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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on May 25, 2021 14:53:09 GMT -5
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on May 28, 2021 17:10:42 GMT -5
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). If you were tasked with conquering 50,000 worlds, you’d have permanent sadface too. **spoilers below** I personally found ‘good’/‘bad’ aspects to just about every single thing in this. Sadly, gone is Batfleck’s exchange with Barry Allen about saving ‘one person’. Instead we have super-serious recruiting scenes (Aquaman's being a prime example) and Batsy miraculously NOT dying even when there’s multiple instances where he clearly should’ve (apparently now Alfred can make Bats' gauntlets immune to Superman's heat vision. WTF?). Being one of the seemingly few who DON’T think the sun shines out of Henry Cavill’s butt, I continue to be unimpressed with his Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman who all seem exactly the same to me/like there's no clear differences in these identities (speaking of, are his and Bruce's secret identities now public knowledge since characters use their names all willy-nilly?). Not until Disc 2 does zombie Supes beat up all his teammates, then he just glares/grunts his way through scenes until Lois Lame appears. The only part I liked was his reunion with his mum who really should’ve been the one to snap him out of his zombie state instead of dull-as-dishwater Lois. Seriously, Clark&Lois scenes bore me to tears/are like watching paint dry. Martha had a nice emotional scene earlier about what it was like to lose Clark…oh, wait, that was just Martian Manhunter posing as Martha. Nevermind. And in case Snyder hadn’t made it clear he hates bright colours, Supes now dresses only in a black suit which some might deem ‘cool-looking’ or whatever, but it’s just another example of how afraid Snyder is to have his Superman be inspiring/like REAL Superman. Thankfully, one character who IS inspiring (especially to kids) is Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, who provides an entertaining rescue scene and remains generally awesome in amongst all these angst-filled grim/dark/broody characters. Unfortunately, Snyder can’t resist the urge to punish her for being one of the stand-outs by killing her (not once, but TWICE. The first being in a vision of a possible future and the second during the climax of the film...although it's undone. I personally wouldn't watch a DCEU that doesn’t have Diana/WW in it). At least he allows her to get satisfying payback against Steppenwolf for killing so many of her equally awesome Amazonian sisters in another exciting (albeit bloodier/with lots of horse violence) action sequence. People have praised Victor Stone's/Cyborg’s expanded role here, but I saw nothing much different to how he was in ‘ Josstice League'. He's still Cyboring (I didn’t think it was possible to have a more humourless character than Batfleck or Superman), now there’s just MORE of it. Flashbacks showing him playing football and with his mum (who believes cheating is fine so long as it’s her SON doing it) were, I guess, intended to make us *care* about his character, but all I was paying attention to was that his mum wasn’t watching the road before their fatal car accident, his dad gives him the highly questionable power to invade everyone’s privacy (what ethics?) and Victor takes time out from helping Barry save the world to chat with a vision of his dearly-departed family. I’ve seen people reacting like Snyder stripped away everything that was ‘annoying’ about Barry/Flash from Whedon’s JL and made him totally different. Um...what? He’s still guilty of the hyper-speak, ‘funny’ one-liners and taking his sweet time saving people just because he CAN (kinda creepy how he strokes Iris West’s hair and grabs a wiener before saving her life). I never hated Ezra Miller’s Barry/Flash beforehand, but I saw no evidence of people’s claim about this version being ‘different’/’better’. Yes, he gets to be the hero of the film at the end along with Cyboring (though, annoyingly, it kinda renders all the others pointless/useless), but I always think how his superspeed being accompanied by electricity surrounding him seems really inconvenient (what if he had to save someone inside a metal container? Would they get electrocuted?). Thankfully, Barry’s “Oh sh--!“ reaction to zombie Supes glaring at him remains. Aquaman's like a Cyborg/Flash hybrid, both serious and kinda 'jokey'. After telling Bruce he wants nothing to do with him, he eventually comes around to helping and has some mildly amusing exchanges with Barry (including doing his own version of the evil monkey from Family Guy who lives in Chris’ closet and dramatically points). I guess when this movie was being made they hadn’t figured out how Atlanteans were going to speak underwater, so every scene with them talking requires being inside air bubbles (the few instances where they communicate in the water, it sounds like dolphin/whale sounds). Mera, who sports a different look and accent from the Aquaman film, gets one instance of being awesome (draining blood/other bodily fluids from Steppenwolf), but then is disappointingly forgotten about until the epilogue. Speaking of, people complained about the LotR trilogy's 'multiple endings', but this movie’s already lengthy runtime is made even longer with a drawn-out conclusion that involves a ‘Knightmare’ sequence about presumably what the world will become if/when Darkseid takes over. Batsy, Cyboring, facial-haired armoured Flash and Mera have for some reason teamed up with Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke, and it’s clear that all the fish jokes that were intended for Aquaman have been saved for Jared Leto’s Joker (who’s undergone a makeover, but is now more pretentious than ever) to direct at Mera (it also sucks that Harley Quinn's apparently departed in this future). Lastly, there's a tacked-on final scene involving Martian Manhunter. You know what would’ve reduced the film’s runtime considerably? Less slow-mo sequences (which Snyder apparently believes even a seed from a hamburger bun deserves). Regarding the villains, I guess Sad Steppenwolf was supposed to be an improvement over the previous version (but now he's just a meme), while Darkseid gives Thanos a run for his money as biggest-big-bad-who-mostly-just-sits-on-his-butt (though Ares kicks said butt in a flashback which also features what appears to be a leftover from Snyder's 300 movie among other things). On the whole, I think this 'Snyder Cut' is okay, but the hype's unwarranted. It's definitely the Snyderiest Snyder movie that ever Snydered.
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Post by Weirdraptor mini™ on May 29, 2021 21:46:35 GMT -5
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). If you were tasked with conquering 50,000 worlds, you’d have permanent sadface too. **spoilers below** I personally found ‘good’/‘bad’ aspects to just about every single thing in this. Sadly, gone is Batfleck’s exchange with Barry Allen about saving ‘one person’. Instead we have super-serious recruiting scenes (Aquaman's being a prime example) and Batsy miraculously NOT dying even when there’s multiple instances where he clearly should’ve (apparently now Alfred can make Bats' gauntlets immune to Superman's heat vision. WTF?). Being one of the seemingly few who DON’T think the sun shines out of Henry Cavill’s butt, I continue to be unimpressed with his Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman who all seem exactly the same to me/like there's no clear differences in these identities (speaking of, are his and Bruce's secret identities now public knowledge since characters use their names all willy-nilly?). Not until Disc 2 does zombie Supes beat up all his teammates, then he just glares/grunts his way through scenes until Lois Lame appears. The only part I liked was his reunion with his mum who really should’ve been the one to snap him out of his zombie state instead of dull-as-dishwater Lois. Seriously, Clark&Lois scenes bore me to tears/are like watching paint dry. Martha had a nice emotional scene earlier about what it was like to lose Clark…oh, wait, that was just Martian Manhunter posing as Martha. Nevermind. And in case Snyder hadn’t made it clear he hates bright colours, Supes now dresses only in a black suit which some might deem ‘cool-looking’ or whatever, but it’s just another example of how afraid Snyder is to have his Superman be inspiring/like REAL Superman. Thankfully, one character who IS inspiring (especially to kids) is Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, who provides an entertaining rescue scene and remains generally awesome in amongst all these angst-filled grim/dark/broody characters. Unfortunately, Snyder can’t resist the urge to punish her for being one of the stand-outs by killing her (not once, but TWICE. The first being in a vision of a possible future and the second during the climax of the film...although it's undone. I personally wouldn't watch a DCEU that doesn’t have Diana/WW in it). At least he allows her to get satisfying payback against Steppenwolf for killing so many of her equally awesome Amazonian sisters in another exciting (albeit bloodier/with lots of horse violence) action sequence. People have praised Victor Stone's/Cyborg’s expanded role here, but I saw nothing much different to how he was in ‘ Josstice League'. He's still Cyboring (I didn’t think it was possible to have a more humourless character than Batfleck or Superman), now there’s just MORE of it. Flashbacks showing him playing football and with his mum (who believes cheating is fine so long as it’s her SON doing it) were, I guess, intended to make us *care* about his character, but all I was paying attention to was that his mum wasn’t watching the road before their fatal car accident, his dad gives him the highly questionable power to invade everyone’s privacy (what ethics?) and Victor takes time out from helping Barry save the world to chat with a vision of his dearly-departed family. I’ve seen people reacting like Snyder stripped away everything that was ‘annoying’ about Barry/Flash from Whedon’s JL and made him totally different. Um...what? He’s still guilty of the hyper-speak, ‘funny’ one-liners and taking his sweet time saving people just because he CAN (kinda creepy how he strokes Iris West’s hair and grabs a wiener before saving her life). I never hated Ezra Miller’s Barry/Flash beforehand, but I saw no evidence of people’s claim about this version being ‘different’/’better’. Yes, he gets to be the hero of the film at the end along with Cyboring (though, annoyingly, it kinda renders all the others pointless/useless), but I always think how his superspeed being accompanied by electricity surrounding him seems really inconvenient (what if he had to save someone inside a metal container? Would they get electrocuted?). Thankfully, Barry’s “Oh sh--!“ reaction to zombie Supes glaring at him remains. Aquaman's like a Cyborg/Flash hybrid, both serious and kinda 'jokey'. After telling Bruce he wants nothing to do with him, he eventually comes around to helping and has some mildly amusing exchanges with Barry (including doing his own version of the evil monkey from Family Guy who lives in Chris’ closet and dramatically points). I guess when this movie was being made they hadn’t figured out how Atlanteans were going to speak underwater, so every scene with them talking requires being inside air bubbles (the few instances where they communicate in the water, it sounds like dolphin/whale sounds). Mera, who sports a different look and accent from the Aquaman film, gets one instance of being awesome (draining blood/other bodily fluids from Steppenwolf), but then is disappointingly forgotten about until the epilogue. Speaking of, people complained about the LotR trilogy's 'multiple endings', but this movie’s already lengthy runtime is made even longer with a drawn-out conclusion that involves a ‘Knightmare’ sequence about presumably what the world will become if/when Darkseid takes over. Batsy, Cyboring, facial-haired armoured Flash and Mera have for some reason teamed up with Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke, and it’s clear that all the fish jokes that were intended for Aquaman have been saved for Jared Leto’s Joker (who’s undergone a makeover, but is now more pretentious than ever) to direct at Mera (it also sucks that Harley Quinn's apparently departed in this future). Lastly, there's a tacked-on final scene involving Martian Manhunter. You know what would’ve reduced the film’s runtime considerably? Less slow-mo sequences (which Snyder apparently believes even a seed from a hamburger bun deserves). Regarding the villains, I guess Sad Steppenwolf was supposed to be an improvement over the previous version (but now he's just a meme), while Darkseid gives Thanos a run for his money as biggest-big-bad-who-mostly-just-sits-on-his-butt (though Ares kicks said butt in a flashback which also features what appears to be a leftover from Snyder's 300 movie among other things). On the whole, I think this 'Snyder Cut' is okay, but the hype's unwarranted. It's definitely the Snyderiest Snyder movie that ever Snydered. Yeah, people officially have no right to ever complain about LotR's "multiple endings" ever again if Snyder's BvS is getting such an overall positive response, considering it's a full hour longer than any of the LotR films. Your review is basically the impression I've always gotten about this film and why I will go out of my way to be the last person to never see it.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on May 30, 2021 16:52:59 GMT -5
Yeah, people officially have no right to ever complain about LotR's "multiple endings" ever again if Snyder's BvS is getting such an overal positive response, considering it's a full hour long than any of the LotR films. Your review is basically the impression I've always gotten about this film and why I will go out of my way to be the last person to never see it. Well, this is one of the few places I could post my review without fear of getting attacked by Snyder fanboys or those who hate everything DCEU-related, since my review was neither heavily praising nor totally damning of the film. It's like some believe there's no happy medium between the two. I thought it was fine...but not exactly revolutionary like some seem to be making it out to be.
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Post by Weirdraptor mini™ on May 30, 2021 21:31:28 GMT -5
Yeah, people officially have no right to ever complain about LotR's "multiple endings" ever again if Snyder's BvS is getting such an overal positive response, considering it's a full hour long than any of the LotR films. Your review is basically the impression I've always gotten about this film and why I will go out of my way to be the last person to never see it. Well, this is one of the few places I could post my review without fear of getting attacked by Snyder fanboys or those who hate everything DCEU-related, since my review was neither heavily praising nor totally damning of the film. It's like some believe there's no happy medium between the two. I thought it was fine...but not exactly revolutionary like some seem to be making it out to be. I can't imagine what would have given you the idea you'd be attacked by Snyder fanboys or haters! That never happens around here!
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on May 30, 2021 23:58:16 GMT -5
Well, this is one of the few places I could post my review without fear of getting attacked by Snyder fanboys I can't imagine what would have given you the idea you'd be attacked by Snyder fanboys
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on May 31, 2021 0:04:19 GMT -5
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on May 31, 2021 0:05:36 GMT -5
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on May 31, 2021 2:19:20 GMT -5
Well, this is one of the few places I could post my review without fear of getting attacked by Snyder fanboys or those who hate everything DCEU-related, since my review was neither heavily praising nor totally damning of the film. It's like some believe there's no happy medium between the two. I thought it was fine...but not exactly revolutionary like some seem to be making it out to be. I can't imagine what would have given you the idea you'd be attacked by Snyder fanboys or haters! That never happens around here! Well, I first submitted my review to IMDB - so it's on there now (and no one can criticise it, all they can do is either upvote or downvote it as 'useful' or not). I then posted it in a thread on IMDB 2.1 but only certain people will find it there and I know I can trust them to not be overly critical. And then there's this place...I've seen no strong feelings one way or the other for ZS's JL on this forum, so I figured I was probably safe posting my thoughts here. The reason I haven't posted it on other Proboards forums I post on is because I know that the things I didn't like in the movie others probably would praise and the stuff I liked others would complain about. That was on TV again here, but they keep putting it on earlier at night and changing the classification to a milder one which lets me know they've probably edited out any stuff they deemed 'not suitable' for that timeslot. I wish just once they'd put it on at a later time so I could see it unedited. Sure, it mightn't improve it much, but I don't care. The TV stations here are notorious for cutting bits out of movies they show (they're worse with episodes of shows, though, to the point where some become incomprehensible).
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Post by Weirdraptor mini™ on May 31, 2021 15:34:20 GMT -5
I can't imagine what would have given you the idea you'd be attacked by Snyder fanboys or haters! That never happens around here! Well, I first submitted my review to IMDB - so it's on there now (and no one can criticise it, all they can do is either upvote or downvote it as 'useful' or not). I then posted it in a thread on IMDB 2.1 but only certain people will find it there and I know I can trust them to not be overly critical. And then there's this place...I've seen no strong feelings one way or the other for ZS's JL on this forum, so I figured I was probably safe posting my thoughts here. The reason I haven't posted it on other Proboards forums I post on is because I know that the things I didn't like in the movie others probably would praise and the stuff I liked others would complain about. That was on TV again here, but they keep putting it on earlier at night and changing the classification to a milder one which lets me know they've probably edited out any stuff they deemed 'not suitable' for that timeslot. I wish just once they'd put it on at a later time so I could see it unedited. Sure, it mightn't improve it much, but I don't care. The TV stations here are notorious for cutting bits out of movies they show (they're worse with episodes of shows, though, to the point where some become incomprehensible). I know, I was just foolin'. Glad you didn't totally hate those four hours, though. There is nothing worse than a longer-than-normal movie that you just HATE.
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on Jun 1, 2021 16:01:41 GMT -5
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Post by Weirdraptor mini™ on Jun 1, 2021 16:14:17 GMT -5
"Raya and the Last Dragon," last night, when a local theater put it back in their roster.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jun 2, 2021 17:52:03 GMT -5
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020). So many things... **spoilers below** It’s been mentioned this is a ‘step down’ from the first movie, but I see it more as a ‘step sideways’. It’s not better or worse, just different...and that might be why some have a problem with it. If all you want is the same old superhero-fighting-supervillain stuff we’ve seen 100 times before, then you’ll probably be disappointed. It’s not your ‘typical’ superhero movie, but there’re so many good things here (if you’re open-minded). We begin with young Diana competing in the Amazon Games on Themyscira, where she learns a valuable lesson about cheating/how she can’t win without earning it (kudos to the young actress who portrays her, as she’s one of the more impressive kid actors in recent memory). Cut forward to 1984, where Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot, who continues to prove the perfect choice for the role, as she imbues Diana with warmth/kindness and really brings it, especially in the emotional scenes) thwarts a jewelry heist at a mall. Soak it in/appreciate this action scene...as you won’t be seeing another for a while. She soon meets geologist, Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig, who may’ve seemed not the obvious choice for this role, but is actually really quite good). There are those who’ve dismissed the beginning of the film as ‘slow’ and think that because time is spent on developing Barbara and her friendship with Diana, the movie is a ‘chick flick’, but that just illustrates those people’s impatience/short attention spans. It seems certain folks expect superhero movies to be mostly action and only occasionally slow down to have some quieter character moments, whereas this film is sort of the opposite. The relationship between the two women is important to the story and Wiig plays well off of Gadot. I actually really enjoyed seeing them form a friendship and wished we could’ve spent a bit more time on that than the other new character introduced in this film: Maxwell Lord. Don’t get me wrong, Pedro Pascal does well with his role (and his character’s relationship with his son ensures that despite the bad things he does, he’s still a sympathetic villain), but I think the film would’ve benefitted from a little less focus on him and devoting some of his screentime to Barbara’s transformation into Cheetah. Chris Pine, whose character of Steve Trevor proved he wasn’t just a mere ‘love interest’ in the first film, returns thanks to a magical ‘Dreamstone’ which grants wishes (Diana wishes for his return, Barbara wishes to be like Diana and Lord wishes for all the power of the stone itself). The two are reunited and get to spend the time together they deserved (that was tragically cut short in the first film). The only snag being that Steve is now in the body of some random dude. The biggest ‘WTF?’ part of this film is WHY did the writers elect to go this particular route? It’s puzzling due to all the questions it raises. Still, it allows for a role reversal of the ‘fish-out-water’ scenario, as now Diana is the one introducing Steve to new things such as 80’s fashion, art and airplanes (there’s a beautiful scene between the two of them featuring fireworks and the big screen debut of Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet). Some may think of the movie as being ‘cynical’ because it illustrates how self-serving people would be if given the chance to wish for whatever they wanted, but I just think it’s realistic. However, it’s not merely an ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ message here, it’s also about how if you got what you most desired, you might just lose that part of you which makes you *you*. That’s the price paid by everyone who makes a wish, which results in Diana gradually losing her powers, Barbara losing her humanity and Lord almost losing himself/his child. One thing the first film had in spades was ‘heart’ (which the rest of the DCEU has sadly been lacking), and this film in no different. It examines who the characters are as people and gets to the centre of why they are who they are vs. whom they want to be. That’s not to say the film lacks action. If that’s what you came to see, then you’ll get plenty of it in the second half. There’s a memorable desert chase scene, Diana using her Lasso of Truth to the best of its ability (including that infamous trailer moment involving lightning, which I never saw the big problem with considering you have other superheroes who control lightning. Plus, it’s only a very brief moment) and going toe-to-toe with Barbara once she becomes the ‘apex predator’ she wishes to be. My personal favourite moment, though, was a quieter one where Diana realised her full potential (thanks to Steve giving her some earlier pointers about flying). The music compliments this scene perfectly. Speaking of, the film’s score throughout is really good (it even got to me emotionally at the beginning...though that might’ve just been due to me finally getting to see the movie I’d been waiting so long to see). It’s a very welcome moment when hear the now iconic ‘Wonder Woman Theme’ for the first time in the film. This will likely be a very ‘divisive’ movie. There were those just looking for any excuse to tear it down after the first one’s success (some people couldn’t handle Wonder Woman showing the DCEU how to do a legitimately good film). Those who dismissed the first film’s success for whatever reasons will probably be the same people citing this one as a reason why no further WW films should be made. However, let’s not forget all the male-centric superhero films that didn’t quite hit the mark/were flat-out failures...they still make plenty of them. So what if this film isn’t as ‘successful’ as the first? That doesn’t prove it’s not worthy of getting more. I feel this is a film that’ll go underappreciated by most, but I personally thought it was worth returning to the cinema for.
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on Jun 3, 2021 13:21:33 GMT -5
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on Jun 3, 2021 15:43:05 GMT -5
^^^^^^^^^^ oops, not a movie!
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on Jun 10, 2021 16:52:55 GMT -5
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on Jun 10, 2021 16:53:47 GMT -5
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Post by Weirdraptor mini™ on Jun 10, 2021 17:46:07 GMT -5
The J-Horror fan in me will never not see this title and think "Oh, they adapted the first book from The Ring series again."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2021 15:11:51 GMT -5
Wind River.
It’s got Hawkeye and Scarlet Witchy Woman in it!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2021 17:23:39 GMT -5
Ford v Ferrari
A really great movie. James Mangold did a phenomenal job.
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on Jun 14, 2021 17:36:45 GMT -5
Ford v Ferrari A really great movie. James Mangold did a phenomenal job. you should watch RUSH (2011) it's better
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2021 12:16:33 GMT -5
Ford v Ferrari A really great movie. James Mangold did a phenomenal job. you should watch RUSH (2011) it's better Really? I’ll check it out.
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Post by catface on Jun 15, 2021 17:13:33 GMT -5
Ford v Ferrari A really great movie. James Mangold did a phenomenal job. Totally. Exceeded all my expectations while still raising them.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jun 19, 2021 21:35:15 GMT -5
Finished the movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker on Blu-ray (though for some reason after the movie starts, the title that comes up is Batman of the Future: Return of the Joker). **spoilers below** This was trickier to review than the series. I'd actually read about the differences between the 'PG' version on my Blu-rays and the unedited/original version prior to watching this, so I was aware of them beforehand but didn't really think about them much when watching. I see what you were saying about the Jokerz being a bit better than what they were throughout the series, Weirdraptor mini™ , as here they actually put up half-decent fights. The twins, Dee Dee, were particularly interesting since they were clearly a substitute for Harley Quinn. Obviously none of the Jokerz ever won in their fights here, but at least they appeared to cause Terry some harm at times. Definitely an improvement from the lame ones in the series. Though it was weird seeing a hyena-man and even weirder that although I knew Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor from Smallville) was providing one of the voices in this movie, I didn't ever really notice which one he was the voice of (I think by the end I guessed he was the one who kind of resembled the Scarecrow). As 'adult' as some of the content in the movie was (and, naturally, most of it was trimmed down/reduced in the version I watched), I think they could've gone even further with it if Tim Drake had actually turned out to be the Joker like Terry was theorising. I spent a good percentage of the movie thinking that Tim Drake had taken on the Joker persona (though it seemed less likely once we saw him as a middle-aged man). I could see what happened to him pushing him over the edge and causing him to take on the Joker persona...but instead what we got was some sci-fi explanation of the Joker managing to put himself/his consciousness into Tim Drake. I guess the Ra's al Ghul/Talia episode from the series gave us a precursor to this, but what really made it verge into sci-fi territory was that Tim Drake not only had the Joker's consciousness in him that could take him over at times, but he also physically changed into the Joker as well (something not even Ra's al Ghul was able to achieve when in Talia's body). I enjoyed the flashbacks to what happened with the kidnapping of Tim Drake by Harley Quinn, which was a nice reintroduction of her character. It was good to see her/hear Arleen Sorkin's voice as Harley again. I was even more pleased to see Batgirl, as she was always a favourite of mine in Batman: The Animated Series (though she stayed silent for a bizarrely long time when she was going after Tim/Robin with Batman here. Seriously, the two were silent together and clearly weren't much for conversation). I think that despite the edits/changes made to the movie in the version I watched, the horror of Tim/Robin being turned into a mini-Joker still got through thanks to Batman's and Batgirl's reactions to seeing him that way. Also, the fact that Batman was clearly ready to murder the Joker conveyed just how angry he was (though, obviously, he never would). I especially appreciated the one-on-one parts with Batgirl and Harley, where Batgirl thought Harley had gone too far (even for her) in going along with the Joker's torture/turning of Tim/Robin into a mini-Joker, and we saw that Harley still had that tiny piece of humanity in her that she displayed on occasion throughout B:TAS where she knew the Joker had taken things too far ('roughed up a little' was a bit of an understatement, though it felt true of Harley to play things down like that) and supposedly intended to 'make it right'. It's just the typical justification for her actions I'd come to expect from Harley. Watching her and Batgirl duke it out was good (I really wish we'd someday see a scene like that play out in live-action), and it felt fitting that although Batgirl tried to save her, Harley seemingly fell to her death (though before that, when they were both falling together, it seemed to me that Batgirl screaming, and that kind of rubbed me the wrong way - that Batgirl would be screaming - when it never seemed like Batman or any of the Robins screamed whenever they'd fall from great heights). Obviously the Joker's death in this version was rather lame (he stumbles back, gets tangled, then gets electrocuted and we don't even see it (we just hear him scream whilst cutting to another shot). Never mind the fact that we constantly saw Terry and other characters get electrocuted by different gizmos throughout the series (and even in this very movie), but in this instance it was considered 'too much' to show? I did find the clip of Tim/Robin-turned-mini-Joker actually shooting the Joker with his own joke gun, with the mini-flag being shot out of it and thus killing the Joker (perfect last line for him with "That's not funny."), which was obviously much better. I mean, even though the Joker had a little blood coming out of his mouth, the flag stuck into him wasn't anything gratuitous - but I guess it was more the fact that a kid character (Tim/Robin) was the one doing it that made them have to change it for the version I watched. Batgirl going to comfort him after he switched from maniacal laughter to sobbing still worked, though - while it certainly makes sense he'd do that after having just killed someone, it also worked as him letting his feelings come out after having been tortured/brainwashed. So in that sense, the moment with her and him worked fine in both versions (though I miss there being no line about burying the Joker deep beneath Arkham). There was some actual really decent drama in this movie, with Terry suspecting Tim of being the Joker, Bruce being even grumpier than usual (though understandably so, given what had occurred), Terry's frustration at not getting answers, Batman calling him a stupid kid and wanting him to give up being Batman, the villain actually being DANGEROUS (which I often felt was one thing lacking prior to this. I also liked that I almost got what I'd wanted when watching the show - ie. the real Joker returning to put the wannabe Jokerz in their place by insulting/offing them), characters dying, etc. Even in the version I watched, this felt more 'mature' than anything in the series. There was a lot of good stuff in this. However, there was one thing I REALLY hated and that was poor Ace getting severely hurt. His barking/running up the stairs of the Batcave when the Joker broke in (great security, Bruce) and then us hearing him yelp and Bruce yell out his name was pretty upsetting, but even moreso later when Terry returned and found Ace seriously hurt...and then just left him (to go down to find Bruce). I hated seeing that. It was also sad when Terry went to check on him and Ace was watching Bugs Bunny cartoons, looking deeply saddened. I was glad that eventually it seemed like he recovered, but then Terry had to go and put him back in danger by taking him along to fight the Jokerz (at least Ace showed who was top dog to that hyena guy. I enjoyed the callback to the series with Terry once again saying "Good Bat-Dog.")). I was tense all throughout every sequence with Ace in it and kept dreading either one of the Jokerz or the Joker himself would hurt him terribly (the Joker did shock him at one point with his hand-buzzer and was going to finish him off, but Terry thankfully intervened). Anyway, I was relieved that Ace survived, but still hated the fact that he was put through so much. One deeply satisfying scene was near the end of the movie with Terry getting under the Joker's skin, taunting him, doing more talking than Bruce's Batman ever did in his fights with the Joker (it was neat how Terry figured out that was the way to defeat him) and I especially loved him laughing maniacally at the Joker whilst telling him how bad his jokes were and that's why he never got a laugh out of Bruce/Batman. Honestly, Terry laughing like that was more unnerving than any of the Jokerz ever were (I think because we were hearing someone who was usually so calm/cool letting loose that it made it scary). Such an excellent scene. Then he managed to use the Joker's own hand-buzzer against him, destroying the gizmo that allowed him to take over Tim Drake, and finally the Joker was properly gone. I'm glad we did get a definitive death for the Joker in the B:TAS/BB continuity. I figured Harley was the one who came to bail out the twins at the end as soon as they showed an old woman with what looked like blonde hair and dressed in red/black clothing. It was a nice way to end the movie, having Bruce tell Terry that Batman wasn't what made him worthwhile, it was the other way around. I came to really like Terry in the end and he certainly beats Tim Drake and probably even B:TAS Dick Grayson as one of Batman's better protégés (though I still think Batgirl proved herself the best - at least out of the B:TAS trio, and wasn't given nearly enough credit. If nothing else, she was certainly the least annoying. While I was glad they brought back the same person to voice her from the latter part of B:TAS aka The New Batman Adventures and didn't replace her with someone else, my favourite will always be the original voice of Batgirl in the early seasons of B:TAS - as I thought Melissa Gilbert's voice had so much 'character' to it, and I missed her when she was replaced. Still, Tara Strong did an admirable job taking over). Anyway, thank goodness for this movie as it certainly felt like a better 'conclusion' to the BB series than its final episode did.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2021 0:37:19 GMT -5
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Post by Salzackbar mini™ on Jun 20, 2021 10:00:43 GMT -5
Last night I watched Snake Eyes (1998, dir. Brian De Palma). This got negative reviews in 1998. I have no idea why; I loved it. It’s wonderful, just plain wonderful. It’s kinetic, hilarious, over-the-top, thrilling, suspenseful, bombastic, well-acted, and loads of fun. It’s also got a message, which may not be the most important thing about it but which, judging from reviews, most critics missed: It’s about shadings of heroism, not the military-industrial complex. It opens with one of De Palma’s trademark directorial tours-de-force, a 20-minute apparent single shot à la Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil, that sets up our characters, plot, and setting with seeming ease—and must have been hell to shoot. Everything else in the movie depends on that first shot; we go back to its events over and over, we and the characters analyze them again and again like how John Travolta analyzes the sound footage in De Palma’s Blow Out. Most critics said it was the high point of the movie and reaped scorn on everything after it. In fact, everything after it is of a piece—gloriously stylized, gloriously De Palma. Critics, who’d apparently never seen a De Palma movie before, also went after the plot—no, honestly. They even criticized De Palma and screenwriter David Koepp for revealing whodunit early on. If De Palma and Koepp hadn’t done that, audiences would most likely figure out the twist—I did early on—and feel ahead of the filmmakers. By revealing it early, De Palma and Koepp keep us on our toes. Performances all top-notch. It’s basically a two-hander between Nicolas Cage, at his most manic and amazing, and Gary Sinise, at his coldest. Basically because Stan Shaw, an actor I don’t know, gives a remarkable performance that encapsulates the movie’s main theme. Cheerfully old-fashioned, entertaining climax, as silly as anything on a dark and stormy night and all the better for it—but the movie doesn’t end there! The coda just repeats the filmmakers’ point that the story isn’t about the conspiracy, it’s about the duality between the characters and within the Cage character, the fact that sometimes a bad man does a very good deed and a good man a very bad one. I’m convinced that De Palma figures out the most logical, most typical way to shoot a scene, the way 99% of directors would do it, and then decides not to do it that way. Almost every shot is distinct and memorable, filtered through a unique sensibility and with the most intriguing visuals possible. Just great. This reminded me of why I like movies in the first place.
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on Jul 7, 2021 11:57:55 GMT -5
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Post by Weirdraptor mini™ on Jul 7, 2021 20:43:15 GMT -5
That's Chris Evans, right?
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Post by President Ackbar mini™ on Jul 7, 2021 23:51:21 GMT -5
That's Chris Evans, right? I think so!
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jul 9, 2021 2:21:48 GMT -5
Black Widow (2021). Back to black... There've been complaints about the ‘lateness’ of this film, how it should’ve been made years ago and now that we've finally gotten it, it’s ‘too late’. I beg to differ, as I feel all good things come to those who wait (and those too impatient for something don’t deserve it to begin with). However one may feel about Scarlett Johansson as an actress, there's no denying she’s been in the MCU longer than most (if there's one 'good' thing about IM2, it's that it introduced this awesome character). She’s done the hard yards and the fact that it’s taken until now to get her well-deserved solo film isn’t her fault (blame the higher-ups). While some dismissed her as ‘not special’ because she didn’t possess super powers, she’s proven her detractors wrong by enduring for so long. Johansson isn’t given the credit she deserves for bringing such a complex character to life. Natasha is someone with some real demons in her past and she’s done everything humanly possible to make up for her mistakes (unlike certain other so-called ‘superheroes’). When the movie starts, we’re in 1995 with young Natasha (Ever Anderson, who does a great job of not just looking like a young version of Scarlett Johansson, but also conveying so much for such a young actress) and her adoptive sister, Yelena (Violet McGraw, also doing a fine job for one so young), who’re both capable of doing the ‘spider walk’ from The Exorcist. While those with short attention spans may find the opening ‘boring’, to those who aren’t so easily bored, it’s important for the movie to establish this sibling relationship, as this movie is all about family. When the sisters are whisked away in an exciting airplane sequence and then separated, you really feel it, as young Natasha has shown her utter devotion to Yelena, willing to take on anyone to keep her safe. It’s then that we’re treated to probably one of the best montages in a comic book film that I can think of in recent memory, involving chilling images set to an unsettling version of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. It immediately sets the mood for the rest of the film, which is actually a lot more brutal when it comes to the fights/kills than we’ve seen before in the MCU, and lets you know this will be a more ‘mature’ film. That’s not to say there isn’t some humour sprinkled throughout. It’s there, but not overdone, and when the laughs do come, they’re all the more effective because there hasn’t been constant wisecracking (the biggest laugh had to be Yelena bringing up Natasha’s superhero pose that she does and then acting it out). The best thing this movie did was casting Florence Pugh as grown-up Yelena, as she plays exceptionally well off Johansson and their onscreen chemistry makes for a believable sibling relationship. Their fight, after being reunited, is one of the film's best scenes, but the quieter heart-to-heart talks they have are equally important, as is their complicated relationships with their adoptive parents, Melina (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei (David Harbour), who bring different dynamics and add even more depth. ‘Dysfunctional’ doesn’t begin to describe this family, but when it counts, they’re there for each other. It’s a shame that we’ll likely never see all four together again, as their interaction proved quite compelling. On the side of the bad guys, there’s the masked ‘Taskmaster’ who can mimic the Avengers fighting styles, hence why we see the use of a shield and bow/arrows among other fighting moves. Whilst able to hold her own, the first face-off between Taskmaster and Natasha shows that she’s not some unbeatable ‘perfect’ fighter, but she uses her smarts and her brains over brawn is what sets her apart from all the characters that rely on muscle. If there’s one letdown in the film, it’s Ray Winstone’s Dreykov, but it’s kind of worth him being so pathetic a human being just to see Natasha outsmart him and smiling more than I think we’ve ever seen her smile before. This is a more 'intimate' MCU film, and as such the climax may not be quite what some were expecting/hoping for, but it’s still satisfying because of what it means for Natasha, Yelena and all the other Widows. As for any ‘unbelievable’ elements in the film...at this point, if you’re willing to accept things like helicarriers and talking raccoons/trees, then having a problem with the ‘fantastical’ elements here seems a bit hypocritical. It’s not just the acting, action, humour, and music that the film has going for it, but also the way it looks. Cate Shortland should be commended for her directing, as there are some truly great/beautiful shots throughout, the fights are never confusing and the effects on display are used sparingly, but really well. All three lead actresses look smashing in their costumes (Scarlett proves that whether she's wearing black or white, she looks good in ANYTHING). David Harbour? Not so much. While some believe ‘it's all downhill’ after Endgame, I personally feel it’s actually the opposite. With a certain character no longer hogging all the focus/screentime, we can now focus on other characters who deserve to have their stories told. This is one such instance. The main disappointment is that this is, for all intents and purposes, Scarlett Johansson’s/Natasha Romanoff’s swansong. While I would’ve liked to have seen more films with the sisters together, at least ScarJo can rest assured that the mantle of Black Widow will be in safe hands with Florence Pugh (assuming, of course, she takes over the role, though they’d be foolish not to see what a stand-out she was here and feature her in future MCU projects. The post-credits scene suggests she will be, but the conflict it sets up could be resolved with a simple conversation between her character and the target she’s sent after). So long, Natasha. Thanks for all the crotch-throat grabs. Fade to black, Widow.
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