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Movies We've Seen Thread


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It's been several days and I think I hate ASM2 more than I originally thought. It's worth seeing in IMAX 3D because some of the swinging scenes are superb, but good lord what a pile of sh*t. There are things that work in comics that don't work in movies, like Electro's dialogue, and it's a shame that Webb doesn't look like he has the chops to realize what works and what doesn't.

 

Maybe it's because I thought the reboot set things up very well, but as a Spidey lover the whole thing is a damn shame. Because the cast is really great and with the budgets that they're working with they had the opportunity to create something awesome.

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Finally watched Europa Report. It reminded me a bit of Pandorum and Sunshine in that they were all solid, entertaining movies that I had never heard of. All three of them somehow avoided my radar.

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It's been several days and I think I hate ASM2 more than I originally thought. It's worth seeing in IMAX 3D because some of the swinging scenes are superb, but good lord what a pile of sh*t. There are things that work in comics that don't work in movies, like Electro's dialogue, and it's a shame that Webb doesn't look like he has the chops to realize what works and what doesn't.

 

Maybe it's because I thought the reboot set things up very well, but as a Spidey lover the whole thing is a damn shame. Because the cast is really great and with the budgets that they're working with they had the opportunity to create something awesome.

 

Until Sony lets go of the franchise and let Marvel handle it, it'll always be a disappointment. Haven't heard anyone say it was good, just meh. 

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Until Sony lets go of the franchise and let Marvel handle it, it'll always be a disappointment. Haven't heard anyone say it was good, just meh. 

 

Maybe. I'm not so sure Kevin Fiege needs to be involved to get things right. I think you just need to get people on board who can manage the line between the source material and what works with 24 fps, like Singer with X-Men or Nolan with the Batman movies.

 

I have to hold out some hope for the spinoff movies. My heart can't take Venom being screwed up twice in one lifetime.

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Finally watched Europa Report. It reminded me a bit of Pandorum and Sunshine in that they were all solid, entertaining movies that I had never heard of. All three of them somehow avoided my radar.

 

Cosign on Sunshine. If I were to list the most underrated SciFi movies ever, Sunshine would be right near the top of my list.

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I'll probably catch heat for this... but I watched Gravity this weekend... meh.

It was like 90 minutes of people floating around bumping into things and Sandra Bullock's signature nasally "AGGGH" exclamation. The end was a fun watch, but I just found myself thinking... "so, this is Open Water, but in space, and with Hollywood on their knees because of who is in it".

Perhaps I'll watch again sometime and find it more compelling, but it did nothing for me the other night.

I liked Gravity, but then again I like Open Water. Great comparison, btw.

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NASA astronauts were saying that, after this film, they finally had the means to explain to people what it's like in space. Other than some nitpicky stuff, it was perfection from that standpoint.

For that alone, to me, it deserves a solid grade, whatever you think of Sandra Bullock's acting.

It was nowhere near perfection from that standpoint. RJF posted Neil DeGrasse Tyson's debunking of the science awhile back.

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It's been several days and I think I hate ASM2 more than I originally thought. It's worth seeing in IMAX 3D because some of the swinging scenes are superb, but good lord what a pile of sh*t. There are things that work in comics that don't work in movies, like Electro's dialogue, and it's a shame that Webb doesn't look like he has the chops to realize what works and what doesn't.

Maybe it's because I thought the reboot set things up very well, but as a Spidey lover the whole thing is a damn shame. Because the cast is really great and with the budgets that they're working with they had the opportunity to create something awesome.

Spider-Man might just be one of those characters who, like Superman, it's just really hard to build a movie around because it's impossible to staple any sort of pathos onto an invulnerable superhero. Instead, writers are left with the task of trying to write screenplays wherein having superpowers is some kind of labor. It becomes a credibility leap that the audience member can't make. MoS trying to turn young Clark Kent into a moody teen in the Chris Cornell/Soundgarden mold was despicable, as is Emo Parker.

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I liked Gravity, but then again I like Open Water. Great comparison, btw.

 

Nothing wrong with that, my disdain has more to do with Hollywood's automatic re-categorization of the movie because of who was in it. Bullock and Clooney? Oh, it has to be buzzed about like a legit movie... when it was in fact nothing more than an unconventional thriller.

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Spider-Man might just be one of those characters who, like Superman, it's just really hard to build a movie around because it's impossible to staple any sort of pathos onto an invulnerable superhero. Instead, writers are left with the task of trying to write screenplays wherein having superpowers is some kind of labor. It becomes a credibility leap that the audience member can't make. MoS trying to turn young Clark Kent into a moody teen in the Chris Cornell/Soundgarden mold was despicable, as is Emo Parker.

 

No it wasn't, and it ate up like 4 seconds of the movie. 

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Spider-Man might just be one of those characters who, like Superman, it's just really hard to build a movie around because it's impossible to staple any sort of pathos onto an invulnerable superhero. Instead, writers are left with the task of trying to write screenplays wherein having superpowers is some kind of labor. It becomes a credibility leap that the audience member can't make. MoS trying to turn young Clark Kent into a moody teen in the Chris Cornell/Soundgarden mold was despicable, as is Emo Parker.

Dude I am being kind when I say this, but you have literally no idea what you're talking about when it comes to Supes if that's how you feel.

Edited by RutgersJetFan
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No it wasn't, and it ate up like 4 seconds of the movie.

It doesn't matter. From All Star to Birthright to plenty others, reluctance and confusion are a huge part of who Clark is. It's one of the primary things that drives his actions as Superman, and there is an angst that results from that because he can't be everywhere at once.

Edited by RutgersJetFan
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Nothing wrong with that, my disdain has more to do with Hollywood's automatic re-categorization of the movie because of who was in it. Bullock and Clooney? Oh, it has to be buzzed about like a legit movie... when it was in fact nothing more than an unconventional thriller.

Gravity is the best space movie since 2001, maybe even unmatched visually by anything and that's why it should have won best picture. But I have to agree, the bland story, Bullock's in particular, was needless and took away from the experience.

Cuaron is a genius though. No doubt. There isn't a better person with a camera in movies.

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Gravity is the best space movie since 2001, maybe even unmatched visually by anything and that's why it should have won best picture. But I have to agree, the bland story, Bullock's in particular, was needless and took away from the experience.

Cuaron is a genius though. No doubt. There isn't a better person with a camera in movies.

 

I'd argue "best cinematography" is more appropriate then.

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What Cuaron achieved with that movie goes beyond aspects of cinematography. He had something like 11 people working on each individual frame.

 

Fair enough, I can appreciate all of that, but... I'm a fan of story and character development when I think in terms of "best picture", to me this movie lacked. It lacked emotion, I didn't empathize with the characters, I just wasn't feeling it. 

 

I guess, sometimes, it's okay for a film to win on strengths other than the emotional experience of the story.

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Fair enough, I can appreciate all of that, but... I'm a fan of story and character development when I think in terms of "best picture", to me this movie lacked. It lacked emotion, I didn't empathize with the characters, I just wasn't feeling it.

I guess, sometimes, it's okay for a film to win on strengths other than the emotional experience of the story.

How many movies in history haven't been lacking something? 3 or 4 tops.

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How many movies in history haven't been lacking something? 3 or 4 tops.

 

Exactly, which is why I usually look at story and acting as my criteria for best picture... many, many great movies have come and gone where the story was so good, that the lacking cinematography, effects, etc, were inconsequential. 

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Exactly, which is why I usually look at story and acting as my criteria for best picture... many, many great movies have come and gone where the story was so good, that the lacking cinematography, effects, etc, were inconsequential.

When you're floating in space in front of a 60 foot IMAX screen, nothing is inconsequential, and it makes it very easy to not care about Sandra Bullock's daughter.

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When you're floating in space in front of a 60 foot IMAX screen, nothing is inconsequential, and it makes it very easy to not care about Sandra Bullock's daughter.

 

I watched it at home. In my basement. Maybe it just doesn't translate. :)

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I watched it at home. In my basement. Maybe it just doesn't translate. :)

It doesn't at all. Clooney argued that the movie at its core is a justification for 3D, and I have to agree. I saw it twice in the theater because I knew once it went off the big screen it wouldn't translate over.

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It doesn't matter. From All Star to Birthright to plenty others, reluctance and confusion are a huge part of who Clark is. It's one of the primary things that drives his actions as Superman, and there is an angst that results from that because he can't be everywhere at once.

 

The maybe his dad gives him when Clark asks if he should have let those kids die was some deep sh*t, it made the movie better to me. He needs to be Clark and he needs to be Superman. I like that they took it seriously. Spider Man 3 just turned Peter's problems into a joke. 

 

OTOH I can't agree with Gravity being the best space movie since 2001. Those two actors completely take you out of the movie from the start. Bullock's character is one of the most unintentionally comedic characters of all time. Every single time I think of her I think of Louis CK calling her a reluctant astronaut and comparing her to Lucy Ricardo. To me the movie's great contribution to cinema is that 3D was legitimatized. 

Edited by SenorGato
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The maybe his dad gives him when Clark asks if he should have let those kids die was some deep sh*t, it made the movie better to me. He needs to be Clark and he needs to be Superman. I like that they took it seriously. Spider Man 3 just turned Peter's problems into a joke.

The one thing Snyder screwed up was his death. He sacrificed a key aspect of Superman's character because he couldn't figure out how to tell his emergence into the public otherwise. Jonathan Kent dying of natural causes is integral to the Superman mythos and I think it's going to come back and bite this franchise in the ass eventually.

OTOH I can't agree with Gravity being the best space movie since 2001. Those two actors completely take you out of the movie from the start. Bullock's character is one of the most unintentionally comedic characters of all time. Every single time I think of her I think of Louis CK calling her a reluctant astronaut and comparing her to Lucy Ricardo. To me the movie's great contribution to cinema is that 3D was legitimatized.

You thought John Carter and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman were good. I don't think you're in much of a position to be waxing poetic on the history of the genre.

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You thought John Carter and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman were good. I don't think you're in much of a position to be waxing poetic on the history of the genre.

 

 

hahaha burn.   both horrible movies and I am one of 1,000 people that have read more than 1 john carter books in the last decade, lol

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hahaha burn. both horrible movies and I am one of 1,000 people that have read more than 1 john carter books in the last decade, lol

My favorite was watching the comics go up in value a few weeks before the release (which is the norm for comics these days) and then crash right back down as soon as it came out.

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The one thing Snyder screwed up was his death. He sacrificed a key aspect of Superman's character because he couldn't figure out how to tell his emergence into the public otherwise. Jonathan Kent dying of natural causes is integral to the Superman mythos and I think it's going to come back and bite this franchise in the ass eventually.

You thought John Carter and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman were good. I don't think you're in much of a position to be waxing poetic on the history of the genre.

 

Did the British like them?  League of Extraordinary Gentleman is constantly on BBCA and I think I've seen John Carter there as well. 

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My favorite was watching the comics go up in value a few weeks before the release (which is the norm for comics these days) and then crash right back down as soon as it came out.

 

they have comics ?  cool.  my grandfather left me a lot of burroughs novels, I have a very old tarzan (1914) and all the john carter books.  they are all circa 1930

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they have comics ? cool. my grandfather left me a lot of burroughs novels, I have a very old tarzan (1914) and all the john carter books. they are all circa 1930

Both DC and Marvel did runs in the 60s and 70s. But the most notable were several Dell books in the 30s and 40s as well, I think Burroughs' son did a lot of that work. Hard to find books.

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