There's little chance that Jyn Erso is Captain Phasma. For starters, Felicity Jones is 5'3, Gwendoline Christie is 6'3. For second, Rogue ONe takes place over 30 years before the force awakens, odds are Phasma is much younger than 50 years old.Originally Posted by Krgrecw
I'm guessing as well that pretty much everyone on the Rebel side of ROgue One dies at the end of the film, possibly ending with Jyn sending the transmission to Leia's ship.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
True, but Vader may have had a cape on for a mission or something. Not sure
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
Saw the Jungle Book, it was a really good movie. Despite the obvious overtones of British Imperialism and the racist connotations of the original, it handled all of it very well. Christopher Walken's take on King Louie is great. It was the part of the movie I was most concerned about, but it was handled well.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
Most recent film I've seen is Larisa Shepitko's Wings, which I highly recommend. It's nice to see a Russian film / film about Russia that isn't sprawling, or interested in sprawl; instead it's just a simple, lyrical depiction of one woman's disconnection from both her heroic (and obviously slightly romanticized) past and the banal, fractured domesticity of her present (not to mention, by extension, the vacated promises of the future—a fairly insubordinate suggestion, given the Soviet milieu in which Shepitko was working).
"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."
Saw Elvis & Nixon the other night. I found it both interesting and hilarious, but I don't know if it would translate to a younger audience that isn't familiar with the two principles. It riffs on a true event and I'm curious to know if it is drawn from memoirs or just a "what might have happened" depiction of how it went. Michael Shannon is solid as Elvis, but Kevin Spacey is simply superb as Nixon.
Spacey seems to never miss. Love that dude.
Watched Civil War over the weekend. Don't think it was as good as the initial hype but it's still one of my favorite MCU movies. The introduction of Black Panther and Spiderman was really good. Looking forward to seeing more of those characters.
After saying she didn't want to see it, Mrs. 50# insisted that we do. And so we did. I thought it was alright as these movies go, but half the movie is made up of loud, metal-bending, and mind-numbing super hero rumble sequences. Underlying theme was solid.
jpx7 (05-09-2016)
Saw Civil War last night and was not disappointed. Loved the additions of Black Panther and Spider-Man and Paul Rudd being cast as Scott Lang continues to be one of the best moves Marvel has made. It's too bad that the X-Men cannot be included in these films as well, because Fox has done a really poor job with that series and Marvel's version of Spider-Man appears to be a clear upgrade over what Sony has been throwing out there.
I think X-Men has been a mixed bag. They have made some good movies, some bad ones and the newest one seems to be somewhere in between. They are large enough to where they can be a self contained franchise. What I really want is for Marvel to get their hands on the Fantastic Four because they have a vast amount of characters to pull from that come with that besides just those 4. And there are rumbling that they have worked out something similar to what they did with Spiderman.
But yeah Black Panther and Spiderman were on point.
The lack of a consistent lineup with the X-Men is what really bugs me. The original trilogy was ok in that area, but the newer films have been mediocre. Too much Mystique, not enough Cyclops, and the fact that we've only seen Gambit in a minor role in 1 of the 7 X-Men films made thus far is mind-boggling to me. Aside from Wolverine, there was no more popular of a character than Gambit during the 90s - and the people that were hooked onto that 90s cartoon (like myself) are the ones who are in their 20s-30s now - the prime audience for these film companies.
Saw Civil War, it was solid. It did somethings really well, like introducing Black Panther and Spiderman. To me i think the failure is in the absurdity. Why is he risking everything for Bucky? I understand the friendship/faith thing, but why risk it all? The weakest part of the film for me is the enemy. His plot is so obvious. And it was so stupid in reality. IN one year he came up with this entire plot? And I mean Crossbones happening that way?
I don't want to go too deep into spoilers, but what I took away was that Marvel still needs Robert DOwney Jr. really bad. But seemingly are hoping using him in small doses is the way to go instead of full blown Iron Man films.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
I wouldn't say he is risking everything. He started out not agreeing with the Accords and wasn't going to sign anyways. Then he finds out Bucky was framed and the supposed plot to release the other super soldiers and he had to stop that.
As far as Marvel needing RDJ. Yeah for their huge near record setting OW's they do need him. He's been in their top 4 movies (Avengers, Avengers 2, Cap 3, Ironman 3). He is the face of the franchise an sells it.
But he is. My point (poorly put) was that Bucky was the leading catalyst to not signing the Sokovia Accords. Think about it. Where did he not see eye to eye with anyone else? Of course there were other factors but he knew that if he was acting under the Sokovia Accords, he'd not be able to do things like protect Bucky.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
It wasn't just that. He didn't even have any active leads on Bucky. Bucky just happened to be the first situation post Accords. I think it was made pretty clear when they were all talking about it. Rogers didn't want others to decide for him when and where to go. He felt that decision was better put on his shoulders than a group of people who could have possible agendas.
But it's the most obvious one. Ultron, Chitauri, etc. were all unanimous threats that the whole team agreed on. They didn't agree on Bucky. Basically he threw out the Avengers when he put Bucky first.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
At that point they weren't given the option to agree on Bucky or not. Which is why when they caught him Falcon made the comment that it would of been a lot easier a week earlier. At that point he couldn't ask the other Avengers what they thought or if they would help. Those that signed had no choice in the matter.
I'm not excited for the next quite obvious twist (similar to Hydra infiltrating the top levels of S.H.I.E.L.D and the security council) I think the more interesting story to assess is the warmongering of Captain America. As somewhere I read put it, Captain America is the Winter SOldier, not Bucky. He's the one who always wants a fight and doesn't want peace.
To point to the obvious, Scarlet witch's dreams in Ultron. Tony Stark sees the people he cares about all dead, hearing Captain America tell him he didn't do everything he could. Then you have Thor seeing the end of Asgard. Hulk sees something that makes him want to wreck a city. Black Widow sees her torturous training. All these things are 100% certified terrible. Captain America sees the war being over and him being with the "love of his life"
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
I must be the only one who's not super into this recent spate of Marvel films. I haven't seen Civil War—probably won't until it's out on Redbox, or (more likely) until it's randomly on HBO in a year—nor most of the second Avengers (saw the final thirty minutes on HBO a few weeks ago); but I've seen most of the others, and they seem to be growing progressively more similar, more formulaic, more burdened with a surplus of characters (which is an extension of often busying themselves more with fan-service than character- and plot-arcs).
My favorites have been, in order:
- the initial Iron Man, which—even though I'm not really a fan of Robert Downey, Jr, felt really fresh, self-contained, and had some teeth to it;
- Guardians of the Galaxy, which was likewise fresh, very fun, and I think benefited greatly from being worlds away, albeit in the same universe;
[then, after a decent drop in quality, in my opinion]- Winter Soldier, which I coincidentally just saw last night (because it happened to be playing on one of the movie channels, of course), but which—while a bit thin on plot (I mean, of course Redford is double-crossing SLJ, and of course SLJ is secretly still alive)—had a nice spareness and focus, in terms of its set of characters, that allowed those character arcs to at least feel mostly-baked (plus: the "Ezekiel 25:17" on Fury's gravestone was a great little nod);
[after another drop in quality]- the initial Thor, which was silly but fun, self-contained, and definitely (unlike its sequel) felt distinct from a lot of the other Marvel Universe films heretofore;
[then, after a pretty huge drop in quality]- Ant Man, pretty much purely on the strength of Paul Rudd; I found the film itself, while self-contained, pretty poorly-hewn.
Now, Marvel is probably entirely justified to not give a flip what I think—Iron Man 2 (which I found pretty disappointing) and Guardians of the Galaxy are the only two I've seen in the theatres—but I will say that I personally want to like these films—in no small part because I'm really keen on the idea of building and developing an interconnected mythos out of series of heroic tales. However, I feel that the building of the mythos, the developing of the universe, has come at the expense of crafting good stand-alone stories and, for the most part, hurt the individual films. Indeed, the individual films have become increasingly reliant on each other—not just for context, but for all their relevance and substance. In other words—as one article, from about a year ago, noted—most of the Marvel Universe products have now become more about the next film than about the story they're meant to tell. To me, that's ultimately not very interesting.
Last edited by jpx7; 05-15-2016 at 01:21 PM.
"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."
The Chosen One (05-17-2016)
I'd generally agree with you JPX. I think the films hit on a few, but Iron Man and Guardians were on another level. Though I know a lot of people like Winter Soldier more and Avengers more.
I think where Civil War succeeds is by not going with the stakes being global catastrophe, which was where early marvel films were at the start of phase one. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Incredible Hulk weren't about potential global threats, but personal threats to the hero.
I do think Marvel has gotten a bit formulaic, but I don't think aside from the future Avengers film, that Marvel is that interested in moving things forward.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
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