I felt Civil War was one of the least formulaic movies of the series. It was almost one of the more comic book style movies that they have done which I was a big fan of.
Movie Thread
- Thread starter zitothebrave
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I felt Civil War was one of the least formulaic movies of the series. It was almost one of the more comic book style movies that they have done which I was a big fan of.
50PoundHead
Hessmania Forever
Big thumbs up for The Man Who Knew Infinity. I realize it's kind of a Masterpiece Theater offering, but Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, and Toby Jones are all fantastic.
As for the Marvel movies, my favorite thus far has been Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Redford was a fabulous villain.
As for the Marvel movies, my favorite thus far has been Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Redford was a fabulous villain.
X-Men Apocalypse was a huge letdown.
Yep. 6 X-Men movies in and they still haven't gotten it right. Way too much story and not nearly enough mutant powers. Time to move on from Singer and get someone else in charge. Why they didn't reboot the series in First Class with the actual first group of students (Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Angel, Ice-Man), is something I'll never understand. I've said this before in this thread, but the target audience grew up watching the animated series and the fact that the studio hasn't included Gambit or Rogue (the good one, not the teenage hormonal one) is very strange to me. Those two, behind Wolverine, were easily the most popular characters of the series.
Eh.
I really really loved Days of Future Past. It's one of the greatest comic book movies I've ever seen. But this one was just a huge letdown.
1) Singer needs to give it up. Lawrence needs to leave. I've never seen an actress mail in a performance like that. Just brutal. Even worse she was turned into this Che/MLK martyr character. They all look up to her.
2) With you on TAS. It and Batman TAS are regarded as two of the greatest cartoons in history. It's why I was very disappointed with Apocalypse. He was such a badass in TAS, and here he has all the power but doesn't use it.
3) Singer still has no respect for Cyclops as a leader.
4) Really don't understand why we can't get a real Gambit.
bravos4evr
Still Playing the Waiting Game
Days of Future past has a lot of issues with it though. Tired old time travel tropes, the pacing, a lot of plot issues and it was kind of lazily scripted.
I actually like Apocalypse more than DOFP as a movie, it had issues too (once again pacing, wasting 3 of the 4 horsemen characters,the unneeded trip back to Alkalai Lake, Apocalypse isn't given much to do but make proclamations) But it actually felt like an X-Men movie for once rather than a Wolverine movie with other characters involved. The Quicksilver stuff was excellent most of the casting was great, Oscar Isaac did as much as he could with what he was given to do and I enjoyed most of the performances. It isn't better than First Class or X2, but I think it' the 3rd best of the series.
I actually like Apocalypse more than DOFP as a movie, it had issues too (once again pacing, wasting 3 of the 4 horsemen characters,the unneeded trip back to Alkalai Lake, Apocalypse isn't given much to do but make proclamations) But it actually felt like an X-Men movie for once rather than a Wolverine movie with other characters involved. The Quicksilver stuff was excellent most of the casting was great, Oscar Isaac did as much as he could with what he was given to do and I enjoyed most of the performances. It isn't better than First Class or X2, but I think it' the 3rd best of the series.
I actually enjoyed the time travel stuff in DOFP which is why I like it more than Apocalypse. Trust me I was a bit Hugh Jackman-weary also but I felt his role was just right in that movie. I grew up on the 90's series, and the Time Travel episodes were actually some of my favorites now that I've grown up. Out of curiosity, what plot issues, pacing, and script issues did you have? I've watched the Rogue Cut and don't like it any worse or better than the regular cut.
The pacing was terrible, the random trip to Alkalai Lake was also unnecessary. What really annoys me is the end of DOFP where it wasn't STryker but actually Mystique. Huge plot hole 10 years later that Stryker actually has control over Wolverine.
I dind't like the Quicksilver stuff this time around. He's faster than the Flash at this point, and basically STOPS time instead of being fast. The DOFP kitchen scene was great but this one was a bit overexcessive IMO.
I liked Isaac. As you said he did much with what he could do, but I really just didn'tlike how Singer portrayed Apocalpyse altogether.
My ratings are actually
Days of Future Past
X2
X1
X3
Apocalypse
First Class
The more I've watched 3 the more I appreciate it. Still not completely over Cyclops and Xavier dying, but that movie actually had a lot of positive stuff in it. Beast was awesome, the Xavier death scene, Mystique sacrificing her powers for Magneto, etc.
I like First Class less and less over the years.
Most of all, I absolutely loath the fact FOX has forced Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique on us as some major player because she's A-List.
bravos4evr
Still Playing the Waiting Game
ugh X-3 is an abomination of cinema. that movie is dead last for me.
yes the mystique thing is out of hand. BUT, I have no childhood connection to the source material so I just take it as it comes. i wasn't much of a comic guy, and too old for the TV show. But I am a bit of a film nerd and used to write some criticism for a now defunct site a few years back. I try to be as objective as I can.
yes the mystique thing is out of hand. BUT, I have no childhood connection to the source material so I just take it as it comes. i wasn't much of a comic guy, and too old for the TV show. But I am a bit of a film nerd and used to write some criticism for a now defunct site a few years back. I try to be as objective as I can.
I would say easily that the X-Men and Batman 90's cartoons can be watched by any age, and I highly recommend you watch it.
Also, define "film nerd".
bravos4evr
Still Playing the Waiting Game
spent time in film school in Chicago (2 years), have seen probably 15,000 movies (and maybe a lot more) written over 100 reviews of movies. I am simply a huge fan of the media. I don't much care for my fellow human being. If I could live in isolation with baseball, movies and the internet piped in, I'd be fine.
Are you sure, you aren't @jpx7
I believe he and I are the only ones here, who own and discuss Criterion movies.
http://www.chopcountry.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1085
Where does one go to find your archived movie reviews?
Thoughts on Mad Max Fury Road, Interstellar, The Parent Trap (Quaid), Star Wars Prequels, The Terminal, The Departed, Any Bergman or Kurosawa, and The Godfather 1 v 2. Michael Bay, JJ Abrams' Lens Flares, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Aaron Sorkin, Fincher, Seagal-Prime, and Batman v. Superman.
bravos4evr
Still Playing the Waiting Game
haha no, not jpx! sadly, the site is gone, the owner bought another site, merged it and killed the archives. as far as I know, his 2nd site went bust because he couldn't afford to pay the hosting fees and is gone. dude was a jerk, he owed several people $$$ at the time of the merger so we all left when he said he'd pay us "eventually" there might be some on and old blog of mine somewhere though.
Loved Fury Road. I think it might be the best action/adventure film of the last 25 years! I also really liked Interstellar (though it needed an editors touch) as I am a big fan of hard sci-fi and films about ideas about man's place in the universe.
The prequels were lame, though they had moments of greatness in them. I tend to think if Lucas had written the stories and allowed others to do the final screenplays and direct them they could have been much better.(example: The Clone Wars cartoon is better than the prequel film by a lot)
Loved almost everything Kurosawa especially 7 samurai, Rashomon and Yojimbo. (tho Ikiru has a special place in my heart as well) Not as big on Bergman, I appreciate his films as great, but man they are so grim. I am grim enough on my own his movies often leave me depressed.
Godfather 1 and 2 are in the picture as the greatest American films ever made.
The Departed, while an excellent movie, pales next to the real great Scorsese films like Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, raging Bull and Mean Streets. (but 2nd tier scorsese is better than 99% of the crap out there)
Bay and Abrams do what they do.... each have movies I liked and some I didn't, I think we'd have to go film by film to discuss them.
Lens Flares: good when Carpenter does it, and it was fun as homage at first, now it's gotten out of hand
10 cloverfield lane was kinda fun, but at the same time it was a cheap marketing grab to throw the "Cloverfield" name into it. Great performance by Goodman tho)
I like Fincher a lot. Zodiac is one o the great underrated films of this century, Fight Club, Seven, The Social Network and even his Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake were all excellent. Alien 3 wasn't his fault, and Panic Room is decent. Benjamin Button and Gone Girl where both kinda "meh" to me.
Prime Seagal rules all! How can one argue against Above the Law, Hard to Kill, Marked for Death, Out for Justice or Under Siege? (hint: you can't!!!)
Sorkin............. IDK, he is hit or miss,I always get the feeling I am being told how great it must be to be white and middle class in his movies. (and it probably is!)
and finally:
batman vs superman............ ya know, it was too long, too grim and didn't give superman much to do, but I don't hate it as much as other people do. It seemed to me it needed a little more story , a better Luthor, and a little more time in the editing suite, but the good stuff (depiction of Batman, Iron's performance as Alfred, the basic plot and the visual style) probably don't outweigh the bad (the length, Eisenberg as Luthor, Doomsday seemed silly, the thrown in superfriends stuff, the pacing...etc)
did i hit everything? lmao
I'm heavily anticipating the Black & White release of Mad Max Fury Road. It will be like the 15th time I've paid to see/own it.
More topics.
-Affleck actor vs. Affleck director.
-Bourne Redundancy.
-Godfather III being a great movie.
-Nolan in general. You either love him or hate him.
-Terr Malick in general? Also particularly Tree of Life which gets a lot of hate.
-You skipped The Terminal.
-400 blows? 8 1/2? Last Year at Marienbad?
-V for Vendetta?
-Leo finally winning one? Deserved, overdue, or overrated?
-Lucas and Coppolla: non-star wars and godfather.
-Law Abiding Citizen
-Liam Neeson's career resurgence in action movies at the end of the 2000's, early 2010's.
-Dennis Quaid's work (you also forgot parent trap). I watched a movie called Horsemen. It was actually a pretty good movie, not as great as Se7en which is what they were going for, but still entertaining considering the limited direct to dvd budget. Also wonder what happened to him after his career resurgence from mid 2000's to late 2000's. He's been almost non-existent in blockbuster movies since G.I. Joe and Pandorum.
-Se7en
-Pandorum
-True Grit (Bridges Remake)
-Tron Legacy
That should be it for now.
More topics.
-Affleck actor vs. Affleck director.
-Bourne Redundancy.
-Godfather III being a great movie.
-Nolan in general. You either love him or hate him.
-Terr Malick in general? Also particularly Tree of Life which gets a lot of hate.
-You skipped The Terminal.
-400 blows? 8 1/2? Last Year at Marienbad?
-V for Vendetta?
-Leo finally winning one? Deserved, overdue, or overrated?
-Lucas and Coppolla: non-star wars and godfather.
-Law Abiding Citizen
-Liam Neeson's career resurgence in action movies at the end of the 2000's, early 2010's.
-Dennis Quaid's work (you also forgot parent trap). I watched a movie called Horsemen. It was actually a pretty good movie, not as great as Se7en which is what they were going for, but still entertaining considering the limited direct to dvd budget. Also wonder what happened to him after his career resurgence from mid 2000's to late 2000's. He's been almost non-existent in blockbuster movies since G.I. Joe and Pandorum.
-Se7en
-Pandorum
-True Grit (Bridges Remake)
-Tron Legacy
That should be it for now.
bravos4evr
Still Playing the Waiting Game
to give you an idea of my taste, here are my TOP TWENTY FAVORITE FILMS of all time (notice I didn't say greatest)
In no particular order:
The Thing (Carpenter version)
The Godfather
Goodfellas
Star Wars
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Seven Samurai
Apocalypse Now
Dr Strangelove
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Jaws
Blazing Saddles
Alien
Aliens
Close Encounters of the third kind
Patton
The Hunt for Red October
Escape From New York
Kill Bill
No Country For Old Men
Big Trouble in Little China
NOW, my Top Twenty Greatest Films list:
Citizen Kane
The Searchers
The Seven Samurai
The Godfather
2001
Apocalypse Now
8 1/2
Taxi Driver
Tokyo Story
The Red Shoes
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Vertigo
Chinatown
Raging Bull
Star Wars
The Third Man
The Bicycle Thieves
Dr Strangelove
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Duck Soup
headed off to BBQ at my dad's, will answer yer last post when i get home.
In no particular order:
The Thing (Carpenter version)
The Godfather
Goodfellas
Star Wars
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Seven Samurai
Apocalypse Now
Dr Strangelove
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Jaws
Blazing Saddles
Alien
Aliens
Close Encounters of the third kind
Patton
The Hunt for Red October
Escape From New York
Kill Bill
No Country For Old Men
Big Trouble in Little China
NOW, my Top Twenty Greatest Films list:
Citizen Kane
The Searchers
The Seven Samurai
The Godfather
2001
Apocalypse Now
8 1/2
Taxi Driver
Tokyo Story
The Red Shoes
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Vertigo
Chinatown
Raging Bull
Star Wars
The Third Man
The Bicycle Thieves
Dr Strangelove
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Duck Soup
headed off to BBQ at my dad's, will answer yer last post when i get home.
Interesting that Godfather II did not make it on the list, unless you do what some do and categorize 1 and 2 as the same.
bravos4evr
Still Playing the Waiting Game
yeah, I put em together, same as Star Wars and stuff so as to fit more things onto lists.
bravos4evr
Still Playing the Waiting Game
turns out I have 15 minutes until i gotta leave!
-Affleck actor vs. Affleck director. - better director but can be a good actor if given the right director. I really liked Gone Baby Gone and the Town, tho I thought Argo a bit overrated
-Bourne Redundancy.- meh
-Godfather III being a great movie.- it is 75% a great movie, if you cut the daughter subplot and add a little more into the Vatican Bank and Sicilians it woul have been
-Nolan in general. You either love him or hate him. - I love him, I think he could use an editor wit the balls to tell him to cut more, but Inception, Interstellar, the batman trilogy and Memento are all the types of films I wish more people were making, even if his style puts you off
-Terr Malick in general? Also particularly Tree of Life which gets a lot of hate.- since his return from the excellent Badlands and Days of Heaven I think Malick has crawled up his own ass and has made a lot of pretentious rubbish
-You skipped The Terminal.- never saw it... somehow I missed it
-400 blows? 8 1/2? Last Year at Marienbad? 8 1/2 made my top 20 all time list, 400 blows I like less than jules and jim, but it's still a great one, never saw last year at marienbad either, it's on the list though
-V for Vendetta?- a lot to like, and a lot to hate. the wachowskis are another director team up their own ass with their freshmen level philosophy and silly worldview. I thought Cloud Atlas was one of the worst movies of this decade
-Leo finally winning one? Deserved, overdue, or overrated?- I thought he deserved it for wolf of wall street and the aviator, so yeah deserved
-Lucas and Coppolla: non-star wars and godfather. Lucas.... meh, i mean american graffiti is great but everything else? coppolla= The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, Tucker and Dracula were all damn good movies (or great) he has had some misses in there too, but his body of work is strong
-Law Abiding Citizen- loved it, it's exactly my kind of drive in theater type of good clean trashy fun!
-Liam Neeson's career resurgence in action movies at the end of the 2000's, early 2010's.-he deserved it, I like The Grey and the first Taken. he's a good actor and should work more than just these action vehicles tho
-Dennis Quaid's work (you also forgot parent trap). I watched a movie called Horsemen. It was actually a pretty good movie, not as great as Se7en which is what they were going for, but still entertaining considering the limited direct to dvd budget. Also wonder what happened to him after his career resurgence from mid 2000's to late 2000's. He's been almost non-existent in blockbuster movies since G.I. Joe and Pandorum.- never saw the horseman or pandorum, but he was good in Innerspace and other things, tho I don't know how good an actor he is, he has presence.
-Se7en- almost a perfect film, the direction, photography, score, acting...etc damn near perfect
-Pandorum- never saw it
-True Grit (Bridges Remake)- I think it'sa better movie than the original film, tho it's hard to beat The duke, bridges was inspired.
-Tron Legacy- looked pretty, but it was not needed, desired or , in the long run, much of a movie
-Affleck actor vs. Affleck director. - better director but can be a good actor if given the right director. I really liked Gone Baby Gone and the Town, tho I thought Argo a bit overrated
-Bourne Redundancy.- meh
-Godfather III being a great movie.- it is 75% a great movie, if you cut the daughter subplot and add a little more into the Vatican Bank and Sicilians it woul have been
-Nolan in general. You either love him or hate him. - I love him, I think he could use an editor wit the balls to tell him to cut more, but Inception, Interstellar, the batman trilogy and Memento are all the types of films I wish more people were making, even if his style puts you off
-Terr Malick in general? Also particularly Tree of Life which gets a lot of hate.- since his return from the excellent Badlands and Days of Heaven I think Malick has crawled up his own ass and has made a lot of pretentious rubbish
-You skipped The Terminal.- never saw it... somehow I missed it
-400 blows? 8 1/2? Last Year at Marienbad? 8 1/2 made my top 20 all time list, 400 blows I like less than jules and jim, but it's still a great one, never saw last year at marienbad either, it's on the list though
-V for Vendetta?- a lot to like, and a lot to hate. the wachowskis are another director team up their own ass with their freshmen level philosophy and silly worldview. I thought Cloud Atlas was one of the worst movies of this decade
-Leo finally winning one? Deserved, overdue, or overrated?- I thought he deserved it for wolf of wall street and the aviator, so yeah deserved
-Lucas and Coppolla: non-star wars and godfather. Lucas.... meh, i mean american graffiti is great but everything else? coppolla= The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, Tucker and Dracula were all damn good movies (or great) he has had some misses in there too, but his body of work is strong
-Law Abiding Citizen- loved it, it's exactly my kind of drive in theater type of good clean trashy fun!
-Liam Neeson's career resurgence in action movies at the end of the 2000's, early 2010's.-he deserved it, I like The Grey and the first Taken. he's a good actor and should work more than just these action vehicles tho
-Dennis Quaid's work (you also forgot parent trap). I watched a movie called Horsemen. It was actually a pretty good movie, not as great as Se7en which is what they were going for, but still entertaining considering the limited direct to dvd budget. Also wonder what happened to him after his career resurgence from mid 2000's to late 2000's. He's been almost non-existent in blockbuster movies since G.I. Joe and Pandorum.- never saw the horseman or pandorum, but he was good in Innerspace and other things, tho I don't know how good an actor he is, he has presence.
-Se7en- almost a perfect film, the direction, photography, score, acting...etc damn near perfect
-Pandorum- never saw it
-True Grit (Bridges Remake)- I think it'sa better movie than the original film, tho it's hard to beat The duke, bridges was inspired.
-Tron Legacy- looked pretty, but it was not needed, desired or , in the long run, much of a movie
Interesting.
-Devil's Rejects?
-Thoughts on Carpenter returning for new Halloween?
-They cast I think it was either Riggle or Jones to be in the new Naked Gun. I thought Neeson would be PERFECT for it. His skit with Gervais was hilarious.
-Kingsman? Kingsman II cast is gonna be outrageously good.
-Thoughts on the Craig-Bond movies, now that both he and Mendes are stepping down. Skyfall and Spectre?
-Legend of Bagger Vance?
-Jennifer Lawrence? Overrated? Overrhyped? Worthy of all the accolades?
-Zach Snyder's creativity and vision. Like Nolan he's also a lightning rod. Some of my favorite movies like 300, Dawn of the Dead (2004), Batman v. Superman were from him.
-Devil's Rejects?
-Thoughts on Carpenter returning for new Halloween?
-They cast I think it was either Riggle or Jones to be in the new Naked Gun. I thought Neeson would be PERFECT for it. His skit with Gervais was hilarious.
-Kingsman? Kingsman II cast is gonna be outrageously good.
-Thoughts on the Craig-Bond movies, now that both he and Mendes are stepping down. Skyfall and Spectre?
-Legend of Bagger Vance?
-Jennifer Lawrence? Overrated? Overrhyped? Worthy of all the accolades?
-Zach Snyder's creativity and vision. Like Nolan he's also a lightning rod. Some of my favorite movies like 300, Dawn of the Dead (2004), Batman v. Superman were from him.
bravos4evr
Still Playing the Waiting Game
Loved The Devil's Rejects, it's one of the great horror films of the last 30 years, sadly it's about the only thing Rob Zombie has done worth a re-watch
I reckon they are gonna make another Halloween with him or without him and I'd rather they do it with him, right? I mean, it's not like there's this tower of greatness he has to overcome in the sequels. they got pretty awful by the end.
there is no Naked Gun without the Zucker brothers and Leslie Nielsen
Loved Kingsman, a little apprehensive about the sequel moving to the USA, the britishness was half the damned point and fun of the first one!
I loved Casino Royale and Skyfall, found Quantum a bit thrown together and Spectre effing boring . it had so much potential and it ended up so flat.... I liked Craig as Bond tho, Hiddleston seems to be a little to twee for the role
bagger vance was a decent bio-pic movie but nothing memorable about it.
J-Lo (ugh that nickname) is a talented actress, anyone who has seen Winter's Bone, Silver Linings Playbook or the hunger games movies knows this, but I think she's gotten a little overexposed and done too many movies too soon. But hell, if I were her I would too, women's careers can change fast in Hollywood, might as well cash in while you can.
Snyder ,IMO, would be best served if he never touched a screenplay and he just designed shots. He can make a very pretty movie, but he doesn't do as well with story or characterization. IMO, if you teamed him with a good producer who worked well with actors and story he could be a good part of a directing duo. I loved Watchmen (mainly because it's as good a watchmen as we were ever going to get) but there were still some issues in it with style over substance.
I reckon they are gonna make another Halloween with him or without him and I'd rather they do it with him, right? I mean, it's not like there's this tower of greatness he has to overcome in the sequels. they got pretty awful by the end.
there is no Naked Gun without the Zucker brothers and Leslie Nielsen
Loved Kingsman, a little apprehensive about the sequel moving to the USA, the britishness was half the damned point and fun of the first one!
I loved Casino Royale and Skyfall, found Quantum a bit thrown together and Spectre effing boring . it had so much potential and it ended up so flat.... I liked Craig as Bond tho, Hiddleston seems to be a little to twee for the role
bagger vance was a decent bio-pic movie but nothing memorable about it.
J-Lo (ugh that nickname) is a talented actress, anyone who has seen Winter's Bone, Silver Linings Playbook or the hunger games movies knows this, but I think she's gotten a little overexposed and done too many movies too soon. But hell, if I were her I would too, women's careers can change fast in Hollywood, might as well cash in while you can.
Snyder ,IMO, would be best served if he never touched a screenplay and he just designed shots. He can make a very pretty movie, but he doesn't do as well with story or characterization. IMO, if you teamed him with a good producer who worked well with actors and story he could be a good part of a directing duo. I loved Watchmen (mainly because it's as good a watchmen as we were ever going to get) but there were still some issues in it with style over substance.