

There's too much there to not like really. Harry's butler's 11th hour revelation is a (truly) horrid, convenient, yet hilarious way for Harry to decide to seek redemption rather than find his way on his own.

I wasn't a fan of the Sandman arc, at all. It felt as horrible a contrivance as Harry's road to redemption, and leaves us essentially with several story arcs of the main cast of characters that bisect - which would be absolutely fine, if by the conclusion every single on screen main character wasn't on a redemption arc. Even Eddie is victimised by the symbiote by his end, and we're instructed to sympathise accordingly.

Anyway... on to TASM.

@RogerRoger Yeahhh, TASM isn’t great at all. Rhys Ifans is totally wasted as The Lizard, who probably isn’t a character who could drive a whole movie by themselves anyway. I reckon it was a knee jerk reaction to how goofy SM3 was, and they wanted to go completely the opposite way. Unfortunately they went too far and it was a pretty boring movie.

License to Kill (Blu-Ray) - The next Bond film in line, it's the second (and last) of the Dalton era films, as well as the last one of the 80's.

While in the US attending the wedding of a friend (and DEA agent), things go wrong when his friend is mutilated (and his wife killed) at the hands of a powerful Colombian drug lord. Ignoring orders to "stay out of the Americans' problem" and return to England, he officially renounces his position and goes rouge to seek revenge for his friend.

I tend to prefer the entries that focus more on the Cold War era tensions between the West & the Soviets (like For Your Eyes Only & the Living Daylights), but I have to say I liked this one almost as much as those, and moreso than Octopussy & A View to a Kill. It's just a well made action thriller that hits the right tone most of the time (and I quite liked the aerial scenes). If there was any weak point, it was the Hong Kong agent ninjas. They were in and out so quick, yet the female ninja featured prominently in the opening music video, I can't help but think they were written out of a larger role.

Anyhow, I'll be off to Goldeneye next.

@RogerRoger, your Spider-Man reviews make me interested in picking up the original trilogy some day. I've developed quite a bit of superhero fatigue over the past decade with all the MCU & DC stuff (not many of which I'd actually like to own), but I remember really liking the original SM films back in the day.

Never been into Clint Eastwood, but I watched Gran Torino last weekend which I enjoyed a lot, and then Million Dollar Baby which was good, but pretty miserable. I’m going to watch the first Dirty Harry tonight.

@RogerRoger Finally, there is someone else out there! I know there is a lot wrong with the film but I really enjoyed it too!

Have you seen Homecoming and Far From Home?

I’ve started a rewatch of the Marvel movies since they’re in 4K on Disney+. Well, not really all of them since I’m starting at Winter Soldier. I’ve seen the older ones well into double figures and I’d rather not ruin my enjoyment of them any more. The colours in Winter Soldier are a bit muted so it’s hard to see a noticeable improvement plus the CGI looks especially noticeable in 4K. Perhaps the newer ones will look better.

@RogerRoger Unfortunately the Spider-Man movies aren’t on Disney+ due to them being Sony movies first and foremost. It’s a shame, I was looking forward to rewatching them too!

Thunderball, the fourth James Bond movie. It was decent enough, but some of the underwater scenes did drag on a bit. Emilio Largo was a great addition as the film's main villain, but doesn't quite reach the heights of the villains in the previous movie Goldfinger. It was cool to see more of the enemy organisation Spectre, while still keeping the big boss secretive and mysterious.

It was a good watch, but it is my least favourite out of the first four Bond movies.

I watched 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' last night, and it made me realise two things:

1) Melissa McCarthy has had to do some proper rubbish to finally reach a point where she's getting the roles she deserves

2) Richard E Grant isn't in enough films these days