Topic: The Movie Thread

I seem to have completely missed these MCU impressions til now @RogerRoger

Glad you're enjoying yourself and the flims (for the most part)!

I felt the exact same about Doctor Strange.

Went into it really unsure (Not a fan of Cumberbatch myself) and came out of it pleasantly surprised.

I think Mads could've been in it a bit more (He's a terrific actor, admittedly I've only seen him in the Hannibal series but good gravy he's good) but there was great performances all around from Swinton and Ejiofor and there was some lovely visuals too.

I hope you enjoy tomorrow's double feature you have lined up! 😊

@RogerRoger Valid points, all. It’s so interesting to re-experience these through the eyes of a first-timer. I agree that Civil War definitely felt more like Avengers 2.5, with all the characters showing up together. For sheer bombastic fun there are few sequences better than the airport battle.

Glad you found Dr. Strange enjoyable. I saw it in the theater (actually, most of the MCU I saw in theaters) and the visuals were mind blowing in a 3D cinema. I’m not always a fan of 3D, but this one was fantastic with the added visual effects. But yes, Stephen Strange is a great character. I really enjoy his and Tony Stark’s relationship later on.

@RogerRoger @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy For more Mads Mikkelsen I’d definitely recommend Death Stranding 😄
...Okay, okay... I’ll shut up about that game. 😜

I completely forgot he was in both of those @RogerRoger

I did quite enjoy Casino Royale upon seeing it when it came out (I admittedly wasn't aware of him as I am now). It's the only Daniel Craig Bond I've watched to be honest (I did see a smidge of Spectre but I found it terribly dry and dull) so thanks for the reminder!

I didn't think much of Rogue One though and found it kinda pointless personally.

I'd recommend the Hannibal series to you for some top notch Mikkelsen acting but... I don't think that's your cup of tea in the slightest!

I'd seen him in the first season of Sherlock (He also voiced Smaug the dragon in the 2nd and 3rd hobbit films) along with Star Trek into Darkness like yourself so I wasn't that much better informed then you admittedly!

I was waiting for the Death Stranding shout out from you @Th3solution regarding Mads 😆

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Ha, Ha! Yeah, I’ve gotta get my quota in of DS references! Kojima is counting on me!

If I wasn't so captivated by the performances I'd have probably not watched it myself! The amount of times I winced and cringed! I'm surprised it aired/ was made for a standard tv channel in the US! 😥

Good luck with Death Stranding when/if you get round to it @RogerRoger!

No shame in enjoying it that much @Th3solution! I can only hope to enjoy it as much as you and If I ever get round to it you'll be the first to know!

InuYasha Movie 2: Castle Beyond the Looking Glass (Amazon Prime Video) - As I continue my way through the series I watched the second movie last weekend. In this entry the series' main villain Naraku appears to be defeated, but after the cast splits up to seek their own individual quests a new villain appears and draws them together once again.

This is probably my favorite of the films, if only because it features the first of only two kisses the leads share throughout the entire series (I know I'm a sucker, lol). Otherwise it's a fine film that captures the spirit of the show well, and I like the fact that the villain is based on an actual Japanese myth (the tale of Princess Kaguya), which is a nice touch.

The Crow

I was going to watch it on Halloween as is my annual tradition but... I woke up this morning with Burn rattling round my skull and just had to watch the film.

For such a troubled production it doesn't seem to really show in the actual film.

Such a shame about Brandon Lee. His performance really is quite good in this.

@LN78 Yep, so many great tracks on there that totally suit the atmosphere of the movie. For them to attempt covers of both Joy Division and Suicide, that’s pretty brave considering the reputation both bands have.

@RogerRoger Well done, it’s a huge undertaking! Ironically, I think I’d place Iron Man 3 at the very very bottom, I actively loathe that movie compared to ones like Thor 2, which I can’t bring myself to have any feelings about! That’s what opinion’s all about though, we’re bound to appreciate movies for different reasons and especially since I watched them all in the cinema at the time they came out. I’d probably rate the two Spider-Man movies way up in the top 5 as well, I really like the comedic take on the stories. Are you going to dive into the often-confusing, more-than-occasionally-terrible world of the TV shows next?

That's one interesting end result there @RogerRoger on the MCU films! I wouldn't put it quite that high myself (At least I don't think I would) but I did enjoy Iron man 3 quite a lot!

I actually just turned off Endgame, having finally seen it for the first time myself.

That was particularly shocking in how awful that was.

No skin off my nose as I didn't really like the film (A shame as I was really excited for Black Panther thanks to his Civil War appearance) but yeah... That was rather terrible compared to most of the CG used in all the other films.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, I loved Black Panther’s aesthetic, themes and the acting was great but oh man, those effects are insanely bad. The bit where they fall down the big hole punching each other is like early 2000s stuff. I think the single worst scene for effects is still the bit in Ragnarok where Hela kills all the Asgard guards (Asguards?)

Recent watches...

What About Bob?
Terminator 1
Terminator 3
Come to Daddy
The Lighthouse

@kyleforrester87 I loved The Lighthouse, easily one of my favourite movies of the last few years. Definitely odd but it’s an interesting watch and the visual style really captures the dirty, visceral feeling of being stranded on that island.

@nessisonett I mean it was worth it for the seagull scene alone, but yeah it was an enjoyable movie. Need to watch it again at some point.

@RogerRoger obviously it’s got nothing on T1 or T2 (T1 is inside my top 10 favourite films) but it’s not an awful follow up. This is only the third time I’ve seen it, it’s still the best of the newer bunch IMO. I like the ending.

@RogerRoger Since I do love the comics, the way they handled the Mandarin really did annoy me, he’s a great villain with loads of history and I’m glad they’re revisiting him in Shang-Chi, with the real Mandarin this time. I’m not a big fan of Tony Stark either, all things considered, probably similar to your thoughts on Star-Lord. Add in elements such as pointless female character #2 in the form of Rebecca Hall who was woefully underused and Guy Pearce becoming just a really silly baddie at the end and the whole film felt quite messy. Adapting such an iconic story like the Extremis storyline and then doing it such a disservice just never sat right with me, same as how they ruined Malekith in Thor 2. It’s really not one of my favourite movies ever made 😂😂

It was actually your thoughts of the previous marvel films @RogerRoger that kickstarted me into finally getting Endgame to watch (I might do my own little MCU viewing myself in fact)

I thankfully only knew the one thing about Endgame. The big (but somewhat predictable) spoiler. I hadn't seen any trailers, reviews or the likes for it so thankfully it was fresh and nearly unspoiled to me.

I quite enjoyed Endgame. Not entirely sure how I feel about the whole go back in time deal with Cap but it was very enjoyable indeed.

There was some good jokes sprinkled in there and some nice interactions I kinda wish Cap had gone to Vormir to meet Red Skull. The opening half hour or so was also a bit slow I thought as well.

I think I like Infinity War a bit more personally (The downer ending and that particular shot of Thanos right at the very end with the music really struck a cord with me) but I have only just watched Endgame and need to give it another viewing or two

I may give BP another look at some point down the line Didn't help the one thing I did like about it, Andy Serkis, was rather unceremoniously killed off.

I thought the Agent Carter TV series was a fairly decent spy/thriller/super hero... Marvel show I was really surprised Jarvis turned up in Endgame if only for two seconds!

James D'Arcy (Jarvis) was rather enjoyable alongside Hayley Atwell. They had particularly good chemistry together as the main leads in a nice platonic way plus Dominic Cooper as young Howard Stark is always good too! (Shame it only got two seasons and ended on a cliffhanger though)

@RogerRoger Bravo, sir! I’m happy to see that your MCU experience was a positive one. And your list is really interesting. I mostly agree with your reactions and impressions and I think that’s a notable take on Iron Man 3 and it’s shifting focus. Did you notice the little boy (I forget his name now) was present at Tony’s funeral at the end of End Game? That was a nice touch. I loved Iron Man 3 mostly because of all the different suits that debut, but I do appreciate the showing of Tony’s vulnerable side. Not sure if you saw my take on the whole MCU where my theory is that the whole series can be seen as the rise, fall, and redemption of Tony Stark, and so IM3 is pivotal in that tale as well. Like you, I’m not a student of the comics, so the apparent mistreatment if The Mandarin didn’t register with me, but I can see how that may bother some.

But yeah, I’d put GoG, Ragnarok, and Civil War up higher and Ant-Man and the Wasp and Capt America TFA down lower, but as you say, even the worse in the series are solid 7’s for me.

I’ll be curious to see what you decide to follow up with. You’ve probably been superheroed-out at this point. 😄

@LN78 Yeah, I think it’s important to note that those were the days before trailers truly started ‘lying to us’. I can’t remember trailers actively inventing scenes or building hype around a character only to completely subvert it on delivery before then. Now look at how much it happens with especially the wider Disneyverse. I’m half expecting a new Indiana Jones movie where we see him donning the hat and whip in the trailer only for poor Indy to be in a nursing home in the actual movie and replaced by Chris Pratt as his time-travelling future grandson á la Trunks in Dragon Ball Z.