If you're going to ape the MCU style of creating a shared cinematic universe - and if you want to make graquillions of dollars doing it - then the movies we have aren't the ones you need. He suggests that he'd go back and rearrange how BvS was done. His ideas weren't bad. In the right hands it could be done and probably done well. I suggest you'd have to go back and rekajigger Man of Steel as well.
I went back and looked and my posted review is a lot mroe positive than I remember. I haven't revisited it since it came out. Unlike a number of the Marvel movies I don't think I've seen it more than once.
I just don't want to like a world where Jonathan Kent says he doesn't know if Clark should save a bus full of children. Or one where Martha (WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME) tells him he doesn't owe any one a damn thing. I'm sure there's a great character study where we empathize with Clark-El on what it means to be good or what doing the right thing means. But one where his most powerful influences don't reinforce doing good because you can? No thanks.
And also, yeah. There was definitely a dissonant tone across all three movies. It wasn't just the difference between WE HATE SUPERMAN or the MAYBE SUPERMAN DOESN'T BELONG HERE protestors. Visually they were different. Maybe the physical costume was different, but the palette was jarringly different - you could see the fiddly bits that might not have shown up in the grimmer looking films.
I thought it was OK. It was spectacular nonsense, but the story was more coherent than I anticipated, and the characters were thin but better than I expected. The villain was trash, as was the MacGuffin.
Ugh. The Darkity Dark DC Universe front and center here, again.
I like the looks of the characters, very comic booky, which is something that DCEU does better than MCU (although that's changing). The storyline of Raven looking for Dick Grayson to help her makes sense and I could get into it. And Changeling/Beast Boy looks pretty cool.
But, it's so dark.
I mean, did Robin straight up kill dudes? I'm hoping that's a nightmare sequence triggered by the rising evil in Raven. And Dove has razor tipped wings. Dove? That damn blue filter is used throughout, fuck Snyder.
Still, maybe it'll be good. Don't know if it will be "subscribe monthly to DC Universe streaming good", but I really really want to watch Young Justice S3
I'mma have to watch it a couple three more times to see if I missed any Easter Eggs, though.
At my most optimistic I'd suggest that's just a bad trailer. Except I'm not optimistic about it. It's like they asked "What did everyone love about Teen Titans (and I assume TTGo!)?" That is was bright and funny and fun, right? We're not doing that. We have to do the opposite, right? That's what the youth is into nowadays? The Badness of Breaking? Yeah, okay. Let's go that direction. It's all the dark grittiness of the metal age (90s?) turned up to 11 and then they broke the knob off.
I live in the universe where the so-called good guys kill people. I want my fantasies to strive to do better.
Remember that short power rangers video that asked what if the power rangers were dark violent and said fuck, that was in part meant as a parody of grittifying nostalgia... this feels exactly like that but with none of the self awareness or parody. The "fuck batman" line in particular felt like it came from the mind of a 10 year old or corporate suit who thinks saying Fuck is the ultimate in hardcore grittiness.
Probably because I hate myself I went to see the Aquamans.
If not for falling directly under the DC Nation thrad title, it would fit comfortably in the Not Bad But Not Good Neither title.
Better than BvS and Justice League. Not as cinematically good as Man of Steel - from a technical film making perspective. It doesn't do any serious rewriting or re-imagining of the character as MoS. Stylistically closer to Wonder Woman.
There are good times and cheeseball times, so it all averages out. The only real big complaint I have is the score - and sometimes the foley. The former couldn't pick a tone or style it wanted and the latter was b-movie wrong at times. (Tell me, please, anybody - how does a knife make a ringing sound when removed and inserted into a leather sheath? And not just a little ring like in, say, Lord of the Rings, but almost bell-like clarion singing of Gabriel at the End of Days.)
At my most optimistic I'd suggest that's just a bad trailer. Except I'm not optimistic about it. It's like they asked "What did everyone love about Teen Titans (and I assume TTGo!)?" That is was bright and funny and fun, right? We're not doing that. We have to do the opposite, right? That's what the youth is into nowadays? The Badness of Breaking? Yeah, okay. Let's go that direction. It's all the dark grittiness of the metal age (90s?) turned up to 11 and then they broke the knob off.
I live in the universe where the so-called good guys kill people. I want my fantasies to strive to do better.
I've been sick for the last three days so I binged this series. I went into it not knowing anything about it and being surprised to even see the show pop up on Netflix.
It was OK. It was sort of like DC tries to make a Daredevil-like show in terms of gritty-meaty-flesh-pounding darkness.
Fantastic performances from Anna Diop (Koriand'r), Alan Ritchson (Hank Hall) and Curran Walters (Jason Todd- Robin2).
Decent performances from Brenton Thwaites (Dick Grayson), Ryan Potter(Gar -Beast Boy)
Not a great job from Teagan Croft (Rachel Roth), but she's young and seemed to be getting better throughout the show.
It kept me interested and I'll definitely watch season 2 whenever it comes out.
I don't know what movie other people are seeing. Ninety-some percent on both critic and viewer scores? Savior of the DCU?
I didn't hate it so it wasn't terrible. Not any worser than the Aquamans. Which still puts it worlds better than BvS and Justice League. But right now it still looks like whatever WBDC is trying to do has to rest on Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot's efforts. Which, I suppose is okay.
The goodish parts are that it is indeed a lot more fun. Levi and the cast have a great time and do a p good job. The story works as an updated retelling of Billy Batson, the boy called by a wizard to become an adult shaped superhero, with the usual Flying Brick powers, plus a few. Decidedly missing from the normal Shazam! powerset is the Wisdom of Solomon. But then, the powers are usually depicted as hit or miss in most media anyhoo.
What sets me off though is the (new?) trope of the Selfishly Superpowered. You discover you have beyond mortal abilities and what's the first thing you do? Property destruction, grift, petty theft and other crimes. Before you realize your true calling and do the good thing for the good reasons. And even that's usually only after something personal makes you pay attention to it.
But also also, in this retelling Billy is an orphan who has been toted from foster to foster and would likely have a non-traditional morality. So, okay. Whatever.
For anyone who hasn't been eating up trailers and other what-all leading up to the release, like me, there are some neat things that are definitely not in the trailers that happen. And they are really good. Not price of admission good, but still really good.
I did catch a MovieBob pre-talk wherein he delved into the ad-hoc "lore" of the DC's Captain Marvel and I appreciated a little more of the movie from it.
And I just figured out something that was bugging me. But it's a spoiler so I can't even mention it in polite company.
No, serious. Super spoiler here.
Shazam mentions his six counterparts who were to be sitting on their thrones doing ... I dunno... whatever those dudes did when they were all together. By the end of the movie, I'm counting and there are only six Marvelses. Seven seats but only six butts.
Before the movie I was surprised that my man The Rock Johnson wasn't cast as Black Adam. Who, weirdly, isn't even in the movie.
Ooooh. Black Adam is in possession of the seventh wizard's power. Derr.
Yeah, I thought Shazam was okay, but not great or anything. An enjoyable popcorn movie, but nothing more.
I was kind of bugged by him displaying none of the "Wisdom of Solomon," but in fairness, that's pretty-much how he's currently portrayed in the comics.
Back when he was still "Captain Marvel," it was made explicitly clear that Billy Batson and Captain Marvel were completely different people, and that they switched places when one of them said the word "Shazam." As such, Captain Marvel really did act like an adult, with the maturity and wisdom you'd expect of him -- because he was an adult.
Also, that Billy Batson really was "pure of heart" was the entire point of his character. Because he believed with all his heart that power should only be used to help/protect others is precisely why he was chosen by the wizard Shazam.
When the character was revamped, they completely changed Billy Batson's personality -- to the point that he's almost exactly the opposite of how he had been portrayed previously. I suppose that this is supposed to represent a more "mature" and "realistic" (i.e. darker) interpretation of the character.
[Personally, I hate the notion that "mature" and "realistic" = "darker" and "cynical," and that part of "growing up" is learning that "idealism is for kids." But that's a different discussion.]
In more recent portrayals of the character, Billy Batson and "Shazam" are clearly not separate people; rather, Billy's body is transformed into that of an adult with superpowers when he says "Shazam." Since "Wisdom of Solomon" is supposed to be part of his powerset, it bugs me that Shazam generally acts like ... well ... a teenager stuck in an adult's body.
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“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
This isn’t really a movie about the Joker. The creator has even said as much, that he’s using the Joker franchise to push a ‘real movie’ instead of a comic book movie. So if the comics were real life, this film would be one of those “based on true events” where the true event is that there was once a guy named the Joker.
Oh and the same dude both created the comedy “The Hangover” and has declared comedy dead because PC SJW blah blah blah, almost literally ‘society doesn’t think I’m funny anymore, I blame society.’
So speaking of Incels, that’s in part what this movie is about. Spoilers though I haven’t and am not going to see it, the Joker is basically a beta male who gets picked on by alpha males who then takes revenge murdering them before being locked up in prison.
No one has said, nor do I think anyone wants to say, which one of the famous iterations of the joker this is, so it’s most likely none of them and a Joker we will never see again.
This isn’t really a movie about the Joker. The creator has even said as much, that he’s using the Joker franchise to push a ‘real movie’ instead of a comic book movie. So if the comics were real life, this film would be one of those “based on true events” where the true event is that there was once a guy named the Joker.
Oh and the same dude both created the comedy “The Hangover” and has declared comedy dead because PC SJW blah blah blah, almost literally ‘society doesn’t think I’m funny anymore, I blame society.’
So speaking of Incels, that’s in part what this movie is about. Spoilers though I haven’t and am not going to see it, the Joker is basically a beta male who gets picked on by alpha males who then takes revenge murdering them before being locked up in prison.
No one has said, nor do I think anyone wants to say, which one of the famous iterations of the joker this is, so it’s most likely none of them and a Joker we will never see again.
Just a random thought, I wonder if other movies have ‘lost their funniness’ like Mrs. Doubtfire or Airplane! Or blazing saddles. I wonder if they could ever be remade
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What are sleeping dreams but so much garbage?~ Glen’s homophobic newsletter
It really depends on what people mean by ‘like blazing saddles or airplane’. Many attempted comedians look at Blazing saddle, hear a funny racial based joke and think, “When *I* made a racial based joke everyone booed, ...it’s the times man.” or “They said the n-word, why can’t I say the n-word” ignoring that “I” part. Sure the times have changed but also they’re not Mel Brooks, and if they had put the same amount of time and effort into it as Mel Brooks then I would hope they would understand comedy better.
Often alleged comedians don’t realize there’s a massive amount of prep work that goes into a successful racial joke, instead thinking they just say whatever seems shocking and people laugh. To do racial jokes well often requires twice as much work as any other joke but with the same payoff, and that means it comes down to the reason for doing the joke in the first place. Is it to make some social commentary or just to get a laugh. Does the comedian want to point out a difference in our society in a funny way that makes people think, or do they want to feel connected by pointing and laughing at someone else. In Airplane there’s a bit where two cool cats are speaking jive. It’s funny cause it sounds funny but also because it’s being represented in a normal manner, Jive is treated like another language like any other and the guys speaking it are the crisp and tailored representation of what a citizen of Jive might look like. I’m also not saying Brooks is perfect and not everything has aged well, but compare that to the Transformers African-american ebonics speaking robots who are portrayed as dumb and inbred with enlarge facial features. (Which is another thing, I don’t think “we can’t do that anymore” is really true, the highly grossing transformers had racist jokes in them, a popular puppet comedian has a stereotypical arab suicide bomber puppet, etc.)
In technical terms we would need a producer/director with a similar style. Mel Brooks comedies are built around a rapid fire set of one liners and word play on a whole variety of topics, that way if one doesn’t land another isn’t too far behind. It’s also why many still find them funny today, miss a joke and another one that you get won’t be far behind. Like in Airplane, I doubt many teenagers watching today understand the scene with the Hari Krishna’s at the airport and that joke probably doesn’t land as much, but it’s interspersed with more classic, “And that’s when I knew I had a drinking problem *poors glass on shirt*” ones that everyone gets. I bet if different generations were asked to count the total jokes in Airplane or Blazing Saddles they would come up with different numbers.
So sure, if we had a comedian that was willing to put the work in I’m sure we could have subversive comedies that jab at sensitive issues in meaningful ways, but those are financially risky and since finance governs everything, we really can’t have a film like Blazing Saddles because executives would both see it as too big of a risk and micromanage it into the ground, proving to themselves it wasn’t worth the risk, better go back to ‘hey that robot has balls’ jokes.
Progress is also a thing that happens over time. Take Three's Company. For its time it was really quite progressive. Now it's basically a half hour of straight sexual assault jokes delivered by some of the greatest physical comedians to ever hit the screen. It was gone off the air before most parts of the USA made it illegal for a man to rape his wife.
And remember when Tone Loc made date rape hilarious? He was a black musician helping move hip hop closer to the mainstream.
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Peering from the top of Mount Stupid
Progress is also a thing that happens over time. Take Three's Company.
Oh yeah and I remember that show bosom buddies with Tom Hanks and that other guy who ended up on Star Search, they dressed up as women to get into an apartment and then spent their days passing off pamprin to one another while stuffing their bras with what looked like egg crate cushions. That show was fucking hilarious.
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What are sleeping dreams but so much garbage?~ Glen’s homophobic newsletter
Poison Ivy, Harley, Dr Psycho whose nemesis is his sexist epithets, Clayface whose real superpower is overacting, KingShark who is great at IT and hacking.
Frank is Ivy's hench. He is all sorts of awesome.
Kiteman is a love interest of Poison Ivy and yes he is lame.