Jan 15, 2022 1:47:19 GMT c said:

The Tragedy of Macbeth released by Joel Coen. Basically the Shakespeare script in the style of Robert Eggers (Witch, Lighthouse). Denzel Washington is Macbeth, Frances McDormand (mom from Almost Famous) as Lady MacBeth.  A lot of the film is scripted directly from the play.

Film is total award bait for Denzel and McDormand, and the technical / cinematography awards. Very minimalistic sets give it an amazing sense of style.

Will not make people fans of this, but for fans of MacBeth, this is a fantastic adaptation. I really hope this inspires someone to bring Hamlet to the screen in the same style. Film is black and white, and absolutely beautiful. Retains the feel of the play very well but dresses it up just enough to make it something else. No clue why Coen did this, but it likely will be his masterpiece. Easily on par with No Country for Old Men IMO, though people who hate Shakespeare will find little to like here. For those who like Shakespeare this is everything one could want. Should do very, very well at the Oscars. Four oscars is the number for beat for Coen, as that is what No Country for Old Men took.

Gonna be very, very hard for something else to top this for my film of 2022.

Hoping somewhere around here ends up showing this, but Sydney trip is probably my only chance

Troy (Wolfgang Pietersen, 2004)

I love Greek mythology and the Trojan War is perhaps the greatest story among all the legends. The literature says the Trojan War lasted 10 years, but in this film it's condensed down to a few weeks, in a film that is just over 3 hours long (the director's cut, anyway). That's all fine.

The film is a fantastic telling of the story. I wouldn't say that the 3 hours flew by, it certainly felt like 3 hours, but not in a bad way. That is to say that it's a long tale with many chapters, many characters, many twists and turns, they told it all in the amount of time required without it ever dragging. It's paced really well, interweaving action and dialogue without ever spending too much time on each. Some of the shots are breathtaking. The battle scenes aren't the best I've ever seen, but the handful of one-on-one fights are all phenomenally shot and choreographed.

What impresses me most, perhaps, is how the chief characters are established with minimal effort. We learn very quickly that Agamemnon (Brian Cox) is an arrogant, power-hungry tyrant who is nevertheless an all-conquering war general. Odysseus (Sean Bean) is unremarkable in battle but there is no superior in wit and cunning. Achilles (Brad Pitt) is the greatest warrior in Greece, but lacks the motivation of his fellow soldiers: his primary desire is to etch his name in history. He cannot stand Agamemnon, who he serves (at least on paper). Hector (Eric Bana) is Achilles' equivalent. The greatest warrior in Troy and a very similar personality to Achilles. The major difference is Hector is motivated by protecting his city and the people he loves; he is noble and selfless. These personalities, and many others I have not mentioned, drive the events of the movie. It's a great story because the narrative is driven by the characters, the actions they take, and nothing more.

The film also has some pro-wrestling builds, establishing mighty warriors and giving us the dream matches every time. The biggest match of all being Achilles vs Hector, which happens near the end of the movie. It's a great setup and a great fight. I won't spoil the result.

Gotta say Troy more than delivered on my high expectations. Absolutely phenomenal.

Regarding Eternals... I'll see it *eventually* and OCD will force me to see it in order (still got Widow and the others too... basically I've only touched the TV stuff since SM2 aka Endgame Epilogue) but I do have a question since it feels so underwhelming... does it have any post credit scenes that are relevant to the future?

Eternal Sunshine is a movie that looks like it's FROM 2004

Jan 16, 2022 1:31:02 GMT @ness said:

Regarding Eternals... I'll see it *eventually* and OCD will force me to see it in order (still got Widow and the others too... basically I've only touched the TV stuff since SM2 aka Endgame Epilogue) but I do have a question since it feels so underwhelming... does it have any post credit scenes that are relevant to the future?

It's hard to say, without knowing what Marvel has plans for, however, if there is an Eternals 2, then yes both scenes I would assume tie into that.

Jan 16, 2022 1:56:05 GMT 🤯 said:

Eternal Sunshine is a movie that looks like it's FROM 2004

This is NOT the same movie as Interstellar

My BF and I watched "A Knight's Tale" the other night, which I have seen several times and he has seen zero times. I was very excited to show it to him and he had a great time. It's an anachronistic mess, but it's a delightful mess. It's delightfully sincere and it has the vibes, if not the accuracy.

We watched that in my us history class. Only time I've seen it (akt) and enjoyed it quite a bit. What it has to do with us history I dunno... but that's what happened. Good soundtrack. Gonna do a rewatch methinks. I always held it as #3 under TDK and 10 things.

Jan 16, 2022 1:31:02 GMT @ness said:

Regarding Eternals... I'll see it *eventually* and OCD will force me to see it in order (still got Widow and the others too... basically I've only touched the TV stuff since SM2 aka Endgame Epilogue) but I do have a question since it feels so underwhelming... does it have any post credit scenes that are relevant to the future?

Yes, two. And both are underwhelming. 

The bubble may have burst. 

Jan 16, 2022 3:53:13 GMT nath45.47 said:

Jan 16, 2022 1:31:02 GMT @ness said:

Regarding Eternals... I'll see it *eventually* and OCD will force me to see it in order (still got Widow and the others too... basically I've only touched the TV stuff since SM2 aka Endgame Epilogue) but I do have a question since it feels so underwhelming... does it have any post credit scenes that are relevant to the future?

Yes, two. And both are underwhelming. 

The bubble may have burst. 

Shang Chi is as good as anything Marvel has done. Best origin movie since Doctor Strange.

Jan 16, 2022 3:53:13 GMT nath45.47 said:

Jan 16, 2022 1:31:02 GMT @ness said:

Regarding Eternals... I'll see it *eventually* and OCD will force me to see it in order (still got Widow and the others too... basically I've only touched the TV stuff since SM2 aka Endgame Epilogue) but I do have a question since it feels so underwhelming... does it have any post credit scenes that are relevant to the future?

Yes, two. And both are underwhelming. 

The bubble may have burst. 

The Attitude Era is over. We're entering the brand split years now. There will be occasional brilliance still. But the magic is over and nothing will have the power of nostalgia.

Jan 16, 2022 15:20:26 GMT 🤯 said:

Jan 16, 2022 3:53:13 GMT nath45.47 said:

Yes, two. And both are underwhelming. 

The bubble may have burst. 

The Attitude Era is over. We're entering the brand split years now. There will be occasional brilliance still. But the magic is over and nothing will have the power of nostalgia.

Fantastic Four is Cena - really boring ass babyface, but there's an awesome top heel (Doom) buried in there, but the industry seems unable to make it happen.

X-Men is Evolution (literally) - We started with Orton and outside of a few flashes of brilliance it's mostly been phoned in. They hope to redo it them properly via Batista.

Let's do this!

Jan 16, 2022 11:58:40 GMT iNCY said:

Jan 16, 2022 3:53:13 GMT nath45.47 said:

Yes, two. And both are underwhelming. 

The bubble may have burst. 

Shang Chi is as good as anything Marvel has done. Best origin movie since Doctor Strange.

It was awesome. Just recently watched it and was shocked at how engrossed I was. 

Don't see any way Marvel's bubble has burst considering that Spider-man has taken over the world both financially and critically. 

Yeah, I do not like martial arts Marvel really at all, had zero interest in Shang Chi but figured why not give it a shot and it hooked me and ended up being absolutely incredible.

Eternals was a bust for me, but I do not expect every Marvel movie to be an absolute hit for me, especially stuff I did not like in the comics. With like a dozen releases a year, one or two not appealing to me is not a big deal if I like the rest.

And yeah Spooder-Man was amazing, one of the best comic films they have done and a very fitting end to the Spider-Man mega arc. Hawkeye was perhaps the best show they have done so far as well and Doctor Strange 2 is very likely introducing mutants into the MCU, as well as, Deadpool and the Fantastic Four.

Spiderman is part of pop culture, similarly how there's always an audience for Batman or Superman regardless, thus the appeal beyond the MCU.

While I don't think Marvel will ever struggle, I can't see the MCU having the same impact on pop culture as it did. Overall, I think Shang Chi and Enterals were serious misses at keeping the audience engaged post-Endgame, while Black Widow as ok as it was, just felt ill-timed in terms of it's release v chronological order. No one really cared.

Thor and the next Dr.Strange will be hits, and Wakanda Forever will likely win an Oscar. But Endgame was the Wrestlemania X7 event, it's going to be hard living up to it.

Tony and Cap are Rock and Austin. I'm loving this talk.

Jan 16, 2022 20:22:48 GMT nath45.47 said:

Spiderman is part of pop culture, similarly how there's always an audience for Batman or Superman regardless, thus the appeal beyond the MCU.

While I don't think Marvel will ever struggle, I can't see the MCU having the same impact on pop culture as it did. Overall, I think Shang Chi and Enterals were serious misses at keeping the audience engaged post-Endgame, while Black Widow as ok as it was, just felt ill-timed in terms of it's release v chronological order. No one really cared.

Thor and the next Dr.Strange will be hits, and Wakanda Forever will likely win an Oscar. But Endgame was the Wrestlemania X7 event, it's going to be hard living up to it.

Nah it’s exceeded all previous Spider-Man movies , closest is 100 million and counting behind it. And did so at a new peak of the pandemic where most movies have struggled. The IP helps but this is yet another level for the MCU - and they’ve recaptured the hearts of the critics on top of it all.

And Endgame was my swan song for awhile so I didn’t disagree with you for awhile - it inevitably got me back and they are going to be in great shape going forward.

I think the issue with Eternals is they really put all their hopes on a group that really is not known outside of die hard comic fans. Even as a comic reader, The Eternals was never a Marvel team/group I was ever interested in. That has not changed after the movie. I think I know where they are heading with it, but it was a lot of exposition for a payoff they could have achieved a different way. They would have been better to introduce The Inhumans as a big film instead of a cheesy show on ABC that got cancelled after a season. They tie in to the Marvel cosmic universe and Fantastic Four and Avengers teams, but what do I know.

Jan 16, 2022 22:04:08 GMT iron maiden said:

I think the issue with Eternals is they really put all their hopes on a group that really is not known outside of die hard comic fans. Even as a comic reader, The Eternals was never a Marvel team/group I was ever interested in. That has not changed after the movie. I think I know where they are heading with it, but it was a lot of exposition for a payoff they could have achieved a different way. They would have been better to introduce The Inhumans as a big film instead of a cheesy show on ABC that got cancelled after a season. They tie in to the Marvel cosmic universe and Fantastic Four and Avengers teams, but what do I know.

Execution is everything. GOTG was a niche, obscure thing but with the right direction, it was a huge hit.

Jan 16, 2022 0:45:21 GMT System said:

Jan 15, 2022 1:47:19 GMT c said:

Hoping somewhere around here ends up showing this, but Sydney trip is probably my only chance

It has a really tiny theater run, mainly to make it an award contenter.  That said, it is a rare film that will work better in a theater as the mood setting they do is so perfect for small theater.  Can stream it from Apple and likely after a few months it will show up everywhere.  They def plan to make their cash back on the long tail though.  Pretty much this is the definitive MacBeth on film since it is so true to source.

If you are a legit hardcore fan either this play or like art house style films, I would hit this up in a theater.  If not may be best to just stream it somewhere.  It is basically a theater nerd's wet dream, which is so not what everyone likes.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

The hype is real, this is every bit as good as everyone says it is.

What I really want to know is, weren't Katy's family worried about her? Did they file a missing person report? I mean she just flew on a plane to Asia then entered another world or something, she must have been gone a while.

Jan 15, 2022 1:47:19 GMT c said:

The Tragedy of Macbeth released by Joel Coen. Basically the Shakespeare script in the style of Robert Eggers (Witch, Lighthouse). Denzel Washington is Macbeth, Frances McDormand (mom from Almost Famous) as Lady MacBeth.  A lot of the film is scripted directly from the play.

Film is total award bait for Denzel and McDormand, and the technical / cinematography awards. Very minimalistic sets give it an amazing sense of style.

Will not make people fans of this, but for fans of MacBeth, this is a fantastic adaptation. I really hope this inspires someone to bring Hamlet to the screen in the same style. Film is black and white, and absolutely beautiful. Retains the feel of the play very well but dresses it up just enough to make it something else. No clue why Coen did this, but it likely will be his masterpiece. Easily on par with No Country for Old Men IMO, though people who hate Shakespeare will find little to like here. For those who like Shakespeare this is everything one could want. Should do very, very well at the Oscars. Four oscars is the number for beat for Coen, as that is what No Country for Old Men took.

Gonna be very, very hard for something else to top this for my film of 2022.

Strong "The Passion of Joan of Arc" vibes from the close-ups in that trailer and some of the shadows and shots remind me of "The Night of the Hunter". I shall definitely have to see this at the cinema.

Finally got around to watching Shang-Chi. Yeah, it's really goddamn good.

Jan 17, 2022 0:35:04 GMT Emperor said:

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

The hype is real, this is every bit as good as everyone says it is.

What I really want to know is, weren't Katy's family worried about her? Did they file a missing person report? I mean she just flew on a plane to Asia then entered another world or something, she must have been gone a while.

Katy's family was more worried about her dead end job and were happy that she was taking her relationship more seriously with Shaun.

It's always difficult to measure time, but from memory it's plausible that the events of the movie took place across a matter of a week. In fact they probably lost more time in the air than they did in Macau. It's a 23 hour flight and Macau is 16 hours ahead of San Fran.

So as soon as they arrive they went straight to the underground fight club got captured by the Ten Rings and taken to their compound where they meet with Xu Wenwu, learn about Ta Lo and meet Trevor Slattery and Morris. They drive to Ta Lo, learn about the Dweller-In The Darkness and begin to train in Ta Lo.

This is where my memory grows foggy, did they show the passage of time? Or did they just show Shaun fighting his aunt and Katy showing some natural talent as an archer? Because the Ten Rings could have easily invaded in the same day.

I mean she probably got in trouble for not calling to check in but if that all took place over a matter of days a simple phone call after she helped took down the Dweller would have solved that.

Or a 30 second off screen phone call.

“Hey I’m going on vacay with Shaun for a week”.

Jan 17, 2022 3:34:58 GMT UT said:

Or a 30 second off screen phone call.

“Hey I’m going on vacay with Shaun for a week”.

I was going to say, but even as a grown-ass adult, she better find at least a 10 minute window to reassure her mother and quell any and all suspicion. The reception at Ta Lo looked pretty spotty as well.

The Emperor Cut: Ring your damn parents! Don't show them Midsommer!!

Well Radio Silence's Scream is out. It is a Scream film. Since it is reboot time, film is a metacommetary on reboots.

If you like Scream, this is more of the same. Stab is now like 8 movies in and people are losing interest and the town is known for psychos every decade or so trying to recreate the original murders. After bodies start to drop they dust off Sidney, Dewey and Gale and they come to see what is up. As is par with reboots, the generational concept is tied in as is secrets of the past returning to haunt people. Killer's motives are splitting reviewers but I liked it, as it leads into metacommentary in another area of zoomer / late millennial culture.

Basically this is film five, you either like Scream or you do not. If you like it, this is a great Scream dealing with reboots. If you hate Scream then there is nothing for you here. Radio Silence are huge fans of the original, so they do not take many risks here and focus heavily on the metacommentary of Scream and reboots. This was a movie made for fans of the series, and makes no attempt to bring in new ones. It is a decent teen slasher, but plays it real safe with the series lore and does not try to really do anything to upset it. Basically Radio Silence did not want to make a film that fans though degraded the series so this is no Ready or Not or Southbound for sure.

Line of the film:

"Are you telling me I am caught in fan fucking fiction?"

Edit:  Also likely this is the start of a Radio Silence trilogy of films.  The cast and them were open to doing more if this one was a hit, and it def is a hit.

Encanto
Really good. Feels like a generic Disney musical cartoon but it grabs you, and its great.

I wasn't expecting anyone to answer the Katy question :lol: just one of those dumb thoughts I had during the movie.

Jan 4, 2022 1:10:57 GMT @admin said:

I enjoyed the first half of Don't Look Up, thought it was very funny and incisive, but it really could have used a bit of editing in the second half which dragged on too long and started to unnecessarily reuse jokes. Timothee Chalamet's character seemed completely superfluous, I would have scrapped that storyline altogether and had him play the tech billionaire instead.

I was more disappointed by The Lost Daughter which I had high hopes for considering those involved, and the 96% rotten tomatoes score, but found it a real slog to get through. The storyline is quite a good one (I haven't read the book but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's much better told in writing than in the movie) but unfortunately, the connections between the flashbacks and the current day were very vague and awkwardly presented, and the protagonist's relationships with the other cast disappointingly trivial and ultimately unresolved.

I also believe that the writing for T.L.D. was odd. The connection between the main character and the others is very open-ended and vague.