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Post by Randle-El on May 29, 2022 22:34:44 GMT -5
Alright, checked another one off the list: Jaws
I will admit to being pretty impressed with this one. I never saw any of the movies growing up, but I do remember the steady stream of sequels that arrived at the theaters every so often. I always got the sense that these moves were pretty corny, so they were never on my radar to watch. To add to that, horror films based on animals never really registered with me. While I understand the primal fear that folks have about certain wildlife, I had always grown up with the notion that man was a much more terrifying creature to the animals than the other way around. So the idea of a killer shark terrorizing a seaside community as a horror film never clicked with me.
Let's get one thing out of the way -- visually, this is definitely a dated movie. If we had done something like this today, you can be sure there would have been a ton of CGI showing the actual shark ripping it's victims to shreds. I think the ingenuity of this movie is how much they did with the technical limitations of the time. For a movie about a shark, it was onscreen barely at all. All of the tension came from the performances of the actors, the hints of a shape underwater or the famous shot of the dorsal fin skimming the surface, and occasionally a glimpse of those dead eyes and gaping jaws when the shark would surface for an attack. Let's not forget the music. I think it would not be a stretch to say that this movie would not have worked without the John Williams score.
In my estimation, the movie is too dated to be frightening to modern audiences -- not to mention that Jaws has been so parodied at this point that the scary scenes have been rendered toothless (ba-dum-bum *crash*). But I think it's a master class in how to do a lot with a little.
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Post by Randle-El on May 29, 2022 22:11:16 GMT -5
"She’s too skinny!" proceeds to lick Cheeto dust off fingers and takes another swig of Mtn Dew before typing into keyboard "She needs to put on moar mass!!!" Just kidding, but for whatever reason that is what I pictured in my head whenever I heard those type of complaints online thus far. I don't understand the desire to see Taitana Maslany "bulk up" as if that would make a difference. Just like Mark Ruffalo didn't need to "bulk up" for his role as Bruce Banner. Tatiana Maslany is a slender meek woman standing at 5'4". Her comic book counterpart is an idealized muscle-bound green lady at about 7 feet. Just like Ruffalo or Josh Brolin, the characters they are portraying are completely established in the realm of the fantastical to the point that utilizing time to put on muscle mass would essentially be pointless. It's not like Portman making the leap to Jane Foster or Bautista making the leap to Drax. Maslany just needs to be around for the digital mapping, and that's it. Not at the gym. Even if she had years of training and looked max potential her body size could give her, she'd still look like a Smurf compared to the character role she's assigned. Also, this video might help people put the issues behind the VFX in the trailer into more a more rationalized perspective. Especially for this specific character.
Agreed. You put on muscle mass for superheroes who represent idealized versions of the human physique that are within the realm of normal human proportions, and are therefore realistically obtainable. Hulk and other similar characters are so way out of normal human proportions that it's a non-starter from the get-go.
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Post by Randle-El on May 29, 2022 22:04:02 GMT -5
Man, Obi-Wan was everything I wanted and more! I absolutely loved the interactions with pint sized princess Leia.
Agreed. I watched it with my family, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. If the rest of the series is this good, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it will end up as the best thing they've done with the film-based characters since the OT.
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Post by Randle-El on May 24, 2022 9:13:21 GMT -5
UPDATED: Looks like a fun time.
Props to Natalie Portman for putting on some serious muscle for the role. Wow.
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Post by Randle-El on May 12, 2022 21:17:02 GMT -5
Speaking of candy as a gateway to tobacco products... I was fan of Big League Chew.
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Post by Randle-El on May 10, 2022 21:01:22 GMT -5
I had a day off from work so I caught it this afternoon. I thought it was fairly entertaining, but I do have some nitpicks. With this film, Marvel seems to have ditched any pretense of making movies that stand on their own. I understand this is a shared universe, and that this is a sequel that requires you to have watched the movies that came before it. But this movie also required you to have watched a TV mini-series that was only available through a subscription-based streaming channel in order to fully understand the motivation of the primary antagonist. I'm all for shared universes, but this level of interconnection feels like they are nickle-and-diming us to get the full story. My other complaint is that, with all the different movies and shows using the multiverse as a storytelling concept, Marvel doesn't seem to have a coherent vision for how the multiverse is supposed to work. All the MCU multiverse stories seem like their purpose is to warm the audience up to the idea of multiversal storytelling, but their stories don't seem to reinforce or tie into each other's multiversal concepts at all. Where is the TVA in all of Doctor Strange's shenanigans? How come America Chavez is not on their radar? Why do they make such a big deal about incursions and crossing over into different dimensions causing destruction, but Shang-Chi is able to enter Ta Lo by driving an SUV through a waterfall without consequence?
Complaints aside, I appreciated that this was Marvel's entry into the horror genre, and as a consequence had a very different vibe compared to previous films. I agree that horror and trippy CGI visuals are perfect for Doctor Strange, which they used to great effect in this movie.
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Post by Randle-El on May 9, 2022 19:47:54 GMT -5
Looks like the next movie on my to-see list will be the original Alien. Hope to get to it sometime this weekend or next.
I finally got a chance to watch Alien for the first time. I tend to be a bit biased against older sci-fi and horror films mostly because the special effects, unless they were exceptional or ahead of their time, have often not aged well and can take me out of the story. It won't necessarily turn me off the movie completely, but it does mean that the rest of the films bears a heavier burden to carry the story well. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is a film that has aged relatively well. The famous chestburster scene was not nearly as cheesy as I was expecting it to be. And I found the scene where Ash is revealed to be an android (spoiler alert! ) to be well done for its age as well. CGI definitely has its uses, but for genres like horror I still maintain that well-crafted practical effects create a more realistic shot than CGI.
Something else I noticed: This movie reminded me a lot of the Metroid video game series. Female heroic lead, parasitic alien life form, stalking aliens through corridors, and the overall atmosphere and vibe of the movie reminded me of the hours spent playing those games. After viewing the movie, I read up on the Wikipedia page and discovered that Alien was, in fact, a huge influence on the creators of Metroid, including characters named Ridley and Mother Brain.
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Post by Randle-El on May 9, 2022 10:59:29 GMT -5
I had the pleasure of meeting George a few years back at a local show. He signed some books for me and did a Superman head sketch, which is framed and holds a place of honor in my office. Sad to hear that he has passed, even more so knowing that he was still relatively young and could have had many more years of conventions and fan interactions had it not been for his various health problems. I admire his bravery and positive spirit in the past year, knowing the end was coming but facing it with grace and gratitude for what life has given him. I can't think of many creators who are as universally respected and loved as George was. Whenever I read online chatter about fan interactions with various creators, you'll hear the occasional complaint about writer X or artist Y who came off a bit rude, or aloof, or charged too much. But whenever I would hear about someone's interaction with George, it was always in the most glowing terms.
Thank you George for your positivity, your gorgeous artwork, and for fond childhood memories.
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Post by Randle-El on Mar 16, 2022 11:49:12 GMT -5
I am in full agreement with folks who say that Star Wars needs to move on from the Skywalker era, and that Lucasfilm needs to do more to explore other parts of the Star Wars universe. I am also in full agreement with folks who say that this trailer looks fantastic and I am all aboard to see what this show is all about.
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Post by Randle-El on Mar 1, 2022 14:02:12 GMT -5
They just announced they are all coming to Disney + in the US on March 16, along with a new set of parental controls on the platform that parents can use to bar access from certain content. Article here-M Very interesting, with their stake in Hulu I didn't think they'd create an adult hub for here
Agreed, I was a bit surprised that they decided to host them on Disney+ rather than Hulu. I guess it makes sense that they'd want to keep all their MCU content in once place. And I suppose the argument can be made that with Star Wars and MCU taking Disney firmly into PG-13 territory, the TV-MA content was a matter of "when" vs. "if".
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Post by Randle-El on Feb 26, 2022 11:15:21 GMT -5
I can see how the panel might look like it's trying to depict a person of Chinese origin, but I'm inclined to give this one a pass. I feel like back then, if you were an artist going for the Chinese laundry stereotype, you wouldn't have been subtle about it. It would have been in your face. The characters would have been dressed in "ethnic" garb, they would have used that Chinese take-out font, etc. This was the U.S. in the 1960s, when Hollywood had no problems using a blatantly racist character like Mr. Yunioshi from Breakfast at Tiffany's.
But now that we're on the topic -- I always thought that DD's origins and abilities could have made sense without the toxic waste accident if Frank Miller's "urban ninja" take had been incorporated from the beginning. During the 80s we were swimming in ninja movies that showed ostensibly normal people who were able to do borderline-supernatural things because they used arcane ninja techniques. There's also the trope of the blind martial artist who is so in tune with their chi and environment that they are able to fight as if they could see. In this version, it would be less plausible for DD to have the same level of superhuman senses that he possesses according to canon, but it would still provide an explanation for why a blind person would be able to fight crime as well as a seeing person. And in some ways, better -- I always loved the idea that DD had the advantage in the dark. I know it's cliched now, but I always loved it when DD (or some other similar superhero) shows up, the lights go out, and all the bad guys start peeing their pants because they can't see and they know a beat down is coming.
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Post by Randle-El on Feb 22, 2022 10:28:27 GMT -5
Just finished binge watching season 1 on HBOMAX and overall was impressed. I thought there were a couple unexpected twists early on and really dig the family dynamic. One of the better live action Superman adaptations with respect to the short lived Krypton series and the Donner films.
Speaking of twists, there's a great one to start of season 2. Love that they are trying to surprise even long-time comic fans by subverting expectations.
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Post by Randle-El on Feb 15, 2022 23:35:48 GMT -5
Can't read the article unless I register... -M Oh really? Must be because you're overseas, not in the UK.
This seems off to me. Perhaps for overseas viewers the Netflix Marvel shows will be on Disney+, but I have a hard time believing Disney would send those shows to Disney+ over Hulu. Apart from the violence being way more graphic than Disney's usual dare, I remember each of the shows having at least one or two sex scenes that made the one from Eternals look pretty tame. It got pretty dark thematically too, with issues like human trafficking and sexual assault being key parts of the plot. That article sounds like it needs a fact check.
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Post by Randle-El on Feb 15, 2022 13:59:03 GMT -5
I remember reading Wolverine's solo appearances in the 80s/90s where he would get into fights and his inner monologue would often talk about his healing factor getting pushed to its limits against relatively lesser-powered foes. Then there was that famous scene in Days of Future Past where a Sentinel blew him away leaving only his adamantium skeleton. I also recall a letters column where the editor said that one way you could definitely kill Logan would be drowning him. So reading all that, I always had the impression that his healing factor was something that gave him an edge, but it didn't make him invincible, and there was a real possibility that he could be killed. I used to put him in the same category as Daredevil or Captain America -- a hero with just enough powers to make him exciting, but vulnerable enough to have dramatic tension. It wasn't until the X-Men movies that it occurred to me he might be overpowered. Those movies literally showed the flesh closing up around his wounds within seconds, which is a lot faster than I ever envisioned his healing factor.
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Post by Randle-El on Feb 13, 2022 23:02:17 GMT -5
New trailer dropped during the Super Bowl. That's definitely Patrick Stewart's voice in there, not sure if that means the Professor X rumors are true, or if he's playing someone else. -M
Am I crazy or did I just hear the voice of {Spoiler: Click to show} Patrick Stewart?!?!
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