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Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 684074 times)

Junior

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2380 on: May 21, 2018, 01:56:20 PM »
Deadpool 2

These movies are fine. Had it and its predecessor come out 3 years ago it might feel more fresh. But even the best jokes (one about John Hillcoat's The Proposition and another big setpiece sight gag at the start of the second act's action scene) feel expected. Maybe that's a problem with the character, who is meant to undermine the genre expectations and understand that he's a character in a comic/comic book movie. That's fun when it's unexpected or in small doses (the mid-credit scene is maybe the best part because it's so fast paced and doesn't wear out the premise) within other stories, less so when it's the premise of the film. Both this and the first film do get some credit for going beyond simply trying to cram in as many references as possible and develop what counts as a heart in movies like this, but it's still not anything to get excited about. It's fine.

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Corndog

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2381 on: May 21, 2018, 02:39:43 PM »
Would you say that you feel the film isn't as fresh because Deadpool 1 exists? Like, when Deadpool came out, we hadn't seen a superhero movie like that before, and now we have (Deadpool), so the sequel doesn't feel as fresh, while also being more of the same that was so successful in the first installment.
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Junior

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2382 on: May 21, 2018, 02:59:13 PM »
Not really, I had a similar problem with the first movie. Deadpool only stands out in relation to the overly serious comic book movies. We had already started to get more fun things like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man before Deadpool 1 (don't even get me started on Scott Pilgrim, which does both the fun thing and the referential/meta thing way better than pretty much any movie). And the internet is more clever and can reference things better than any studio comic book movie can. If that's what you're centering your movies around, you're going to have a hard time with it.
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2383 on: May 21, 2018, 06:24:34 PM »
FLY's review of both Deadpool films: The cinematic equivalent of spending an afternoon with a loud fourteen year old bronie inside of a Hot Topic.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2384 on: May 22, 2018, 03:23:47 AM »
I don't know what Hot Topic is, but that's the world's flyest fourteen year old.
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Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2385 on: May 22, 2018, 07:11:43 AM »
Deadpool 2 (2018 - David Leitch)

This is the super-hero equivalent to Flying High (aka Airplane!) or any of those ZAZ comedies. Throw a huge number of jokes at the audience and let them pick the ones they find funny. What a blast, I have not laughed so much for a very long time. I can see that the 4th wall meta-ness of the film has put some off, fair enough. Still best comedy of the year. There is a lovely visual joke near the end of the film, for the older people in the audience (well those that can remember a particular music video). I was disappointed they sidelined Morena Baccarin's Jennifer.

Rating: 85/100

Teproc

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2386 on: May 22, 2018, 05:44:37 PM »
Deadpool 2 (2018 - David Leitch)

This is the super-hero equivalent to Flying High (aka Airplane!) or any of those ZAZ comedies. Throw a huge number of jokes at the audience and let them pick the ones they find funny. What a blast, I have not laughed so much for a very long time. I can see that the 4th wall meta-ness of the film has put some off, fair enough. Still best comedy of the year. There is a lovely visual joke near the end of the film, for the older people in the audience (well those that can remember a particular music video). I was disappointed they sidelined Morena Baccarin's Jennifer.

Rating: 85/100

The music video in question is enough of a classic that a number of younger people (hi) should get it as well.

Don't know that I liked it quite as much as you did (the meta-ness does grate on me a bit), but some moments like that one or a reference to a certain James Cameron film's theme are clever enough, and its overall story is much stronger than the first one.
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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2387 on: May 23, 2018, 05:36:00 AM »
Isle of Dogs

Not nearly as good as Fantastic Mr. Fox (or Moonrise Kingdom or Grand Budapest Hotel or The Royal Tenenbaums), but still a great deal of fun. Yes, I felt a little uncomfortable with the cultural appropriation on display here, but I do think that it leads to a kind of interesting side-effect (or maybe it was the intended effect all along, and being a little offensive was the side-effect). Because some of the Japanese dialogue goes untranslated, the movie becomes an object-lesson in visual storytelling. We (people who don't speak Japanese) are left to figure out what little Atari is saying to Chief and company by deciphering the hyper-Andersonian shot compositions and telling edits. It does also feel like a step up from Fantastic Mr. Fox in the animation technology department, making possible some subtle facial expressions from the dog characters. What all of this means is that, for the young people for whom Isle of Dogs will be their first experience with an auteur director, they will learn not only a little about idiosyncratic filmmaking but also a bit about the language of cinema. And that's pretty cool.

Also, this movie is super cute.

B+

I had no problems with the Japanese speaking either. The only thing that bothered me was the American exchange student. I still don't know where I place this film, but it crystallised the fact that I like animation Wes Anderson less than regular Wes Anderson.
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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2388 on: May 23, 2018, 08:35:54 AM »
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Ron Howard, 2018)

When Disney acquired LucasFilm, and announced new Star Wars films, they were met with mixed emotions by many fans. Some were justifiably excited for new adventures within this cherished universe, while others were apprehensive about a company like Disney stepping on the hallowed ground of their beloved Star Wars franchise. I think it's always important to remember that whatever has come before will always be what it always was. While the filmmakers may build upon what we already love, that content still exists. I can still go back and watch Empire Strikes Back and it will be the same film (well, except the stupid Special Edition version, but blame Lucas himself for those, not Disney). I guess what I'm trying to say is, why not give these new movies a chance? They may not all be great, or especially as good as those beloved films, but for me it's another chance to spend time with the characters and live out another exciting adventure.

Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) is one of the most beloved characters of the original trilogy, so it would make sense that he's the first to get a spinoff movie all his own. Here, we get to see the development of the famed space pirate from his time as a young man on Corellia, a shipbuilding planet where he scrapes by with dreams of becoming a pilot. When he is separated from his sweetheart Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) after trying to get off the impoverished planet, he enlists in the Imperial military. Never one to follow orders, Han falls in with some criminals (Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton) and meets a new friend (Chewbacca) but his problems become more complicated after a job gone bad, putting him in a perilous position.

The production history of this film was tumultuous, and sadly it shows in the final product. Original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were released from their obligation after creative difference (although their comedic touch is still seen sprinkled throughout). Enter veteran director Ron Howard, who certainly seems a surprising pick for a film like this one. Ron Howard is a fine director, and I have greatly enjoyed a number of his films, but Solo: A Star Wars Story turns out exactly like you would expect a Ron Howard Star Wars film to be, which is fine, but nothing special. This is doubly disappointing when you consider the moments that do stand out as Lord & Miller specific moments, because it made me wonder just how great that direction could have been. Alas, we can't bemoan a film that never came to be, instead we must take and enjoy the film we do get, so maybe I'll focus a little more on what I did like about the film.

The casting is superb, with Ehrenreich doing a great job at embodying the personality we know and love about Han. But it goes beyond Ehrenreich to the always reliable Woody Harrelson as his mentor, Emilia Clarke as his love interest, Paul Bettany as the baddie, and of course Donald Glover as his rival Lando. None of them overshadow Han in the film, which is important to let him shine in his own film, but this is a really strong ensemble which makes the overall experience all the more enjoyable. And this is an important point to make because the story is a little too standard and underwhelming to otherwise carry the film. We've had origin stories crammed down our throats as moviegoers in recent years and while this one isn't particularly a bad one, it's just chock full of tropes we've seen time and again, with not much other than the charisma of the cast to stand out.

Unfortunately, I would likely rate this as a bottom tier Star Wars movie. In terms of how it stacks up to the heightened drama and high flying action of those films, it doesn't compare, but there is still plenty to enjoy in this film, much like there was with Rogue One, which I felt was unfairly ridiculed by some for not feeling like a true Star Wars film, whatever that means. At the end of the day, I am still glad to have gotten the opportunity to see a Han Solo movie, to spend time with Ehrenreich, Clarke, Harrelson and Glover in these roles because they're truly a lot of fun and I wouldn't mind seeing more of them. Some fans will deride this film and what Disney is doing to their beloved franchise. I'm not one of those people because I found more than enough here to enjoy to justify its existence. I want more Star Wars movies, not less. I want more chances to spend time in this universe, with these characters. It's a veritable smorgasbord of opportunity.

★★★ - Liked It
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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2389 on: May 23, 2018, 11:09:02 PM »
Deadpool 2
★ ★ ★ - Very Good

Very much like those terrible Aaron Seltzer/Jason Friedberg parodies if those films were genuinely funny, which is a difficult concept to grasp. I laughed a lot, so much that I would have trouble picking a standout sequence - perhaps the X-Force parachuting - because there'd be another bit I'd want to remember right after it (like everyone barging in on Wade healing his legs). The problem is that, like those parodies, the jokes are steeped so heavily in Pop Culture 2016-2018, I don't think this movie will hold up for long.

Right now, it's one of the best X-Men movies, and even more connected to the franchise than the original film allowed. I respect Ryan Reynolds decision to give the series some dramatic weight and not just be the Austin Powers of superhero movies, but those moments always dragged on the pacing. Much more successful was director David Leitch improving the John Wick/Atomic Blonde style in a way that benefitted both the action here and Leitch's stunt show approach that always removed me from his prior films.

 

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