Last movie watched...

[pictsy]

I did watch Batman Forever a few months back because a friend really likes it and I thought I'd give it another shot (although I did manage to convince him that Keaton is the better Batman/Bruce Wayne) and I was actually surprised.  It had some really good scenes in there and started quite strong but then it just fell apart piece by piece until we got a bad Adam West Batman pastiche at the end.  It's a mixed bag.

Still, I chuckled when I heard the "Holey rusted metal, Batman" line, just like I did when I saw it in the cinema as a kid.  That was a kinda nice moment for me as age has removed the nostalgic veneer off many a beloved childhood entertainment property.

[Professor Bear]

I really like Batman Forever... I know, I know, but I do.

The only Batman film I've struggled to get through, as it's not quite bad enough to be entertaining like the Burtons are, good enough to be compelling like the Nolans are, or even objectively interesting as a piece of cinema like Batman and Robin or BvS were.  I'm not even criticising Batman Forever here, it's just sort of... there.

It has possibly the worst Batmobile ever seen on film, along with the worst haircut.

I kind of liked that Val Kilmer looked like Jim Aparo's Batman.  If you step back and strip out the camp and overacting, the film seems very much like a Denny O'Neill Batman story from the 1970s.

[JamesC]

I think I prefer Forever to Returns. In some ways it feels more like a sequel to the first film in that the villains are once again criminals rather than supernatural fairy-tale characters.

[Keef Monkey]

Keeping on the Batman vibe, we threw on The Dark Knight Rises last night for the first time since it originally came out. Haven't gone back to it in the same way I do the first two and I think because we've seen it the least the whim took us.

Have to say, really enjoyed it, a lot more than I expected to. Was pretty disappointed with it on release, but with enough distance from that I think it holds up really well. It's hard to get away from how unintentionally comical Hardy's delivery is though, the weird accent and voice processing (not to mention the fact his voice is ADR'd and mixed way louder than the rest of the dialogue so never sits in the scenes well) gives his lines a bit of a Schwarzenegger quality where a lot of them elicit a chuckle when they really shouldn't. On the original IMAX preview we saw he was pretty muffled, but I'm sure they could have found a middle ground. Also, the sound mix in general was pretty awful and I had to spend the whole movie riding the volume to try and make sure we could hear the dialogue but wouldn't terrify the neighbors when the next explosion happened. Quite often a problem with a lot of blu-rays these days, but this seemed particularly bad for it.

Still, that aside, really liked it. Begins is still my favorite though, and seems to be the one that stands up to repeated viewings the best (for me).

Also finally watched The Martian, which was brilliant. Had loved the book and they really did a great job of adapting it!

[Mardroid]

Justice league, a short  while ago.

I enjoyed that. Kind of lightweight and predictable, but it was fun enough. Flash was probably the highlight character. [spoiler]And the lasso of truth led to a very amusing moment with Aquaman.[/spoiler]

Oh and those who got a bit irate when a photo of amazon's showing a lot of skin was posted*, don't worry. Most are more covered than that. Mind you the couple that are dressed that way are guards which is still a bit silly, but point is: that article way took things out of proportion.

The  armour is of the boobicentric kind though, but then again I believe it was in Wonder Woman too. Diana's certainly is in both films.

*and comparing it to the amazon's clothing in Wonder Woman and thus highighting the naughtiness of male directors and their tokenism of ladyflesh compared to their female counterparts. To be fair I did an eye role at the time too.

[Tiplodocus]

Took the boys along for their first, my second viewing of JUSTICE LEAGUE. I still liked it and they gave it a thumbs up too.

The plot timing is all over the place though.

And some of the Amazons do look like something out of a perfume advert; skinny super models on skimpy outfits swinging big hammers.

[Mardroid]

Yep, those were the guards I was referring to. I think they were guards anyway, posted near the doors then [spoiler]blocking the way of Steppenwolf. [/spoiler] The rest seemed to be attired with full torso armour. That I noticed, with my dark 3D glasses. (Concerning the 3D, it was nice enough but I stopped noticing it fairly early. That chasmic view between the city blocks made my belly feel slightly funny, though. Heh.) 

Incidentally, I wonder with Steppenwolf's repetitive [spoiler] references to a mother, if Darkseid is going to turn out to be female in this incarnation [/spoiler]

[Mattofthespurs]

but I'm sure they could have found a middle ground. Also, the sound mix in general was pretty awful and I had to spend the whole movie riding the volume to try and make sure we could hear the dialogue but wouldn't terrify the neighbors when the next explosion happened. Quite often a problem with a lot of blu-rays these days, but this seemed particularly bad for it.

Are you listening through and amp?

I find this constantly and recently took to going through my amp and turning the centre speaker up quite a bit and the front and back L & R down so it's more ambient. Took me about an hour in all but I finally have a mix that has worked on all of the discs I have thrown at it and is also very good for Dolby EX for shows like The Walking Dead and live football where I think the centre speaker is often drowned out by the front and rear L & R.
Worth taking the time and playing with the settings.

[Keef Monkey]

but I'm sure they could have found a middle ground. Also, the sound mix in general was pretty awful and I had to spend the whole movie riding the volume to try and make sure we could hear the dialogue but wouldn't terrify the neighbors when the next explosion happened. Quite often a problem with a lot of blu-rays these days, but this seemed particularly bad for it.

Are you listening through and amp?

I find this constantly and recently took to going through my amp and turning the centre speaker up quite a bit and the front and back L & R down so it's more ambient. Took me about an hour in all but I finally have a mix that has worked on all of the discs I have thrown at it and is also very good for Dolby EX for shows like The Walking Dead and live football where I think the centre speaker is often drowned out by the front and rear L & R.
Worth taking the time and playing with the settings.

Actually, now that you mention it I realize that's something I did with our old amp years ago but haven't done since we replaced it quite recently. This time around I used the auto-calibration thing (where you sit a mic where your head will be and it tunes the system for you) but I'll definitely jump into the settings and give that centre speaker a bump. Some films have been fine (the three Ridley Scott movies I watched recently were all crystal clear) but with other things the dialogue is definitely getting lost.

The blu-ray player on the Xbox does have a Dynamic Range Control on it which in theory would be a great fix, but it doesn't really seem to be helping, although my understanding is it only works with certain audio formats. Thanks for the advice!

[Mattofthespurs]

I did the initial set up with the mic in the middle of the room too but as we are quite spaced out in our living room it worked to a degree but then I fussed about with it until everyone was happy (and what a fun Sunday afternoon that was! lol).

I bumped the centre by a fair chunk and lowered the rears by quite a bit and the front left and right by a smaller margin.

Definitely improved my viewing.

[Theblazeuk]

Caught Paddington 2 at the Hebden Bridge Picturehouse last night. Just like the first, pretty much a perfect 'family' movie. Heartfelt, funny and never overly saccharine with just enough quirk and bombast to keep a children's story moving for the adults. I felt like the CGI bear was slightly worse this time around but I suspect the cinema might just not have been quite in focus. The ending was immediately obvious from the second Paddington spotted the book,[spoiler]given how everyone has a Notting Hill mansion I reckon they could easily afford a plane ticket from Peru without clubbing together[/spoiler] but of course, such a thing is not really the point. Great performances all round with Ben Whishaw's voice-acting fitting the bear's expressions perfectly - can't imagine Colin Firth in the role anymore - and Brendon Gleeson being, as always, the highlight of the supporting cast. Special mention also has to go to Hugh Laurie whose faded West End star shines brighter than the villains of the last movie, even if the plot is a little Dan Brown this time around.

The cynical part of me can't help but watch even this pleasant stuff without comparing this London to the London I lived in. In Paddington, the ordinary people live wonderful lives. It's a world where only the well-off live, with average people living in the multimillion quid properties of Portobello road rather than cramming into shared rooms, studio flats and other grinding conversions of decent properties. There's no Grenfell tower scarring the skyline. I'd very much like to live there.

[Rara Avis]

x 10. It's Tom Hardy in a car on for the phone for 90 minutes and it's absolutely riveting.

Locke. Tom Hardy, a BMW and a telephone. That's it. What a fantastic little film - the man is such a phenomenal actor. He even makes concrete fascinating.

Recommended.

[Professor Bear]

The cynical part of me can't help but watch even this pleasant stuff without comparing this London to the London I lived in. In Paddington, the ordinary people live wonderful lives. It's a world where only the well-off live, with average people living in the multimillion quid properties of Portobello road rather than cramming into shared rooms, studio flats and other grinding conversions of decent properties. There's no Grenfell tower scarring the skyline. I'd very much like to live there.

You Canary-reading remoaners always have to politicise everything - because you lost.  Get over it already: it's just a film about a brown guy who comes to live in England and when he benefits from acceptance and tolerance he returns it and improves the lives of those in his adopted community for the better and everyone is happier for it - stop looking for some kind of message.

[Tjm86]

Really?  Because I thought it was all about an illegal immigrant who cons his way into the home of some bleeding heart lefty liberal sandal wearing sap, sponges off him and his family and plays the authorities for muppets.  A stark portrait of how easily this country is being overrun by benefit tourists who know what heart strings to pull on.  Sure we're talking about the same film?

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

LIFE

I highly recommend it. I found it to be viscerally unsettling, almost like torture porn, just waiting for the next person to die. A great example of its type. Its type being stupid humes being killed in space.