Movie, TV, Web Series, and Music Hot Take(s).

[TheMysteriousGX]

Nothing will ever be funnier to me than people who follow shonen manga/anime, particularly Shonen Jump.

Like, I started watching Jujutsu Kaisen because I saw a Polygon(?) article about how it had good female characters, and I am a clown.

Because that love child of Naruto and Bleach is exactly what you'd expect from a love child of Naruto and Bleach. Anyway, I'm mostly following JJK now thorough my twitter trending tab, which is helpfully alerting me to whenever one of JJK's good female characters bites it as an act of self-sacrifice.

At least the anime doesn't have a pervert character. Progress, I guess.

 

[BrawlMan]

At least the anime doesn't have a pervert character. Progress, I guess.

JoJo's Bizzare Adventure, Yu Yu Hakusho and Fist of the North Star accomplished that years ago. Whatever pervert character does show up (all can be counted on 1 hand) are very minor mooks or villains that get their asses kicked or killed in Fist of the North Star's case. Pervert characters really got popular, because of Dragonball's Master Roshi.

 

[Gordon_4]

Hot take: Roger Moore's character in the Wild Geese was a better take on James Bond for Moore than 90% of his own outings. This doesn't mean Moore was bad - fuck some of his ones are my favourites - but Shawn Fynn ably demonstrates that Moore had it in him to be a less dandy version of James Bond had they decided to do it.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Matrix Reloaded was a great film. Suffered from following up the then ground-breaking-ness of the first film, but was ultimately very serviceable as a sequel with amazing action and an appreciable Neo that doesn't wait until the closing minutes to show off what he can do. I mean, if you think about it at all, ever since the first film, we wanted to know what "The One" could do with full control of his faculties within the Matrix; Reloaded gave us that.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The Matrix Reloaded was a great film. Suffered from following up the then ground-breaking-ness of the first film, but was ultimately very serviceable as a sequel with amazing action and an appreciable Neo that doesn't wait until the closing minutes to show off what he can do. I mean, if you think about it at all, ever since the first film, we wanted to know what "The One" could do with full control of his faculties within the Matrix; Reloaded gave us that.

Does it though? I mean, Neo being The One I assumed meant that, in Morpheus' words, he can change whatever he sees, to remake the Matrix as he sees fit. The first movie ends with him flying up into the sky symbolizing how unshackled he is from the laws of the Matrix. Yet in the sequel that's all he really does; just fly around. He's supposed to be a god who can bend the Matrix to his will, but he does little else but fly and stop bullets. The way he kills Smith in the first movie, where he just jumps into him and destroys his very program, isn't even revisited in the sequel. Why is he kung-fu fighting agents when he can probably just stop them in mid-air and then reach right into them and delete them from the Matrix?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Does it though? I mean, Neo being The One I assumed meant that, in Morpheus' words, he can change whatever he sees, to remake the Matrix as he sees fit. The first movie ends with him flying up into the sky symbolizing how unshackled he is from the laws of the Matrix. Yet in the sequel that's all he really does; just fly around. He's supposed to be a god who can bend the Matrix to his will, but he does little else but fly and stop bullets. The way he kills Smith in the first movie, where he just jumps into him and destroys his very program, isn't even revisited in the sequel. Why is he kung-fu fighting agents when he can probably just stop them in mid-air and then reach right into them and delete them from the Matrix?

Not to mention, IIRC, it's the film where they try philosophising at each other, very badly. "We still use machines, so it's no different to us still being slaves of machines" isn't remotely profound.

 

[BrawlMan]

Honestly, either just watch Dark City The Director's Cut or Jet Li's The One over any of the Matrix sequels. I mentioned earlier that I love Dark City over all the Matrix franchise.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Not to mention, IIRC, it's the film where they try philosophising at each other, very badly. "We still use machines, so it's no different to us still being slaves of machines" isn't remotely profound.

Yep, the Wachowski's seemed to think that fans wanted the philosophical stuff as the main dish, as opposed to just some dip on the side like it was in the first movie.

I think another major problem with The Matrix as a franchise is that it doesn't lend itself well for an expanded scope or lore. You look at the first movie where the gang is wearing sunglasses and leather trenchcoats, and it works fine because it's just a small group of people who act like a team of burglars or whatever. Then you get to the sequel where you get like 20 people in a room, some pushing fifty, wearing sunglasses and leather attire, seemingly having council meetings about going to war, and the whole thing just collapses under its own stupidity.

Also, making Zion a super chill place that seemingly has plenty of proper food along with sexy cave raves that any ship apparently can just drop by whenever they want sorta runs counter to the oppressive and meager living from the first movie. Where our heroes need to eat icky, semen looking protein sludge, because that's all they can produce, and where Cypher went insane from living in this rusty, disgusting hell.

 

[BrawlMan]

I think another major problem with The Matrix as a franchise is that it doesn't lend itself well for an expanded scope or lore. You look at the first movie where the gang is wearing sunglasses and leather trenchcoats, and it works fine because it's just a small group of people who act like a team of burglars or whatever. Then you get to the sequel where you get like 20 people in a room, some pushing fifty, wearing sunglasses and leather attire, seemingly having council meetings about going to war, and the whole thing just collapses under its own stupidity.

Not to mention, the whole stoic badass in leather, was already getting tiring by that point. At least for me. What didn't help was the movie Underworld took it to even further heights. When Vampire Hunter D and Gun Grave do it better, yet still having something of a personality, everything else looks like crap or is crap by comparison.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Not to mention the whole stoic badass and mother was already getting tiring by that point. At least for me. What didn't help was the movie Underworld took it to even further heights. When Vampire Hunter D and Gun Grave do it better, yet still having something of a personality, everything else looks like crap or is crap by comparison.

Oh god yeah, I remember seeing that first trailer for Underworld back in the day and thinking '90's coolness just went off the deep end'.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Does it though? I mean, Neo being The One I assumed meant that, in Morpheus' words, he can change whatever he sees, to remake the Matrix as he sees fit. The first movie ends with him flying up into the sky symbolizing how unshackled he is from the laws of the Matrix. Yet in the sequel that's all he really does; just fly around. He's supposed to be a god who can bend the Matrix to his will, but he does little else but fly and stop bullets. The way he kills Smith in the first movie, where he just jumps into him and destroys his very program, isn't even revisited in the sequel. Why is he kung-fu fighting agents when he can probably just stop them in mid-air and then reach right into them and delete them from the Matrix?

As with any fiction (without evoking the "death of the author" critiques,) one can easily assume a lot and forego what one believes to be logical plot holes. We know there were many iterations of the Matrix prior to the first film, utopias denied by the enslaved humans for whom perfection wasn't credible/sustainable. One could argue that Neo holds back his ability to "change whatever he sees fit" as such might affect the literal billions of lives beholden to the Matrix, i.e.: what would an infinite amount of money held by one person do to a global economy? Not saying you have to agree or are even wrong, but for every "what if" you offer, I could offer a counter-argument that would get us nowhere, hence I posted in the "hot takes" thread instead of making an independent statement of personal fact.

That said, I find the movie serviceable as a sequel to the first film and not the travesty many believe it to be. It didn't feel like they were simply trying to capitalize on an unexpected success as many sequels nowadays feel, and more like they were expanding on the unfinished story. What? We were supposed to believe because this one guy can do whatever he wants, humanity is suddenly freed? No, it'd be a process, first of freeing the people, and second, rebuilding a sustainable society free of machine control. That doesn't happen because one guy can do whatever he wants. The sequels (yes, I'm throwing Revolution on there too) felt like a natural, unforced progression of the Matrix's lore, so both films, IMHO, are great (if imperfect.)

 

[BrawlMan]

Oh god yeah, I remember seeing that first trailer for Underworld back in the day and thinking '90's coolness just went off the deep end'.

I remember my older brother being huge into the Underworld movies. At least the first two anyway. He did like the third movie, but never got the DVD for it. By the time the 4th movie came out, he almost forgot the franchise even existed and was not interested. He said he would go see it, but he never followed up on either sequels. Which goes to show how much he didn't care for the franchise at that point.

 

[BrawlMan]

I highly doubt this is much of a hot take, but I remember over the years and even now there's still some of these AVGN downfall or it's no longer good videos. Or how nobody watches James Rolfe anymore. Which is a big ass lie. Fine if you don't like his content, found something better, don't find it interesting anymore, or not a fan. But if that's the case, why the hell does he still have 3.3 million subscribers? Now I admit that he faltered a bit in the early 2010s. I know I lost interest around that time and I didn't really start watching his stuff again until about late 2014/early 2015. I don't watch every single episode of his stuff, but he has improved his craft over the years. He got more informative with this videos and later on he scaled back on the scat and toilet humor. Now there are people who does things better than him, I don't have a problem with it, and neither does he. James Rolfe is the most stable YouTube critic on the internet. He never lost himself, nor did he become a big asshole. His ex-buddy Mike Mattei is another story, but we'll save him for another time. All I have to say is that I'm glad AVGN is still around. While I might not watch every single one of his videos, I still check in every often. He's a cool dude.

 

[Bartholen]

Quentin Tarantino's entire career is built on making film critics and film nerds of his ilk soyface at the random references and homages in his films and therefore making them think his films are any good. From my experience (which doesn't include Jackie Brown, Hateful Eight or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) his films are all shallow, vapid, annoying, padded and juvenile.

 

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[Kyrian007]

Southland Tales was a great work of satire that has gotten more relevant with each passing year ever since it came out.
People are underestimating how genuinely good Cobra Kai is.

I'll agree about Southland Tales, it was brilliant. I don't think any movie Richard Kelly worked on was any less than "really good movie." And yet none made money at the box office. Even the tie in comic series that is the prequel to Southland Tales is interesting and adds to the ongoing story in the film.

Wow, the Cobra Kai comment didn't stay a hot take for long. All I hear about it... is how awesome it is. And that isn't an incorrect assessment.

My film hot takes... not really all that strange outside of liking Southland Tales. M. Night Shyamalan was never good. It was a hot take when I absolutely thought so after hating Unbreakable as well as Sixth Sense, but time kind of proved me right on what a terrible filmmaker he was. Like PsychedelicDiamond on Cobra Kai. Uhh, Memento was unwatchable... but that was just me. It really was a great movie and I can admit that, it was just the repetition that killed it for me. Watching that movie was like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. I was literally shouting at the movie, "I KNOW THAT ALREADY, I don't care that the main character doesn't remember that, I DO. GET ON WITH IT." That was a great story, I just don't think it could be told in a way I would enjoy it.

 

[Casual Shinji]

My film hot takes... not really all that strange outside of liking Southland Tales. M. Night Shyamalan was never good. It was a hot take when I absolutely thought so after hating Unbreakable as well as Sixth Sense, but time kind of proved me right on what a terrible filmmaker he was.

The dialoge in his movies has always certainly been horrific. I rewatched Unbreakable a few weeks ago, and God is that dialoge fucking embarrasing to listen to. I think he's a good enough director, but his writing is pathetic.

 

[BrawlMan]

The Hunt (2020) is a hilarious and terribly underappreciated movie that people missed out on solely because of "us vs them" politics. Give it a few years and I guarantee it'll have a cult following.

The reason I never watched it, because it looked so underwhelming. Plus, after seeing 3 good Purge movies, I felt these type of movies had run their course for me. If I needed The Most Dangerous Game gonzo crazy movie that badly, there's always Hard Target.

Zack Snyder is an amazing cinematographer, but a horrid director and an even worse writer. Watchmen was not only immature and gross, but is also the antithesis of what Alan moore was writing about.

I love Man of Steel, but I agree when it comes to him adapting most comic books.

Michael Bay is everything thats wrong with America.

I would not go that far, but I do detest most of his filmography. Believe or not, but there are many director's that do shaky-can and quick cutting worse than him. At least he learned at some point to keep the camera fucking still!

 

[Xprimentyl]

Mortal Kombat (2021) is better than the film from 1995.

 

[BrawlMan]

Mortal Kombat (2021) is better than the film from 1995.

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