Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 18, 2019 21:48:42 GMT -5
Octaman was the most fun I've had at a live show since Samurai Cop.
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Post by Torgo on Apr 17, 2019 21:14:49 GMT -5
Day Fourteen - Doctor Strange
Probably the one thing that I need to give the MCU credit for is that the people who make these films have gotten really good at giving characters that have their own unique audiences a more mass appeal without having betrayed why those original fans might have liked them in the first place. I never really thought much about Thor or Captain America growing up, but I have a genuine love for that first Thor movie and the Captain America trilogy is one of the best superhero sagas ever put onscreen. Hell, what they did for the Guardians of the Galaxy is nothing short of a miracle, so kudos.
Doctor Strange is a character who I always felt was very far outside of my personal box area. I grew up a Spider-Man fan, and every once in a while he'd bump into Doctor Strange and the lore of the character always flew over my head. But Spidey always seemed to go with the flow with him, so that's what I did as a reader. Now that I'm older, I have a slight twinge of regret for not looking deeper into Strange, since he's the other major character that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created together. But I had seen him in cartoons, I had seen that sh*tty TV movie/failed pilot, and I saw that slightly less sh*tty animated movie from a few years ago, and nothing really drew my interest into the character. So of course, there'd be rumblings of a Doctor Strange movie for years and I'd think to myself "Good for Doctor Strange fans. They should have one." I'd definitely see it, but I wouldn't say it was a big thing on my radar. Then I saw it, and I looooooooooved it.
To fully succeed, Doctor Strange needed an abstract thinker at the helm. The horror genre was probably the best place to look, because if look in the right direction you can find an abstract thinker. I don't think I've seen any of Scott Derrickson's work more than once, and even then it was years ago, but I have thought he was a talent that was waiting to be tapped with the right project, which just never seemed to come along (I haven't seen Sinister, which I hear is his most popular movie). He takes the tale of Strange and delivers abstract, but not so abstract that it could potentially alienate audience members who just want fantasy escapism. There is a lot of space bending and trippy imagery, and yet while the sorcery is upfront, he makes it very physical and not simply pointing at someone and reciting an incantation. The magic in this movie is something of a mixture between flashy powers and martial arts, which is very unique and fun to look at, and it helped me see Doctor Strange in a new light. At the same time, while the movie is more physical than I anticipated it to be, the good doctor saves the day at the end using his brains and not his fists, in one of the most unique climaxes to a superhero movie ever.
The success of the film also rides on it's great case. Benedict Cumberbatch gives Strange that charismatic arrogance that Robert Downey Jr. gave Tony Stark, and I treasure Benedict Wong as Wong. I've always enjoyed Chiwetel Ejiofor whenever I've seen him pop up in movies, and I quite like his version of Mordo. It would be so easy to portray this character as just a douchebag who betrays the Ancient One because whatever, but the film gives him an arc where he feels betrayed by her instead, saving his fall from grace for another time, which is smart. Even if his character is underdeveloped, Mads Mikkelsen is always a treat, and he's a very enjoyable villain. The casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One was controversial, since if you ignore the gender-bending it was seen as whitewashing. I understand the point of the objections and to an extent I agree with it, but Swinton is usually pretty great in roles like this. This film is no exception.
But there's one thing about Doctor Strange that still doesn't quite gel with me completely. You now that host segment in the MST episode Cave Dwellers where Joel and the Bots give extraordinary names to ordinary objects to make them special? Every time someone says the name of a magical object in this movie as the "Something of Whatever," that segment is all I can think about. Lol
Rumor has it that Marvel is fasttracking Doctor Strange 2 for next year, trying to fill the hole that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 left in their schedule. I'd like a sequel to this wildly fun movie sooner rather than later, and Infinity War just helped me desire one even more, I really hope they aren't rushing it. A proper Doctor Strange script feels like it demands thought, and I'd rather have one done right than done fast.
Favorite Moment - "Dormammu, I've come to bargain." 'Nuff said.
End Credit Scenes - The first is actually a scene taken from Doctor Strange's cameo in Thor: Ragnarok, where Strange agrees to help Thor as long as he and Loki leave Earth. It's a pretty good scene, and helps us anticipate the next Thor film. Unfortunately when this movie came out, that film was a year away. But we'd have to wait much longer for a payoff to the second scene, which sees Mordo stealing the power from Benjamin Bratt's character as he announces the world has too many wizards. I can't wait to see where this goes.
Stan Lee Cameo - This is one of Stan's simpler cameos, as Strange and Mordo are in the Mirror Dimension and on the run, they land on the window to a bus where Stan is seen reading a book and laughing.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 17, 2019 6:35:27 GMT -5
Some neglected Marvel TV notes: The events of Civil War are referenced in the Agents of SHIELD episode "Emancipation," though it doesn't factor into the show's storyline. The Sokovia Accords are incorporated into the story of SHIELD's fourth season. This is the last major time SHIELD referenced the film franchise until they acknowledged the coming of Thanos in the fifth season.
Alfre Woodard has a bit role in the movie as the grieving mother who hands Tony a photo of her son. She also played Mariah Dillard in Luke Cage. She's not the first actor to jump from film to TV as a different character, Enver Gjokaj had a role as a cop in The Avengers before being cast in a lead role on Agent Carter.
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Post by Torgo on Apr 16, 2019 23:31:25 GMT -5
Day Thirteen - Captain America: Civil War
Well, we're getting into some of my favorites now. Phase Three stepped up their game with some of these movies, let me tell you. Civil War is a franchise best that set's an impossibly high bar too.
Even though I enjoy Age of Ultron, there is something about the ending that doesn't set right with me. Ultron was created by the Avengers, specifically Tony Stark, which means all the damage he did meant they should have been held accountable for it. But that didn't happen in the movie. After all the tension, all the casualties, all the destruction, the hundreds that were saved while their homes were lost, the Avengers were just a smile and a quip at the end, seemingly unshaken by the fact that the entire movie was pretty much their fault. Civil War is the epilogue that Age of Ultron demanded but didn't deliver on.
In telling a story that is in part an extension of an Avengers tale, why is it a Captain America movie and not an Avengers movie? The film also picks off plotlines left behind by The Winter Soldier, and is primarily focused on Cap, who is working outside of the Avengers in this story. The only scene in which he works as a part of the group is in the intro, and he ceases to be an actual Avenger when he refuses to sign the Sokovia Accords. From that point on, the Avengers aren't the protagonists of the film, which makes it enough of non-Avengers movie in my book that I give it a pass. However, this film very much works for me as part two of the story of the previous Avengers film, so I'd consider it fairly essential to the Avengers storyline.
But on the subject of protagonists, I think it should be noted that the film doesn't really have one. Cap is the main character, but is he the hero? His decisions against the Sokovia Accords are somewhat hypocritical, because he wants to uphold the law but he doesn't want to be governed by it by being told when he can uphold it. That said, the point he's trying to make is enforced by the introduction of the Winter Soldier in the scenario, in which it feels like Steve is the only person who is seeing that there is something deeper to what's going on but the Accords and the tensions between the Avengers is preventing certain parties from seeing it.
This doesn't make Tony a villain either. If anything, politics are the villain. The debate starts rationally, but it degrades to the point where everyone is so angry at each other that nobody is willing to hear anyone out anymore. A lot of politics aren't black and white, and the Sokovia Accords are a very grey area. Steve makes solid points while Tony makes solid points. The very thing that makes the clashing of these two men enticing is that their story arcs very much make their leanings on this issue very understandable. Steve's experience in The Winter Soldier left lingering doubts about the modern government and he has developed a severe distrust. Tony, on the other hand, his entire story since the first Iron Man film has been about taking accountability for his own actions, and he sees the Accords as a way to do that. Neither one is wrong to have any of these feelings, though the violence that their opposing viewpoints brings may be the fault of both of them.
But there is a flaw in this movie, and regrettably it's not a small one. I've watched this movie a dozen times since it was released, and each time when the movie wants me to believe that Zemo's "plan" to tear down the Avengers was as calculated as it was, I take a step back and think "Wait a second...that's improbable." Zemo's plot relies a lot on coincidence, certain characters need to be in certain places at certain times and if the movie wants me to believe he was playing them like chess pieces, I simply don't. He was lucky as hell that Cap, Iron Man, and the Winter Soldier were all where he wanted them at the end, because Iron Man wouldn't have made it at all if Falcon didn't give him a vital piece of information, which is something that was far out of his control. If he was pushing the Avengers into tension in hopes they would break, that would be one thing, but having these events lead them to a certain spot is a HUGE reach.
The villain may not gel with me, but the heroes do, and this movie is all about their relationship, and it's worth watching to see it grow and dissolve. We even get new heroes in Black Panther and Spider-Man, whetting the appetite for their solo adventures. Civil War is a compelling character piece, and it's one of the finest of its genre.
Favorite Moment - I'm at a stalemate between the two setpiece action sequences of the film. The fight between Team Cap and Team Iron Man at the airport is pure spectacle and a lot of fun, while the fight between Steve, Bucky, and Tony at the climax is intimate, personal, and heartbreaking. I'm probably going to lean toward the latter because it's the gutpunch payoff of the entire film, but the problem with the character of Zemo taints it just enough that I'm second guessing myself. I do have a problem favoring the airport fight as well, though, because I feel it loses steam toward the end (Rhodey scene notwithstanding). But that airport fight does have my favorite dialogue exchange of the movie: "We haven't met yet, I'm Clint." "I don't care." Then again, my other favorite exchange is in the finale: "He's my friend." "So was I."
Gah! Why do I have to choose? Don't make me choose! You cruel bastards! Fine. I'll go with the finale, because it holds me during its entire duration.
End Credit Scenes - Steve and Bucky take refuge in Wakanda after the events of the film, as Buck goes on ice again. We get a small peek at Wakanda before we get to see its true beauty in the Academy Award Winning set design of Black Panther. The final scene sees Peter Parker trying to explain a black eye to Aunt May, and also playing with his new webshooters. It's a fun scene, though it doesn't quite jive with scenes in Spider-Man: Homecoming, where Peter has an excuse for being away, which doesn't really connect with his excuse for his black eye. But excuses haven't really been Peter's specialty in any continuity, so this probably isn't a flaw.
Stan Lee Cameo - Stan is a UPS delivery man at the end of the film, asking Tony "Are you Tony Stank?" Rhodey's reaction to this is priceless.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 16, 2019 20:42:01 GMT -5
I have a fondness for Revenge of the Creature as well.
Though eventually we'll get the obligatory This Island Earth and Marooned post. Diabolik and Phase IV have fans also, though I intensely disagree with them.
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Post by Torgo on Apr 16, 2019 13:29:13 GMT -5
So...I just watched the leaked footage from Endgame. There were more spoilers than I thought there would be, but I regret nothing. This movie is going to be insane. You think you're ready? You're wrong. I'm crying, and I only saw four minutes of random snippets. Nope, nope, nope, nope I'm not listening not paying attention. I'm already going to struggle to keep myself clear of spoilers because I won't be there opening weekend. No we have stuff leaking online. They've done such a good job of keeping stuff under wraps all this time. Who screwed up in the last two weeks? The print of the movie had foreign subtitles (Israeli, maybe? I'm no expert, so forgive me if I'm wrong), so it might have been somebody working on a subbed version of the movie for foreign countries. It was shared via a crappy cell phone image. Whoever it was, it looked like he just shared 30 second nerd-out scenes he really liked, so what was leaked featured HUGE moments. Keeping a lid on what I saw is going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done, but I won't share anything. I will say if you thought it couldn't be any bigger than Infinity War, you're wrong.
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Post by Torgo on Apr 15, 2019 23:20:54 GMT -5
So...I just watched the leaked footage from Endgame.
There were more spoilers than I thought there would be, but I regret nothing.
This movie is going to be insane. You think you're ready? You're wrong. I'm crying, and I only saw four minutes of random snippets.
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Post by Torgo on Apr 15, 2019 22:50:04 GMT -5
Before we get started, Hellboy review binge!
First up is Chris Stuckmann, who says the movie isn't good but it's not as bad as most are saying.
Second is Angry Joe. They all hated it.
Third is The Weekly Planet, who reviewed in briefly but moved on to other topics. James thought it was uneven but okay, Mason liked it.
On top of that, on this week's Caravan of Garbage James and Mason played a really bad PS1 Hellboy game.
But enough of Hellboy, let's talk about something that doesn't suck.
Day Twelve - Ant-Man
I could dwell all day on what we could have had in an Edgar Wright Ant-Man movie. Hell, I have dwelled on it for years. When Wright dropped out of this project it was soul crushing for me, because I wanted that movie so bad. Getting a Payton Reed Ant-Man movie is like asking for a steak dinner and getting a Happy Meal.
I take solace in that there are things in this movie that do feel Wright-ish. I'm sure a lot of the Ant-Man vs. Yellow Jacket stuff in the third act storyboarded by Wright and probably changed minimally. Also, Michael Pena's quirk of telling stories while the characters act things out in his own words feels like a Wright idea to me. But these things feel blander than they probably could be, because they were created by someone more visionary than the person who executes them. It's like if Guillermo del Toro scripted Hellboy 3, but handed it to Tim Story to direct.
I always feel like I'm being unfair to this movie, which is pretty good, but feels stale to me. The growing and shrinking effects and setpieces are solid and entertaining, I enjoy Scott's relationship with his daughter, and I've been a fan of Evangeline Lily since Lost. These are all random elements that elevate a somewhat uninteresting story.
Ultimately I think one of my problems is that I'm not much of a heist movie guy. The Oceans movies are fine I guess, but I didn't really love any of them (I don't even think I saw all of them). Heist movies always start out as wading through a lot of chitter-chatter of things they promise we'll see before we actually see it, even though things rarely go exactly according to plan. Every time I watch one it feels like sitting in a waiting room for an hour and then getting twenty minutes of payoff. Ant-Man has a little bit more action than your average heist movie, which slightly redeems it, but it's still lengthy periods of waiting for something to happen.
It's slightly above average, in my book. I have fun in sections, and in others I find I just don't have any enthusiasm for it.
Favorite Moment - I'm torn between two. The first is the fight on Thomas the Tank Engine, which is cool and hilarious. But if I'm being honest with myself, I'm going to give it to the gratuitous cameo. Ant-Man vs. Falcon doesn't have a lot to do with anything (though it has a neat tie-in to the villain's plot in the end), but it's a wild ride, and it's just as fun today as it was when this movie was released.
End Credit Scenes - The first is a scene where Hank Pym shows Hope a prototype for the Wasp outfit, setting up threads for the sequel. I like Wasp more than Ant-Man, and I like Evangeline Lily, so this is one of the few "Hell yes!" moments in the movie for me. The second is a scene taken from Civil War, where Captain America and Falcon have subdued Bucky and pondering what their options are. Falcon says "I know a guy," referring to Ant-Man. This small peek at Civil War was enticing at the time, even if it is an entirely different aspect ratio than the rest of the movie.
Stan Lee Cameo - This might be my favorite cameo ever. Michael Pena is telling one of his stories where other people act out what he's saying, and his friend is bragging about this "writer chick" that he's with to a bartender, asking "She's crazy stupid fine, right?" Stan is the bartender, and he says back "Yeah! CRAZY stupid fine!"
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 15, 2019 14:26:05 GMT -5
BTW, I neglected to point out some Age of Ultron Agents of SHIELD connections, which I love doing.
First of all, Coulson and his team find Loki's scepter for Maria Hill in "The Dirty Half-Dozen," which sets the Avengers into action at the beginning of the movie.
Second, the provider of the helicarriers that appeared at the end of the film is revealed at the beginning of the following episode, "Scars."
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Post by Torgo on Apr 15, 2019 0:04:06 GMT -5
Day Eleven - Avengers: Age of Ultron So, my opinion doesn't quite match the standard opinion of the MCU films. If anything my lackluster reception of the first Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy and general enthusiasm for Thor and The Incredible Hulk cemented me as someone who probably shouldn't be listened to. Here's another unpopular opinion: Age of Ultron is better than the first. Age of Ultron is a flawed movie in many ways, but so is the original. The flaws in Age of Ultron just bother me less. What clicks with me in this movie more than the first? The scale definitely feels more worthy of an Avengers movie to me. It's a globetrotting adventure, and it feels more in tune with what I think an Avengers movie should strive to be rather than arguing in a science lab then tearing down New York in the last twenty minutes. To top all of that, while the stakes are only marginally higher than the first film, it feels more like the Avengers success is in doubt in this movie, which makes it more exciting to watch. As for the common complaints about this movie, I will concede some of them. One thing I think it gets too much guff for is the comedy. I don't really think there is more humor in this movie than the first, personally. In fact I'd say the humor it does have is actually funnier than the first. As to whether Ultron cracks wise too much, I think the flaw is more that Ultron is humanized a little too much when he should probably be a bit colder, but I think the fact that Ultron shares a personality with his creator, Tony Stark, is mostly a successful idea. Thor's vision detour is something that doesn't quite bother me because it's so brief, though I would argue that it doesn't make sense. If Sif and Volstagg knew of the Infinity Stones, it feels like a reach that Thor is just learning about them. Then there is the Bruce Banner and Black Widow relationship, which I've heard many object to for various reasons, the biggest being the "Still think you're the only monster on the team?" line, which I feel is somewhat misunderstood, but we could argue the intention of that dialogue for days. Different people will read different things in it. As for Bruce and Natasha, I don't object to the non-source material pairing if it makes sense. One aspect of the old Justice League cartoon I liked back in the day was the little romance it portrayed between Batman and Wonder Woman, which on the surface seemed like an odd pair, but the show found a way to make it seem natural they'd have an attraction to each other. Age of Ultron pairs Bruce and Natasha together in a way that makes sense, but the problem I have is that it's fairly irrelevant. There are aspects to Ultron's development that seemed to be rushed through, while Bruce and Natasha hog a fair amount of screentime in a subplot that isn't really important. At times it feels like writer/director Joss Whedon's priorities aren't quite where they should be. The film's portrayal of Quicksilver is also stated to be inferior to the one in Fox's X-Men series. I'm going to respectfully disagree with that. The Evan Peters Quicksilver has one pretty good scene and a few good lines, but there isn't too much about him I respond to, and his poor attempt at character development in Apocalypse did him no favors. Aaron Taylor Johnson was more fun for me, as his relationship with his sister made hime feel more like a character than a special effect excuse. I also promised you all a Brian Tyler story about how he left Marvel, so I might as well get that out of the way. Now I'd like to say I found this out by accident really from a source on the internet, so take this with a pinch of salt, but based on the facts we do know about the score to Age of Ultron, this story seems very likely to me. In case you didn't notice, Age of Ultron has two composers: Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman. Brian Tyler was announced to replace Alan Silvestri on this Avengers sequel not long after he scored Thor: The Dark World. Tyler was hired for the film by infamous penny pinching Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, who according to my source was hired because he was "cheaper" than Silvestri. Tyler had a clause in his contract that stated he was not to work on any other film by any competing studio while working on Age of Ultron to ensure the project had his full attention. What went wrong? Paul Walker died. Tyler was already contracted to Unviersal's Furious 7, which was set to be released in 2014, but when Walker was killed and the project was delayed until 2015, Tyler found himself working on the two projects at the same time. Because of this, he was fired. Danny Elfman was hired at the last minute to complete the score, and some sources say they also wanted him to liven it up with the Avengers theme more, which Tyler reportedly played down. Something similar seemed to happen to Elfman on Justice League, after Junkie XL left the project. In that case, however, Elfman had to construct a score from scratch. Crazy. But my final thoughts on the film are pretty positive. I think the movie is fun and exciting, and far more fun and exciting than the first. That's just me though. Favorite Moment - Well, I kinda like this... End Credit Scene - Other than The Incredible Hulk, this is the only MCU movie to not have a scene at the very end of the credits, instead opting to have a mid-credit scene. Thanos puts on the Infinity Gauntlet and says "Fine, I'll do it myself." Presumably he's off to Zandar to get the Power Stone. Did I forget to mention yesterday that Guardians of the Galaxy was Josh Brolin's first appearance of Thanos? Shame on me. Age of Ultron is the second, and we won't see him again until Infinity War. Stan Lee Cameo - This is one of my favorites. The Avengers are throwing a party and Thor breaks out the good sh*t. He warns a group of World War II vets that it was not meant for mortal men, but vet Stan insists they try some. Stan is later dragged out of the room drunkenly slurring the word "Excelsior!"
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 14, 2019 10:20:00 GMT -5
Okay folks, I'm ready to unveil a new section of my blog dedicated to The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. I've been considering it for a little while because I was a Joe Bob fan while I was an MST fan when I was a teenager and he helped groom my love for bad cinema. Now that both he and MST are back, I'm in heaven. But I was hesitant about adding him to the site because he's not a riffer, but finally I came to the conclusion that I can write about whatever the hell I want and everyone else can deal with it. I've started out by reviewing the first two movies of his original marathon. Get ready for some Texas Chainsaw Mannequin, because it's Tourist Trap! And Joe Bob follows it up with a camp counselor bloodbath and the infamous twist ending of Sleepaway Camp! I was also lucky enough to be able to watch this weekend's double feature live, and if those want to follow my live tweet storms during these airings can follow me @1godzillafan on Twitter. This week Joe Bob watched on of his most recent movies, the New Zealand Evil Dead homage of heavy metal DEATHGASM. He then followed the blood and guts up with subtle atmosphere as we switched things up with The Changeling! For the record, I'm going to breeze through Joe Bob's Shudder output before I get back to MST. MST isn't going anywhere, but episodes of Joe Bob are already disappearing from Shudder and I want to get through them before I lose anymore. As of right now I can't review The Prowler, The Legend of Boggy Creek, and Phantasm: RaVager, but hopefully if Shudder regains the rights they'll put them back up. Plus having Joe Bob back is too much fun, and I'm totally addicted right now!
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Post by Torgo on Apr 13, 2019 23:11:48 GMT -5
Day Ten - Guardians of the Galaxy
Not to be one of those guys, but I liked James Gunn before it was cool to like James Gunn. I was one of those people who defended his script to Scooby-Doo, I mean say what you will of that movie, but that script is actually fairly clever but diluted in execution to appeal more to children. I saw his directorial debut Slither in a theater way back in 2005 (one of the few) and it was one of my favorite movies of that year. I also quite enjoyed his sophomore effort, 2011's superhero black comedy/satire Super. So while I knew next to nothing about the Guardians of the Galaxy when this movie was announced, when Gunn signed onto it I knew it was going to be a movie to watch.
Guardians of the Galaxy is probably my least favorite Gunn flick, not for lack of trying though. The movie is wild and fun, and there is a lot of Gunn in it and a lot of Gunn is a good thing. His take on the sci-fi portion of the Marvel universe is inventive and full of ingenuity. The movie shines with some fairly creative action setpieces, from Rocket's escape plan from the prison to the giant Nova Corps net on Zandar. The movie is fun because Gunn knows how to deliver fun, even if it's toned down (a lot) and more mainstream (by a wide margin) that what he normally does.
My issues with the film mostly stem from the fact that from what I can tell, I don't think Gunn has told a story with a theme like this before and there's a little uncertainty about it. The story he is telling in Guardians is about a group people who have had their families taken away from them coming together to form their own, and it mostly works. The main issue that I feel makes this film not work quite as much for me as it does other people is its sentimentality. Now, I'm not one to scoff at sentimentality, as Steven Spielberg and Frank Capra are two of my favorite directors, but sentimentality needs a certain execution to work and Gunn's attempt at it is a bit too on the nose. Probably the best example of this happens in the climax, in which Starlord grabs the Power Stone and is unable to hold onto its power, with the only way to control it is to share the power with the other Guardians. Gamora yells "Take my hand!" causing a sudden flash to Starlord's dying mother saying the same thing from the beginning of the movie. This moment right here almost ruins the entire scene, and it's lucky the sequence of the Guardians grabbing onto each other is as strong as it is. We didn't need this shot of his mother. If Gunn wanted the audience to make the connection between the two scenes he should have trusted them to put the two instances of "Take my hand" together in their heads, and it instead comes off as a very cheap and annoying tearjerk moment.
And don't get me started on "We are Groot." I'll be ranting all day about that one.
Whatever I might say about this movie, one thing is certain...Nebula is hot. And the majority of the cast is pretty good too. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Vin Diesel are all spot-on casting. It took me a while to warm up to Dave Bautista, but I'm starting to like him the more I see him in this movie and future ones. The only Guardian I'm still a little iffy about is Bradley Cooper as Rocket, because no matter what his voice always sounds way too forced to me. James Gunn mainstay Michael Rooker is here also, and just as awesome as ever. But...I gotta say it...John C. Reilly really doesn't fit in in this movie. He just pulls me out every single time.
The best thing about Guardians of the Galaxy to me is that it put James Gunn in a spotlight that he has deserved for years. It might not always have been for the best, as we saw last year, but once his run with the Guardians is over, I can't wait to see what crazy thing he comes up with that you know for certain a studio will fund. ::crosses fingers for Slither 2::
Favorite Moment - It would be easy to pick one of the movie's many moments where the soundtrack ties into the action, which is always fun, but there is one moment in this movie that delights me more than anything else in it. When the Guardians are in prison and Rocket is listing out all the things he needs to help them escape, the last thing he mentions is a battery that's high up on a wall and is hooked to an alarm. There's a wonderful sequence where Rocket, Starlord, and Gamora are in the forefront of the frame laying this plan out while Groot, trying to be helpful, retrieves the battery in the background. Rocket ends his plan by saying they need to get the battery last because it will set the alarm off...just as Groot unhooks the battery and sets off the alarm. This scene tickles me every time.
End Credits Scene - James Gunn has confirmed the original end credit scene was Baby Groot dancing and freezing every time Drax glances at him, but he loved it so much he bumped it to just before the credits because he wanted to make sure the audience saw it. The final end credit scene is in the Collector's destroyed lair, where who would we see there but Marvel's first movie star, causing Marvel films to come full circle. Who is it? Well...
Stan Lee Cameo - Stan Lee has one of his briefest cameos early in the movie as Rocket is looking for a bounty and he sees Stan in his binoculars putting the moves on a much younger woman. Rocket mocks him, just as he does everyone.
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Post by Torgo on Apr 12, 2019 14:44:27 GMT -5
Day Nine - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
At long last we reach Marvel's most surprising find, Joe and Anthony Russo. People like Jon Favreau, Joss Whedon, Ryan Coogler, and James Gunn were fairly known (though not exactly mainstream) talents before they joined the MCU. The Russos only films before The Winter Soldier were the George Clooney/William H. Macy/Sam Rockwell caper Welcome to Collinwood and the Owen Wilson/Kate Hudson/Matt Dillon romantic comedy You, Me, & Dupree, neither one was all that popular nor well-remembered. Like Whedon, the duo was mostly experienced in television, including fan-favorite shows like Arrested Development and Community. Considering how collaborative TV is and how the MCU is basically being run like a cinematic TV series, this probably made them the ideal collaborators for such a movie series. But still, who knew when they were hired that they would be the longest running directors of the series at four films?
I'm not sure what I expected when they signed on, but I'm pretty sure this movie wasn't it. If I were to guess what they would have done based on their past experience, I would have thought they'd approach Captain America with a more Iron Man sensibility, or at least a film closer to Thor: The Dark World. But it became clear early on that Winter Soldier was going to the grittiest movies of the series (it probably still is). The film is very intense chase thriller in the Bourne Identity vein, with the most personal and emotional stakes yet. It probably wouldn't be overselling it to say that The Winter Soldier is the Dark Knight of the MCU.
Watching this movie five years later, It's still amazing how into this story I am, how much I'm thrilled by it, how intrigued I am by the character driven narrative. Even though I long since know how this movie plays out, the way it tells it is masterful. The film tells a major turning point for the entire series, one that's felt for years after this. The rise of Hydra and downfall of SHIELD was definitely felt on Agents of SHIELD, which told a story concurrent to The Winter Soldier in "Turn, Turn, Turn" and dealt with the aftermath of this movie for the next few seasons.
This movie also deserves kudos for getting Robert Redford for a main role, who plays our head villain. Getting Redford for a Captain America movie is about on par with getting Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman for a Superman movie or Jack Nicholson for a Batman movie.
If I were to note some things that could stand to be improved, I'd say that the action scene "shakey cam" could be toned down. The choreography in these scenes is spectacular and they demand to be shown off better. What exactly happened to Bucky to turn him into the Winter Soldier is left maybe too ambiguous, though the little hints are there if one wants to put it together. Other than that, this movie is a superhero masterpiece. It's a spy movie masterpiece. It's an action movie masterpiece. It's a political thriller masterpiece. Hell, it doesn't matter what it is, it's a masterpiece.
Favorite Moment - There are so many great action scenes in this movie: The fight with Bartok, the rooftop chase, the freeway scene, ect. BUT watching this movie again, it's more clear than ever that the correct answer to this question is the elevator fight. It starts off as a tense paranoia scene that portrays the calm before the storm perfectly, and when it turns into the big fight they use that close quarters for all it's worth. This is excellent in conception and execution, and it's stands proud as the highlight of the movie.
End Credit Scenes - First up we have a slight peek at what's to come as Baron Von Strucker discusses his Hydra experiments with one of his cronies. We see that he's in possession of Loki's scepter from Avengers and has been using it as a part of his experiments, which has mutated two test subjects shown to be Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. At this point, Disney did not have the rights to use the term "mutants" or anything related to the X-Men except these two characters, so a little info on their revamped origin is welcome. The second scene has Bucky at the history museum, learning about his history with the Howling Commandos.
Stan Lee Cameo - Steve gears up to take Hydra on head-on, but he is left without a uniform. So he just swipes his old one from the first movie out of a history museum. Stan is the security guard, and upon discovering one of their most prized pieces has gone missing, he says to himself "I am so fired!" Hilarious!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 12, 2019 10:50:45 GMT -5
I'm going to be covering something a bit different with my next reviews. I've considered something for a little while, but didn't think it fit the criteria of my blog. Finally I said the hell with it, it's my blog and I'll do what I want.
Anyway, get ready for something fun coming up soon. Multiple reviews will be up at the same time.
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Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
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Post by Torgo on Apr 11, 2019 14:23:15 GMT -5
Day Eight - Thor: The Dark World
ANOTHER!
Thor: The Dark World is pretty much the whipping boy of the MCU, as the overall consensus is that it's the closest thing to a bad movie the series has produced, though most will admit when pressed that it's really just average. I actually like this movie quite a bit, but I'm not really as defensive of it as I am with Iron Man 3 because I don't really feel the criticism of it is as unjust or nonsensical as the type leveled at the previous film. There is quite a bit about the film that isn't that good, but how one responds to the whole package will prove to be diverse.
The Dark World just seemed to be a bit cursed during production. It was initially under development with Monster director Patty Jenkins, but creative differences with Marvel led to her being dropped from the project (DC eventually swept Jenkins away as a replacement director on Wonder Woman). The parting of ways/firing of Jenkins was a sore spot with star Natalie Portman, who vowed never to work with the studio again after this film (resulting in her being written out of Ragnarok). The final director of the film wound up being Alan Taylor, who directed a few indie projects in the early 2000's but was mostly a TV director at the time, notably for Game of Thrones.
I just realized I'm typing about a somewhat maligned comic book flick from a Game of Thrones director the same weekend as a maligned comic book flick from a Game of Thrones director is being released in cinemas (Neil Marshall's Hellboy). How's that for irony?
Adding more fuel to the production dumpster fire was a conflict over the composer, as Taylor's original choice was Carter Burwell. Apparently Marvel didn't care for the work Burwell was doing and he was let go, and they brought in Iron Man 3's Brian Tyler to rush a score for the film as fast as possible. All things considered, Brian Tyler had every excuse to do one of his many mediocre scores here (no, I'm not a Tyler fan), but all things considered his score is actually one of his best ones, relating a fun fantasy feel while giving Thor a very memorable theme of his own. It feels a bit like Marvel was trying to make Tyler the "sound" of Marvel films, because he even composed the fanfare for their new opening logo and was hired to compose for the second Avengers film not long after. I actually have an interesting hearsay story (possibly untrue, but feels very likely) to relate about why Tyler no longer works with Marvel, but I'll be saving that for my write-up on Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The film was also rumored to be plagued by conflict in the editing room, as it is rumored Alan Taylor favored a two-and-a-half hour cut of the film, while Marvel wanted it under two hours (The Dark World is the shortest MCU film, beating The Incredible Hulk by mere seconds). I believe Taylor denied any major conflict with the studio (though he does cite regrets about not having Burwell compose the score), though that might just be professional courtesy (and an NDA). What we do know is that his follow-up film was Terminator: Genesys, which was also a somewhat crappy movie with troubled production rumors. Maybe Taylor just can't work with studios, or maybe Taylor just sucks.
This is probably nothing compared to the shooting nightmare that was the Justice League movie, but it's still a lot to take in about how miserable an experience this movie was for people involved. The fact that it works as a cohesive whole at all is something of a miracle. It might have been a better movie if Patty Jenkins were to have her way with it (let's face it, Wonder Woman blows The Dark World out of the water), but there is enough in The Dark World to consider it a genuinely good movie. The story is pretty solid, which is mostly about Thor attempting to bring order to chaos. It starts off with him attempting to restore peace to the Nine Realms after the destruction of the Bifrost in the first Thor film, while the film has him doing battle with a being who is using a state of the realms that opens portals and gateways to his advantage while Thor must navigate through them and even control them to save the day. I also like the exploration of Thor and Loki's sibling relationship post-Loki's betrayal. This aspect was a long time coming.
If there is a fault to what this movie is about, it's that it may be a tad to simplistic a take on this, and maybe a bit too humorous. The film has the highest stakes of any film in the MCU so far (and it's arguable that the stakes might be even higher than Infinity War too), but the film never quite seems to take the situation seriously. The final conflict is littered with jokes, and while they can be funny, it feels like the situation is being undermined. That said, even if they try to hard to make things "funny," the action in the third act is dazzling, with the portal hopping being wildly entertaining and creative.
But that might be the problem with the film as a whole. Does the film's humor undermine the story being told? I always thought that was a major complaint in this movie, but then Thor: Ragnarok came along and was even more packed with humor, which Dark World naysayers seemed to embrace. This double standard confuses me a tad, since the plotting in The Dark World is far more tight and consistent than Ragnarok's. But The Dark World is also a movie where a comic relief sidekick has a comic relief sidekick, so I can't deny that it's overindulging its worse instincts at times.
The Dark World is a handsome film, if nothing else, with some fairly stunning cinematography that can be quite mesmerizing at the best of times. The film does a lot of crazy stuff with Jane Foster being possessed by the Aether, with one of my favorite shots in the film being entirely black and white as a red shadow manifests and overwhelms the screen. It doesn't seem as if many appreciate the beauty of that can be created with black and white photography anymore, so it always warms me to see it in films like this. The film also opens up with a fairly breathtaking sequence that is almost entirely created by CGI by Tim Miller, who went on to direct the film Deadpool.
I dunno. This film seems to grind a lot of people's gears, but I think it goes down smooth and is quite spellbinding at the best of times. It's not a perfect movie, but rather an enjoyable one. This is my kind of fun time at the movies.
Minor notes: Fandral was recast in this film, and nobody noticed because nobody gives a sh*t about Fandral. He's played by Zachary Levi in this film, who went on to play Captain Marvel/Shazam in this year's Shazam! This is also the last we see of Sif in the Thor films, though she makes two appearances in Agents of SHIELD after this, in the episodes "Yes Men" and "Who You Really Are." Speaking of Agents of SHIELD, Coulson's crew is tasked with cleaning up Thor's mess in London immediately after the events in this film in the episode "The Well."
Favorite Moment - There is a lot of cool stuff featured in the Dark Elves invasion on Asgard. The action choreography is pretty great here, and there is some genuine inventiveness in a sort of implosion grenade. But my favorite part of these scenes is when Frigga defends Jane from Malekith, as we get to watch Rene Russo bust some moves out and pin the elf to a wall. She is unfortunately killed by Malekith, in a very well done and emotional scene. Her funeral is also a very beautiful moment.
End Credit Scenes - Sif and Volstagg take the Aether to the Collector, setting up a plot point in Guardians of the Galaxy, where the Aether is identified as an "Infinity Stone," the first to be called one. It's also confirmed that the Tesseract is one as well. They decide it's best to not keep the two stones in the same realm and have the Collector keep it in his collection. It's a fun peek at what's in store in Guardians. This scene is then followed by something of a double bonus scene, in which Thor returns to Jane and the two embrace. Small fact: Natalie Portman was unavailable on the day Chris Hemsworth was, and her body double that kisses Thor is Hemsworth's wife. This is immediately followed up by a brief shot of the London lot where the final conflict took place, where a monster from Jotunheim is still running loose.
Stan Lee Cameo - Erik Selvig has gone a little cuckoo after Loki tampered with his brain, which results in him being locked up in an asylum for the time being. He then explains the exposition of "The Convergence" to his fellow patients by using a pair of shoes, who have no clue what he's talking about. Stan Lee is one of these patients and he asks for his shoe back.
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