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Offline Lord Dave

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2180 on: August 04, 2022, 05:55:56 PM »
The new  minion movie had a massive pacing issue where it had to cram 3 plotlines and 6 villians into an hour and a half.  It did it well enough but damn...


Also, Saw Buzz Lightyear.
This movie was bad.  Not because it was "woke" but because it was bad.  Badly written, plot holes in dumb places, a twist that made no god damn sense, and a motivation that, while it kinda makes sense, is still just dumb and basically makes the entire point of the movie, which is supposed to be the movie they made in the toy story universe, not suitable for the target audience.  My 4 year old and 7 year old both got bored half way through.

Its an adult movie, trying to be a kids movie, while being shitty scifi.
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Offline rooster

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2181 on: August 04, 2022, 06:09:02 PM »
I always forget about this thread.

Elvis was the first movie I've seen in theaters since the pandemic. It was good and fun and sad. Austin Butler clearly put in a lot of effort to sound like Elvis. His speaking voice consistently impressed me. On the flip side of that, Richard Roxburgh was a weird choice for Vernon, he could have worked on his American accent a bit more.

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Offline juner

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2182 on: August 04, 2022, 06:58:54 PM »
Thor 4

Better than Thor 2.

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Offline Crudblud

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2183 on: August 04, 2022, 07:40:32 PM »
Thor 4

Better than Thor 2.
A ringing endorsement there.

Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2184 on: August 12, 2022, 04:53:02 AM »
i just watched Prey. i can't believe i'm saying this about a predator sequel, but it was really good.

the pacing was nearly perfect. the audio mixing was literally perfect (i didn't have to adjust the volume at all). the action scenes were tight with very few quick cuts, and they didn't drag on and on.

my only real beefs are that the ending was kind of dumb, and that the main character looks so much like aubrey plaza that i couldn't stop seeing april ludgate.
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Offline rooster

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2185 on: August 12, 2022, 02:51:55 PM »
i just watched Prey. i can't believe i'm saying this about a predator sequel, but it was really good.

the pacing was nearly perfect. the audio mixing was literally perfect (i didn't have to adjust the volume at all). the action scenes were tight with very few quick cuts, and they didn't drag on and on.

my only real beefs are that the ending was kind of dumb, and that the main character looks so much like aubrey plaza that i couldn't stop seeing april ludgate.
Weird. I agree with literally everything you said.

It made me wish they'd do Predator movies kind of like Assassin's Creed games. Just standalones around the world at different times. Not that they need to but I've never had any interest in seeing the other Predator movies (outside of the original I LOVE the original) until this one.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2186 on: August 22, 2022, 07:50:56 PM »
The Terminal List.
p. good.
The Mastery.

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Offline Snupes

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2187 on: August 24, 2022, 12:00:27 AM »
MCU Phase 4 movies and shows blitz reviews since Crudblud and I are now up to Loki ep. 2 in our MCU watch-through. So most things past that, I have only seen the first time when they came out.

WandaVision: If the Exposition Squad feat. Kat Dennings weren't in this, I would have absolutely adored it. As it is, I really enjoyed it but felt like the pacing was horrible after a few episodes.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Enjoyed this, even if it got kind of slow sometimes. Sam and Bucky are fun, and Bucky is a puppy dog I want to be safe.
Loki: Love the concept, it lost me hardcore after a few episodes as it felt like it lost its path. I was also super high so I'm hoping I feel differently watching it sober this time through.
Black Widow: I had some good fun with this film as a low-stakes last hurrah. A nice family dynamic with good choreography and fun action.
What If...?: The handful of episodes I watched weren't very good, had serious pacing issues, and felt unnecessary.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Wasn't very invested in the story, but it was visually beautiful and the fight choreography is fantastic. As a fight scene nerd, I've watched it several times just for those.
Eternals: Having seen it twice, probably one of my favorite MCU films. One of the most human of them, and I appreciated the pacing and cinematography quite a bit. Does a great job establishing individual characters in a large group, as well as creatively using powers and abilities. I think Ikaris has the best-looking Superman fight scenes of any movie. Yes, even Man of Steel.
Hawkeye: Fun, touching, charming, but ultimately didn't leave much of an impact. I've already forgotten a lot of it. One extremely unnecessary character cameo.
Spider-Man: No Way Home: I loved this movie on my first watch and on my second watch the next day. It fixed a lot of the issues I had with Marvel's Spider-Man series and particularly their boring-ass depictions of Tony Stark Jr., actually got me invested in the series and characters finally, as well as made what I think are pretty bold decisions regarding the other characters that were pulled into this. I can totally see how they can be viewed as just fanservice, but I genuinely think that they added something to the film and that their inclusion served the story and purpose well.
Moon Knight: Dark but willing to lean into the camp and ridiculousness of the situation, which is something I've enjoyed in several Moon Knight runs, which can very between extremely gritty and extremely self-aware. Oscar Isaac is amazing and I love him.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: One of my favorite MCU films for sure. I loved the visuals, I loved the creativity, I loved the horror aspects, and I was really worried I wouldn't actually enjoy Sam Raimi's direction for it but thankfully I did. Far better than I expected.
Ms. Marvel: Maybe my favorite Marvel TV show? I'm a little biased toward the character, but given how they changed her powers for the show it could have easily backfired and annoyed me. But the core of what made me love the character in the comics when they debuted in 2014 is still there. A lovely young Muslim girl growing up in New York and dealing with the struggles that can come with that, but ultimately optimistic and full of heart instead of leaning into the downsides.
Thor: Love and Thunder: I deeply enjoyed every second of Christian Bale on-screen, and seeing my favorite Thor on-screen made me feel things. Especially seeing how ripped she got for it goddamn. Definitely no Ragnarok, though, and not a great or very interesting film overall. I did appreciate the 80s cheese and aesthetic.
She-Hulk (episode 1): I had a ton of fun watching this and I'm excited about this series while I was worried initially. I love Tatiana Maslany for her hilarious appearances on the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast so I was already a fan of her, but with everything I've been through this past year and a half I could kind of just slide right into the vibe of this show. I know for sure people will bitch about hamfisted feminism, but the misogyny that happened in this episode is nothing I haven't experienced irl (and is toned-down if anything) so it's not a complaint on my end.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2022, 12:02:32 AM by Снупс »
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Offline honk

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2188 on: September 11, 2022, 12:52:02 AM »
Thor: Love and Thunder (Taika Waititi, 2022)

I've got to stop watching these movies. The one part of this film that really works is the villain, played by Christian Bale with the perfect blend of menace and silliness. Everything else is terrible, and especially the writing. I have a hard time believing that the man behind What We Do in the Shadows was responsible for this script. The movie bombards the audience with jokes, and none of them are funny. Not a single one is anything other than annoying. There's a pair of CGI goats that obnoxiously scream all the time. Isn't that funny, Taika asks? No, answers anyone over the age of five, it's just annoying. Taika gives his own character, Korg, a very irritating high-pitched voice, and the sole joke with him seems to be that a rock monster has a voice like that. Isn't that funny? No, it's just annoying. Thor himself is a bumbling idiot throughout most of the movie and rambles like a stoner whenever he talks to another character, in what I can only assume are Chris Hemsworth's attempts at improv. Isn't that funny? No, it's just annoying. Every joke in this movie is fucking annoying. Oh, and the CGi is also terrible, but I expect that from Marvel by now.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
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Offline Crudblud

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2189 on: September 11, 2022, 10:49:12 AM »
As Снупс mentioned above, we've been watching through these together. Here's my ranking of MCU shows so far with brief commentary.

1. Moon Knight — Great first outing for one of my favourite (anti)heroes. Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke are great adversaries, and the special attention paid to the character's Egyptian roots is much appreciated.

2. Loki — Ambitious concept more or less pulled off, with a few disappointing non-twists where it wimps out. Tom Hiddleston finally gets to shine and is no longer an annoying side character you can't figure out why Marvel keeps shoehorning into centre stage! Plus, Owen Wilson wowin' it up is more than welcome.

3. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier — Solid nuts-and-bolts action thriller dealing with the sociopolitical fallout of the "blip". Nice moments with Bucky and Sam lend it a heartfelt sensibility that ultimately wins out over its frequently hard-headed militarism.

4. WandaVision — I really wanted this to be top of the list, but as it stands this might be the biggest fumble in the entire MCU. It starts and ends strongly but sinks into the depths of its own insecurity in the middle, as it becomes a turgid mess of recap after recap after Kat Dennings, because Marvel has no confidence that its audience might not be made up exclusively of morons.

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Offline Lord Dave

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2190 on: September 11, 2022, 11:49:02 AM »
I saw love and thunder as well.

I absolutely hated the first act.  Too much heartbreak and general over the top 80s silliness.  Once Thor went to help Sif, it picked up.
Thor and Jane romantic scenes were not great and yes, the screaming goats were annoying.  But I enjoyed the second and third act.

And Christian Bale as Gorr was absolutely amazing.  Realistic motivation.  And he still showed his parenthood even when corrupted when he tried to entertain the kids.  It wasn't about scaring them, it was him being what any parent would do, just... He's corrupted so it didn't go over well.

And that end bit with the girl and Thor?  Gold.  That is absolutely young daughter/dad interaction and have the daughter to prove it.
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Offline juner

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2191 on: September 11, 2022, 04:11:47 PM »
Thor: Love and Thunder (Taika Waititi, 2022)

I've got to stop watching these movies. The one part of this film that really works is the villain, played by Christian Bale with the perfect blend of menace and silliness. Everything else is terrible, and especially the writing. I have a hard time believing that the man behind What We Do in the Shadows was responsible for this script. The movie bombards the audience with jokes, and none of them are funny. Not a single one is anything other than annoying. There's a pair of CGI goats that obnoxiously scream all the time. Isn't that funny, Taika asks? No, answers anyone over the age of five, it's just annoying. Taika gives his own character, Korg, a very irritating high-pitched voice, and the sole joke with him seems to be that a rock monster has a voice like that. Isn't that funny? No, it's just annoying. Thor himself is a bumbling idiot throughout most of the movie and rambles like a stoner whenever he talks to another character, in what I can only assume are Chris Hemsworth's attempts at improv. Isn't that funny? No, it's just annoying. Every joke in this movie is fucking annoying. Oh, and the CGi is also terrible, but I expect that from Marvel by now.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

Oh no, Saddam has a correct opinion finally. Not sure what this means for humanity.

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Offline Crudblud

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2192 on: September 16, 2022, 09:36:54 AM »
Morbius ("dir." Daniel Espinosa)

Do I rate it low because it was shit or do I rate it high because it was so astoundingly shit that I had a good laugh watching it together with Снупс? The experience was one of a kind, at any rate.

Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2193 on: September 28, 2022, 01:52:00 AM »
severance

i fucking loved every single thing about season 1. it was as spectacular as helly's pencil skirts.
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Offline Snupes

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2194 on: September 29, 2022, 02:55:32 AM »
Severance was my surprise favorite show of the year. Watched it on a whim out of boredom and holy shit
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Offline Shane

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2195 on: September 29, 2022, 10:54:04 PM »
Watched severance and it was good in my opinion!
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Offline honk

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2196 on: October 26, 2022, 04:28:40 AM »
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)

All the lavish production design in the world can't disguise how inept at its core this show is. One of the most common criticisms of the show I've seen in online discussions is its lack of fidelity to the source material, and that's certainly fair, but even setting that aside, this show is simply incompetently written and structured. The showrunners - two complete novices without a single IMDb credit between them, but thankfully they're pals with J.J. Abrams, so the good ol' boys network threw them this gig - don't take the time to create interesting or relatable characters. They don't tell a meaningful story either in each episode or over the course of the season, instead just starting and finishing seemingly at random. Their approach to this show, as far as I can tell, seems to essentially be that because this is LotR, people should already be invested in this, and therefore this show doesn't have to do anything another TV show would to keep their investment.

There are a lot of things I could point to, both big and small, as being unconducive to good storytelling, but here's the one detail that annoyed me the most. This show follows four separate subplots, and when I say separate, I mean that they are all so segregated from one another that they might as well come from different shows. There is nothing that connects them either storywise or thematically. Three of the subplots do eventually intersect in terms of their characters meeting, but that has nothing to do with their stories coming together. The characters simply stumble upon each other seemingly coincidentally. I've never seen a show do something like this - have several subplots that simply don't coalesce into an overall story, or at least indicate how these subplots are all connected. What is this show about? How are these stories connected? It's not enough to just say that it's LotR and that's the connection. It's not how storytelling works.

Are there any redeeming qualities to this mess of a show? Yeah, sure. Everything looks fantastic for the most part, with large, detailed sets, nice-looking costumes, excellent makeup work, and so on. Elrond and Durin have an engaging odd-couple dynamic. The show's portrayal of a Harfoot society is charming, and the actors playing the Harfoots are arguably the most committed of the entire cast - although it would have been nice to have actually cast Irish actors to fit with the coding of the Harfoots as Irish. I also like the character of Adar, a mysterious antagonist who seems to challenge Tolkien's essentialist portrayal of orcs as always chaotic evil and argues that they are people who deserve to live as much as any other race. That's about all I've got. Pretty much everything else is slow, boring, clunky, and surprisingly reliant on modern clichés (just imagine Galadriel as the hardened cop who knows that the killer is still out there, Celebrimbor as the mad scientist who won't let anything stop his work, Isildur as the scrappy young rookie eager to prove himself, and so on) that feel jarringly out of place for Tolkien. It's a real shame. Unlike many LotR fans, I wasn't hoping for this show to fail, and I think we could have gotten something special in the hands of qualified showrunners with an actual vision for the show.
« Last Edit: December 26, 2022, 05:28:55 AM by honk »
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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2197 on: October 26, 2022, 12:08:09 PM »
I agree it’s not the tightest of writing but it’s a little confusing how you can think the subplots don’t come together. Three of them literally converge in the last episode, each providing a crucial piece to the other. I found quite a few characters to connect with as well. The fidelity of the adaptation is troubling but it’s a bit of a minefield with the production not having rights to use the Silmarillion. Anecdotally, non-fanboys that Ive encountered have really enjoyed it.

For me, the weakest part was the episodes on Numenor. I don’t think they captured the might or that nation sufficiently, and the impetus to travel to Middle Earth was more of a snap decision than something earned like Elrond’s need for the mithril.

It’s too bad you found no redeeming qualities in the storytelling. I can’t help but connect that to high expectations and shitty fan boy culture creating biases. With streaming services producing content with such high production value and IP with big fan bases, it seems like every bit of content is expected to be extraordinary, which is maybe unfair.

I’m curious though, if you take a sober second look, do you really think it was irredeemably inept?

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Offline rooster

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2198 on: October 26, 2022, 03:29:54 PM »
I think its main problem is that they're not allowed the good source material. But it has one of my favorite tv writers so I have to disagree that the writing is terrible. I'm willing to believe any weaknesses are mostly from a lack of resources and yet not wanting to be too bold about anything outside of it.

And as someone who is not a fanboy and struggled to read the super boring books, I feel like I'm learning a lot about the world which is p neat. Maybe it wouldn't be that strong on its own but as Tolkien L O R E I like it. Although the Numenor shit is cheesy and I hate Isildur.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2022, 03:31:47 PM by rooster »

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Re: Just Watched
« Reply #2199 on: October 26, 2022, 03:40:12 PM »
It’s too bad all the elven lineages are detailed in the Silmarillion because it would have been cool for them to explore that Elrond, Gil-Galad, Celebrimbor and Galadriel are cousins.