Last Movie you Watched?

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  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Making the greatest parents in comics into callous, selfish people is a crime.

    So should the writers be punished or rehabilitated?
    Burned on sticks. :))

    The best form of rehabilitation.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    edited April 2017 Posts: 15,423
    Making the greatest parents in comics into callous, selfish people is a crime.

    So should the writers be punished or rehabilitated?
    Burned on sticks. :))

    The best form of rehabilitation.
    It's a savage, savage, savage, savage world.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    I remember feeling very impressed with the visuals of SUPERMAN RETURNS, with Ottman's score (which some see as a carbon copy of Williams whereas I enjoy it as a powerful remix of Williams' themes) and with many if not all of the lead actors, including Kate Bosworth. She's no Margot Kidder but I'm not sure that's a bad thing, especially in 2006. Kidder's spunk and cuteness, which only lasted about two films (shot more or less simultaneously anyway), lost their effect quickly and would have come off as incredulous in a more modern Superman film.

    The plot of SUPERMAN RETURNS is simple enough, a sort of balancing act between another real estate scam by Luthor and a sugar sweet romance story. Many comics go there but this film, for some reason, took a lot of heat for that.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Making the greatest parents in comics into callous, selfish people is a crime.

    So should the writers be punished or rehabilitated?
    Burned on sticks. :))

    They should have just read the goddamn comics and adapted the characters as they are supposed to be.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Making the greatest parents in comics into callous, selfish people is a crime.

    So should the writers be punished or rehabilitated?
    Burned on sticks. :))

    They should have just read the goddamn comics and adapted the characters as they are supposed to be.
    That's hardly done, nowadays, Brady. Now, everything is a loose adaptation.
  • Posts: 7,653
    Nobody ever seen the Superman b/w serials, they are a lot of fun too.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    I've only seen the one film, Superman And The Mol Man.
  • Posts: 7,653
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I've only seen the one film, Superman And The Mol Man.

    Superman (1948) is a 15-part black-and-white Columbia film serial based on the comic book character Superman. It stars an uncredited Kirk Alyn (billed only by his character name, Superman; but credited on the promotional posters) and Noel Neill as Lois Lane.

    Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), Columbia's 43rd serial and the second live-action Superman screen appearance in 15 chapters, both featuring Kirk Alyn as Superman, finds Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot), secretly the Atom Man, blackmailing the city of Metropolis by threatening to destroy the entire community. Perry White (Pierre Watkin), editor of the Daily Planet, assigns Lois Lane (Noel Neill), Jimmy Olsen (Tommy Bond) and Clark Kent (Kirk Alyn) to cover the story

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Making the greatest parents in comics into callous, selfish people is a crime.

    So should the writers be punished or rehabilitated?
    Burned on sticks. :))

    They should have just read the goddamn comics and adapted the characters as they are supposed to be.
    That's hardly done, nowadays, Brady. Now, everything is a loose adaptation.

    I'm not asking for adaptations, nor would I want them in most cases, as the books don't translate well in that way. I just want the spirit of the characters to be there, which it hasn't been for DC in a long time.
  • Bruce Timm's Superman: The Animated Series is well worth adding to any Superman-a-thon: The Last Son of Krypton, A Little Piece of Home, The Way of All Flesh, Brave New Metropolis, Apokolips...Now!

    Not to mention the better episodes of Smallville, of which there are many...
  • Posts: 12,474
    The Mask (1994). Fun movie; I've watched it many times.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    FoxRox wrote: »
    The Mask (1994). Fun movie; I've watched it many times.
    Never gets old for me. Always a classic. Glad they didn't follow the comic book route and decided to make it a comedy instead.
  • Posts: 6,432
    I hate what they did to Superman in Superman Returns they made him a moping Super Stalker, Singer claimed to be a fan in fact he never stopped going on about it. Singer really botched up Kryptonite, Superman for the finale still has a shard of Kryptonite lodged in him unforgivable [-(
  • Posts: 12,474
    FoxRox wrote: »
    The Mask (1994). Fun movie; I've watched it many times.
    Never gets old for me. Always a classic. Glad they didn't follow the comic book route and decided to make it a comedy instead.

    Glad someone else here likes it. I never read the comic books for it, but I just love the movie. Very funny and entertaining.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    FoxRox wrote: »
    FoxRox wrote: »
    The Mask (1994). Fun movie; I've watched it many times.
    Never gets old for me. Always a classic. Glad they didn't follow the comic book route and decided to make it a comedy instead.

    Glad someone else here likes it. I never read the comic books for it, but I just love the movie. Very funny and entertaining.
    Definitely. To me, that film is ageless. See, when the comic was released in the eighties, it was a dark and violent crime saga with Stanley Ipkiss preying on evildoers as The Mask and killing them with blood and gore all over the place. I'm glad they drifted away from that outline and gave the franchise a whole new image to live with.
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    Top Twenty Best Movies
    1. Casino Royale
    2. Memento
    3. The Aviator
    4. Apocalypto
    5. The Wolf of Wall Street
    6. Shutter Island
    7. Goodfellas
    8. The Godfather Part 2
    9. The Shining
    10. Casino
    11. No Country For Old Men
    12. From Russia With Love
    13. Hacksaw Ridge
    14. The Departed
    15. Blood Diamond
    16. The Revenant
    17. Mad Max: Fury Road
    18. The Godfather
    19. Dances With Wolves
    20. Django Unchained
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    Several of the animated films are really epic! All-Star Superman, Superman vs The Elite, ...
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    I partially agree with you, @Birdleson. Some of the JLA movies, like JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER and THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX, or the Batman films, like SON OF BATMAN and BATMAN VS. ROBIN, elicit an emotional response from me, where the comics only half succeed. Truth be told, hearing music, voices, sound effects has a lot to do with that. :smile:
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I hate what they did to Superman in Superman Returns they made him a moping Super Stalker, Singer claimed to be a fan in fact he never stopped going on about it. Singer really botched up Kryptonite, Superman for the finale still has a shard of Kryptonite lodged in him unforgivable [-(

    @fire_and_ice, and Snyder had Superman get shot (twice) with a kryptonite bullet that exploded into a gas that he breathed in, which would've (or rather, should've) filled his cells and instantly murdered him. Nobody's perfect. ;)
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    They simply don't know what to do with Superman anymore. Considering what Supes stood for in the early days, and the socio-political climate in which he was conceived, embraced and celebrated, it's only fair to say that we have grown far too sophisticated for such a symbol of the Golden Age. Naturally, fans like myself have no problem enjoying stories about such a Superman, but film producers have grown more and more worried that anything that doesn't rhyme with modern sensibilities will push away the much needed audience. Superman movies are expensive after all. Donner and Mankiewitz knew what they were doing when they brought the truth - justice - and the American Way Superman in perfect balance with some emotional depth and perhaps a little bit of anger and hidden darkness, and in '78, that worked. But in a world that continues to grow more cynical and a cinematic climate in which superheroes turn edgier by the minute, that boyscout Superman puts fear in the heart of the Money behind the films. Hence, with SUPERMAN RETURNS they were trying to play to a more modern audience and they did it again with MAN OF STEEL, the latter one even more so because it somehow had to follow the template of Nolan's DARK KNIGHT trilogy.

    The difference is, Batman represents vigilantism, albeit with a strong moral awareness, and has almost always been given a chance to pursue darker avenues in the human condition. Ignoring for a minute some of the campier material from the 50s and 60s, Batman kept lurking in the shadows while Superman was still all sunshine and happy faces. And yet, successful attempts at a grittier Superman were made, with genius comic book authors and artists exploring Supes' inner universe, his pains and doubts, his weaknesses and moral dilemmas. But the path from comic book to screen is littered with challenges, one of which being the issue of appealing to a wider audience than merely the comic book savvy. And while a darker Batman seems to work for most, a darker Kansas-based Superman brings with him some issues many, apparently, struggle with overcoming.

    In the end, Superman's primary strength is, ironically, also his weakness. He's "super", remember? He can do anything. Even Captain America and Iron Man are still more vulnerable than the man of steel. This puts a lot of people off. And when screenwriters subsequently try to make the invincible Superman somewhat more vulnerable using another kryptonite something or some emotional pressure point, things end up unbalanced pretty fast. People reject the almighty Superman, for he is boring, but they also reject the not-quite-so almighty Superman, for he is a pussy and not true to the character. It's almost a priory a given that a Superman film won't work.

    Perhaps the JLA effort will change things, as Superman must inevitably share screen time with several others. Compare this to the Hulk films, which never really worked for a wide audience, and the incredibly positive response to Hulk as seen in the Avengers. Some characters, in this day and age at least, just can't survive a solo film or almost solo film, like BATMAN V SUPERMAN. It's too easy to crap on a Superman that tries to fit in with our Dark Knight expectations; 75% of the film going audience doesn't have an opinion anyway and simply repeats rants on the Internet. Despite all his strengths, Superman is easy to mock. Batman's already got his many updates, successfully I might add. Any update they wish to impose on Superman seems instantly rejected by people who are actually more than anything else confused about this new take on Superman.

    The comics offer no safe haven either. SUPERMAN EARTH ONE, SUPERMAN RED SON and several other titles provide us with a grittier, darker, more conflicted Superman, one which might in fact have served as a template for the BVS version of the man of steel. In other titles, however, Superman is still the man who will rescue your cat from the higher branches of an elm tree in suburban America. Any choices you make will put off people, no matter what. So when the screenwriters of these last couple of Superman films set out to take the ultimate Boyscout, drop him in a cynical post-Nolan universe, make him PC, vulnerable and "kind" but also "disturbed", make him Americana but not too Americana, they ended up with a creation that goes neither here nor there, as if thought up by a confused teenager with only selective access to the Superman comic book legacy.

    While I still believe the criticisms aimed at BVS are at times unnecessarily harsh--a cinematic Superman can be its own thing after all--I concede that what we got is a compromised version at best, but not one we wanted. The filmmakers should give us a little bit more credit, I think, seeing how well received many of the animated features are, in which a widely accepted and in fact beloved Superman is depicted so effortlessly. The two-Martha bit, the kryptonite... yeah, it's muddled. But like I said, they don't know what to do anymore. They are worried that Donner's Superman simply wouldn't fit in our current Superhero mania. Perhaps no Superman does. Perhaps the animated one does. Who is to say? Superman is a difficult case.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    @DarthDimi, the failure of the modern Superman can be distilled to one sentence: They make him share our problems and get beat down by what beats us down, instead of showing him rising above it. Superman has no place in a machiavellian interpretation of the world where the main themes are cynicism and compromised morality. By creating such grim worlds, writers paint Superman with the same brush when his best utility is to be the streak of color that brings alive the foggy backdrop.

    When I watch a Superman movie, I don't want to see him being told by his parents to let kids die, nor do I care to see him accept that he's a bad man simply because people in his new home don't care to understand him. I'm alright with the idea of Superman, the alien, scaring people, because the films can show how he progressively becomes known and loved to them. What I can't stand is a Superman that is everything the true vision of him isn't.

    Superman is everything this world doesn't have right now, and that's why seeing a proper Superman film with a proper take on the character is so vital. He can't be corrupted by special interests. He can't be beaten down by negativity because he understands the power of willing positivity. He is a lone survivor, so he understands what it means to be lost, and he always makes an effort to include and think of everyone when he acts. Because he is all powerful, he understands the value of using that power responsibly.

    In short, he's everything this world isn't, and shows us how we could be. I don't want to see a Superman film, sit there and think, "Wow, he's just as screwed up as we are." I want to leave the theater and think, "He is the kind of person I want to be." In a dark world we need to bring in the light, and that light is Superman.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    I do not disagree with you, @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7.
  • edited April 2017 Posts: 6,432
    I hate what they did to Superman in Superman Returns they made him a moping Super Stalker, Singer claimed to be a fan in fact he never stopped going on about it. Singer really botched up Kryptonite, Superman for the finale still has a shard of Kryptonite lodged in him unforgivable [-(

    @fire_and_ice, and Snyder had Superman get shot (twice) with a kryptonite bullet that exploded into a gas that he breathed in, which would've (or rather, should've) filled his cells and instantly murdered him. Nobody's perfect. ;)

    Ha ha I buy that more than the shard... I'll get my coat. Though if it's a synthesised gas that's not pure Kryptonite like in Dark Knight Returns pt2, then it works for me ;)

    Rogue One first watch on Bluray I thoroughly enjoyed it, the finale was intense I realised early in the film I was invested so it did ultimately emotionally impact on me.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Fast Five (2011) and Fast and Furious 6 (2013)
    EJpHlOE.jpg

    In preparation for the impending cinematic release of Fast & Furious 8, I thought I'd revisit some of the older films. I started at Fast Five because that's when the franchise kicked it up a notch and took things to another level. Introducing charismatic Dwayne Johnson as brutish Diplomatic Security Service's agent Luke Hobbs was a masterstroke, as was moving away from the street racing theme and towards a more heist oriented film involving cars, with larger action set pieces. Those set pieces are something else, with the finale with the two cop cars pulling a bank vault along the streets of Rio being the highlight. Hobbs starts off on Toretto's trail, but eventually teams up with him to take down Joaquim de Almeidathe's Hernan Reynes, a Brazilian crimelord and the villain of the piece. The location photography in Rio in this film is phenomenal.

    Fast and Furious 6, also directed by Lin, picks up where the last film ends and ups the ante considerably. Luke Evans takes over this time around as main villain Owen Shaw. In this installment, Hobbs seeks out Toretto's team and asks for their help to capture Shaw, a mercenary who has been one step ahead of him to date. The carrot: Toretto's old squeeze Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who was presumed dead, is apparently still alive and working for Shaw. The stunts are even more amped up this time, and London serves as the main location. The photography in this installment is perhaps not as impressive as in the last one, but the action is truly off the charts. Highlights for me are the vicious fight between Gina Carano's Riley & Letty in the UK underground, but there are so many other top notch action sequences here too. This may very well be my favourite of the series. High octane non-stop action from start to finish. I hope the next one can match it.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    @bondjames, 6 is my favorite. That climax alone seals it.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7, someone should have told the filmmakers that runways don't go on forever. Apart from that though it is indeed awesome. The Tokyo epilogue is intense as well.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    bondjames wrote: »
    @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7, someone should have told the filmmakers that runways don't go on forever. Apart from that though it is indeed awesome. The Tokyo epilogue is intense as well.

    Gotta love that movie magic.
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    Fast 5 is pretty good but the 2 recent ones are too silly for me.

    I've been watching a lot of films recently

    The departed: incredible gangster film Scorsese at his finest

    Shutter island: this movie will mess with your head one of the greatest psychological horror films

    Memento: very entertaining and confusing with a great story

    Hacksaw ridge: easily the best movie of last year Gibson at his finest



  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    @Master_Dahark, I may. The 80s is my giant blind spot for films. The 40s and 50s are classic, the 60s vibrant, the 70s deep, challenging and enriching, and the 90s and 2000s the films that I grew up on. The 80s are just kind of there.
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I haven't seen it in it's entirety since the theatre. I remember it being mildly funny and entertaining. I love the scene with his friend and the Seurat painting at the Chicago Art Institute. I show that bit to classes.

    Check out the Goldbergs episode that riffs on it. Way funnier than the film and gets everything into 27mins. Excellent!
  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    Lady Snowblood (1973) dir. Toshiya Fujita, starring Meiko Kaji. Japanese revenge thriller, with a great story (from a Manga comic - panels of which appear throughout the film), a terrific lead in the beautiful Meiko Kaji and gallons of the red stuff as she hacks and slashes her way through the bad guys who killed her father and brother and raped her mother. A must for fans of Japanese cinema, or revenge thrillers.
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