Topic: The Movie Thread

Rumours abounding that Tobey Maguire’s coming back for Spider-Man 4 as a Doctor Strange spinoff. It sounds like BS but it’s gaining an awful lot of traction.

New DC animated movie trailer. Looks like a slighty new art style for them, not one I've seen anyway (admittedly I've not seen them all). Not read the comic either, although it is on my list. I will probably read it after I've seen the film, otherwise I'll end up picking holes in the film where they have changed stuff.

@JohnnyShoulder The comic’s fantastic so I’m looking forward to this one. Might wait until both parts release though.

The Calendar Man voice was ON POINT

I actually dig the art style. It's hard to look at it and sometimes not think of Archer but I think it looks suitably graphic novel-esque

@JohnnyShoulder looks good.

I liked the comic but Tim Sale's artwork is atrocious in my opinion (his catwoman, my god wtf!). So I look forward to this. Could provide a substantial improvement provided they don't muck up the story too much.

@nessisonett People seem determined to force Sony and Marvel into bringing Tobey's Spidey back. So many of these rumours are obviously designed to generate traffic and build some kind of grassroots revival momentum or something. Now that I've said that, watch it turn out to be true.

@JohnnyShoulder That version of the Joker looks very similar to his design from the Under the Red Hood animated movie (which is superb, and had my favourite voice cast thusfar; it's criminal that they've swapped out John DiMaggio for Troy Baker here, and Bruce Greenwood was the ultimate Batman). If you're interested, or if you haven't seen it already, check out the last time a DC animated movie was split into two parts. The Dark Knight Returns was an awful read, but it's a heck of a compelling watch.

@RogerRoger didn't care for the DiMaggio Joker personally. But just about anyone is better than Richard Epcar so I can live with it. Plus, I get it, it can't always be Mark Hamill.

@zupertramp I felt DiMaggio suited the tone of the movie well (raspy, gravelly, well-worn) and like it when new actors try different things in the role. My problem with Baker's Joker is that it's always a Hamill impression, and a bad one at that. He's basically Budget Hamill.

But hey, if you're gonna copy somebody's homework, copy from an A* student, right?

@RogerRoger lol, yeah I suppose Budget Hamill is fair. Still, it's a close enough approximation for me. Same with Alan Tudyk's. I should probably be more open to different directions, like yourself, but I can't shake the feeling that animated Joker needs to sound Mark Hamill-ish.

@zupertramp Oh hey, we like what we like, and Hamill makes for a pretty superb yardstick! Did you grow up with Batman: The Animated Series, then? My first exposure to the character was via Cesar Romero, thanks to some well-timed childhood reruns, so I always read him with that particular voice.

@RogerRoger yes quite a lot of The Animated Series. And some Batman Beyond but I was a little old and preoccupied by that time.

Outside of a few clips here and there I've honestly never seen the 60s Batman series. Not enough to have any kind of opinion on it or its depictions anyway.

@zupertramp I've got Batman Beyond on Blu-Ray. It unfortunately arrived a couple days before I started subscribing to Disney+ and Amazon Prime, so it hasn't had its cellophane removed yet, but I'm super-keen to get to it because I've seen its feature before (The Return of the Joker) and loved it.

The old 60s show is a full-blown parody by today's standards. If you ever get curious, start with its movie, which is arguably its finest couple of hours anyway. Sitting through the whole show is a big ask.

@RogerRoger Yeah, I can't watch 5 mins of the TV series without breaking out into laughter unfortunately.

@JohnnyShoulder

Classic.

Oh nostalgia! I could not remain silent

And now I'm a little more interested in the next Indiana Jones than I had been.

@zupertramp Yeah, same. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is a great actress as well as obviously a great writer. We’ll probably still be seeing the influence of Fleabag in the coming decade.

@nessisonett I've watched that entire series 3 times. First season, imo, can't be topped but the second season is a noble and enjoyable effort anyway. She is like the very concept of charisma personified so both have an entrancing effect. I both love her and resent her for being born with so much of something I'll never have lol.

Anyway, movie thread, so back to movies:

Finally sat down to watch Judas and the Black Messiah. Performances predictably good. Speech from Black Mirror good in Daniel Kaluuya's case. But really he's always at his best. LaKeith Stanfield also really good but I kinda have this pet peeve about characters who are visibly suspect all the time but somehow the people around them don't really notice. Just one of those movie things that always happen in movies but never in real life (like people hanging up phone without saying bye). But that's just a me thing.

Anyway, it was powerful. I literally know what happens but still ended up tearing up. All handled quite well by Shaka King, who I hadn't seen anything else from yet.

@zupertramp I really need to get round to Judas and the Black Messiah. Like you, I know what happens in real life so it’s definitely an achievement to still be that powerful.

Watched Demolition Man and They Live tonight. Such great movies with relevant themes. You could probably make that comment every year after they were made but still, they feel more relevant every year into the future!