Topic: The Movie Thread

Ahh... It wasn't Hugo Weaving as Red Skull/The Gatekeeper in Infinity War or Endgame @RogerRoger but an actor known as -Looks at Wiki- ... Ross Marquand. I did happen to notice that myself when watching 😄

Well if you do manage to do the mental gymnastics to convince yourself with Cap's time travel shenanigans in Endgame retconning/concluding the events of the show then I hope you enjoy Agent Carter!

@LN78 @nessisonett @Th3solution @RogerRoger Yeah I wasn't keen in the bait and switch they pulled with Iron Man 3 and was quite hyped on seeing The Mandarin in the MCU. And i disliked the ending as if felt I was watching a Transformers movie. I think that was the point I started not to watch as many trailers as I did for films and games, as I was finding i was getting more disappointed, mostly due them spoiling the final product.

@JohnnyShoulder Did you ever see Batman V Superman? The one that was out a few years ago? What did you think of that? I know that's DC but yeah. Maybe your not a fan of DC? Or do you like that universe as well? Did you ever read any of the Alan Moore DC Comics?

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Oh no, I didn’t realize that about Red Skull’s actor in End Game. Bummer. I’ll have to pay attention the next time I watch.

@RogerRoger No apology necessary. I’ve very much enjoyed reading your thoughts and pleased that I (and your other friend) didn’t lead you too far astray. I hope the same for The Last Guardian. It would be a perfect palate cleanser actually. No superheroes (at least of the humanoid variety), no explosions and firefights, just a relaxing (yet intense in its own subtle way) journey of discovery. Ueda’s style is a little bit of an acquired taste so it may take a little to get used to with his minimalist storytelling. You didn’t play Ico, did you? I remember your trepidation with SotC but I can’t remember if you took his earlier PS2 game for a spin ever.

As far as Ant-Man and the Wasp (and to get back on thread subject), it’s funny because I’m not entirely sure why if fell flat for me. Like you, I place Paul Rudd’s rendition of Scott Lang very high in the pantheon of superhero character portrayals. His Robin Hood-esque ‘noble guy making amends for bad decisions done with good intent’ is quite relatable. The humor is well done too. I even like Evangeline Lilly, having fallen for her back during the show Lost, but I know some people can’t stand her.
But for me AMatW was mostly a victim of its timing. Being sandwiched between the cliffhanger of Infinity War and the epic conclusion of End Game did it a bit of disservice probably. Your being able to watch them all back-to-back probably helped but back when I was watching them on release I knew this was just going to give a footnote to the larger narrative so I had a hard time getting into it as fully. The same would apply to Far From Home. It seems just a stepping stone to a larger plot, so I just didn’t get as excited about it. Furthermore, I’ve never been a Michelle Pfeiffer fan, actually, and I can’t take her very seriously as a quantum physicist. Also, the way my brain works is fundamentally broken with some of these kinds of movie situations because I keep asking myself - what has she been eating this whole time? how did she keep her sanity with being alone for all these years in the subatomic quantum realm? And a lot of the science was just in general a little fuzzy. Which, I know.. I know, it’s all Sci-Fi / fantasy and you can’t think too hard about it, and usually I can disregard a little inconsistencies, but the plight of Janet Pym was a little much. Again, I think I was just annoyed that the only part that moved the greater narrative of the Infinity Stones forward was the last 5 minutes and I was just champing at the bit to get to End Game. Captain Marvel suffered slightly for the same reasons, but at least I knew that based on the film taking place back in the 90’s it wasn’t going to push the story of the stones and so I didn’t expect much beyond the stand-alone that it was.
But yet again, even though AMatW was toward the lower third of the MCU in my book, it was still great in its own way.

@LN78 You mentioning The Nice Guys earlier reminded me a of mash up trailer of The Clone Wars and The Nice Guys I saw a few days ago on YouTube. You should check it out if you fancy a chuckle!

@Draco_V_Ecliptic I have liked DC films in the past such as the Burton and Nolan and Batman films, but not been keen on the recent DC output and thought B v S was as dull as comic book movie could get. I wouldn't say I prefer Marvel over DC, just that Marvels recent films I've enjoyed way more than the recent DC films. And even then I think I'm beginning to get a bit fed up of the Marvel films and the forthcoming ones it is the least I've been interested in the films since they started phase 1.

I will answer your question about comic books in a separate thread as I don't want derail this one and need to check a few things out. But the short answer is yes but don't remember which one!

@RogerRoger I feel like some sorta weirdo for actually really enjoying Captain Marvel. Sweaty basement dwellers are still out for Brie Larson’s blood so it’s hard to actually discuss the movie but I really liked the direction they took. The 90s setting gave it a pretty unique feel compared to the rest of the MCU and I loved the bait and switch with the Skrulls, it was handled way better than the Mandarin.

@RogerRoger Yeah, it was especially frustrating not getting Endgame when they were just coming out! I was in my last year of high school when Infinity War came out and then in Uni when Endgame came out so it’s a shame I couldn’t really get the conclusion to the story before we all went our separate ways.

@nessisonett Same as you in regards to Captain Marvel, plus by the time I watch films these days I've usually forgotten whatever fakerage was surrounding it when it was released. If I ever bother to look it up afterwards I'm usually wondering what all the fuss was about.

@RogerRoger It’s one of those films that I deem ‘so bad it’s mediocre’. A lot of it was absolutely terrible and unintentionally funny but then there wasn’t enough of that to make the film interesting at all. I legitimately couldn’t tell you what happened in the last hour of the movie.

@RogerRoger @nessisonett Really wish they went more with a horror vibe, like they had originally planned before the studio intervened. Instead it felt like something halfway in between and really did not know which direction to take.

Shawshank Redemption is the best movie I have ever seen.

Noice!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08CLKKPMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_A...

@JohnnyShoulder Wow, that looks really nice. Hoping I can get my hands on the Kubrick one as well, these collections seem like the best way to get these sorts of movies in 4K.

@nessisonett Yeah and plus I don't see any massive improvements on the horizon as 8K could be a few years until it finds its way into the home for use mere mortals!

Predator, Alien and Stand By Me are my fave classic films that look great in 4k.

@JohnnyShoulder I don’t have a 4K player and streaming can barely call itself 4K so I’ve only managed to watch a few movies in true 4K. Knives Out looked incredible and the film grain actually added a lot even though I know some people don’t like it. The best looking classic ones I’ve seen are probably 2001, Lawrence of Arabia (unfortunately no HDR yet) and Blade Runner. It’s a shame I’m stuck to buying downloads for now but once I can start getting discs I’m gonna try to get hold of the Columbia Classics set, even though I assume it’ll end up a fortune.

@nessisonett Yeah Knives Out looked great, don't recall any film grain though when i saw it. The quality when streaming can be questionable especially during lockdown when some services have reduced the quality of some of their stuff.

I was a bit of a naysayer towards 4K as whenever I watched any content I wasn't that impressed. Not sure if its anything to do with HDR being introduced, but the last 18 months or so I started noticed real uptick in visual quality..

I just checked and that Columbia Classics set is a penny below 120 of our UK pounds!

https://www.zoom.co.uk/product/columbia_classics_collection_uhd

I watched that Charlize Theron movie on Netflix. It’s extremely generic and clearly meant to facilitate a sequel but I wouldn’t say it’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen. The music did my head in though, it doesn’t fit the movie at all and it’s really distracting. Dudley Dursley’s in it too and he looks proper creepy grown up.

When Worlds Collide (1951). A sci-fi disaster film, like a precursor to those disaster movies that were prolific in the late '90's and early '00's. Too be honest I'm surprised this never got remade, although I imagine it would have turned out closer to some like The Day the Earth Stood Still than The Thing as for as '50's remakes go.

As for as the movie I saw goes, yeah I enjoyed it. The special effects were solid for the time, the pacing was good and the writing was alright (to be honest, most '50's sci-fi didn't have the greatest of writing). I also appreciated the fact that it was in color. I guess if I were to rank it amongst the best sci-fi movies of 1951, it's better than The Thing From Another World but way behind The Day The Earth Stood Still.

@RogerRoger Yeah I thought that film was pretty solid too. Enjoyable in a cheesy '80's sort of way. Plus it inspired Smash TV, so it gets bonus point for that.

Yojimbo (1961). Been wanting to see this movie for a while, and Ghost of Tsushima gave me a good excuse to (funny thing is that I have little interest in the game). I enjoyed this one. I've heard this film influenced a lot of Western, and I can see why. I thought the cinematography was the best part of the film. It really does make it feel like a Western at times, only in Japan. I also enjoyed the music and it's interesting combination of traditional Japanese music and big band Western. I can also see why the makers of A Fistful of Dollars were sued, it's practically a ripoff of this. With that being said I prefer A Fistful of Dollars, but that's because I prefer Westerns over Samurai films. I felt the same way about The Magnificent Seven and Seven Samurai, although it doesn't really help that I thought Seven Samurai was too long.

@RogerRoger Glad I could help.