Topic: The Movie Thread

@Pizzamorg Don't know if it answers your question, but there are still people left who enjoy Marvel's output these days (even though I may be the the only one left, judging by all the online hate and snark), so these movies actually hold value for me. And I didn't need to spend any time catching up to understand what was going on, either. I had a great time with "The Marvels", but I knew what I was in for going in and didn't expect anything more

I mean I guess if you watch zero of the feeder shows / movies you can't ever know how lost you actually are, so I guess that is one way to solve the problem. I exist in a sort of awkward in between space where I do watch most of the MCU output eventually, but never close enough together it seems, so I always remember just enough to be aware of how much I must have forgotten.

I'm trying to remember the last MCU stuff I really enjoyed. I remember really enjoying Werewolf by Night and No Way Home.

@Pizzamorg I'm going to see "Brave New World" tonight, but seems to me that it is one you might want to give a miss, as it apparently draws on several of the previous releases (unknown to me at the moment exactly how much it draws on them). One reviewer called it "homework", which is a common sentiment out there (and one I don't really understand... I guess if you go in expecting it to be a standalone experience, sure, but when was the last time any of these movies were? To me it feels like someone saying "bleh, I hated watching episode X of TV show Y as I felt I had to do my "homework" and watch the previous episodes to enjoy it")

Anyway, I have seen all the other releases, not because of "homework" but because of genuine interest, so I'm all set Looking forward to tonight!

Surely you can see the difference though @FuriousMachine? Once upon a time, you just had to watch a series of movies in sequence, that came out at a cadence a normal person could follow in between other life events. Now it feels like we have a dozen movies and TV shows per year, and every one of them will be referenced in the next big MCU movie release, making it significantly more difficult to hold onto all the various strands.

For the record though, I actually quite enjoyed Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In general, I think the MCU TV shows that have been more street level focused, including Hawkeye in that as well, have actually been some of the MCUs best works recently. I am currently watching through Echo and enjoying it much in the same way. That fight between Echo and Daredevil in episode one, the creative choreography, crunchy kineticism and smooth camera sweeps was more engaging to me than the dozen or so MCU movies that ended up as two weightless CG figures bumping into each other in front of an obvious green screen firing lasers.

@Pizzamorg There is, of course, a difference, but my point is that it feels like everyone keeps expecting something that haven't been the case for a long, long time. That people don't care for the particular way Marvel is doing things is fair, but it feels like a lot of people feel they are owed something different and keeps griping about it. A reviewer that has to watch all these things for their job I can understand, but why so many people keep watching and coming away with the same gripes every time (and yet keeps coming back) is what is baffling to me. (To be clear, I mean this in general, and not necessarily in your case )
Also, if Marvel was the only game in town, I would also see the frustration, but they most definitely are not
(speaking of game, I will say this: currently playing Marvel Midnight Suns and that is the best use of the brand/property in many a year, for my money, including the MCU).

Sorry, but I feel the opposite @FuriousMachine. I think the current MCU approach sucks, exhausting and overwhelming the average viewer with subpar content for the sake of content. I hope people do keep complaining about it, and loudly, to inspire the MCU to change the approach. If the MCU don't change the approach, then that must mean the majority are fine with how it is now, and then that is fine then.

Also I liked Midnight Suns a lot. I think I wrote a review of it on this forum once upon a time. Done quite a few runs of that game since, which I don't normally do, but it is one of the few games that are well worth replaying to me.

@FuriousMachine @Pizzamorg I definitely had this complaint as the shows started being churned out in earnest. Especially when I started to realize the shows were going to have a different tone based on, what seemed like, different target audiences. But then I kinda had a realization... this is exactly what comics do already. Often interconnected stories across many different series, many with different target audiences. And the typical comic reader doesn't try to read them all. I do think the MCU could do a better job, especially now, with recaps but even if you don't get every reference there's nothing that deep in any of these movies that you can't kinda infer what's going on and why - much like you have to do while reading your preferred comic.

So, when I started to look at it this way, I stopped watching the stuff that didn't interest me because, yeah, that is like homework.

@zupertramp @Pizzamorg @FuriousMachine Just to interject, I do think the large quantity of TV and movie releases have blunted my interest in the MCU. And to be fair, I feel the same about Star Wars and even the DCU, to a lesser degree. And it’s probably a combination of the all the competing properties, to be honest. There’s a large overlap in the ‘nerdverse’ of people who like Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Tolkien, and other Sci-Fi or Fantasy properties, including video games. In my opinion, the dilution of content by so many franchises and outlets has caused increasing apathy toward nearly all of them. It would have been unthinkable 10 years ago for me not to have watched a Marvel movie or a Star Wars show within the first few weeks of release. Now I am about 3 Marvel movies and 4 TV series behind and 6 Star Wars TV series behind. Same for DC - I’m making my way through The Penguin now and enjoying it, but I completely skipped the last 5-6 movies and all the other shows. The Penguin seems rather standalone so I went for it, although as it turns out, it’s fairly closely tied to The Batman, and I’m grateful I had watched that.

Anyway, I digress, but the ‘homework’ type of sentiment does resonate with me. I don’t think Marvel is as bad about it as Star Wars, and so I’ve been able to keep a better connected to the franchise because of that. But SW reliance of tying things to voluminous animated shows like Clone Wars and Rebels has crippled my ability to participate in some of the recent content. I wonder if that’s part of the reason we haven’t received a major SW movie in a long time (aside from the severe failure of Rise of Skywalker) because they have painted themselves into a corner with all the interconnected TV stuff. I guess there’s a Mandalorian movie in the works, and this will be a test of whether the IP can get back into blockbuster movie status. But first I need to to my homework since I never watched Mando season 3, because I understand I should first watch The Book of Boba, which is better understood if I watch The Clone Wars… eh, maybe I’ll just skip it. 😅

As a parting thought, I do wonder how the MCU would have fared in an alternate timeline (irony semi-intended 😉) where there was no pandemic. Also SW and DCU. The cultural peak of these movies was occurring around 2019. Once everything shut down in early 2020, it felt like everything went off the rails as things turned toward TV and streaming instead of major theater releases.

I finished watching Burn After Reading this morning, it was typical Coen Brothers fare imo, being familiar with a couple of their other movies such as The Big Lebowski and whatnot, but, perhaps not their best. Still an enjoyable movie, though.

Pirated the new Captain America (sorry Anthony Mackie not your fault I won’t spend money on it) and to be fair it’s f**king dreadful. I’m not sure anybody asked for a sequel to The Incredible Hulk, never mind one without the titular Hulk. Giancarlo Esposito is criminally wasted too. The fight scenes are messy and badly edited, CGI is shoddy, pacing is all over the shop. Anthony Mackie takes a back seat in his own movie at times, probably the most crucial scene of the movie near the end has him just standing in the background while other characters interact. In retrospect it’s utterly hilarious them trying to market it as a ‘political thriller’ like Winter Soldier. Harrison Ford is pretty fun though.

@Jimmer-jammer Quite liked Barton Fink, myself, actually and Fargo imo is their best, or at least a personal favourite of mine.

Anyway I must confess I have seen City of God before and thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable watch, have added Michael Mann's Collateral to my to-watch list. Thanks for the recommendation! I'll try to report back and let you know what I think!

@nessisonett Piracy is theft no matter how you try to justify it. I'll restrain myself and avoid going on a rant about it, but I'll say that I have no respect for those who engage in it.

@FuriousMachine I have less respect for movies that try to launder the reputation of apartheid states personally.

@nessisonett Then I suggest not watching them

I watched Blood Simple, by the Coen Bros. again. I enjoyed the movie, but wasn't entirely sure if Frances McDormand was cast for the right reasons. Still, sex always sells in Hollywood. Also Joel Coen's production was top-notch. Still feeling their way around what kinda movie they wanted to make at that stage, I feel.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN I concur with this assessment of Blood Simple. I've loved Coen movies for a long time, but there are still quite a few I've not seen. I somewhat recently saw Blood Simple for the first time and, while solid, it didn't live up to the expectations I've built up (though I'll be the first to admin that not all Coen movies are slam dunks) and, as you said, it feels unsure of what it wanted to be.

you talking about Brain Damage or Basket Case for DVD or blu ray?

as for The Substance its not on streaming apps. just for DVD and blu ray at the moment on walmart online. Id love to blind buy that movie for the heck of it

Not sure in other countries but in the UK you can watch The Substance on Mubi. You can also rent or buy it on the usual places (Amazon, Sky/Now, Apple TV etc)

today I've been busy with the Naruto movie Legend of the Stone Gelel on Netflix. pretty good movie.

I watched The Departed, and, rather like someone's controversial opinion on here, that Sekiro is better than Elden Ring 😉 .i must say that I enjoyed it rather more than Goodfellas, as I felt it was more subtle and nuanced than the latter movie, also at the end of the day, the real question the movie left me with was: "Who was the 'true' rat. in the end?" 😉😃