Now Watching, Films/ movies discussion Options

[Lady Syl]

I have been on a Legend of the Seeker kick of late. It is a great show! A shame it only lasted two seasons...

[hazmick]

Watched the newly released 'Kung Fu Panda 2' yesterday. Great fun, made me want to get a panda.

Also watched X-men First Class, good film if you like X-men, I just love seeing new characters and discovering what cool abilities they have. Teleportation is still at the top of my list.

[Captain Hammer]

Alright, so it's time for Cappy's Third Comic Book Movie Review of Summer 2011!!

Today, we have opinions on Green Lantern, DC's (via Warner Bros.) sole entry this year.

First, something that truly needs to be said about comic book movies in general. They're best when made in-house. This is why Thor did so well with the source material, keeping a general faithfulness to the comics narrative strength and using the history of visual evolution to nail-down the right effects for the big screen.

These are the two major flaws with Green Lantern. The story is barely there. I know that DC has no intention of merging Justice League properties on the screen until after the finish the run on Nolan's run with Batman and the next Superman film. But they introduce major villains immediately into the narrative, and turn some of the fundamental concepts of the comics' universe into cheap characters. Sinestro (Mark Strong) is well-acted but poorly written. Peter Sarsgaard is creepy as Hector Hammond, but with cheap lines and lots of scripted screaming, there's only so much one can do before turning a role into a self-parody, a dangerous line thankfully averted.

Honestly, given the great run Geoff Johns had with the Blackest Night sequence, I don't know why they didn't hire him for major writing credit for the film. He's written for TV and has interest in doing some film work, so the failure to pass up a strong story-teller speaks of the unwillingness for studios to try taking a few risks.

Then there's the visuals. They range from the fundamentally awesome (Tomar-Re's initial demonstration of a Green Power-ring's ability) to completely misguided (I now know more of Ryan Reynolds' pectoral muscle fibers than any man should ever know). You can see where they sunk the effort into the film, and at no point do you get the sense that they were going for cheap gimmicks seen in the Immortals trailer showing before the film (thank Shor that Skyrim comes out on the same day). Even a skin-tight suit would have been preferable to Reynolds' new skin he seems to get every time he goes ring-slinging.

All in all, a mediocre adaption of great material, with a good adaption of the visual style that seems to go a little over-board in certain respects. I don't know if it's better than Mr. Popper's Penguins, but if you've got nothing else to see this weekend, check it out. I can't way whether it's worth the extra three-to-four bucks for 3-D experience (a lot will depend on your desire to be visually wowed), but it's nowhere near the sh!t-show that was Joel Schumacher's two go-rounds with Batman. Kilmer and Clooney still give me shivers thinking about that.

EDIT: Have now seen this film in a not-tired, not-slightly-buzzed state. Above review null and void. Overall: Rotten Tomatoes is being generous right now.

This post has been edited by Captain Hammer: Jun 23 2011, 05:42 AM

[SubRosa]

I just saw Thor. I have to say, it was quite good. Much better than I expected. A look at the end credits showed many of the reasons why. Kenneth Branagh and J. Michael Straczynski behind the cameras. But even the people in front of the cameras were quite good as well. My biggest worry was Anthony Hopkins as Odin, but I think he did it excellently. Chris Hemsworth though was the real standout. He carries the lead very well. He looks like a god, has a great voice, and is just an all around cool guy. Even when he is being a complete A-Hole (like at the beginning of the movie). I wish he had been tapped to be Captain Kirk in the reboot of Star Trek, rather than Kirk's dad. He'd have done a much better job, namely by not being an annoying twit. But I digress.

All around a good movie. Even with some of the incongruities like Robin Hood, Jackie Chan, and Wilt Chamberlin, it still works. In fact, I think the African-American Heimdall was perfect (not being sarcastic, I mean it. He really feels like an outsider among the other Asgardians, standing alone at the end of the bridge.

The look was good. They even took that silly tic tac toe board the comic book Thor wears and actually make it look like real armor in the film. Likewise with those great big helmets. It all seems larger than life. As gods ought to (even though the movie is quick to point out that: "oh no, they are not gods, they would just look like that to primitives from a thousand years ago".

Every good hero is measured by his opponent. In this Tony Hiddleston as Loki is no slouch either. He was most cool, because while he is what I expected, he was not at all what I expected. A great trickster, his deceptions are merely deceptions. You have to really dig to see what is true plans are. His motivations were excellent, not to mention many-layered, and simply believable. In the end you find yourself thinking "Is he really all that bad?" He has become tied with Magneto as my favorite Marvel movie villain.

Finally, the obligatory epilogue at the end of the credits was once again most tantalizing, and I suspect is the lead in to The Avengers. I really like how the marvel movies are doing these now.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jun 21 2011, 03:38 AM

[Captain Hammer]

Okay, I'm sorry. Forget my previous post.

I saw Green Lantern at the Thursday night midnight premiere, and must admit to a certain amount of impaired faculties.

I saw it again today. Went with my brother, who just got into town. He hadn't seen it yet.

We both agree with my new assessment. Don't see it. Don't watch it if you have to pay, don't view it unless you must.

The CGI is a lot worse than I had originally evaluated. Ryan Reynolds was, I am sorry to say, a poor choice. He's a good actor with leading man capabilities, but he's just not Hal Jordan. Jon Hamm would have been a much better choice. So would Matt Damon. And Tom Hardy, but Nolan already tapped him for Bane.

But the writing. Oh, the writing. I don't know whether the writer's ever really read through an entire story-line of Green Lantern. Given that DC is about to pull another reboot of their whole product line, I don't know how much it matters. But if these story-lines are about to be introduced as comic-book canon, I'll have officially lost all faith in mainstream comics.

[grif11]

Just got back from seeing harry potter!

Brilliant film, and worthy of being known as the final HP movie.

This post has been edited by grif11: Jul 16 2011, 07:04 PM

[hazmick]

I second Harry Potter. I pretend not to be a fan but secretly I think it's quite cool.

I also saw Transformers 3 for the second time today, I loved it. I enjoyed the story and I always love seeing new transormers and the giant Decepticon worm/snake/thing stole the show.

Lots of great films out this year and we're only half way through (sort of).

[Captain Hammer]

Now Watching:

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

And I hate to admit it, but I think I liked it a little better than Thor.

Yes, better than Thor. Not by much, but a little.

It's hard to say what went right, other than noting how little went wrong. They don't default into stereotyped casting, with the exception of the Red Skull, but Hugo Weaving's nazi super-scientist turned deformed super-human mad-man is probably the perfect antagonist, more so than Loki whose entire driving force seems to be an out-of-proportion revenge scheme. This time around, the megalomania that made the original Agent Smith is back, as Weaving's Schmidt makes you ask "Is it possible to be too Nazi for Hitler to tolerate you? What does such a person want?"

Alright, so the one fault I have with the movie is basically the fact that one part of it is mediocre in a piece that consists of concentrated magnificence. We can stop here, say "See the movie," and be done. But there's more for me to say, and I need to say it here. As it is a definitive rant, allow me to throw up the spoiler tags.



Oh, and for the after-credits stinger: Yes, it's there. But, it has already been posted on YouTube, and the significant plot element comes at the end of the film, before the credits, not after. Still, to see the small bit on the big screen: Worth It!

This post has been edited by Captain Hammer: Jul 31 2011, 02:27 AM

[SubRosa]

I spent last week having a mini-lesbian film marathon, watching The Gymnast, A Marine Story, and Elena Undone. I have so fallen in love with Dreya Weber, who stars in the first two. She is an IRL aerialist, and is lots of fun to watch. In fact, I think she has just the right body to play Tadrose Helas, if there was ever a Teresa of the Faint Smile movie. The right attitude too.

Since then I have been going to the stars, watching Enterprise again. I am loving the series even more the second time around. I think all the things other people hate are the ones I adore so much. The opening theme. The lack of a prime directive. Humans not being the most advanced kids on the block, and there not even being a Federation yet. The Vulcans not being the nice, friendly, neutered puppy dogs they are in the later trek shows are a big part of it. Instead them being more than a little devious, and purposely holding humans back from space, creates a wonderful level of conflict that is missing from all the other shows. Even the original series, where Spock often faced animosity from other crewmembers.

Of the cast, I noticed that Linda Park is even more gorgeous than I remember her being the first time around. Jolene Blalock really shines as T'pol though, saying so much with so little. I just love how she sits like a bird in the captain's chair. The doctor is another favorite. I just love that half of his cures seem to use the menagerie of animals he keeps in the sick bay. Like the old days of medicine when maggots were used to prevent gangrene.

I also love the look of this Enterprise. All very basic, no carpeting, no spacious suites for every crewmember with their own shower and food replicator. It is all metal and flat-panel computer screens. Everyone eats in a common mess, and there is even a chef, and the captain has a steward. Controls are all dials and buttons, rather than the slick lcars interface from Next Gen. It looks like IMHO, a starship ought to. More like a submarine than a luxury hotel.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jul 30 2011, 08:07 PM

[Thomas Kaira]

I've been hit by the Anime bug, and have started watching the quintessential series InuYasha. I did watch a lot of child Anime in my youth (Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, mostly), but I have to say that the more adult oriented series have quite a lot to offer.

And now, I pose a question to Anime fans. Which do you prefer: subbed or dubbed?

[grif11]

ahh, back to anime are we?

well for me it depends on the actors. For example FF:Advent Childrens English voice actors were still fitting, especialy the dark voice of Mr. Prius (George newbern)

[SubRosa]

Subtitles all the way, for any non-English film. The dubbing in Anime especially though is always done by the worst voice actors that have ever lived. Actually, I am sure they are not voice actors at all. They are probably just random people the studio found that could speak English. I literally cannot stand to listen to the dubbing in anime. I would rather not watch it at all. (Note this is not the case in anime that was made for an American audience, and so actually got real talent. For example, Naussica of the Vally of the Wind, which features Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman, Chris Sarandon, and Edward James Olmos. Or the aforementioned Advent Children. But those are far and between.)

Watching in the original language also gives you the benefit of hearing the emotion in the character's voices (this never carries over in the dubbed voices). If someone is happy, or sad, or angry, etc... it all comes across in the original language. The other advantage is that if you watch enough anime in Japanese, you start to learn the language a little, including the slang.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 14 2011, 11:24 PM

[Thomas Kaira]

Speaking of Edward James Olmos...

A little while back I finally got around to finishing Battlestar Galactica 2001. An excellent series, but the ending was a major disappointment.

Godidit? Seriously? That was the best they had?

[SubRosa]

Yes, talk about Deus Ex Machina! Lets not forget that a star-faring civilization is just going to give up cities and technology to live as hunter-gatherers with a bunch of cro-magnons. Riiiight. That series had a lot of faults, even aside from the ending. Still, for the most part it was a fun ride getting there. You just could not take it too seriously. Now that I am watching Star Trek again, it really brings home one thing I liked about Galactica. No bumpy-headed aliens.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 15 2011, 03:14 AM

[Kazaera]

Definitely subbed for me - for one, it preserves a certain authenticity, for another, there is no longer such a thing as a neutral accent in English for me (even my own is marked!) and as a result I keep getting weirded out that the characters are speaking American/Canadian/RP/Australian/Scottish/Irish/whatever. German would be an option, but I have no idea where you'd even find anime dubbed into German, chances are the translation would be inferior and translations into German often weird me out anyway for some reason.

Although I should disclaim here that I have some hearing issues and as a result I generally want subtitles on anything I watch, no matter the language, and not being able to understand the spoken dialogue is actually a bonus.

...and now I shall resume lurking on this thread since I'm not watching anything.

[haute ecole rider]

Although I should disclaim here that I have some hearing issues and as a result I generally want subtitles on anything I watch, no matter the language, and not being able to understand the spoken dialogue is actually a bonus.

That makes two of us!

[SubRosa]

I often have to use the subtitles because many movies these days mix the sound so poorly, that the dialogue is drowned out by the music and sound effects. Turning the volume up does not help, because that just makes everything else painfully loud. The Road was one of the worst offenders I found in this.

I also almost always have to use subtitles when watching British movies, like Layer Cake, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, etc... I think I have an easier time understanding Japanese than British English!

[Thomas Kaira]

I have now finished watching InuYasha, from the first episode all the way to the end of The Final Act.

That was a great series. Perfect blend of seriousness and humor, with wonderfully deep characters and some truly heart-wrenching moments here and there.

So now I need a new series to view, and I have decided in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. As I understand, this is the version that stayed true to the source material.

But some bad news: the version on Netflix seems to be the English dub. However, Hulu has the subbed version, so that is where I shall be viewing.

[SubRosa]

I was going to suggest Gunslinger Girl, if you have not seen it yet. Netflix has the subbed version (at least on disc). Or Twelve Kingdoms.

[Thomas Kaira]

Checked the version on Netflix, looks like it's the dubbed version, unfortunately.

I'll see if I can pull it up subtitled on Hulu.