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Post by mr. excellent on Aug 7, 2021 12:50:11 GMT -5
The Suicide Squad (2021): 9/10
I give it a 9 because James Gunn tends to throw hundreds of jokes at the wall in movies like this and while many land, some also do not. Sometimes it's distracting for me like in GOTG Vol. 2. I will say I believe he hits a lot more than he misses here. This has to be one of his most aesthetically pleasing films. It's so colorful, and it doesn't look like a CGI wasteland. There are times when it reminded me of something shot on film. The cinematography is beautiful too. Everything has texture, the bright colors are super vibrant and the darker grimy colors are fully textured and real. I just loved looking at this movie, I really did. Even the fight choreography in this one is so much better than what we've seen from Gunn in the past. It was never bad, but here he has definitely shown some growth. Regarding character work and story, I think Gunn nails it as well, and this is why I believe so many people have responded to the movie as they have. He just brings it on all fronts.
My wife watched it with me, and while she enjoys superhero movies, she is also more critical of them than I am. Very few films from the genre hold up with her, but this one feels special. I'd put it in the top 10 best superhero films ever. Top 5? All around, no, but in the cinematography department, absolutely yes. It's a work of art, this movie, and how many times can we say that about a film with a budget of 175 million dollars? Speaking of which, that price tag is akin to Michael Bay spending 175 million to make the first Transformers film. Bay is notorious for shooting films as low cost as possible, but Gunn? Listen, I know his body of smaller independent films far outnumber the blockbusters, but the last 2 Guardians films cost $234 million, and $200 million respectively, so I'm impressed. The cast was HUGE and the effects scenes are pretty damn grand. I think this says a lot about how studios should move forward with talent. Paying the actors costs a lot of money when everyone in the cast is a super star.
I'll leave with 2 final thoughts: 1) Isn't it crazy that in this era of blockbuster film making related to superheroes, $175 million can be considered modest? 2) This movie had lower than expected B.O. numbers for Friday night viewings. This could influence a lot of studios to push their premiere dates back further. I worry for Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Even Shang Chi, which is set to come out in 3 or 4 weeks. Given the rewatchability of this one though, I wouldn't be surprised if it continues to earn steady in the following weekends.
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Post by mr. excellent on Sept 6, 2021 17:09:04 GMT -5
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: 8.5 / 10
I loved this movie. It was so accessible and wildly entertaining. My expectations got a little out of hand because everyone else's excitement was so intoxicating, I couldn't help but inundate myself with reaction videos. That said, the movie is very, very good and exceeded my expectations in some ways. I'd put it in the top 5 MCU films, although I will also admit that that list changes often. I'll be going to see the movie again today, and may have an updated score. Go see it!
*A note on my last rating above and box office comments. The Suicide Squad tanked at the box office, to the tune of something lower than a $25 million opening weekend. Due to that, people then began to say that the budget was massively bloated and inflated. I think that that kind of thinking disregards the context of the market when the movie was actually being made. Yes, $175 million is a lot of money, but we live in a world where The WBs R-rated Joker made over $1 billion dollars, as did their Aquaman movie. While Joker's budget was in the $65-70 million range, Aquaman's was somewhere between $160-200 million.
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Post by mr. excellent on Sept 12, 2021 21:18:50 GMT -5
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: 10/10
This experience just really resonated with me. Some very good friends of my wife and I rented out a theater room for us to see it together with a group of our shared friends. Such a fun experience, and one that we will repeat for both Eternals and Spider-man No Way home. Regarding this movie, I saw it a second time last weekend, and that time I still had about an 8.5 out of 10 experience with it. Movie was good, didn't make me feel like I did when I watched the first Guardians movie or The Dark Knight per se, or even like a Black Panther or the first Iron man with all its possibilities. However, today that changed. Today everything hit perfectly from the music to the performances, the pacing and the action sequences. I love watching those damn rings light up and wreak havoc, or glow golden and act as a more of a protective benevolent force. In a way, it takes me back to seeing Doc Ock's metal arms for the first time, it's a prop that for me has become very iconic almost instantly. The movie is doing great btw. What have you guys thought about it?
Side note: The Spider-Man No Way Home and Eternals "final trailer" played before the movie. Both of those trailers looked FANTASTIC (yes, all caps) on the big screen. I honestly don't know what looked better. Seeing that big red celestial energy on screen, or all the crazy kaleidoscopic s*** that was going on in the No Way Home trailer.
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Post by mr. excellent on Oct 4, 2021 19:11:37 GMT -5
Venom: Let There Be Carnage - 6.5 out of 10
My score not withstanding, I really, really enjoyed this movie! They went out and leaned into what people liked about the first one, and made it a brisk 90ish minutes? Absolutely, that's what they should've done and they're making a ton of money from all those show times they're squeezing in. It also feels like they purposely made a B movie, or had that kind of energy, which again, isn't a bad idea. Can they take this character another direction in a franchise cross over? Sure, but on his own, they might as well do what they're doing considering what they did with the first. Now, am I saying they couldn't have taken this movie a little more seriously from the jump? No, no I'm not. I absolutely think they could've taken a different approach and still been successful, but since the first Venom is what we got and have that to work with as a back drop, I'm happy with this as a sequel. I actually enjoyed it much more than the first one. The action here was definitely more creative, even if it was a little hard to follow at times. Also, I genuinely laughed out loud on a few occasions.
Side note: My theater was about a 4th of the capacity on a Sunday morning, the earliest showing. Not bad, not bad at all.
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Post by mr. excellent on Nov 7, 2021 21:28:21 GMT -5
Eternals: 8 out of 10
There were things in this movie that were, in my opinion (of course), done better than I've seen done in an MCU film before. Cinematography is a big one. The movie was beautiful to look at. I'm not saying the CGI is flawless throughout, but it's very well done overall. I loved how epic the scope of this movie is. We're talking about a creation story in the MCU. I get that MCU fatigue is real, and I think the shows have only accelerated that. They'll continue to do so unfortunately. However, this movie is unlike anything they've ever done before. It reminds me of Man of Steel in some ways, which Zhao cited as an inspiration.
I'm excited for the future of the MCU and the new directions this takes it in.
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Post by brotherandbassist on Nov 8, 2021 9:34:17 GMT -5
Got to see Venom 2 in Nashville with my nephew. I'd say it's honestly a solid 8. If the first one was a 6, this was an 8. Didn't take itself too seriously and was a fun watch. Im not mad over what happened with Carnage because he'll be back! I just know it
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Post by brotherandbassist on Nov 8, 2021 9:50:07 GMT -5
I also recently went back and watched the entire Child's Play franchise on peacock. Liked these movies a lot more than I remember.
Child's Play- 9/10 Child's Play 2- 8/10 Child's Play 3- 7/10 Bride of Chucky- 8/10 Seed of Chucky- 7.5/10 Curse of Chucky- 8/10 Cult of Chucky- 7.5/10
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Post by brotherandbassist on Nov 12, 2021 14:44:52 GMT -5
Shang Chi- 7.5/10
I thought the humor was cringe and ruined some key moments for me. Especially during the second credits scene. The corny smirk from Shang Chi's sister followed by the dated sounding trap beat that followed it made me cringe. Same thing with the Wong karaoke. Happens immediately after he drops some really epic foreshadowing lines. Then boom! Ruined it with humor that doesn't fit.
That's honestly the only negatives. There's startlingly a lot of what I just mentioned in this film, even for an MCU film. Those things aside, everything else was perfect
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Post by mr. excellent on Nov 12, 2021 20:30:15 GMT -5
Right on man. Personally, I really enjoyed the fight choreography, but as I've said before, I thought they could've went harder in some scenes. The intensity of the fight scenes in Civil War definitely outdid the intensity in Shang Chi, even if the overall execution of those scenes was cleaner in Shang Chi.
Like you coweatsquilt, I also really enjoyed Venom. There was almost nothing to dislike, it was just good old fun. For me, that's saying something because I've never liked Kletus Cassidy as a character. No objective reason, I just didn't like him. Woody Harrelson was a blast though.
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Post by brotherandbassist on Nov 14, 2021 16:00:43 GMT -5
Hey Levi, this is Dylan aka lopli haha. I'm assuming you knew that but from the way you replied by calling me my username I thought maybe you thought I was someone new. coweatsquilt is the gamer tag i've started using on PSN and Xbox (currently have neither of those btw)
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Post by mr. excellent on Nov 22, 2021 0:41:08 GMT -5
haha, you've outed me Dylan! I knew it was you because I followed your comment on the other thread on why you changed your username. Back to the topic at hand though...
Tick Tick Boom: 9/10 I'm not a musical man, or even a Lin Manuel Miranda fan. Nothing against Miranda, but I'm just saying I've never seen "Hamilton", I missed "In the Heights", and yeah. I am an Andrew Garfield fan though, and when I read that he learned to sing and that he may get an Oscar nomination for his performance in this movie, I knew I had to watch it.
The rating is just based on how it made me feel while I watched it, nothing more, nothing less. It got me, this movie. I know that at least two of us here have had times in our lives where we wanted to be artists. You've written a number of scripts Dylan and you're also a musician. Spazz, wherever you are out there, you're a musician and one with a unique sound at that. Myself, personally, I spent 2 years of high school writing an X-Men movie, raising money to shoot it and cast it, and an entire summer trying to shoot it. The movie never panned out, but I still talk to every single one of the people who were going to be in it though. I wrote parodies for 4 years and illustrated a series of comedic comic strips for a spell as well. Watching Andrew Garfield play Jonathan Larson though, that was something special for me. Even though I can't relate to being a struggling artist in NY, it resonated with me. That man lived the dream, he struggled the struggle, and he walked the walk.
Even if you're not into musicals, I'd recommend giving this one a watch. I think you all would enjoy it.
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Post by brotherandbassist on Nov 23, 2021 10:02:06 GMT -5
I'm actually working on an X-Men style parody right now about a team of the world's worst superheroes haha. I'll have to show it to you sometime!
I miss Spazz, they made some good tunes! I remember when I'd talk to them they'd always down themselves and talk about how bad or sloppy it was then proceed to play some of the best, most melodic guitar playing I've ever heard. It was always in an insane tuning too.
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Post by mr. excellent on Nov 27, 2021 3:31:12 GMT -5
Agreed regarding Spazz, definitely.
Also... Tick Tick Boom!: 10/10
Saw it again, I just had to. This movie really stuck to me, it just did. Love the performance, like, just watching it it feels like something special. Lin Manuel Miranda did a great job bringing this rock monologue to life.
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Post by brotherandbassist on Dec 3, 2021 21:11:57 GMT -5
Last week I watched all of the Harry Potter movies for the first time. I averaged one to two films a day, I ended up starting over Deathly Hallows Part 2 because I was so tired the first time haha.
The Sorcerer/Philosopher's Stone- 8.5/10 Chamber of Secrets- 8/10 Prisoner of Azkaban- 7/10 Goblet of Fire- 8/10 The Order of the Phoenix- 10/10 The Half Blood Prince- 8.5/10 The Deathly Hallows Part 1- 9/10 The Deathly Hallows Part 2- 10/10
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Post by mr. excellent on Dec 17, 2021 18:04:19 GMT -5
Spider-Man: No Way Home- 9/10
I can't say much at the moment, but this movie is so well done on an emotional level. There were a number of things that got a pop from the audience, which was really cool. Story wise it makes sense, but they really stretch the parameters of the MCU's machinery a bit. They've done that more in phase 4 than ever before, but overall I think it's working. I get why people are calling this the best MCU film ever, although for my money I don't think it is. Yet, because Spider-man is my favorite character, I think this movie does a great job of endearing the audience to Peter Parker in a way that the first two solo Tom Holland films didn't. I'm going to see the movie again on Monday, and will inevitably see it at least one more time after that. It has been one hell of a ride cinematically with this character, hasn't it?
Oh, and also: (haven't seen the last 3 in a few years)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: 8/10 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 8.5/10 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 7.5/10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 8.5/10
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