General Summer Movie Thread

[ShaggyDirk]

Originally Posted by rmacomic

Just got back from three weeks in Europe, (most amazing trip of my life) thinking about seeing the new Batman movie, is it any good?

Sorry Shaggy, but I was so trolling!

Really????.

The only casualty was my cat...he'll live

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by ShaggyDirk

Change of pace...

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/57355

[BGMaverick9]

Bond will have nice suits. Bond will find at least a lady or two to bang. Bond will prevail.

I'm in.

[Murphy3]

I'm not remotely a fan of Bond movies.. The only one that I've ever went to see in the theatre...well, I fell asleep.

[spreedom]

I didn't care for either of the first two Daniel Craig Bond movies... to me, they are Exhibits A and B that disprove the theory that every movie franchise has to be dark and gritty. They just aren't memorable in any way and Craig doesn't appear to be enjoying himself.

To me, Bond movies should be pretty lighthearted and full of ridiculous stunts and some one-liners. The Brosnan Bond movies are my favorite.

[sike]

Liked the One with poker game, but the second one was just "ok"

[Big Boy Laroux]

Originally Posted by spreedom

I didn't care for either of the first two Daniel Craig Bond movies... to me, they are Exhibits A and B that disprove the theory that every movie franchise has to be dark and gritty. They just aren't memorable in any way and Craig doesn't appear to be enjoying himself.

To me, Bond movies should be pretty lighthearted and full of ridiculous stunts and some one-liners. The Brosnan Bond movies are my favorite.

Agree - although that foot chase to start the first Craig movie was pretty damn awesome.

Brosnan was born to play Bond. people may like Connery better, but brosnan fits what I always imagined bond to be.

[DirkFTW]

Originally Posted by Big Boy Laroux

Oh forgot one other moment that caused a massive eyeroll - batman is being chased by the entire Gotham police force, they converge on him EXACTLY at the one alley where he stashed the bat copter thing.

He's Batman. He stashed bat copters in every alley and had a utility belt slot surprise just in case he ended up between alleys.

[Big Boy Laroux]

Originally Posted by DirkFTW

He's Batman. He stashed bat copters in every alley and had a utility belt slot surprise just in case he ended up between alleys.

ok, i can buy that. Or even better - he had a dehyrdated bat copter in his utility belt - he rolled into the alley, added water, and POOF! Full size bat copter!

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Big Boy Laroux

ok, i can buy that. Or even better - he had a dehyrdated bat copter in his utility belt - he rolled into the alley, added water, and POOF! Full size bat copter!

He's Batman, motherf*cker!

[ShaggyDirk]

Speaking of Greatest Films of All Time. Here is the list Sight and Sound

I've seen 2 out of the Top 10... 3 out of Top 20...and a Total of 5 out of Top 50... So, that means my opinion on the "greatness" of films is worth far less than I originally thought. Out of the Top 10 movies, none were made after 1968... So, before I start bashing this list, I need to educate myself.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by ShaggyDirk

Speaking of Greatest Films of All Time. Here is the list Sight and Sound

I've seen 2 out of the Top 10... 3 out of Top 20...and a Total of 5 out of Top 50... So, that means my opinion on the "greatness" of films is worth far less than I originally thought. Out of the Top 10 movies, none were made after 1968... So, before I start bashing this list, I need to educate myself.

That's a nice list of requisite viewing for film students, but an awful list overall (Vertigo isn't even Hitchcock's best movie, let alone the best overall)... They obviously valued the filmmakers who pioneered the craft far more than they valued the filmmakers who perfected the craft, but they didn't even recognize most of those who perfected the craft... I've seen about 30 or so of the movies on that list and only about a dozen of them stand up to the test of time.

I call shenanigans!!!

[spreedom]

Agreed with the last poster... to be really honest, there are probably only a handful of movies made before the first Star Wars that I can even watch anymore. Acting in general has just improved so dramatically since then.

[GermanDunk]

You can´t put Alfred in this or that pocket since he pioneered the "Film noir", the psychotic, the psychosis, the "animal horror", the scape scenario, the spionage ( especially th east-west ), the satirical crime scene and some more and he has been unchallenged since 70 or even 80 years.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by spreedom

Agreed with the last poster... to be really honest, there are probably only a handful of movies made before the first Star Wars that I can even watch anymore. Acting in general has just improved so dramatically since then.

I'd say the mid-sixties is the cutoff point for me (probably the late-sixties/early-seventies for Hollywood productions)... Until that point, acting was far too theatrical because the art of film hadn't really hit its stride until a majority of actors started to adopt the naturalized style of acting that guys like Marlon Brando and James Dean had developed.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by GermanDunk

You can´t put Alfred in this or that pocket since he pioneered the "Film noir", the psychotic, the psychosis, the "animal horror", the scape scenario, the spionage ( especially th east-west ), the satirical crime scene and some more and he has been unchallenged since 70 or even 80 years.

I think movies like 'Memento' or 'There Will Be Blood' would absolutely blow Alfred Hitchcock's mind... Like I said before - just because a guy pioneered a genre/method, doesn't mean he perfected it.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Meh

I missed you.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by ShaggyDirk

In the future just stop after thinking, "my opinion is really important". That's as far as I read. Hope you got paid.

You know, I had you on my ignore list for like three years. I have no idea why I took you off. Back you go, douche-nozzle.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

I'm totally going into Man of Steel expecting it to suck, but I'm hoping that I end up terribly wrong.

Hate to say it, but I'm inclined to agree. WB's basically using all the same people from the Batman franchise hoping to duplicate the success. The first trailer seemed to confirm my fears that they'll try to make Superman "dark." Superman needs someone like Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

The first trailer seemed to confirm my fears that they'll try to make Superman "dark." Superman needs someone like Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis.

I don't think you've seen a film by either of those guys since the '80s... Aside from that crappy Indiana Jones 4, pretty much all of Spielberg's action films in the last decade or so have had a darker tone - Munich, Minority Report, A.I., Saving Private Ryan... And Zemeckis only makes mo-cap flicks like A Christmas Carol, Beowulf and Polar Bear Express - he hasn't made a live action movie since 2000's Cast Away.

Plus, like all comics, Superman is a pretty dark comic book (if you've happened to read one in the past 30 years...)

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I don't think you've seen a film by either of those guys since the '80s... Aside from that crappy Indiana Jones 4, pretty much all of Spielberg's action films in the last decade or so have had a darker tone - Munich, Minority Report, A.I., Saving Private Ryan... And Zemeckis only makes mo-cap flicks like A Christmas Carol, Beowulf and Polar Bear Express - he hasn't made a live action movie since 2000's Cast Away.

Plus, like all comics, Superman is a pretty dark comic book (if you've happened to read one in the past 30 years...)

So, is Super Man on meth banging whores in the back of a broken down station wagon?

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

So, is Super Man on meth banging whores in the back of a broken down station wagon?

Maybe not that dark, but your idea could make for an interesting read...

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I don't think you've seen a film by either of those guys since the '80s... Aside from that crappy Indiana Jones 4, pretty much all of Spielberg's action films in the last decade or so have had a darker tone - Munich, Minority Report, A.I., Saving Private Ryan... And Zemeckis only makes mo-cap flicks like A Christmas Carol, Beowulf and Polar Bear Express - he hasn't made a live action movie since 2000's Cast Away.

Plus, like all comics, Superman is a pretty dark comic book (if you've happened to read one in the past 30 years...)

I said a guy "like" Spielberg or Zemeckis. Obviously they couldn't get either one of them (in fact I'm pretty sure they actually approached Zemeckis and he turned it down.) My first pick would have been J.J. Abrams except for the fact that he's already had an aborted attempt at a Superman movie which sounded awful.

As for Superman being a "dark" comic, that's a completely relative term. My point is, the character in general has a much lighter tone than Batman. I don't think any Superman movie should be nearly as dark as Nolan's Batman movies. I think Hollywood misinterprets what most Americans (i.e. casual movie goers, not comic-nerds) find appealing about Superman; nostalgia, and unambiguous feel-good heroism. A new Superman movie should be more similar in tone to Captain America than The Dark Knight.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I don't think any Superman movie should be nearly as dark as Nolan's Batman movies.

There's nothing about the trailer that indicates that it will be - unless you're talking about the muted color pallet and the fact that the title character is going to be doing a little soul-searching before he saves the day? Otherwise, it was mostly just laundry blowing in the wind...

[ShaggyDirk]

I believe most of that "Malik" visual pallete isn't the movie. Snyder is on record saying they approached this story as if a Superman movie had never been made. No John Williams. Spiral dressing up as the Joker as an adult::Me as a child acting and dressing up like Superman.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by ShaggyDirk

I believe most of that "Malik" visual pallete isn't the movie. Snyder is on record saying they approached this story as if a Superman movie had never been made. No John Williams. Spiral dressing up as the Joker as an adult::Me as a child acting and dressing up like Superman.

How does this teaser grab your tits?

(I'm sure Spiral would agree that a little John Williams/Marlon Brando goes a long way in changing the perception of what the new Superman movie could be...)

[ShaggyDirk]

Originally Posted by Underdog

How does this teaser grab your tits?

(I'm sure Spiral would agree that a little John Williams/Marlon Brando goes a long way in changing the perception of what the new Superman movie could be...)

That backdrop dialogue from Brando was the teaser to Superman Returns except they used the musical piece that introduced us to Krypton in Superman The Movie instead. It has that 2001: A Space Odessy sound/feel to it. I love it. Gives me chills when I hear it to this day. Anyway...

When I read or see anything involving Superman, John Williams' score is the first thing that pops into my head. It will take a lot of doing to change that perception...He defined or interpreted so many movies during my childhood through his musical scores.

Richard Donner's vision of who should play the roles was perfect from Brando to Reeves. Christopher Reeves IS Superman to me. There will never ever be a better casting for those characters, but I think a better movie is possible. I'm looking forward to it.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Took my nephew to see Paranorman. Wow. Couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. Good writing, hilarious comedy, a smidge scary for kids, but just very entertaining. Best stop motion animation to date as well.

[Kirobaito]

Thunderstruck literally looks like the worst thing ever, of anything. Like 9/11 and smallpox combined.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Kirobaito

Thunderstruck literally looks like the worst thing ever, of anything. Like 9/11 and smallpox combined.

The worst part is that a major studio produced that garbage. Warner Bros. should be ashamed.

[Big Boy Laroux]

Is that actually, seriously, going to be released in theaters?

[BGMaverick9]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Hate to say it, but I'm inclined to agree. WB's basically using all the same people from the Batman franchise hoping to duplicate the success. The first trailer seemed to confirm my fears that they'll try to make Superman "dark." Superman needs someone like Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis.

Originally Posted by Underdog

I don't think you've seen a film by either of those guys since the '80s... Aside from that crappy Indiana Jones 4, pretty much all of Spielberg's action films in the last decade or so have had a darker tone - Munich, Minority Report, A.I., Saving Private Ryan... And Zemeckis only makes mo-cap flicks like A Christmas Carol, Beowulf and Polar Bear Express - he hasn't made a live action movie since 2000's Cast Away.

Plus, like all comics, Superman is a pretty dark comic book (if you've happened to read one in the past 30 years...)

I missed the initial discussion on this. I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea to get some people from the Batman franchise to help oversee what is going on with the new Superman project. That being said, I'm not totally willing to buy the fact that it's going to be full on dark from just what we've seen so far.

I've actually had some discussions with a couple of friends over the last few weeks about the character and I got basically the same kind of answers from them. They're tired of the Superman character and like the more "common man" aspect that some of the other superheroes that have been in the limelight as of late in film. They also feel Superman has been a little too goodie two shoes for their liking. That it really doesn't fit with how society works now. There are ways to fix that, like you alluding to making things more Captain America like as opposed to Batman.

I've always thought the way you make the franchise interesting again is you let the audience see the character (in this case Superman, Clark) in his earlier stages. It'd fall in line with the part of the franchise I thought was working as of late. I just think you focus more on that and let the audience watch the character grow and develop, then you let them see something they haven't really seen in a while.

I'm guessing most people will see Christopher Reeve as Superman and there's nothing really wrong with that. He played both roles perfectly. On top of that, there really hasn't been a great form of comparison. Since then, there hasn't been a scenario where a format has perfectly clicked. L&C in the 90s focus dramatically more on Clark and the whole romanticism between the two lead characters. Superman Returns was a stab at trying something different, but it really didn't work IMO. It was a much longer investment, but I think Smallville was on the right path, minus errant misdirections.

Either way, I'll need to see more from WB to see what they're doing with Man of Steel to see if it's going to be good or not.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Two movies I watched recently:

Moonrise Kingdom- Wow, not sure what people raved about with this one. I like Wes Anderson's style and music, but to me the story was weak and the acting even worse.

Looper- Decent time traveling sci fi flick. Nothing too too original or great here, but they got away with the time travel premise without overdoing it. The guns and action were pretty sweet though.

[Murphy3]

I couldn't get over with the Joseph Gordon-Levitt's lower lip. I know that they wanted him to look more like Bruce Willis, but I found it distracting. It was a pretty good movie though. Moonrise Kingdom was awesome.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

I missed the initial discussion on this. I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea to get some people from the Batman franchise to help oversee what is going on with the new Superman project. That being said, I'm not totally willing to buy the fact that it's going to be full on dark from just what we've seen so far.

I've actually had some discussions with a couple of friends over the last few weeks about the character and I got basically the same kind of answers from them. They're tired of the Superman character and like the more "common man" aspect that some of the other superheroes that have been in the limelight as of late in film. They also feel Superman has been a little too goodie two shoes for their liking. That it really doesn't fit with how society works now. There are ways to fix that, like you alluding to making things more Captain America like as opposed to Batman.

I've always thought the way you make the franchise interesting again is you let the audience see the character (in this case Superman, Clark) in his earlier stages. It'd fall in line with the part of the franchise I thought was working as of late. I just think you focus more on that and let the audience watch the character grow and develop, then you let them see something they haven't really seen in a while.

I'm guessing most people will see Christopher Reeve as Superman and there's nothing really wrong with that. He played both roles perfectly. On top of that, there really hasn't been a great form of comparison. Since then, there hasn't been a scenario where a format has perfectly clicked. L&C in the 90s focus dramatically more on Clark and the whole romanticism between the two lead characters. Superman Returns was a stab at trying something different, but it really didn't work IMO. It was a much longer investment, but I think Smallville was on the right path, minus errant misdirections.

Either way, I'll need to see more from WB to see what they're doing with Man of Steel to see if it's going to be good or not.

In my opinions, Smallville just lasted too long. 2-3 seasons..and that's it. 7-8 or however many seasons..that was way too much.

[spreedom]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

In my opinions, Smallville just lasted too long. 2-3 seasons..and that's it. 7-8 or however many seasons..that was way too much.

Agreed. I think the first three seasons are probably my favorite ever. Adding Lois to the show was a big mistake IMO.

[Murphy3]

Well, perhaps..but I think the show was done already regardless..

[Kirobaito]

Looper was all right, but like pretty much every time travel movie, the rules made no sense.

I think I'm gonna go check out Argo, though. Bryan Cranston goes and knocks on the doors of some Iranians.

[Murphy3]

I went to see Argo last night...Well, I showed up early before the movie was to start. I didn't check the times before heading to the theater. So, I figured I had enough time for a double feature. I watched "Here Comes the Boom"... I'm not exactly a fan of Kevin James, but I actually enjoyed the movie well enough. You could see certain things coming a mile away, but it wasn't bad. After watching Here Comes the Boom, I decided to skip Argo and do a little reading instead...

[Big Boy Laroux]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

I went to see Argo last night...Well, I showed up early before the movie was to start. I didn't check the times before heading to the theater. So, I figured I had enough time for a double feature. I watched "Here Comes the Boom"... I'm not exactly a fan of Kevin James, but I actually enjoyed the movie well enough. You could see certain things coming a mile away, but it wasn't bad. After watching Here Comes the Boom, I decided to skip Argo and do a little reading instead...

Cool Story, Bro.