Movies you'd like to see

[Luce NDs]

the conflict in the movie is actually a standard trope in the comic books
that keeps on being used
typically it either between characters who don't know each other at all (in a superheroine world, where all the heroines wear their underwear on the outside, the villains & the heroines look the same) or between characters of differing morals & ethics
one of my favourite ones was Spiderman vs. Wolverine -- Spiderman totally outclasses Wolverine (faster, stronger, impossible to hit, annoying constant verbal patter) and was actually winning, but he ended up losing the fight because he couldn't breach that one line he needed to to actually stop Wolverine from achieving his goal

unconditional love is risen!

Did you see the scene in Australia where mrs Boss has her underwear scattered in the town square of Darwin?

It was a small detail in the collection of icons ... real people don't like details or icons ... thus miss the bones of myth believing the greater things ... wrought in meet?

 

[Mendalla]

Teaser for the next Star Wars movie. This one is not part of the new series, but is the first of a series of side projects set in the universe (hence it is Rogue One : A Star Wars Story rather than Star Wars : Rogue One).

I'm probably more interested in this one than in the new trilogy. No Skywalkers (well, Darth Vader probably appears and maybe a cameo by Leia, but they aren't the focus), no Jedi, and a main character who appears to be more Han Solo than Luke Skywalker (and is a woman to boot). Oh, and the director, Gareth Edwards, has a pretty good track record so far with his indie debut Monsters and his 2014 reboot of Godzilla both getting critical and fan praise. The plot is about the Rebel mission to steal the Death Star plans in the run-up to the original Star Wars (aka A New Hope) so perhaps a bit more military s-f and less King Arthur in space.

 

[Mystic]

O goodie, "Batman versus Superman" arrives tonight at our local theatre a block from my apartment! And it receives this glowing review from a Rotten Tomatoes top critic:

“Batman V Superman” is the un-event movie of the year, a momentum-less ode to uncreative people everywhere that torches two of pop culture’s greatest characters and uses their ashes as its own personal urinal cake."

Umm, well, at least I'll get to preview Gal Gadol as the ideal woman, a prequel to the epic masterpiece, "Wonder Woman" that comes out next year.

 

[Mendalla]

Umm, well, at least I'll get to preview Gal Gadol as the ideal woman, a prequel to the epic masterpiece, "Wonder Woman" that comes out next year.

That's pretty much what I'm hearing. I was more interested in getting a big screen Wonder Woman from the get go anyhow. Bats and Supes have had enough screen time over the decades. Time for some other JLA members to get a chance to shine (on the big screen, Green Arrow and The Flash seem to be doing pretty well for themselves on the small screen right now).

 

[Hilary]

I'm no superhero super-fan, but I liked Batman v Superman okay. Lots of fun action. I would have enjoyed some more lighthearted moments but I guess it's not meant to be a barrel of laughs.

 

[Mystic]

Wow, Hillary, that's fascinating to me. I saw it last night and consider it the worst sci-fi movie I've ever seen. I agree with the Rotten Tomato dissing. On the other hand, my all-time favorite movie is "Somewhere in Time," which I must have seen 20 times. But when I first saw it in a Cambridge theatre, it drew hisses for its over-the-top sentimentality. Savyy movie buffs seem to feel I should be ashamed for how much I enjoyed that movie. So different strokes! But also you're teaching me not to prematurely generalize about what movies women will and will not like.

 

[Mendalla]

I would have enjoyed some more lighthearted moments but I guess it's not meant to be a barrel of laughs.

This lack of a lighter touch is what I dislike about superhero movies today, though the Marvel Cineverse (Iron Man, Avengers, etc.) manages to lighten up at times (I hear Antman in particular is good that way, though I have not watched it yet). I'm not saying that we have to go back to the comic silliness of the 1960s Batman, but the "iron age" deadly seriousness wore thin for me long before it made its way into the current run of superhero movies. I liked "Dark Knight Returns", the classic Batman graphic novel that inspired a lot of the grimness, but that doesn't mean I want all my superhero stories to be like that.

 

[Hilary]

Mystic - feel free to put me in a generalised category of women who would have seen it in part just for the eye candy... Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, heck even Jeremy Irons made the show at least a worthwhile visual spectacle.

 

[Mystic]

I'd love to convince Gal Gadel that I'm the answer to her mother's prayers.

 

[revjohn]

I'm no superhero super-fan, but I liked Batman v Superman okay. Lots of fun action. I would have enjoyed some more lighthearted moments but I guess it's not meant to be a barrel of laughs.

Batman V Superman could have been much, much, much better.

One of the problems, at least with some of the DC movies has been to go big early. And in doing so the ball gets dropped hugely.

Green Lantern gets two baddies. Hector Hammond never, ever much of a threat and Parallax who is a tremendously huge threat. Put them together in a badly written script (you need five people for that?) and it is a let down.

Batman V Superman gave writing credit to six although I'm pretty sure four of them had little if any input into the script.

At any rate as far as the baddies go it was Lex Luthor Jr. (meh) a dead Zod (less than meh) and their genetic construct Doomsday. Sigh. Doomsday was introduced by DC simply because Superman had no enemy that could really do him any damage. Batman's brain is a threat but since they are generally allies there is very little reason for them to mix it up.

The script did make a plausible case for a Batman on Superman conflict the movie could have done quite well without all of the rest. Wonder Woman was not a character she was a plot device and really, what did the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg Cameo's do to advance the plot? Nothing. And Bruce Wayne's dream sequences? Gratuitous fluff.

Superman has a big fight with Doomsday, big deal. Batman and Wonder Woman manage to get some licks of their own in just to show that Doomsday really isn't that scary. Doomsday does manage to kill (or appears to kill) Superman but really Superman didn't take nearly enough damage to make it compelling that the man of steel was doing anything other than play possum.

I've watched more compelling animated material than this live action turkey.

Some of the action scenes were nicely choreographed and filmed. Particularly where Batman goes to rescue Martha Kent at the warehouse.

I felt it a bit of a let down and it has certainly dashed hopes for the future slate of DC hero movies due out.

I don't know who is at the reigns for this treatment. Warner Brothers really does not get these heroes at all.

 

[Mendalla]

I felt it a bit of a let down and it has certainly dashed hopes for the future slate of DC hero movies due out.

And the early social media reviews (because Marvel has dropped part of their NDA to help get the publicity machine rolling) of Captain America: Civil War are already comparing it to BvS in terms that make it clear that Marvel wins again. The comparison is happening because Civil War is also a throwdown between heroes (Cap.'s squad vs. Iron Man's squad). The thing is, Marvel ran the Avengers universe for almost a decade before doing it, while WB tried to lead off with it, and also based it loosely off of a popular story arc from the comics.

Were I doing a DC shared universe, I would have taken the Marvel approach of doing some good standalones first (prob. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and/or maybe either GL or The Flash) with minimal crossovers (like the post credit scenes in the Marvel universe), then dropped a JL film, then followed the Marvel pattern of a JL event movie every three or so years with 3-4 standalones in between, dropping in new characters along the way. I really think Marvel has hit on a good approach with this pattern and WB/DC likely should have learned from that.

One thing that WB did that I would not have changed is having Batman already an established hero (though not necessarily the Miller-esque version). We've done that origin story enough times. Let's just get on with Bats being Bats.

I don't know who is at the reigns for this treatment. Warner Brothers really does not get these heroes at all.

They have placed far too much trust and power in Zak Snyder, who is a competent to good director but has an approach that tends to the over-dark and over-wrought. Even in the Joss Whedon-dominated Phase 1 era of the Avengers universe, Marvel carefully kept most of the power for the overall direction in the hands of Kevin Feige, who seems to "get" how to make the universe work such that they both make money and make movies that stand up well as movies. The Russo brothers are now starting to emerge as the dominant directors for Phase 3, but they are getting that power only after the success of their Captain America : Winter Soldier, which has been the most critically acclaimed film of the Avengers universe to date (though Civil War, also by the Russos, may eclipse it from what I am hearing).

 

[Mystic]

Compared to "Deadpool," I'd give "Deadpool" 5 stars and "Superman versus "Batman" minus 5 stars.

 

[Jaebius]

And the early social media reviews (because Marvel has dropped part of their NDA to help get the publicity machine rolling) of Captain America: Civil War are already comparing it to BvS in terms that make it clear that Marvel wins again. The comparison is happening because Civil War is also a throwdown between heroes (Cap.'s squad vs. Iron Man's squad). The thing is, Marvel ran the Avengers universe for almost a decade before doing it, while WB tried to lead off with it, and also based it loosely off of a popular story arc from the comics.

Were I doing a DC shared universe, I would have taken the Marvel approach of doing some good standalones first (prob. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and/or maybe either GL or The Flash) with minimal crossovers (like the post credit scenes in the Marvel universe), then dropped a JL film, then followed the Marvel pattern of a JL event movie every three or so years with 3-4 standalones in between, dropping in new characters along the way. I really think Marvel has hit on a good approach with this pattern and WB/DC likely should have learned from that.

One thing that WB did that I would not have changed is having Batman already an established hero (though not necessarily the Miller-esque version). We've done that origin story enough times. Let's just get on with Bats being Bats.



They have placed far too much trust and power in Zak Snyder, who is a competent to good director but has an approach that tends to the over-dark and over-wrought. Even in the Joss Whedon-dominated Phase 1 era of the Avengers universe, Marvel carefully kept most of the power for the overall direction in the hands of Kevin Feige, who seems to "get" how to make the universe work such that they both make money and make movies that stand up well as movies. The Russo brothers are now starting to emerge as the dominant directors for Phase 3, but they are getting that power only after the success of their Captain America : Winter Soldier, which has been the most critically acclaimed film of the Avengers universe to date (though Civil War, also by the Russos, may eclipse it from what I am hearing).

Batman's had some good standalones. Do you consider none of the Superman films to be good standalones? I've recently become more interested in the DC characters. I was always a Marvel fan, but have really been enjoying Legends on TV.

 

[Mendalla]

Batman's had some good standalones. Do you consider none of the Superman films to be good standalones? I've recently become more interested in the DC characters. I was always a Marvel fan, but have really been enjoying Legends on TV.

For Batman, I actually like most of the standalone live ones save the Schumacher ones (Batman Forever and Batman and Robin) and the animated ones are often pretty good, too (e.g. the adaptation of Batman : Year One that John and I mentioned upthread).

I am actually not a big Superman fan so probably not the best judge of them. Richard Donner's Superman 2 (the second Christopher Reeves one) is probably my favorite. I actually like George Reeves' portrayal of the character in the old TV show but they kind of wasted Superman on fighting garden variety criminals in that one. An invincible ubermensch needs better foes than some gangsters with guns. Luther (when done right), Brainiac, etc.

Batman is by far my favorite superhero character but I kind of lean Marvel otherwise. I find the characters a bit more developed and interesting as people.

I would love to see a Batman TV series done in the vein of the new Netflix Daredevil series. I watched the first episode and the tone would be perfect for a low-key, non-JLA Batman.

 

[Hilary]

And Bruce Wayne's dream sequences?

Blech!

 

[Delightful Life]

Blech!

"Robin, oh ROBIN YES, faster, FASTER!"

 

[Mendalla]

Forget superheroes. What the world needs is more 400 ft tall fire-breathing dinosaurs stomping cities into the ground.

Toho Studios, producers of the original Japanese Godzilla movies since 1954, is bringing their own version of the big guy back to the screen this year after a 12 year absence. With the original back on the screen and a sequel to the 2014 American reimagining in the works, it is a good time to be a fan of kaiju (Japanese monsters).

 

[Mendalla]

Aaaand while we're on the subject of Godzilla, the director of that 2014 American version, Gareth Edwards, got the nod to direct the first "Star Wars Story", the first of a series of movies taking place in the Star Wars universe but not part of the main storyline. The result, called Rogue One, comes out this fall and the first teaser has dropped.

In some ways, I'm more excited about this than the new trilogy. It looks like it could be a very different movie from the ongoing stories of the Skywalker family that we have been getting.

 

[Jaebius]

Forget superheroes. What the world needs is more 400 ft tall fire-breathing dinosaurs stomping cities into the ground.

Toho Studios, producers of the original Japanese Godzilla movies since 1954, is bringing their own version of the big guy back to the screen this year after a 12 year absence. With the original back on the screen and a sequel to the 2014 American reimagining in the works, it is a good time to be a fan of kaiju (Japanese monsters).

The best Godzilla movie ever...

 

[Mystic]

Bernie Sanders on the top !%"s increased distance from Middle Class earnings: "That makes as much sense as the plot in Batman versus Superman."