Movies

[DjinnAndTonic]

Mad Max Fury Road:
I don't think this movie was for me. Everyone has been hyping it so much and I had a few moments I enjoyed but I seriously don't get the 'best movie of the last ten years' hype while people are shitting all over Avengers 2...

[Sierra]

"Shitting on" is a rather dramatic revision of "Eh, it was okay," which was definitely my response at least regarding Avengers 2. I don't know where else you're canvassing opinions on the movie, so I'm just going on DL postings which seemed generally positive aside from like Gourry and myself being largely unimpressed. And even that is a far cry from calling it terrible. For me, it was just too much of a sequel, one so inevitable and unavoidable that that there was no way in the world it could fail to pull in swimming pools full of money, and perhaps consequently no one involved in it looked to me all that invested in making it more than just another Marvel sequel. I'm not easily impressed and almost impossible to sincerely move, so even when something tragic did happen I could only note distantly that it happened to the character that the overall Marvel plan could most easily consider expendable. I wouldn't call it a bad movie, because there's such a fundamental level of professionalism inherent to the Marvel movie machine at this point that they are almost incapable of producing something that doesn't maintain at least a fundamentally acceptable degree of watchability. But I have to admit that I'm a little amazed at someone being amazed about it. It had all the expected hallmarks of a blockbuster but I just couldn't find a heart to it all.

On the other hand, I could go on at length about all the things visually, aurally, and thematically about Fury Road that worked exactly 100% perfectly for me but there's not much point if you just flat out didn't enjoy it. It probably suffices for me to say that I just can't think of anything else like it (quite in spite of it also being a sequel; I rewatched the original trilogy recently and would easily call Fury Road a superior production to any of them).

[Dark Holy Elf]

While I haven't seen Avengers 2 myself I pretty much agree with Cid. (And I'd also be totally down for reading your thoughts about Fury Road was great if you're ever in the mood to write about it!)

[The Duck]

I actively don't think much of Avengers 2. I don't hate it or anything but it really is something that completely left my mind as soon as I left the theater. This is in fairly stark contrast to Avengers 1, which had a lot of standout scenes and a very charismatic villain. There isn't much new being explored or much meaningful character development in Avengers 2, and I found the action to be really uninspiring, incomprehensible, or kind of boring (again, in contrast with Avengers 1 and other Marvel films). I think a big part of my apathy is that I had seen basically this exact movie in the past but done better. My thing is that the Marvel machine can make hundreds of movies of this quality and they're going to be really inconsequential seeming to me if no progression is being made, and that's what it felt like for me. Avengers 2 doesn't set anything very interesting up, it doesn't do anything new, it doesn't develop character relationships well (Hulk x Black Widow makes little sense and is really ineffective), and it does a poor job of having particularly meaningful stakes (knowing about Phase 3 really takes the sails out of most of the tension this movie has). Ultron has some presence but not much about him or the plan make sense. I didn't have an emotional reaction towards the end, because of what Cid said (it's a really calculated move in the grander scheme of things), plus the nothing characterization.

There are things to like (party scenes were good) and I don't begrudge anyone's enjoyment of it, but it never came together even as a piece of pure entertainment for me.

I echo Cid, Fury Road is unlike anything I've seen recently. I think it hits on everything it sets out to do extremely well and it's incredibly visually striking. It was also pretty excellent even if you only want to be entertained.

[Cotigo]

Both get entertained/10 from me but I would like to point out that DJ's opinion is terrible mostly by virtue of him being the one to have it.

[Excal]

I think I prefer Avengers 2 more than Fury Road myself, though I'll happily admit that some of that is due to Avengers 2 getting a lot of antihype while Fury Road was getting all the hype.  The expectations led to different subjective experiences where one was better than the other.

I'll also disagree entirely about the Black Widow/Hulk thing, I actually felt it worked fairly well, and didn't actually come out of nowhere.  Heck, it added a fair bit to the feeling that not only is time passing between these tent poles, but that the characters have lives outside of the movies.  Sometimes it feels like a character is stuck in stasis between flicks, and it's nice to avoid that.

[Grefter]

It is also playing on Hulk stuff from Avengers 1.  She is there to recruit him etc.  it is minor, but there.  It is very Whedon.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Not that this is a movie, but I watched a steampunk version of Comedy of Errors last night. Shenanigans were had, and the setting/weirdness worked pretty well for the ludicrousness of the play. There was great acting as always, particularly by Antipholus of Ephesus who moonwalked during the play. Bonus points for having the servants be cyborgs as well.

[Grefter]

The costuming was pretty great, very little "Glue a cog on it" and the female costuming in general was A+ and makes me want to replay Arcanum.

Good cast and good production like Bard is pretty consistently.

[Fudozukushi]

Frankly I found Ant-man better than Avengers 2.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Sorry, my initial posting about Fury Road was mostly reactionary. Upon further reflection, I -do- appreciate a lot of the uniqueness of the movie visually and I really liked the choice of making the main character Charlize Theron. And the Flaming Guitar Guy DID speak to that inner 13-year-old boy inside me.

There just... wasn't a lot about the movie that moved me in the moment. And for as much as I can appreciate what the visual presentation was going for in that grotesque uncomfortable style... it mostly just made me plain uncomfortable and grossed out instead of engaged.

It's just not a movie that was made for me, whereas Avengers hits all the right chords, and has Whedon-ness, which is always ALWAYS something that works for me. Helps that I also really like the Agents of SHIELD show, so I got the actual build up that didn't happen in the movies. You can call it a flaw, but I'm MUCH more of a series guy than a one-shot movie guy, so Avengers was just ALWAYS going to be more in my wheelhouse.

Both get entertained/10 from me but I would like to point out that DJ's opinion is terrible mostly by virtue of him being the one to have it.

Also accurate, feel free to disregard my opinion as terrible, though I feel it's always worthwhile to hear a dissenting opinion that's at least -trying- to explain its reasoning.

[Cotigo]

Both get entertained/10 from me but I would like to point out that DJ's opinion is terrible mostly by virtue of him being the one to have it.

Also accurate

Highlighted the important parts you're welcome

[DjinnAndTonic]

You're always so thoughtful, Zenny. It's why we love you.

[Scar]

While fury road was a fun movie, it's basically a 2 hr car chase.

That might no be for everyone.

[NotMiki]

One really neat thing about Fury Road is the consistency of it all.  Action movies tend to be kinda bad at remembering who was where and how the world looked from moment to moment.  Fury Road is really good at it.  That's a level of craft you can appreciate even if the movie isn't your thing.

[DjinnAndTonic]

I'm not trying to be snarky, but is that actually a compliment? "The Movie remembered what its characters are doing from place to place! What craft!"
I mean, you made the argument that action movies in general are bad at it, but that's not a common complaint that I'd just accept at face value. Please elaborate?

[Lady Door]

Ant-man was a summer superhero action blockbuster and nothing more. Paul Rudd is so adorable you can't help but love him and his bumbling, weird character.

I physically cringed at some of the dialogue, so there is that.

[Cmdr_King]

My feeling is that the movie could very very easily have been terrible if any of the major roles had been miscast.  Few actors not named Michael Douglas could have pulled off the mix of snark, contempt, and seething anger demanded by the script.  The audience has to both a) want to see Paul Rudd get punched in the face and laugh at it but also b) want him to be with his daughter.  The little girl has to be the most ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL EVER.  That this all, in fact, works is nothing short of a magic trick.

It's not the BEST movie, by any stretch, but it maintains Marvel's batting average which is all I really wanted from it.  I will say that the larger MCU references went about... 2/5 for "really help the movie work", 2/5 for "well that was kinda neat" and 1/5 on "that was just gratuitous", so on the whole thumbs up there.

[Meeplelard]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: I saw Rise and came out pleasantly surprised with it, so figured Dawn could actually be worth watching.

And well, it was!  I wouldn't great it fantastic or anything, but found it enjoyable enough and never quite delved into stupid or preachy territory.  Well it did, in the sense of "there's no good race or bad race, just good/bad individuals!" which is a theme they seem to be doing a decent job being subtle with until Caesar basically spells it out for you at what is basically the start of the 3rd act.  Nonetheless, they did a decent job showing the perspectives of both sides and why neither is right nor wrong, just kind of conflicting and the movie seems to recognize that you know it's going the route of "despite the efforts to be friends, everything will end in catastrophe because of one jerk"; I suppose I give the movie props on keeping you guessing which side is going to be the one to crack first since they set it up that it could have gone either way.

For the record, I did see the original Planet of the Apes, and about 10 minuets of the sequel until I went "meh" though I do know the basic plot of the sequels.  I know the 2nd movie basically ends in a "What the hell just happened?" kind of way, leading to the follow up 3 movies pretty much doing their best to both put that event in context and hopefully erase it, and that the explanation for why the Apes are smart is convoluted and ridiculous.  I never saw the Tim Burton remake...and sounds like I never should.

[Sierra]

I managed to see all of the original Apes movies except for the first. Some channel was marathoning the series one Christmas and no one could get my uncle to change the channel once he found it. So we saw everything from midway through the second movie on, and I would characterize them as only getting more strained and ridiculous in their plots but maybe worth making an MST3K afternoon out of if you've got those kinds of friends.

The Burton remake was just dumb, though.

[Meeplelard]

Well, my father's opinion was the 2nd one is good until a point, where it just sort of train-wrecks because they basically wanted a shock ending or something to outdo the first movie (which is one of the all time great plot twists in cinema of course), which leaves with a huge puzzled reaction more than anything, 3rd movie is good because it basically goes in the complete opposite direction and tries something new, and 4th and 5th movies sound like...well...proto-versions of Rise and Dawn in a sense.  Can't comment cause I have't seen them, of course.

Getting more ridiculous seems like something that inevitably would happen when you consider the original concept.  The first movie was a simple idea with a big plot twist ending, and really should have ended there...except "This was popular make more!" has always been a thing so I guess they just kept making it, and well, with the premise as it is, hard to tell a lot of stories, especially since the 2nd one sounds like it goes off the deep-end in it's 11th hour.

EDIT: Of course, I'd be wrong to not acknowledge the greatest thing to ever come out of the Planet of the Apes franchise

[Fenrir]

Fuck Ant-man

[The Duck]

Fuck Ant-man

Is it just another Marvel thing or is it actually actively bad?

[Captain K]

Fuck ants, guys. Fuck ants. I'm taking a break from EOU.

Fuck Ant-man

More of a "not the right movie to watch after playing EOU" case of bad timing.  Either that or he was suggesting someone appropriate for Zenny's tiny genitalia to be useful for.

[NotMiki]

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