Gendo, 2019, movies, etc.

Post by **Gendo** » Wed Jan 02, 2019 4:25 am

1. Mary Poppins Returns - This was good! Not even a movie I would normally care to see; and definitely not normally in theaters. But it was entertaining and charming throughout. Emily Blunt did a fine job, but Meryl Streep stole the show in her one scene. The music was catchy, though I doubt it will be as widely memorized as most of the songs from the original. I did find that they re-did stuff too much; basically each popular scene from the original had a direct counterpart here. And it could have easily been 15 minutes shorter; though the original felt that way as well.

Post by **Gendo** » Mon Jan 21, 2019 3:31 pm

Ok, so I kind of didn't watch anything for 2 weeks, mostly because of BOTW, and just business in general. But I'm back!

R1 (Rewatch). Frozen - I remember liking this, but I liked it even more the second time! Beautiful animation, good music, fun story.

2. Real Steel - lol, stupid. But I still enjoyed it. The world isn't explained at all and it makes no sense... what does it even mean for a robot to be knocked down for 9 seconds, and then suddenly get up again before the 10th? This makes sense when a human boxer is knocked down. Makes no sense when it's a robot. Either it's still functional or it isn't. The last fight was stolen almost completely from Rocky... not just the outcome, but the way it played out. But despite all the flaws, I had fun watching it. The kid was a fun and over the top character, and Hugh Jackman's character was enjoyably stupid.

R2. Inside Out - Also still really good. The story and the humor are amazing. Super dark and depressing though.

3. War Horse - Well done, but not all that interesting to me. I feel like you have to be into horses to really appreciate it. Peter Mullan was the best part; but he wasn't in most of it. Also, I found it odd that basically every important character who came into contact with the horse ends up dying. Like it's cursed or something. But still, the visual storytelling was good.

R3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - The music and animation are beautiful. There's something so charming about the Disney animation from that era.

Post by **Gendo** » Wed Jan 30, 2019 3:42 pm

4. First Knight - I liked it. Great music, fun over-the-top villain, and Connery is great as always. I don't think Richard Gere belonged in that role, though. The love story was silly and cliche, but some of the battles were good.

Lord_Lyndon · Post by **Lord_Lyndon** » Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:40 am

I would love to see something with Emily Blunt. She is my queen. I saw Sicario last year and it was great. I think I saw Edge of Tomorrow in 2016 and I loved her in it. She has a more passive role in Sicario, while in Edge she is great as action heroine. I should definitely see this Mary Poppins movie in the future.
Regarding War Horse, I like the idea that a horse is main charater in a movie. The movie is indeed very well done and has beautiful cinematography. Speilberg did a good job here.

maz89 · Post by **maz89** » Thu Jan 31, 2019 8:28 am

Inside Out is depressing?! How?

Post by **Gendo** » Thu Jan 31, 2019 6:22 pm

I mean, the primary plot is about a young girl falling into depression. Yes, it all is good by the end, but there are several devastatingly sad moments throughout.

Post by **Gendo** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 3:31 pm

Hoping this month is better than last month; otherwise I'm on pace for 48 movies this year, lol.

5. The Inheritance (1997) - It was fine. A made-for-TV movie based off of an unknown Louisa May Alcott novel. Not really my thing; but it wasn't bad. Tom Conti was great. The love story was cliched and without chemistry; but the themes and plot of going against the traditions of high society were good.

Post by **Gendo** » Thu Feb 07, 2019 3:53 pm

6. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Mixed feelings on this one. Dick Van Dyke was fantastic, as usual. It's kind of like two separate movies combined into one. The first is a cute story about an eccentric dad trying to raise enough money to buy a broken car for his kids to play with. High jinks and romance ensue. Then, after getting and fixing the car, he tells a story to his kids; and suddenly the rest of the movie is now actually the fantastical story that he's telling. It's awkward; although it does have a neat moment when you first realize that they're still inside the story.

The problem is the length. When you go through a movie like that, and then start a story within a story, you expect that story to last 5-10 minutes. But it goes on and on. The movies is 2 and a half hours long; and I think they could have easily taken 45 minutes out of the second half without losing anything. The music box dance scene was amazing though.

Post by **Gendo** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 9:48 pm

7. Pitch Perfect 3 - Horrible. I wasn't expecting it to be good or anything, but it was still worse than I expected. At least part 2 still has great music, and some interesting story for the main character. This one had nothing. Every single joke fell flat; the story was ridiculous and stupid; the music didn't stand out. Even John Lithgow's fun performance didn't make it worth it.

8. The Land Before Time - Good. Great animation; simple but moving story. The different characters were all a lot of fun. And great score by James Horner.

9. Saving Mr. Banks - Good. Great acting from everyone. Paul Giamatti stood out to me; I always like him, but he seemed especially great here. The story itself was interesting; and a good mix of sad and happy moments.

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 10:14 pm

I remember liking Land Before Time as a kid, haven't seen it since then though.

I liked Saving Mr. Banks well enough when I saw it a few years back. Walt Disney seems like the role that the "Aww shucks" version of Tom Hanks was born to play.

Post by **Gendo** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 4:10 am

Forgot to mention that I found out that Saving Mr. Banks was the same director as The Founder. I liked the Founder more.

10. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) - Meh; it was ok. An amusing premise; but not a lot of interesting stuff done with it. Weird to see Kurt Russel in such a role.

11. The Life of Brian - Hilarious. Several good bits. I especially enjoyed the "what has Rome done for us" bit. But filled almost non-stop with great comedic moments.

Post by **Gendo** » Wed Feb 13, 2019 3:49 pm

12. Kingsman: The Golden Circle - As a whole, I liked it a lot. I'm not sure if it was quite as good as the first one, but still really good. Some of the action/effects, while not completely realistic looking, were really cool. The villain and scheme were both fun and original. The cameos from various actors were fun; what is it about Channing Tatum that makes him so likable? I wasn't a fan of the whole alpha gel thing. Bringing back Colin Firth takes some of the meaning away from the first one; as fun as his character is. And being able to save the lives of people who are shot point-blank in the head takes away some of the sense of danger for characters. Do we really have to worry about them getting killed now? What is this, a MCU movie? Also sad to see Mark Strong go, but now I have to wonder if he's really gone.

Post by **Gendo** » Thu Feb 21, 2019 5:55 pm

13. Inside Man - Excellent. Apparently this was the first Spike Lee movie I've seen (Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X are on my list). Great suspense throughout; constantly kept me guessing. The plot was somewhat convoluted, but that didn't seem to matter much. It was all in the execution. Also, Chaiyya Chaiyya is always a win.

R4. The Illusionist - I love this movie; seen it many times. Norton is really on his game. It's best when you don't know the twist, but knowing it doesn't ruin it. I'm a huge Nolan fan, but I like this maybe even more than The Prestige.

Lord_Lyndon · Post by **Lord_Lyndon** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 3:46 pm

Two excellent films, Gendo. I agree with everything you said. The thing I loved the most is cinematography in The Illusionist (2006). The film boasts some great ambiance and its 'sepia' look is something special.
Btw, did you know that Spike Lee directed Norton in one of his finest films? It is called 25th Hour (2002). You should see it.

Post by **Gendo** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 6:29 pm

Hadn't heard of that one, but I'll definitely check it out. Just added to my Amazon card, but it's an add-on item so I need to wait until there's more stuff to get.

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 6:39 pm

Yeah Inside Man is real good.

Also go see Do the Right Thing. I haven't seen Malcolm X myself but I've been saving that one for whenever I'm in a bad dry spell of no good movies to watch.

Eva Yojimbo · Post by **Eva Yojimbo** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:36 pm

Gendo wrote:10. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) - Meh; it was ok. An amusing premise; but not a lot of interesting stuff done with it. Weird to see Kurt Russel in such a role.

11. The Life of Brian - Hilarious. Several good bits. I especially enjoyed the "what has Rome done for us" bit. But filled almost non-stop with great comedic moments.

Remember reading the book of the former in school. I had no idea it was also a movie! I thought the book was great back then.

Life of Brian is, of course, a stone cold comedy classic.

Gendo wrote:R4. The Illusionist - I love this movie; seen it many times. Norton is really on his game. It's best when you don't know the twist, but knowing it doesn't ruin it. I'm a huge Nolan fan, but I like this maybe even more than The Prestige.

I remember seeing this but for whatever reason The Prestige has stuck with me a lot more. I honestly don't remember much at all about The Illusionist.

Post by **Gendo** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:39 pm

14. J. Edgar - It was fine, but somewhat boring. Good performances; and some interesting history since I didn't know much at all about any of that before hand. Just not a lot of actual interesting things happening during the film.

15. Hereditary - A horror movie that was actually scary! It has a super slow build; where basically nothing scary happens in the first half, but then it just escalates. If it was trying to be a clever look at dealing with loss; then it failed compared to The Babadook. In the end, there's just a lot of things that don't really make sense or add up, and aren't explained well. But as an interesting and frightening horror movie, it succeeds. And let's talk about that car scene. They probably just did it for shock value, but it worked, very well. It's been a very long time since I had such a strong reaction to a movie moment. I was completely floored; it seriously messed me up for several minutes.

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:57 pm

I kind of liked J. Edgar, but I don't think its one of the better modern Eastwood films.

I like the family drama stuff in Hereditary well enough (Of which I think the car scene ties pretty well into, even if the buildup to it is on super shaky ground (Why the fuck would you tell your teenage son to take their sibling to a party? How do you not think they're going there to drink and do drugs and get laid? Even if you're a detached idiot like the mom in the movie, how is that not your first thought?)), hated all of the lol devil cult nonsense in the movie which really comes to the forefront in the second half.

Derived Absurdity · Post by **Derived Absurdity** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 4:43 pm

Gendo wrote:And let's talk about that car scene. They probably just did it for shock value, but it worked, very well. It's been a very long time since I had such a strong reaction to a movie moment. I was completely floored; it seriously messed me up for several minutes.

What?? That was the emotional and thematic lynchpin of the entire movie. It was the exact opposite of shock value. It's the only reason anything else in the movie even worked. That's like saying Gage's death in Pet Sematary was shock value.

Post by **Gendo** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:21 pm

I guess shock value isn't the right words. I just meant that it was intended to get the exact reaction that it did; a visceral shock and disgust; to disturb the audience members seeing it. If it were purely about the importance that the event had to the rest of the story, there were plenty of other ways you could do that same essential event while showing what happened in a very different way.

Post by **Gendo** » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:13 pm

16. End of Watch - Halfway through I didn't think I liked it; but by the end, I did. It didn't have much of a plot; but it said a lot with the way it was done.Just the story of 2 cops going about with their jobs and lives, told in a found footage style that I normally don't like. The acting was fantastic; and the ending left me appropriately moved.

Post by **Gendo** » Thu Mar 07, 2019 3:44 am

17. Bringing Up Baby - I laughed a lot. Surprised to see that this was only 2 years before His Girl Friday; Cary Grant looked so much younger here. A very different character than I'm used to seeing him play. The story itself was a standard screwball comedy. While I enjoyed Hepburn's character, I didn't really buy the chemistry between them; he was rightfully annoyed with her right up until the moment that he was in love with her. But as a comedy, it really worked.

Post by **Gendo** » Tue Mar 12, 2019 12:09 am

Gendo wrote:Hadn't heard of that one, but I'll definitely check it out. Just added to my Amazon card, but it's an add-on item so I need to wait until there's more stuff to get.

Before a got around to ordering 25th Hour on Amazon; came across it in a used DVD shop for $4. I'll check it out soon.

Lord_Lyndon · Post by **Lord_Lyndon** » Tue Mar 12, 2019 12:26 pm

I hope you'll enjoy 25th hour. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

Post by **Gendo** » Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:23 pm

18. Annihilation - Mostly good. I agree with some of DA's points; I wanted more. The visuals, concepts, and themes were all excellent. I'm fine with some ambiguity, but it sort of felt like they just couldn't think of a good way to explain what was happening, so they just didn't bother. Anyway, it had some great suspense. And the screaming bear was clever and terrifying.

R5. Triangle (2009) - One of my top 10 from whatever year I saw it first. Still holds up. Maybe I liked it slightly more the first time, but I still loved it. It's just a cool and unique premise; with multiple interesting twists.

Post by **Gendo** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 5:45 pm

19. Venom - Good! I heard mostly bad stuff about this, so I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't perfect or anything, but I definitely enjoyed it. Tom Hardy was really fantastic. The action was just so-so; especially the final battle. But I really liked the way they did the character interaction between Venom and Brock; even if it wasn't what I would have expected from the source material (which I mostly only know from the Spider-Man animated series, which was pretty close to the comics from what I understand).

20. After Earth - Also better than I expected. I had heard almost nothing good about this, so I was expecting hopefully something enjoyably bad. But I actually ended up liking it. It definitely had flaws... plenty of them. Jaden Smith was basically just bad in it. Will Smith was underwhelming. Lots of little plot details don't make sense if you question them. But I think it was a good story, and told well. I really liked the concept of this is what earth would be like after thousands of years without humans; though I didn't understand the lack of man-made structures that I would have expected to survive in some ruined form. The overall relationship between the two characters was actually interesting, even if not acted or shown well. So yeah, I would have preferred to see it in the hands of a different director; but there was definitely something there.

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 6:07 pm

I felt pretty similarly about After Earth. Hardly a masterpiece but not even close to the worst thing I've ever seen.

I think I liked the performances a little more than you though.

Post by **Gendo** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 9:25 pm

21. Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny - I liked this way more than I should have. By which I mean, I'm not generally a fan of crudeness for crudeness sake, or for comedy sake. But man did I like this movie. It helps that I'm a fan of both Jack Black and Tenacious D. The music was awesome. Black was great as always. The cameos were fun; I loved Tim Robbins. But yeah, it's definitely not for everyone. You have to either enjoy or be willing to ignore massive amounts of lewdness. It wasn't even all that well-made; it felt cheap. But it was fun.

Post by **Gendo** » Wed Mar 20, 2019 2:11 pm

22. Captain Marvel - I wasn't even planning on seeing this until DVD, but then realized that it wouldn't be available on DVD until after Endgame; so see it I did. For the most part, I liked it.

The good - The side characters and supporting cast were great; especially the lead Skrull. The overall plot was interesting. I really liked the emotion in the second half, and the bad-guy good-guy reversal thing was great. It's super common for an important good guy to turn out to be bad in movies; so no surprise there. But the bad guys turning out to be good was unexpected and well done. After the moment when they showed that, there was a lot of good suspense, not knowing whether or not the Skrulls would betray them or not; they had me guessing and on-edge for quite a while. And I'm glad that they didn't betray them. It made for a more interesting story that way.

The bad - The main character was boring. As has been pointed out by several things I've seen on it, everyone keeps telling her to stop being so emotional, but she never acts emotional. The first half was kind of bland and boring; I only started to enjoy it about halfway through. The 90s stuff was just stupid. Lots of movies take place in all sorts of different time periods; both recent past and longer past. I don't know why Captain Marvel thought that it was just a big deal that it was taking place in the 90s. I guess because they wanted to play up nostalgia for cheap laughs. It seemed to work; a lot of people in the theater laughed at every 90s reference. But I just rolled my eyes. Yes, we get it, it's the 90s. I've seen plenty of movies that take place in the 70s, the 80s, 1850s, 1900s, etc... they managed to simply use the decade as a setting, rather than feeling the need to put things in the movie that are ONLY there to remind you of the decade. Ok, rant over.

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:28 pm

I remember seeing Pick of Destiny when I was younger and liking it. Pretty crass movie though lol.

Post by **Gendo** » Wed Mar 27, 2019 1:57 pm

23. Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) - I didn't really get this one. It started off as a light-hearted comedy, though very subtle. Then suddenly, the father dies out of no where. So it's based on a true story; they were simply showing the lives of this actual family. But still, what happens in real life doesn't always make for good film. Very few of the events of the film have any relevance to the fact that they had 12 children... which is perhaps the point, that their lives were just like any other family's lives. But then what makes them interesting enough to make a movie about? There were some funny parts; but as a whole it just wasn't interesting. Also, the remake isn't a remake in anything but the name; completely different movie.

24. Trumbo - Excellent. Also, the second-best movie in which Alan Tudyk complains about The Alliance. Seriously, there's a scene where Alan Tudyk complains about The Alliance. A fun story to watch; with some excellent performances. Cranston was fantastic; I think he should have taken home the Oscar over DiCaprio in The Revenant. I do wish I had seen it before I hated Louis C.K., though. The writing had clever dialog; and it's one of those based on a true story stories that was genuinely fascinating to learn about.

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 4:58 am

I liked Trumbo well enough for what it was, but I thought Leo was better in The Revenant. Cranston is by no means bad but I don't think he's bringing that much to the role beyond his general charisma.

Post by **Gendo** » Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:41 pm

25. The Circle - Good. A weird mix of The Skulls (a movie I like a lot), 1984, and The Social Network. The overall story was pretty cool; even if it was missing a few things. It would have been a lot better with some better editing and a lot more subtlety. It's basically the story of how Facebook and Google are super scary and evil, but without mentioning Facebook or Google. I think they writing could have taken a few lessons from South Park on how to talk about an issue without mentioning that issue. It was just so over-the-top that it was silly in some parts.

But I still liked it; some parts had good suspense. I was genuinely creeped out by the "access to all human experience is a human right" speech. Karen Gillan was awesome; Watson was fine, though her accent could use work.

There were 2 scenes that I could have sworn were edited together backwards. When the social network people approach Mae about becoming part of the company's social network; they're acting super creepy; in a way that it was not believable that Mae wouldn't immediately run for the hills. But then the next scene has her finding out that the company will put her parents on the medical plan. Had the medical scene come first; then her reaction to the creepiness of the social network scene would have made a lot more sense.

Hey, I managed to hit 25 before April... on track for 100; which is a big step up from only watching 4 in January.

Eva Yojimbo · Post by **Eva Yojimbo** » Thu Apr 04, 2019 5:40 pm

Gendo wrote:17. Bringing Up Baby - I laughed a lot. Surprised to see that this was only 2 years before His Girl Friday; Cary Grant looked so much younger here. A very different character than I'm used to seeing him play. The story itself was a standard screwball comedy. While I enjoyed Hepburn's character, I didn't really buy the chemistry between them; he was rightfully annoyed with her right up until the moment that he was in love with her. But as a comedy, it really worked.

Long-time favorite of mine. That's one of the first classic comedies I remember watching on TCM when I was in my early teens and I've seen it probably 4-5 times since then. I just laugh and love it more every time. To me, the chemistry between Grant and Hepburn was mostly just between two great actors always trying to match the other in terms of energy and performance. It's like watching Bird and Diz trade sax/trumpet riffs over a furious and complex Bebop piece. All the other films they made together are worth seeing too, as are the other Hawks screwball comedies. Also, IMO the one undisputed master of that genre was Preston Sturges. Everything he made was just gold, so make it a point to check some out if you haven't seen it. I'd start with The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels, and Palm Beach Story and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek after that.

Gendo wrote:24. Trumbo - Excellent. Also, the second-best movie in which Alan Tudyk complains about The Alliance. Seriously, there's a scene where Alan Tudyk complains about The Alliance. A fun story to watch; with some excellent performances. Cranston was fantastic; I think he should have taken home the Oscar over DiCaprio in The Revenant. I do wish I had seen it before I hated Louis C.K., though. The writing had clever dialog; and it's one of those based on a true story stories that was genuinely fascinating to learn about.

I liked this one. Here's what I wrote about it:

Trumbo (Jay Roach) - 7.0/10

Trumbo joins the Coen Bros. recent Hail, Caesar! as being films focusing on Hollywood's Golden Age at the height of the industry's anti-Soviet sentiments that lead to the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearing and ultimately the Hollywood blacklist.

In contrast the Coen's phantasmagoric visuals and edgy, paranoid tone, Trumbo naturally takes a much more literary and traditionally dramatic approach; so while the Coens evoked nostalgia by trekking through the age's genres and directorial styles, Trumbo is more concerned with replicating the personas of those involved. Though Cranston is in top form as the grandiloquent Trumbo, perhaps the real treat of the film is in watching the (typically excellent) imitations of the era's stars: Stuhlbarg's Edward G. Robinson, O'Gorman's Kirk Douglas, Elliot's John Wayne, Berkel's Otto Prmeinger, and Portnow's Louis B. Mayer. Coen regular John Goodman even steals the show as the B-picture producer, Frank King.

Director Jay Roach is a veteran of comedies of the lightest and most frivolous variety (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents), but his light touch is a real boon here in allowing the actors to create these amusing caricatures that always stay on the right side of the entertaining/annoying border. What's lacking here is the darker edge that comes innately to the Coens' sensibilities, and that ultimately gets lost in the larger-than-life presentation of the actors.

Still, it's impossible to deny the fun to be had in such skillful evocations of this time period, and with a cast this impressive with a sense of humor this pointed, the sheer entertainment value overcomes any quibbles about a lack of more thematic substance.

Post by **Gendo** » Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:16 pm

26. Big Trouble in Little China - Ha, what did I just watch? I'm sitting there, watching your typical 80s action movie about gangs fighting each other... and then suddenly Raiden shows up. And then it just keeps getting crazier. Overall, it was a lot of fun. I just never knew what to expect next. It kind of reminded me of a cross between The Golden Child and Riki-Oh. Except better made.

27. The Haunting (1963) - Wow, excellent. Some really cool camera work that helped it actually be scary. It had a great atmosphere; the horror was very subtle most of the time, which made it more effective when it went all out and in your face. I vaguely remember watching the remake; this was definitely more memorable.

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:06 pm

Big Trouble in Little China has never done anything for me, I just don't connect with the humor I guess. Carpenter I tend not to like in general though.

Post by **Gendo** » Sat Apr 06, 2019 2:41 am

What about The Thing?

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Sat Apr 06, 2019 2:57 am

Not a fan.

Derived Absurdity · Post by **Derived Absurdity** » Sat Apr 06, 2019 5:23 am

By some weird wacky coincidence both The Haunting and The Thing are right next on my list right after I finish the third season of Twin Peaks. I don't know about The Haunting but I have high hopes for The Thing.

Eva Yojimbo · Post by **Eva Yojimbo** » Sat Apr 06, 2019 3:54 pm

Gendo wrote:26. Big Trouble in Little China - Ha, what did I just watch? I'm sitting there, watching your typical 80s action movie about gangs fighting each other... and then suddenly Raiden shows up. And then it just keeps getting crazier. Overall, it was a lot of fun. I just never knew what to expect next. It kind of reminded me of a cross between The Golden Child and Riki-Oh. Except better made.

27. The Haunting (1963) - Wow, excellent. Some really cool camera work that helped it actually be scary. It had a great atmosphere; the horror was very subtle most of the time, which made it more effective when it went all out and in your face. I vaguely remember watching the remake; this was definitely more memorable.

BTILC is one of those films I watched as a kid when I was all about action films. Back then I couldn't really appreciate the camp and comedy but I remember basically enjoying it at the time. No idea what I'd think now.

The Haunting is great, and along with The Innocents probably form Britain's best one-two combo punch of classic horror.

Gendo wrote:What about The Thing?

I am a fan. Love that film. Not sure if horror and suspense have ever been better melded outside of Hitchcock.

Post by **Gendo** » Sun Apr 07, 2019 3:12 pm

So begins the MCU marathon, leading up to End Game.

R6. Iron Man - This completely holds up.

R7. The Incredible Hulk - Not bad, but not great. Really doesn't feel like MCU. The CG did not hold up at all.

R8. Iron Man 2 - I like this one a lot. Not better than the first, but I think it's great. Sam Rockwell steals the show as usual. The biggest negative is that they final battle is just the same thing as the first; Iron Man vs a suit built based off of Iron Man tech.

R9. Thor - Better than I remembered. Fun action, good story. The side characters were bland, but Thor and Loki were great.

R10. Captain America: The First Avenger - Also better than I remembered. The first MCU film where the music stood out as great. Not a fan of the whole "USO show" segment; felt silly and unrealistic (no reason at all to have a super soldier be the one to spend his time doing that instead of combat; and Steve wouldn't have agreed to do it any more than he would have been willing to collect scrap metal to help the war effort).

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Sun Apr 07, 2019 3:42 pm

I don't think its at all unrealistic that America would create kitschy propaganda during war time, considering the government literally did this in real life during the exact same timeframe.

Even someone like Jimmy Stewart, who flew bomber planes during WWII, was pulled aside at times to create propaganda to motivate people to join the military.

Wikipedia wrote:Public appearances by Stewart were limited engagements scheduled by the Army Air Forces. "Stewart appeared several times on network radio with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he performed with Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Walter Huston and Lionel Barrymore in an all-network radio program called We Hold These Truths, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights."[39] In early 1942, Stewart was asked to appear in a film to help recruit the 100,000 airmen the USAAF anticipated it would need to win the war. The USAAF's First Motion Picture Unit shot scenes of Lieutenant Stewart in his pilot's flight jacket and recorded his voice for narration. The short recruitment film Winning Your Wings appeared in movie theaters nationwide beginning in late May and was very successful, resulting in 150,000 new recruits.[40][41]

I find the idea that the guy named Captain America would think he knows better than the government at the height of patriotic fervor in the country is far more unrealistic tbh.

Post by **Gendo** » Sun Apr 07, 2019 3:45 pm

Raxivace wrote:I don't think its at all unrealistic that America would create kitschy propaganda during war time, considering the government literally did this in real life during the exact same timeframe.

No, not that part. The fact that it was Steve Rogers doing it. Both because of the fact that Steve's character had already made it clear that he wasn't interested in that type of thing, that he wanted actual combat. And because he's a literal super hero; his super strength was being completely unused. I know that they chose to use him because of his popularity after chasing down the spy, but they could have put anyone else in that costume instead, even lying about it being the same person if they wanted.

And just because it was an annoying sidetrack in a superhero/action movie.

Post by **Gendo** » Mon Apr 08, 2019 9:00 pm

R11. The Avengers - This also holds up very well. At least as good as the first Iron Man. It's just a lot of fun. Yeah, the plot is super basic and shallow, but that doesn't matter. It's a pure super-hero movie; and it's great.

R12. Iron Man 3 - Not as good as the first 2. But it's ok. I think as a character story about Tony Stark, it's good. But as a super-hero movie, it's kind of lame. The bad guy and his powers seem lame. Some of the suit technology is really cool, but at the same time it doesn't add up that the suits should be so fragile. While I can buy that making a suit able to come together piece-at-a-time may have some negative impact on durability, it's not believable that the durability would be so bad that getting hit by a truck would just destroy a suit; not when the earliest versions could withstand so much more.

Post by **Gendo** » Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:01 pm

28. Dazed and Confused - Hmm, not sure about this one. It kind of feels like I would have had to have been in high school in the 70s to really appreciate it. I didn't find the characters all that interesting, although I did really like the actors. A few parts were funny, but it didn't really feel like a comedy as a whole. I liked it better by the end; when I just got more of an appreciation for the simplicity of storytelling involved; just showing some regular people and how they interacted... that part reminded me of Linklater's Boyhood and Before Sunrise; but I think those are both far more compelling.

Eva Yojimbo · Post by **Eva Yojimbo** » Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:39 pm

So far our opinions on the MCU are about the same, though I probably liked Thor less than you did.

Gendo wrote:28. Dazed and Confused - Hmm, not sure about this one. It kind of feels like I would have had to have been in high school in the 70s to really appreciate it. I didn't find the characters all that interesting, although I did really like the actors. A few parts were funny, but it didn't really feel like a comedy as a whole. I liked it better by the end; when I just got more of an appreciation for the simplicity of storytelling involved; just showing some regular people and how they interacted... that part reminded me of Linklater's Boyhood and Before Sunrise; but I think those are both far more compelling.

Yeah, I think that's one of Linklater's weakest films. I didn't get much out of it either, and it didn't really have the universal appeal of another "teenage period" film like American Graffiti.

Post by **Gendo** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:34 am

R13. Thor: The Dark World - Not great. The Loki/Thor relationship stuff was good, and the fake-out betrayal was awesome. The final battle with the portals was pretty cool too. But it had a boring and forgettable plot, and nothing memorable about the film as a whole.

R14. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Excellent. Stands out as higher quality than previous MCU films. Interesting story; good action; good development for Cap's character.

R15. Guardians of the Galaxy - Even more excellent. Pure enjoyment from start to finish. The comedy is wonderful; the set-pieces amazing; the characters interesting. And that soundtrack. Even with a one-note villain; that doesn't ruin it for me.

R16. Avengers: Age of Ultron - James Spader made this good. A lot of people list this as one of the weaker entries, and while I don't disagree, I still enjoy it overall. The action is neat; and it's fun to just see the Avengers as a whole team throughout. And Spader. Ultron's dialog and acting are a joy to listen to.

R17. Ant-Man - Although Paul Rudd was wonderful, I don't find it all that interesting as a whole. The ant CG is pretty lame. The shrinking/growing fighting allows for some neat action scenes. But the bad guy is again forgettable; and the only good side character is Michael Peña.

R18. Captain America: Civil War - Similar to Winter Soldier, for obvious reasons. Maybe not quite as good as the first time I saw it, but still good. The characters of Steve and Tony make this movie. Each of their motivations are completely in fitting with everything that led up to this. We can't quite say the same for the other characters; for several of them they could have easily gone to either side. People complain about the villain, and yes, he was a weak villain. But he wasn't enough of a focus that it ruined it for me.

R19. Doctor Strange - Also kind of forgettable, despite having some really neat and imaginative set pieces and action scenes. I found myself a bit board during parts of it. I do really like Strange's character by the end, but that version of the character shows up more in Infinity War than he does here. The final showdown with Dormammu was awesome.

Raxivace · Post by **Raxivace** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:51 am

This is the phase where I really turned against the MCU and just couldn't stand such bland journeymen directors like the Russos being hired for these films anymore. The Winter Soldier/Age of Ultron/Civil War "trilogy" in particular I found to be incredibly disappointing. The only movies I particularly liked here were Guardians 1 and honestly Ant-Man for handling divorce in a fairly mature way.

Things got a little better in phase 3 once they started having like, actual characters as the villains but that just goes to show how low the bar was set here.

Derived Absurdity · Post by **Derived Absurdity** » Tue Apr 16, 2019 1:06 am

The only MCU movies I actually come close to sort of liking are Iron Man, because it's actually a good movie, GotG 2, because I thought its emotional center worked, and Homecoming, because Spiderman. Ragnarok was kind of funny.

That's all.