Film; or The Silver Screen

Miscellaneous Blather
#21

I finally saw Spider Man Homecoming last week and it solidified my conviction that superhero movies just aren’t for me. Couldn’t have cared less about anything that was happening in the movie, and even the action bits were dull (that CGI spider man was less convincing than Grand Moff Tarkin in Rouge One didn’t help).

My children, who enjoyed it, told me that my reaction solidified their conviction that I’m an old, grumpy man.

Away from the mainstream, the last two weeks have been a film festival here in MKE, so we managed to see some other films.

Swim Team: Follows a group of autistic children in New Jersey and the swim team that they’re a part of. Heartwarming and also heartbreaking via exposing how terrible we are at helping those with autism or learning disabilities.

Dina: A slice-of-life documentary about two autistic people who are in love and getting married. Intriguing, but kind of made me wonder why I was watching it. Not sure it had a point, other than watching these two people connect and disconnect and connect.

Infinity Baby: A comedy with way too many funny people in it that just kind of fell flat. It had some funny moments, but I think it was trying to be smart and whatever statement it was trying to make didn’t land. Luckily, it was only 70 minutes long, so it didn’t overstay its welcome.

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#22

I did want Keaton to win, I must admit. Far more interesting character.

#23

With full understanding that they are nothing more than check-your-brain-at-the-door nonsense, I tend to like superhero movies, especially this Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’ve been a comic hero fan my whole life, so seeing them fairly faithfully recreated for cinema is enjoyable. I’ll watch Spider-Man some time this week.

#24

I’m sure this is my issue. I don’t dislike comics, in fact I find them rather fascinating. I tend to love the backstory or the how/why the villains are villains and the heroes are heroes, but I can’t sit down and read comics. Never have been able to, even when I was a kid. I’d rather read a synopses of the plot and everything than the actual comic. So, I know the movies just aren’t my thing.

I have 3 boys, though, so I’ll be watching superhero movies until they all go to college or until Marvel runs out of money. Guessing the former.

#25

My choice of words was intentional. I didn’t say “comic books” because, like you, I did not read them much. I did, however, watch cartoons, read synopses, buy toys, and scour things like the Marvel Encyclopedia.

I’ve actually read more comics in the last few years than in the previous three decades, mainl thanks to apps like Comoxology which make the panels look great.

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#26

I really like that they got Birdman to play The Birdman.

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#27

Birdman was such a good film.

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#28

https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/evbbpp/blade-runner-2049-spoilercast-race-sex-politics - this is quite good.

#29

Predator, for its 30th anniversary re-release. To say it’s a work of genius does not do it justice. From the beginning, with Sonny Landham (Billy) getting off the chopper in a sweatsuit looking like a crackhead escapee from Public Enemy, to Bill Duke’s (Mac) quite frankly unhinged performance, including paradoxical undressing, all the while sweating like he’s on trial for raping a bus full of nuns, to Arnold getting slapped around like a ginger stepchild, I love it all. Silvestri’s bombastic score, Schwarzenegger’s arms taking up at least 25% of the screen regardless of camera angle or distance, the ludicrous mowing down of dozens of extras in firestorms that have more in common with 1945 Dresden than small arms, the choking claustrophobia and dizzying, looming verticality of the jungle, and the abrupt tone change/gear switch from righteous roid rage action film, to what is effectively a slasher.

They go from solving things with the application of accelerated lead, to discovering it’s useless. Even the minigun can’t hack it, and is abandoned, ammo spent. The team of action heroes gets picked off by a killer more powerful and fearsome than they. This makes Arnold the most unlikely piece of thinking man’s crumpet since the actual beginning of recorded history, but nonetheless, it’s unmissable. Spare a thought for poor old Shane Black (Hawkins), who appears to have been included as a handjob attendant, and Elpidia Carrillo (Anna) who gets several token parts in one, hamming it up.

Warning: contains actual acting in some scenes.

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#30

I hereby demand @OhBollox review every movie ever.

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#31

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#32

I like your style, and your taste. You seem like the kind of person who gives the correct answer when asked what the best movie of the Aliens franchise is.

(Hint: I already gave the answer away).

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#33

I corrected your post… :slight_smile:

So disappointed in the last Alien movie. Prometheus was good and looked like it could lead to a great sequel; especially with Noomi Rapace the new female lead.

#34

I didn’t care for either of the reboot movies.

Prometheus was just a bunch of specialists being terrible at their specialty (geologist gets lost in a cave, biologist gets killed by an unknown species by approaching it as if it was a puppy, captain intentionally crashes the ship). It was probably the most visually stunning Aliens movie, but the only person I was rooting for was the android, because he saw the uselessness of the other occupants of the ship too.

and likewise, Covenant felt exactly the same, just swap out the specialists with dysfunctional couples.

For me, there are no Alien movies after 3.

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#35

Haven’t seen an Aliens movie since Aliens. Why spoil perfection?

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#36

My biggest disappointment isn’t that Scott crapped the bed with his lame prequel trilogy. Not a shock. It’s that his petty nature led him to snuff out Blomkamp’s Alien 5 just to avoid any attention being taken off his return to the franchise. A true sequel to Aliens, and from a director with sci-fi bonafides, dashed to pieces by one man with an inferiority complex. Lame.

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#37

I was on IMDB this morning and saw an ad for an upcoming movie called Game Night. The plot seems to center around a group of people who gather for their weekly game night and end up having to solve a murder mystery. While I’m not expecting much, it would be nice to see some good tabletop representation in the movie.

#38

You’ve seen Clue, right? Everyone should see Clue.

That also, on a mostly unrelated note, reminds me to remind everyone to watch Murder Party.

Atomic Blonde. I did not think this was going to be very good. It was better than I expected. Although like a lot of films the best actors (Toby Jones, etc) are under-used, Theron does some good work, mostly in action scenes, and I find McAvoy as unconvincing as always. Very little of the film is tethered to its setting, it could be anywhere in the Cold War, and the story has one twist too many. Bad writing and good directing, hand in hand.

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#39

Clue is great!

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#40

I think the last time I saw clue was around 1990. I keep telling myself that it probably sucks and I’m just remembering it with rose-colored glasses. It holds up, though? I may have to rewatch this weekend…

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