Snyder always seemed to me like the guy promoted up the ladder until he was one job past his competency level, Hollywood version. He would be a fantastic visual effects supervisor or cinematographer, but really has no business directing. He also seems to be completely influenced by whatever he happens to think is cool at the time. He watches a couple of Paul Greengrass movies and suddenly the camera in Man of Steel has to shake constantly throughout the entire film.
Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched
- Thread starter Th3Ch33s3Cak3
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Honestly, the screen shake fighting really only happens with Zod and Jor-El and goes full Paul Greengrass in the beginning. Other than that, all of the fight scenes you can see clearly. Now some shakes are added, but those are usual to show impact of powerful hits or crashes. I could at least tell what was going on in Man of Steel. I can't say the same for the rest of Greengrass's filmography, the later Bourne sequels, and the many imitators and clones from the late 2000s to early-mid 2010s. I will give Snyder credit for at least not bothering with shaky cam in Batman V. Superman and his version of Justice League. Too bad the latter has the 7th generation gunmetal grey color palette I despise so much.
I watched it in IMAX, on day 1. I was pumped to see Man of Steel. And even in scenes where characters were just statically standing still and speaking, no motion, no action... and the camera was still jumping around and shaking like it was trying to keep up with Jason Bourne playing the floor is lava. I have been told it doesn't look that bad, but I'm still convinced they steadied it in post cropping it from the IMAX ratio. I very specifically remember that movie shaking from the very first scene all the way through to the end. I was waiting for a steady shot, just a single one. It never happened. Maybe it was just the IMAX version I saw, but given I have never ever been tempted to watch that awful movie again I'll probably never see it any differently.
Concur. I think Hollywood confuses cinematography with directing and storytelling. Typically Snyder knows how to work a camera, but he's an absolute shit storyteller. Even Army of the Dead which should have been a layup has a host of plotting and direction issues. I feel like you could have given the same plot outline and budget to some college kid indie director and they would have done a better job.
I enjoyed it mostly till the end when it got a little to torture porn for my tastes. Otherwise?
I did not remember you writing about that turned down martini! Ha! Nice pick up!
Who knew Andy Serkis could looks so physically formidable? Early tussle with Luthor among my favorite scenes in the movie.
Never much of a fan of torture porn. I've always loved horror movies, but I pretty much skipped the whole Hostel / Saw / etc. era. I think torture porn was not just gratuitously unpleasant, but also quite lazy. I'm glad they kept it pretty light.
As the villain is supposed to be mid-40s, I was also a little surprised by Andy Serkis - who I think is something like 60 in real life. He convincingly conveys a sort of agile, wiry strength to the character, though.
Serkis probably got a good mix of good genes, good diet, and work that kept him fit. But he is well preserved for 58, I agree.
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I guess this just goes to show how easy it is for pop culture media to misled and manipulate the general public on historical events. It probably happens all too often, and can even influence real life culture in some cases.
Creed 3
Of course I was gonna see this in the theater, I dearly love the Rocky movies and enjoy the Creed spinoff series well enough.
Creed 3 is a movie that delivers what it looks like- if you already like this stuff, you will like it, and if you don't, you won't, which is appropriate for a second sequel sequel of a spinoff of a sequel.
The best part is of course anything to do with actual boxing. Decent training montages and absolutely excellent fight sequences. The influence of anime has been reported on and I don't know if I would have made that connection on my own either because I don't watch much anime or really I think that the cross-over between east-Asian and American pop culture is so intertwined at this point that it's really less "anime influenced" then "movies made by people under 50 finally."
The downside for me is the lack of humor and quirk. Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors are indeed fine actors and commit to the role, both as actors and physically, but their character are boring people. Part of Rocky Balboa's charm is that he's a well-meaning lug and it's why so many people can even enjoy the lesser sequels. But Creed is so serious about everything. It makes for decent but forgettable drama and then when the actual boxing happens part of me was like "yeah this could have been a 15 minute short film."
I mean there's a wife and a kid and it's all... fine. Tessa Thompson is a wonderful actress but she's just like "talk to me!" and "I love you!" and boring wife crap. I suppose this is true legacy to Rocky movies because one of the things I hate about the Rocky sequels is that they remove anything interesting about Adrian, and it looks like Creed is doing the same thing, oh well.
Definitely worth a theater trip if you're into this stuff though for the fight sequences.
Of course I was gonna see this in the theater, I dearly love the Rocky movies and enjoy the Creed spinoff series well enough.
Creed 3 is a movie that delivers what it looks like- if you already like this stuff, you will like it, and if you don't, you won't, which is appropriate for a second sequel sequel of a spinoff of a sequel.
The best part is of course anything to do with actual boxing. Decent training montages and absolutely excellent fight sequences. The influence of anime has been reported on and I don't know if I would have made that connection on my own either because I don't watch much anime or really I think that the cross-over between east-Asian and American pop culture is so intertwined at this point that it's really less "anime influenced" then "movies made by people under 50 finally."
The downside for me is the lack of humor and quirk. Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors are indeed fine actors and commit to the role, both as actors and physically, but their character are boring people. Part of Rocky Balboa's charm is that he's a well-meaning lug and it's why so many people can even enjoy the lesser sequels. But Creed is so serious about everything. It makes for decent but forgettable drama and then when the actual boxing happens part of me was like "yeah this could have been a 15 minute short film."
I mean there's a wife and a kid and it's all... fine. Tessa Thompson is a wonderful actress but she's just like "talk to me!" and "I love you!" and boring wife crap. I suppose this is true legacy to Rocky movies because one of the things I hate about the Rocky sequels is that they remove anything interesting about Adrian, and it looks like Creed is doing the same thing, oh well.
Definitely worth a theater trip if you're into this stuff though for the fight sequences.
A ★★★★★ review of Encanto (2021)
Not even sorry, this film EARNED that rating. The plot of the film follows a 15 year old girl named Mirabel Madrigal (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz). Born into a magical family, and being the only one without a gift of her own, she often feels left out. This isn't helped by her sisters Luisa...
letterboxd.com
There are plenty of still shots, some dialogue scenes have minor shaking, but they don't last long. I saw Man of Steel in the EPIC screening. The MJR Theater's equivalent of IMAX, and nothing was cropped on our screen.
One Piece Film: Red
Even for an anime movie, this was really dumb. Literally the only selling point of this movie was seeing Shanks and his crew in action, and they show up for like 5 seconds. I can only imagine my disappointment had I actually watched this in theaters.
Also, I wasn't even really opposed to the movie essentially being a bunch of anime music videos stitched together. But the artist, while a great singer, sounds maybe 10 years older than the character she's playing. It's really uncanny, especially in flashback scenes when the character is just a child.
Even for an anime movie, this was really dumb. Literally the only selling point of this movie was seeing Shanks and his crew in action, and they show up for like 5 seconds. I can only imagine my disappointment had I actually watched this in theaters.
Also, I wasn't even really opposed to the movie essentially being a bunch of anime music videos stitched together. But the artist, while a great singer, sounds maybe 10 years older than the character she's playing. It's really uncanny, especially in flashback scenes when the character is just a child.
The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning (7/10)
You read that right. LM3 just about manages to be a "good" film, which means that by my reckoning, it's better than the two preceeding it. Not that I liked either of those two, as my reviews show, but I really wasn't expecting this.
The story starts a decade before the main story, where Triton's wife is killed by a human pirate ship (yes, killed, there's no ambiguity), with Ariel being about 4 years old at this point. Because of this, he bans music in Atlantica. Cut forward ten years later, and everyone, not just Ariel and her sisters, are miserable, and Triton's still deep in depression.
To be clear, the whole "no music allowed" thing is fairly silly, even if it does make sense in context to a point (since Triton's wife was trying to save a music box when the ship killed her). Also, I'm not going to claim that this is an in-depth look at depression. However, I will give the movie some credit for handling the subject the way it does when it comes to Triton, since everything from his animation to his voice acting conveys the idea that this is a man who's dead inside, consumed with grief. Similarly, while none of Ariel's sisters have characterization that goes beyond "the strict one," "the funny one," "the vain one," etc., I will give the movie some credit for providing characterization at all - enough to elicit a few sniggers from me at times. This might be me being biaised (in case you're wondering, the reason I'm watching LM stuff right now is because one of my writing projects is a LM story), but there's some moments between Ariel and Attina (Triton's eldest daughter) that do at least touch on 'the feels,' with Attina being forced to look after her sisters, while Ariel morosely comments that as the youngest daughter, she knew her mother the least out of all of them.
Also, Marina (the girls' governess) is a hoot, and so is her dugong assistant. 'Nuff said.
Anyway, because this is still a movie about music being banned, Ariel ends up meeting Flounder (who incidentally is a better character here than the original movie), one thing leads to another, and she ends up in an underground (undersea?) music gig, where shock of all shocks, Sebastian is the main singer, despite him otherwise toeing the line on Triton's "no music allowed" edict. I should comment at this point that despite this film's focus on the whole music angle, there isn't a single song from said film that I can remember. Despite my gripes with the first film, all of its songs were solid, and I can at least remember the songs of the second, even if they were generic as a stunned mullet. But quality of the songs aside, the animation is good (surprisingly good for a direct-to-DVD film), Ariel brings her sisters into the club, but they're found out, and thus confined to the palace, which causes a rift between her and the rest of them, exemplified in this exchange:
Ariel: "I just wanted us to be happy."
Attina: "Look around you, Ariel. No-one is happy."
Not exactly Shakespeare, but I'll actually take this over Ariel's "I'm going to pursue a man I barely know and leave my whole world behind and risk everything in the process." Actually, that does tie in with why I like this movie more, namely that I find the core conflict more engaging than the first film (familial loss, depression). Odd that Ariel, who's two years younger here than in LM1, is a more mature individual than in the first film.
Anyway, Ariel, having reached breaking point, springs Sebastian, Flounder, and the other captured members of the music club, and they head out beyond the borders to be free to perform music. And by that, that means entering the undersea equivalent of a desert (presumably this means further out into open sea, where biodiversity is much lower). Marina sends her electric eels after them because...reasons (there is a reason, I just can't remember what it is), and Sebastian reveals that he's taken them to where the music box of Ariel's mother is located. The idea being that if Ariel can play it in front of her father, his heart will soften. On the way back, they're attacked by Marina's eels, and while they defeat them, Ariel is injured. Seeing this, and with the music box playing, Triton's heart is softened. Music is allowed to return, Sebastian is made court composer, and Ariel and her father dance for the first time in ten years.
So, that's LM3, and yes, I stand by my belief that this is a superior film to the first one. While there's a lot of generic, even silly elements, this is compounded by the fact that this is actually the funniest LM film, yet despite the comedy, I think the core premise is actually the most engaging. While it's hardly an in-depth (deep? Undersea?) look at depression and family loss, it does pull off these elements reasonably well. As silly as the whole music ban is on the surface, considering where it's coming from, it does make Triton's actions understandable in the context of his grief. And again, Ariel's a far more likable protagonist here than the borderline ditz she was in the first film. Controversial opinion, I'm sure, but it's mine all the same.
Anyway, DisneyToon rankings are below:
5) Peter Pan: Return to Neverland
4) The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
3) The Little Mermaid III: Ariel’s Beginning
2) Aladdin: The Return of Jaffar
1) The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride
You read that right. LM3 just about manages to be a "good" film, which means that by my reckoning, it's better than the two preceeding it. Not that I liked either of those two, as my reviews show, but I really wasn't expecting this.
The story starts a decade before the main story, where Triton's wife is killed by a human pirate ship (yes, killed, there's no ambiguity), with Ariel being about 4 years old at this point. Because of this, he bans music in Atlantica. Cut forward ten years later, and everyone, not just Ariel and her sisters, are miserable, and Triton's still deep in depression.
To be clear, the whole "no music allowed" thing is fairly silly, even if it does make sense in context to a point (since Triton's wife was trying to save a music box when the ship killed her). Also, I'm not going to claim that this is an in-depth look at depression. However, I will give the movie some credit for handling the subject the way it does when it comes to Triton, since everything from his animation to his voice acting conveys the idea that this is a man who's dead inside, consumed with grief. Similarly, while none of Ariel's sisters have characterization that goes beyond "the strict one," "the funny one," "the vain one," etc., I will give the movie some credit for providing characterization at all - enough to elicit a few sniggers from me at times. This might be me being biaised (in case you're wondering, the reason I'm watching LM stuff right now is because one of my writing projects is a LM story), but there's some moments between Ariel and Attina (Triton's eldest daughter) that do at least touch on 'the feels,' with Attina being forced to look after her sisters, while Ariel morosely comments that as the youngest daughter, she knew her mother the least out of all of them.
Also, Marina (the girls' governess) is a hoot, and so is her dugong assistant. 'Nuff said.
Anyway, because this is still a movie about music being banned, Ariel ends up meeting Flounder (who incidentally is a better character here than the original movie), one thing leads to another, and she ends up in an underground (undersea?) music gig, where shock of all shocks, Sebastian is the main singer, despite him otherwise toeing the line on Triton's "no music allowed" edict. I should comment at this point that despite this film's focus on the whole music angle, there isn't a single song from said film that I can remember. Despite my gripes with the first film, all of its songs were solid, and I can at least remember the songs of the second, even if they were generic as a stunned mullet. But quality of the songs aside, the animation is good (surprisingly good for a direct-to-DVD film), Ariel brings her sisters into the club, but they're found out, and thus confined to the palace, which causes a rift between her and the rest of them, exemplified in this exchange:
Ariel: "I just wanted us to be happy."
Attina: "Look around you, Ariel. No-one is happy."
Not exactly Shakespeare, but I'll actually take this over Ariel's "I'm going to pursue a man I barely know and leave my whole world behind and risk everything in the process." Actually, that does tie in with why I like this movie more, namely that I find the core conflict more engaging than the first film (familial loss, depression). Odd that Ariel, who's two years younger here than in LM1, is a more mature individual than in the first film.
Anyway, Ariel, having reached breaking point, springs Sebastian, Flounder, and the other captured members of the music club, and they head out beyond the borders to be free to perform music. And by that, that means entering the undersea equivalent of a desert (presumably this means further out into open sea, where biodiversity is much lower). Marina sends her electric eels after them because...reasons (there is a reason, I just can't remember what it is), and Sebastian reveals that he's taken them to where the music box of Ariel's mother is located. The idea being that if Ariel can play it in front of her father, his heart will soften. On the way back, they're attacked by Marina's eels, and while they defeat them, Ariel is injured. Seeing this, and with the music box playing, Triton's heart is softened. Music is allowed to return, Sebastian is made court composer, and Ariel and her father dance for the first time in ten years.
So, that's LM3, and yes, I stand by my belief that this is a superior film to the first one. While there's a lot of generic, even silly elements, this is compounded by the fact that this is actually the funniest LM film, yet despite the comedy, I think the core premise is actually the most engaging. While it's hardly an in-depth (deep? Undersea?) look at depression and family loss, it does pull off these elements reasonably well. As silly as the whole music ban is on the surface, considering where it's coming from, it does make Triton's actions understandable in the context of his grief. And again, Ariel's a far more likable protagonist here than the borderline ditz she was in the first film. Controversial opinion, I'm sure, but it's mine all the same.
Anyway, DisneyToon rankings are below:
5) Peter Pan: Return to Neverland
4) The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
3) The Little Mermaid III: Ariel’s Beginning
2) Aladdin: The Return of Jaffar
1) The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride
I liked Black Widow, though disappointed by some of it. Saw it with a buddy who loves the MCU but hated it. I watched a 2nd time and realized I was wrong, he was right. Really liked Quantumania, he hated it again. Now I'm afraid to watch a 2nd time and find out he was right again!
I do think we are spoiled, jaded and have rose colored glasses on. Early MCU films had their problems too (Tony fights another Iron person and helmetless is blown to safety while fully armor full power Ironmonger is killed? Thor: Darkworld? Critters in Avengers all collapse Phantom Menace style even though they aren't robots? Red Skull handles the cube and looks it over? Would you do that with plutonium?) As it is, I think Quantumaia fits well into the series of films.
I liked Black Widow a lot, but if you wanna watch a movie that may as well be Black Widow but is probably better, go watch The Long Kiss Goodnight. Squint hard enough and Samuel L Jackson is just an undercover Nick Fury, and Gina Davis totally passes for Natasha (and had by some weird miracle these movie started when she was a star, she'd totally have been Natasha).
John Wick 4
It's awesome but I don't have anything to say about it that I haven't already said about 2 & 3. Except RIP Lance Reddick.
It's awesome but I don't have anything to say about it that I haven't already said about 2 & 3. Except RIP Lance Reddick.
3 made my family nauseous with the endless gunshots. Never thought as a gamer, I'd get sick of the sound of weapons firing. Is 4 better in that regard?