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Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

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wedgeski

Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 09:50:15 PM
Also: I know the violence is cartoon-y, but ... still! And: why are Iron Man and the Hulk suddenly fighting each other in downtown Johannesburg?
Because that's an entirely different film?

Funt Solo

Quote from: Recrewt on 27 February, 2021, 02:25:51 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 09:50:15 PM
Captain America: Civil War is fairly dire. It's just not really convincing as to why they're fighting each other when it would be much easier not to.

Also: I know the violence is cartoon-y, but ... still! And: why are Iron Man and the Hulk suddenly fighting each other in downtown Johannesburg?

Hulk isn't in Civil War at all.  That sounds like the fight from Age of Ultron although I do appreciate that they all seem to merge into one.

That was a very kind way of pointing out my mix-up!  :-[
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Recrewt

Well, both movies have pretty much the same cast and one leads on from the other so it's hardly the biggest mistake to make!

Personally, I quite like Civil War as I like the whole winter soldier storyline and I find the scaled back action more interesting. I'm more interested in the scene where the police try to raid where the winter soldier is than the huge fight at the airport. I liked the small scale ending too which would have been ruined by adding too many extra characters.

I do get though that it helps if you have an interest in these movies but I really like how they are all inter-linked.

Tiplodocus

 I CARE A LOT
From the fella that brought us the pretty good DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED and the egregious FIFTH WAVE. This has Rosamund Pike on fine form as a hustling guardian of the state who commits eldsters so she can plunder their wealth. But she picks the wrong mark in Peter Dinklage's mother and things escalate from there.

I'm sure there's a fascinating documentary to be made about this frankly criminal enterprise but I doubt it would be as entertaining as this crime romp. It could do with some more twists and surprises along the way to its [spoiler]LAYER CAKE style[/spoiler] ending but, hey, two hours of Rosamund Pike busting balls.

On AMAZON btw.

I'm really annoyed I liked it because I really wanted to post I SHIT A LOT.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

TordelBack

#15319
Quote from: Recrewt on 28 February, 2021, 01:01:53 PM
I do get though that it helps if you have an interest in these movies but I really like how they are all inter-linked.

I think this is the point. The MCU films are hardly works of cinematic art, but they're almost universally competent, and if you have some time for superheroes, and watch enough of them to become invested in their soap-opera and set-piece antics, then they form a highly enjoyable series. A lot of ifs and buts, but there are far worse things.

I tend to agree that Civil War is overstuffed, and the conflict is highly contrived, but if you accept that the goal of the movie, and the intended viewer, is less a convincing standalone plot and more an excuse for large numbers of costumed goodies to wail on each in carefully posed non-fatal comicky ways, it more than does the trick. The bits of the film centered around Cap himself, and indeed Black Panther, are very good in their own right. The respect this film, and its predecessor, shows for Peggy and the cruelly-truncated Agent Carter series is endearing (although slightly spoiled by Steve snogging his at-some-point-in-time Great Niece). And I just love Chris Evans' Cap,  so I'm always happy to re-watch any of his trilogy (Winter Soldier may be my favourite superhero movie of all).

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: TordelBack on 28 February, 2021, 04:13:21 PM
I think this is the point. The MCU films are hardly works of cinematic art, but they're almost universally competent

And a point that frequently gets overlooked, often even by people who are praising them, is that, pretty much without exception, they are very good at action sequences. I can't think of a single set-piece in twenty-three movies where I didn't have a clear idea of who was where, and doing what to whom — pretty much the only time you lose track of a character is when it's intentional, because they're going to pop somewhere unexpected later in the scene and that gives the narrative enough wiggle room for the character to have gotten from where they were to wherever they subsequently appear.

That may seem like a pretty low bar, but there are plenty of big budget movies by name directors where this is very much not the case.
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Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

Bolt-01

M'learned friend Tordelback is correct -- Captain America - Winter soldier is in my opinion the best single film in the MCU. Chris Evans is very much part of that. He has all the charisma and presence required.

pictsy

I did not get on with Winter Soldier.  It's predictability annoyed me a lot.  I think it was the first MCU film I actively disliked.  I didn't like Thor, sure, but that's just because it's forgettable trash.

The way the interconnections were shaping up started bothering me with Age of Ultron.  That film, to me, felt like filler and was only justifiable as part of the build up to IW/EG.

I'm pretty sure that Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish left Ant-Man because of this mandate and watching that film was kinda tragic.  You can clearly see the parts that had their mark on it and I'll always wonder what if.

Really, why I don't like the interconnections is because I didn't think it would pay off and I will contest that I was right.  I mean, sure, IW/EG paid off as a cash cow for Marvel Studios and Disneys exploiting fandom and geek culture to it's maximum in the way they have honed to an art form by that point.  And if you like being fanserviced, then knock yourself out.  I won't kink shame here. 

I just don't think the overarching story from Iron Man to Endgame works because there isn't one.  It's all just a promise of more to come.  It's all just mid-credit teasers for the next film, or references so you don't forget.  There was no real plan.  So IW comes along and shits all over Ragnarok's very promising ending because now is the time for the big event that has been teased at for over a decade, so fuck you if you don't like it, we don't have time to carry on that story.  Fuck you if you like Gamora's character development in Guardian's of the Galaxy.  She's getting reset and none of that fucking matters.  It's sloppy. 

I won't even get into why I don't like IW/EG themselves because to do the criticisms justice I'd have to rewatch them and I really would rather not.  I'm not particularly keen on rewatching any of the MCU films.  That is how disillusioned the whole thing made me.  That and they don't live up to their hype.  Me calling them trash is nothing remarkable and I'm just getting angry (in part) because it's not my kind of trash.

OK, I think I've got most of that out of my system now.

Tell you what is my kind of trash.  The Fast and Furious franchise.  That one came as a shock to me as I was forced to watch that odd collection of train wrecks.  Maybe I should rewatch them.

Funt Solo

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 February, 2021, 04:21:53 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 February, 2021, 04:13:21 PM
I think this is the point. The MCU films are hardly works of cinematic art, but they're almost universally competent
And a point that frequently gets overlooked, often even by people who are praising them, is that, pretty much without exception, they are very good at action sequences.

That's a very good point - while I can complain till the cows come home about various aspects of these movies, pulling off this particular action shot is pretty amazing (and crowd-pleasing) - especially in terms of bringing comics to life right in front of our eyes. It's a double-page spread:



That's 49s in on the opening scene of Age of Civil Winter.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

The Legendary Shark


I watch the Marvel films in much the same mood as the short-panted me of many yores gone by watched, nay consumed, all those awesome Ray Harryhausen films. The kind of film I'd do my best to skive off school for if I saw it listed as the Afternoon Film in the Radio Times. It's pure escapist fantasy for me - if I want the meaning of life I'll go elsewhere, but when I sit in front of a Marvel film I ask just one thing of it, entertain me.

And, boy, do they do that in spades.

As a footnote, I do like Civil War very much because Cap's argument resonates with me, as one might suspect. It came as a shock to realise that Cap wants what I want, the right to say No. Superficial, of course, but it deepens my love for CW and Cap's character - after decades of grindingly dour anti-heroes, Cap's instinctive and indomitable white hattery feels like a breath of fresh air.

The only one I didn't like was the new FF film - I wish they could have folded the originals into the overall arc, with Chris Evans playing both Cap and the Torch.

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




pictsy

The Nutty Professor (1963)

This was an interesting watch.  There is a disconnect from the film that I had whilst watching due to not being a young person in the 60's.  I don't have much in the way of criticism or praise for the film.  It felt more like a weird time capsule.

Jerry Lewis is admittedly good in this film.

It's better than the remake.

CalHab

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Starz on Disney+). I've watched this a few times, and I love it more every time. Wes Anderson's stuff can sometimes be a bit much, but I have no doubt that this is a masterpiece. Every frame of it is beautiful. Every bit of casting is inspired. Every line of dialogue is perfect. It is surely one of the best films of the past 10 years.

I think I'm going to watch it again this week.

wedgeski

I Care a Lot. If nothing else, this film justifies its existence by the light it shines on yet another blood-soaked, money-gorging corner of America, but as a story I didn't get on with it. Call me old-fashioned, but I love to have someone to actually root for. We're watching Rosamund Pike having a really bad few days, yet everything she goes through she's brought on herself and it couldn't possibly be happening to a nastier piece of work. The mum? She knows exactly what's up, so we can't sympathise with her. The son? Pretty clear right from the beginning what kind of nasty shit he's into. The girlfriend? She displays a few superficial pangs of conscience but deserves not much better than the protagonist. The lawyer? A scumbag. The judge? Useless. So from the mid-point on, I asked myself why I was watching...and yet watch I did, waiting for some come-uppance. An odd, well-performed little film that didn't push my buttons.

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: CalHab on 01 March, 2021, 12:07:24 PM
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Starz on Disney+). I've watched this a few times, and I love it more every time. Wes Anderson's stuff can sometimes be a bit much, but I have no doubt that this is a masterpiece. Every frame of it is beautiful. Every bit of casting is inspired. Every line of dialogue is perfect. It is surely one of the best films of the past 10 years.

It is. I'm very glad we went to see it in the cinema.
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

Tiplodocus

Quote from: wedgeski on 01 March, 2021, 01:02:15 PM
I Care a Lot. If nothing else, this film justifies its existence by the light it shines on yet another blood-soaked, money-gorging corner of America, but as a story I didn't get on with it. Call me old-fashioned, but I love to have someone to actually root for. We're watching Rosamund Pike having a really bad few days, yet everything she goes through she's brought on herself and it couldn't possibly be happening to a nastier piece of work. The mum? She knows exactly what's up, so we can't sympathise with her. The son? Pretty clear right from the beginning what kind of nasty shit he's into. The girlfriend? She displays a few superficial pangs of conscience but deserves not much better than the protagonist. The lawyer? A scumbag. The judge? Useless. So from the mid-point on, I asked myself why I was watching...and yet watch I did, waiting for some come-uppance. An odd, well-performed little film that didn't push my buttons.

I found myself rooting for the gangsters... which was surely the point.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!