Topic: The Movie Thread

Yep. While I was a little disappointed with some of the villains, they nailed the new Selina Kyle's characterization. Solid pick for the actress, too, although she's new to me (unsurprising, since, looking at her IMDB page, she primarily starred in films I never watched).

@Ralizah How did you feel about the tone? I’ve seen a surprising amount of people saying there wasn’t enough humour which I find crazy. It was pretty close to the comics after the 80s I thought, Batman’s always been played pretty straight given he dresses as a bat.

@nessisonett It didn't really need humor inserted into it (especially considering the endless sarcastic snarking in the Disney Marvel films), but the edgy goth vibe at the beginning was a little overbearing. I mentioned this a few pages back, but the combination of the dark visuals, Batman's Rorshach-esque narration, and the intense, booming music when he was beating up those thugs at the start actually made me burst out laughing.

And, in general, I think it leaned too hard into Fincher territory in certain spots. Sections of it genuinely feel like they border on either being a tribute to or parody of some of his films. Especially Se7en.

But there's enough overlap between the Fincher vibe and a lot of Batman's darker comic stories that it ended up working out. The strong relationship building with Bruce and Selina helped tremendously to give a film more of a sense of its own identity.

Although the film was too long. The final act felt like it was phoning it in. I don't think they really nailed the 'tortured vigilante to hero' transformation arc they were going for.

But, in general, it was a solid movie. I like that it was, like, the only Batman movie I've seen that actually had The World's Greatest Detective do some detective work. And it thankfully spared us the millionth retread of Bruce Wayne watching his parents die, so points on that front as well. The Dark Knight will probably always be my favorite Batman film, but I'll have to rewatch Batman Begins and Mask of the Phantasm again to know where this ranks. Top five, certainly.

@Ralizah I think maybe the problem is that comic nerds think Batman is better than it is. Don’t get me wrong, I like comics but translating it to movies, they’re always going to be a little hokey due to the pulpy nature and that’s alright. So the odd dodgy line or slightly laughably dark and moody moment is fine with me. More than anything though, I’m just glad the movie went for a style and it was consistent. Marvel movies/shows these days have kinda blended into the one quip-filled tone and while I’ve been a fan since I was 7 years old of the MCU (terrifyingly), and X-Men even before that, I appreciate an attempt at noir as it’s at least different.

@nessisonett Definitely. I just think the approach to noir was a little too heavy-handed in spots. The end product still turned out pretty good, though, last half-hour or so of the film aside.

And yeah, the scripts for most of the Disney Marvel films seem to have run with the Joss Whedon approach to dialogue. That was clever and fresh when Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Toy Story were still new properties. It just feels tired now.

All that being said, I've seen all of those stupid Marvel films. They're the blockbuster honed to scientific perfection: inoffensive, visually polished, compulsively watchable (Thor aside; the second film was unwatchable, in particular), and structured in such a way that they can basically count on your butt being in a seat when the next one comes out.

@Ralizah I like your commentary about the MCU because you’re right, they are the entertainment version of McDonald’s —everyone says they hate it and it’s awful, yet somehow the drive-thru is always full when I pass by and they sell a billion burgers a year. They’re obviously doing something right.

And here I am, got my tickets already for Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness next weekend. 😄

@Ralizah @Th3solution I used to see every single MCU movie in the cinema as soon as possible. Black Widow was the first one I missed, and then Shang-Chi, and then Eternals. Obviously the pandemic happened but I think post-Endgame we’re still yet to see an actual plan or any payoff. Probably says a lot that I haven’t even seen the last three episodes of Moon Knight that came out.

@Th3solution Hm, I dunno. These films tend to be extremely well-received critically and commercially. More than ten years of films with sometimes only slight variations in structure between them, and nobody seems to tire of them. And even the grumps who have tired of them still go and see them anyway. It's actually super impressive.

@nessisonett Killing off and/or retiring the majority of your money-makers will have that effect.

I actually didn't see Black Widow, either. She was always a fairly uninteresting character. If Hawkeye gets his own movie, I'll skip that, too.

Eternals... well, I haven't seen that, but its reception is rather shocking considering how consistently Disney have been able to churn out these formulaic superhero epics.

I actually just watched Shang-Chi last night. It's a fun deviation from the Marvel norm, with most of it feeling more like a martial arts action film. Although it's right back to formula near the end. Was definitely surprised the first ten minutes or so were in full Chinese.

Hope to see more stealthy stuff in The Batman sequel. A lot of times he was just walking into public view in the first movie. Guess he wasn't kidding when he said, "They think I'm hiding in the shadows. But I am the shadows.". As for villains, would like to see either Mr. Freeze or Court of the Owls.

@Ralizah @nessisonett I wonder what the situation would be for the MCU if the pandemic hadn’t arrived when it did. Because yes, it was the end of the Infinity stone arc and culminated in a very definitive and satisfying conclusion, but the natural course of putting movie theaters in hibernation for more than a year certainly had its effect. The three movies that came mostly straight to streaming (Widow, Shang-Cho, Eternals) all had less than enthusiastic reception, comparatively speaking. It’s partly the neutering of their appeal through lack of a big red carpet release, partly MCU and superhero fatigue, and partly a less compelling narrative structure.

Even now, I think the advent and expectations of early streaming access has really changed how we consume new movie releases. It’s not too different from what’s happening in the gaming space, but only the biggest of blockbusters have received the theater attention. It does feel like there’s maybe a shifting back to more in-person theater outings occurring as COVID stays relatively tame for a while (I’m certainly going now), but there are two years worth of movies which never got their proper day in the sun at the theaters.

@Th3solution IS THERE MCU fatigue? I would have thought there was, but then that Spider-Man movie became one of the most successful film releases of all time.

I started going back as soon as I was vaccinated. Covid infection rates ebb and flow, and this thing is going to be with us forever. Or at least for many, many years. There are already warnings of a surge in infections coming soon. In some ways, we're worse off than we were when this first hit: while we have vaccines and more treatments, the disease also wasn't quite as wildly easy to spread as omicron has been.

I think people have just adjusted to the new normal of living with covid.

It's particularly frustrating for me as an American, considering how gigantic the anti-mask, anti-vaccine, anti-science contingent of the country has become.

@Ralizah Good point on No Way Home and I also felt surprised that the movie had such a huge release. I attribute some of that to the reach of the Spider-Man character IP as it’s own perpetual buzz factory. If Dr. Strange opens big then you might be right about there not really being as much MCU fatigue in the populace as we would expect.

As for COVID, I don’t know. We are in this strange place where no one masks anymore and society feels like they have moved on. Time will tell whether things spike enough again to divert the steady march toward “normal” life, or probably better termed “pre-pandemic” life. Theater owners are some of the happiest of the bunch that people have grown comfortable letting their guard down. I actually masked the last time I went to the theater (to see No Way Home, of course! 😄) and so I’m trying to decide if I’ll actually mask when I go next weekend. I feel certain that if I do I will be the Lone Ranger on that front. It’s a little off topic on this thread, but masking doesn’t bother me a bit. In fact I like it because I’m self conscious about my face so I don’t mind hiding it. 😛

@LN78 Oh man, not to get political but I don’t think I can tolerate four more years of that. Political ideology aside, living through 2016-2020 was so fatiguing over here just because of the constant polarization of society. Maybe I should start getting my immigration papers together. 😄

@LN78 There's absolutely no justice in this country. The former president plotted a coup out in the open and the only people who have been punished are the low-income rubes without the means to evade legal consequences.

And with the way blatantly partisan way states under Republican leadership have been redrawing congressional maps, and with voter suppression laws going into effect across the country, and with the way Republicans have fully embraced the Big Lie about the 2020 election, and with the way younger people refuse to vote... well, let's just say the party flirting with fascism is probably going to remain in power going forward. Women are losing the reproductive rights they won nearly 50 years ago (in addition to the high-profile anti-abortion laws that have been introduced in recent months, a bunch of trigger laws will introduce abortion bans in other states when Roe v Wade goes down in June or thereabouts). Honestly wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing sodomy laws being reintroduced in a few years as the Right grows more emboldened by their takeover of the country.

I've already gone through the despair event horizon with regard to our political system. I'm just so sorry the rest of the world is going to have to put up with our nonsense.

@Th3solution There'd have to be something truly catastrophic to make people take up masking in any substantial way again. Of course, it probably differs depending on where you live. I live in a red state, which probably skews my perceptions a bit in this regard.

Thankfully, theaters are rarely very busy where I live, so it's usually simple enough for the family to sit away from strangers.

Road House - A professional bouncer is hired to clean up house at a rowdy bar outside Kansas City, but gets more than he bargained for when he has the nephew of the local mob boss fired.

It's full of cheesy machismo (there's nothing, not even firearm equipped assailants, that can't be overcome with a few well placed roundhouse kicks), but still manages to exude a sense of cool with a classic Americana vibe. It perhaps runs a bit longer than it needed to (though the fact I watched it on an ad supported service didn't do it any favors in this regard), but I don't regret watching it.

Watching Halloween 2018 and Halloween Kills tonight.

Watching Halloween 2018 right now anyway

I'm so sorry.

Just watched No Way Home, what an amazing film! Hard one to discuss without tripping over spoilers but they did such a great job with it.

With this, the Spiderman video games and the Into the Spider-Verse film, Spidey fans have never had it so good.

@LN78 @Fragile @RogerRoger I like Tommy Lee Jones alright, but everything I’ve seen in him he does a great job at playing Tommy Lee Jones. Grumpy old guy in a position of authority, usual a law officer of some kind. I’m sure I’ve not seen the majority of his work but his role in Lincoln was about the only time he seemed to spread his acting wings a little bit.

@Th3solution Try watching Eyes of Laura Mars. Tommy Lee Jones is great in that movie even if I’m still conflicted as to whether it’s camp on purpose or accidentally. One of the few giallo movies made in Hollywood though.