Weak year in movies

[HanoiBoi]

Also enjoyed The Muppets.  Saw a lot of 'Airplane' type of humor in it.

Just last Saturday I saw 'Super 8' for the first time.  Wednesday night was the 2nd viewing.

I loved this movie.  The acting and style reminded me of Stand By Me and Dreamcatcher.  While it can be pretty predictable, I really enjoyed this film.  I'd probably put it in my top 50 of all time.

[shmokes]

Watched Tucker and Dale yesterday. It was pretty great. The movie sort of lost its way 2/3 of the way through, but it was still a pretty refreshing change from the usual formula.

PBJ, see Win/Win. Easily the best movie I saw last year.

[Le Chuck]

The SWT and that's it.  Indiana Jones was saved by Speilberg's Directing, so Lucas gets little if any credit.  Try watching a Indy film, remove all the sfx great camera shots and focus on just the story.... that bit of "gold" was Lucas's.   Ever seen American Graffitti?  It's one of those terrible 80's style teen comedies set in the 50's.  Excessively overrated.  And if you like any part of the SWU other than the SWT then you have poor taste and that pretty much explains why you are defending him.    Regardless, giving Lucas credit for the entire universe is like giving Roddenberry credit for Star Trek Enterprise.... he has, little if nothing to do with most of the extended universe.

You are such a curmudgeon.  You give lucas zero credit for creating the characters and story lines of the Indy Films?  That's almost as absurd as believing that sitting too close to a television is bad for your eyes. 

Without Lucas none of the SW Universe would exist so yeah he gets credit, just like Roddenberry gets credit for spinoffs that he had nothing to do with directly, it's all in his sandbox so it's all thanks to him.  Whether anything decent came after the SWT is debatable but either way it wouldn't be there without Lucas.

[SNAAKE]

win/win was hilarious btw. almost coen-bros tier.

[shmokes]

Spielberg is pretty sucky anyway. He's made a few great films, but most of what he does is super safe, formulaic drivel. And he's capable of making garbage on the level of George Lucas's worst. In fact, he'll do it with Lucas (see:  Indiana Jones 4).

[Vigo]

Lucas gets probably 90% of the credit for conceiving Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was completely his idea for the character, the plot, the tone of the film.

When it came down to taking the idea and making it a tangible and enjoyable film, it was 90% Spielberg and his team. The actual script, the directing, the style it was filmed in. Spielberg is not a brilliant idea guy, but he knows something good when he sees it. If he puts in 100% of his efforts, as he did with Raiders, it will be good.

Lucas has great ideas but he is not a talented film guy, every disaster in Star Wars and Indiana Jones is heavily tributed to him having too much control over the work. His major successes are almost always linked with someone taking his ideas and making them even better. In fact, if Lucas had his way, Indiana Jones would have been called Indiana Smith. Spielberg pushed him away from that name.

[Le Chuck]

Somewhat back on topic, I watched "I am #4" last night, not sure if it's a '10 or '11 release.  It's a little thick in the exposition and a little tweeny in the plot development but it was an ingaging fun little movie. 

As for Scott Pilgrim, I can see how the fight sceens may drag for some audiences but it is one of the most faithful screen adaptions i've seen for a comic.  Some of the shots are frame for frame from the books which was fun to see.  That said I liked the movie first then read the books which made me like the movie even better.

[Well Fed Games]

I hope he does do well, but if this were vegas, the odds of him making a good film would be pretty slim.

You do sound like a fan of his!  Whatever, man. If you don't like his stuff, don't see his stuff, but don't act like you have some inside info the rest of the internet doesn't. I'll be checking out anything that has his name in the credits. If it is good (Buffy), I will throw my money at it, if it is bad (Dollhouse) I will hope for something better next time. Pretty much the same way I approach Christopher Nolan- some creators- be it in movies, games, music, have earned my optimism about their projects, and Whedon is at the top of my list.

[shmokes]

In Howard's defense, Christopher Nolan has a far more consistent track record than Whedon. Buffy and Firefly were both great TV, and Serenity proved that he has the chops to do a feature length film well. But Dollhouse was absolute garbage. And plenty of directors debut with one great film and then go on to never live up to their promise.

The fact that Whedon is attached gives me hope for Avengers, thanks to Serenity, but I'd call it very cautious optimism. Nolan on the other hand, given Memento, Batman 1 & 2, Inception, and to a lesser degree everything else he's done, is in another category altogether. I don't go into a Nolan film with cautious optimism. More like I would leave the theater surprised and dismayed if the movie were less than excellent.

[Rando]

If it is good (Buffy), I will throw my money at it, if it is bad (Dollhouse) I will hope for something better next time.

Dang,
I liked Dollhouse, wife did too.  Can't remember if it was shaky in the beginning and then got better as it went on, but we really really enjoyed it.

For the record, Whedon does have some Comic background which could (or could not...) not help regards to the Avengers movie.  He wrote or was involved with a number of Buffy books, and got some critical acclaim for his work with the X-Men and the Runaways.  FYI.

[Well Fed Games]

Dang,
I liked Dollhouse, wife did too.  Can't remember if it was shaky in the beginning and then got better as it went on, but we really really enjoyed it.

Yeah, I just couldn't get into it... I can't say I watched every episode, but I did catch most of them. I think I was expecting it to scratch the same itch Buffy did, but tonally it was a very different show.

Whedon's comic successes are definitely part of my interest in the Avengers as well.

And to be clear, I am definitely not trying to compare Nolan and Whedon, as they are very different creators. But they both have lifetime appointments to my brain's "check this guy's stuff out" list, alongside Gabe Newell (Valve). JJ Abrams has a trial membership.

[Mikezilla]

Of course, the theme is so stupid to begin with it's hard to imagine anyone making a success out of it. Captain America? It's just embarrassing.

A patriotic, do-goody superhero wearing the colors of our flag and fighting for justice, how could that ever succeed? You might as well call him superma--- oh wait... 




Just as an FYI, Captain America was created during WW2. Sure it may be a bit dated, but as far as the golden age of comics goes, Captain America is about as iconic as it gets, apart form the Sup'.

I do know there is a Captain Canuck in Canada and a Captain Britain in the UK. I don't know much about Capt'n Canuck, but Capt'n Britian draws a lot from Arthurian legend.

I think it is pretty darn common for countries to have at least one "national superhero" 

Like Vigo stated, why would that be embarassing? What is wrong with patriotism now adays? Its like people are ashamed to be American or something. Yeah, why wouldnt they? Everyone thinks that their culture/country is the best, why shouldnt we, and like Howard said, we are so... yeah.

Granted the movie isnt what I would have done with it, but I liked the writing, and the theme, the art direction, my only problem was the casting. I hated how they used Chris Evans for Captain America, when he was already tied to Fantastic Four. I thought Hugo Weaving as Red Skull was awesome, he was by far the best part of the movie.

Thats another sign of the times, Superman used to fight for truth, justice, and the american way... They even changed that in the script of the remake because they didnt want to "offend" anyone.  Its ridiculous. If any other country created stuff as cool as us, I would be into that as well.

I think the Spiderman movies could have been better too, if they cast someone aside from Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. The dude cant act, he freakin sucks. But the production was top notch, especially on the second one. The third one was atrocious, as far as Im concerned, it never existed, just like the fourth terminator.

Hopefully Avengers doesnt suck, I just want the Hulk to do some badass stuff. I got my Avengers fix from the cartoon series, that was great.

[Malenko]

The third one was atrocious, as far as Im concerned, it never existed, just like the third and  fourth terminators.

fixed that for you.

I dont recall anyone mentioning another Marvel superhero movie, The Punisher. While Dolph Lundgren's Punisher was pretty terrible, Thomas Janes' Punisher was actually quite good. I like to pretend Punisher : WarZone never happened too.

Back on topic a little,  save yourself the money and don't bother watching Haywire, its mega ---smurfing--- terrible.

[Mikezilla]

The third one was atrocious, as far as Im concerned, it never existed, just like the third and  fourth terminators.

fixed that for you.

I dont recall anyone mentioning another Marvel superhero movie, The Punisher. While Dolph Lundgren's Punisher was pretty terrible, Thomas Janes' Punisher was actually quite good. I like to pretend Punisher : WarZone never happened too.

Back on topic a little,  save yourself the money and don't bother watching Haywire, its mega ---smurfing--- terrible.

Ah thank you, dont know how I missed that. 

I agree with you on that, if John Travolta wasnt in it, it would have been better.

Awww man, Haywire sucked? I wanted to see that, I absolutely LOVE Gina Carano. 

[shmokes]

Like Vigo stated, why would that be embarassing? What is wrong with patriotism now adays?

There's nothing wrong with some patriotism. But, like anything, it can be taken too far. And it frequently is, more than most things. It's like the parents who put My Child is an Honor's Student bumper stickers on their car. It's not that there's anything wrong with being proud of your kid. It's something altogether different.

BTW, I'm very fond of Earth. But Captain Planet is retarded.

[Malenko]

BTW, I'm very fond of Earth. But Captain Planet is retarded.

I disagree but I respect your candor:

Don Cheadle is Captain Planet

[Vigo]

I thought they toned the "overly patriotic" bit quite a bit in the movie, and parodied it even in the bit when he was selling war bonds. They kept the patriotism directly with how Steve Rogers felt and was willing to selflessly fight for America. Didn't seem to overdo it at all.

I'm gonna agree that the movie isn't the way I would have like to have seen it though, and agree with the comments that Chris Evans kinda blows, but I still wouldn't call the movie on of the worst of they year, especially when there are things like Hangover 2 or "Big Momma's house 3: Like Father Like Son" on the table.

BTW, I love not having my cereal soggy in milk, AND I am a fan of Captain Crunch. I guess you can say, like the captain, I'm a pretty "pro-crunch" guy.

[Le Chuck]

Just throwing this out there but I got a DVD of Paranormal Activity 3 over the weekend that I was hoping was going to be the 'unrated' version with additional footage and commentary.

Instead I got some special edition with an optional descriptive audio track for the blind.

I cannot, for the life of me, think of a movie more boring than the Paranormal Activity series for a blind person.  Except perhaps Fantasia.

The descriptions always come a few seconds before the action, so it's along the lines of

"The door slowly opens..... then it slams shut..." *BANG*

And it's given in a flat monotone by a male narrator.

Damnedest thing, worth a listen for a few minutes.

Fantasia has always been fairly popular with the blind community.  Theatres have great sound systems and the blind community are largely audiophiles.  The deaf community, however, is largely bored to ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- by Fantasia but are huge fans of horror because they don't spend all their time freaking out at the "ka-cha-cha ooh-cha-cha" sound effects. They as a group do kinda lump into the "hurry up and show us the damn monster already" camp, but I'm right there with them.  

[Vigo]

I would think anything musical would be bad with audio descriptions for the blind cutting into the song. Pink Floyd's: The Wall would be hilarious with the music constantly being cut into with monotone comments like "hundred of faceless children shuffle emotionlessly into a giant meat grinder." or "An army of giant pairs of hammers march along the landscape."

[Mikezilla]

I thought they toned the "overly patriotic" bit quite a bit in the movie, and parodied it even in the bit when he was selling war bonds. They kept the patriotism directly with how Steve Rogers felt and was willing to selflessly fight for America. Didn't seem to overdo it at all.

I'm gonna agree that the movie isn't the way I would have like to have seen it though, and agree with the comments that Chris Evans kinda blows, but I still wouldn't call the movie on of the worst of they year, especially when there are things like Hangover 2 or "Big Momma's house 3: Like Father Like Son" on the table.

BTW, I love not having my cereal soggy in milk, AND I am a fan of Captain Crunch. I guess you can say, like the captain, I'm a pretty "pro-crunch" guy.

Agreed. I still havent seen Hangover 2 or Big Mommas house haha. Conan was a huge disappointment though, I liked CA more than that tripe, and I was actually looking forward to that one.

Hey, I love having a good buzz from time to time, because being sober is just plain boring. I formally endorse Captain Morgan, I would sail to the ends of the earth with that guy!

[Vigo]

I haven't seen them either, but I haven't heard one good thing about hangover 2, and figured Big momma was a safe bet at being awful. I could have also gone with "Marley & Me: The Puppy Years".  I had heard Conan was disappointing so I haven't seen it. It would seem like a pretty hard movie to screw up, it's not like anyone is demanding too much from the plot...just make it gritty and entertaining.

Haha, Captain Morgan, another good captain. I fully endorse him as well, any day of the week.

[HaRuMaN]

Hangover 2 = Hangover 1 in Thailand...  meh...

[Mikezilla]

What does it say?

[Le Chuck]

It'd kill you guys to just chuckle at a joke once in a while, wouldn't it. 

Why, did someone say something funny? 

[Vigo]

St. Croix (arguably the most corrupt place in the USA IMO) gets federal money for every bottle of rum that's made.  For the first time ever, these funds are being kicked directly back to the business as a financial incentive.  Ideally they're used for roads and such.

So Captain Morgan not only gets to sell you a bottle of rum, they get paid by the government to produce it.

 

Hrm....Well, he is a pirate. Being on the Caribbean and theft is all part of his MO.

[Mikezilla]

St. Croix (arguably the most corrupt place in the USA IMO) gets federal money for every bottle of rum that's made.  For the first time ever, these funds are being kicked directly back to the business as a financial incentive.  Ideally they're used for roads and such.

So Captain Morgan not only gets to sell you a bottle of rum, they get paid by the government to produce it.

 

Holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. Well... Wont be drinking THAT anymore...

Vigo: 

[knave]

There's always "Sailor Jerry"

[shmokes]

Sailor Jerry nothin'. If you like spiced rum, get a bottle of Kraken. Not only is it far tastier than Captain, it's also in the coolest bottle at the alcohol store. And it's not too expensive. A buck more than Captain where I live.

[SNAAKE]

RELEASE THAH KRAKEN!?


quick question, is rum and liquor just as bad for your health?? mix with club soda maybe?? I like beer but its making me fat so I had to stop. cutting down to only once a week and maybe socially.

(off topic)

[shmokes]

I suppose it depends. If you're drinking to get a buzz I suppose you're going to drink a lot less liquor than beer. But on the other hand, if you just wanna have a few drinks you're gonna feel a lot better in the morning sticking with beer. In terms of getting fat, though, at least liquor isn't filled with a metric ton of empty carbs.

With that said, I'm mostly drinking beer and wine these days and usually not in large quantities (recent week in Miami discounted as an outlier). A night of drinking liquor means a following day of semi-groggy nonproductivity.

[SNAAKE]

If you're drinking to get a buzz

pretty much yeah..

it just makes things little better. street fighter+booze is serious business think I am gonna try things out and see how it works out for me.