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

Bob_McMillan

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I fucking hate powerscalers. This post is primarily motivated by the latest hullabaloo in the One Piece community, but I see it all over now.

For some reason the algorithm thinks I am incredibly invested about annoying twats arguing if Goku could beat Superman, or if Gojo Satoru could defeat Sukuna if Gojo had been taking vitamin supplements, or which characters could solo the entire Naruto universe.

I just... don't understand. I can see the appeal in the general discussion of it, but the arguments can clearly never be won, and yet people so desperately try to.
 
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BrawlMan

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I fucking hate powerscalers. This post is primarily motivated by the latest hullabaloo in the One Piece community, but I see it all over now.

For some reason the algorithm thinks I am incredibly invested about annoying twats arguing if Goku could beat Superman, or if Gojo Satoru could defeat Sukuna if Gojo had been taking vitamin supplements, or which characters could solo the entire Naruto universe.

I just... don't understand. I can see the appeal in the general discussion of it, but the arguments can clearly never be won, and yet people so desperately try to.
Ignore them and put don't recommend channel/content. I rarely ever have the show in my feed but whenever I see one I Immediately put do not want.
 

BrawlMan

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An article from months ago, but they're not wrong.


I was excited to see that Netflix’s Castlevania: Nocturne was reviewing extremely well, a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, living up to the high scores of the previous show, one of the best game adaptations of all time.

But I was perplexed by the 52% audience score, literally half of the 100% and “rotten,” as it were. I wondered what was going on here and ah, it’s another one of the these.

Have watched nearly all of the series now, I cannot agree with the “bad writing, bad characters” complaints at all that you see in the user reviews, but instead, a lot of focus is put on what else, its prevalence of black characters and other characters of color, altering a few origin stories to make that work. There’s a throughline of oppression and the horrors of slavery in the plot, and outside of that, a focus on gay characters as well.

Multiple reviews call the franchise “ruined” and are upset (freed slave) Annette has the most screen time. My favorite is multiple reviews that call it “Wokelevania,” the most contorted inclusion of the word “woke” I’ve ever seen. The show “constantly beats you over the head with current day talking points” another review says.

It’s a good show, I don’t know what else to say. The worst thing you can say about it is that it may not be quite as good as the original series, but that is an incredibly high bar, so it’s no real surprise. I cannot tell you how exhausted I am of user reviews for projects like this. This keeps happening over and over where some established IP includes some characters of color or different orientations and the knives come out.

Rotten Tomatoes has a particular problem with this. They cracked down on user reviews when it comes to movies, given that there’s a system in place to prove you watched a film before reviewing it. This was instituted after mass review bombing of Captain Marvel due to offhand comments Brie Larson made about the male-dominated critic industry (which is absolutely true). And that same crowd has been hounding her ever since.
 

BrawlMan

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Not to give WBD too much credit, but they at least bother to still do animated movies or shows for their DC characters. Not all of them are kid friendly, or meant for older audiences, but at least they're still there and given chances shine. Disney/Marvel has their What If series and that's it. They have done anything else animated Marvel related or appealing with solo Marvel superhero shows in ages. The last one was that Spider-Man cartoon from the mid to late 2010s and that was it. It lasted a few seasons and ended quick. DC at least has My Adventures With Superman and Caped Crusader. Obviously, the former is much more family friendly than the latter, but is not afraid to be mature with adult subject matters nor have a problem with getting serious when needed. As much as I despise WBD, at least they allow different animated takes on their superheroes and given reign for experimentation. Most of it which has worked out for the better.

Marvel's excuse in lack of effort is "We have the MCU, we don't need anything else to appeal to kids". X-Men '97 is the exception obviously, but we need more than just that. Give all the heroes a chance to shine and thrive. You can't just rely on the one cinematic universe forever.
 

Piscian

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The Crow (2024) is the kinda trash I would watch, but not the kind of movie I would give hollywood money to see. I actively want it to fail. Which is sad because I think everybody wants a Crow movie. A good Crow movie.
 

Phoenixmgs

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The Crow (2024) is the kinda trash I would watch, but not the kind of movie I would give hollywood money to see. I actively want it to fail. Which is sad because I think everybody wants a Crow movie. A good Crow movie.
Even hotter take, I find the original Crow to be trash.
 

Xprimentyl

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Even hotter take, I find the original Crow to be trash.
I've often wondered if that movie only garnered as much love (and now nostalgia) as it did (does) because Brandon Lee was killed during filming, and they did the then groundbreaking CGI thingy to keep him in the movie. I remember watching it and not being that impressed by any of it.
 

Thaluikhain

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The Crow (2024) is the kinda trash I would watch, but not the kind of movie I would give hollywood money to see. I actively want it to fail. Which is sad because I think everybody wants a Crow movie. A good Crow movie.
There's been plenty of Crow movies (and a tv series), surely we don't need a new one.
 

BrawlMan

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The original Crow still holds up great. The only thing is spotty are some digital effects if you're watching on blue ray. Even then you have to be paying real close attention.

Looking forward to the remake. It does its own thing for what I'm hearing.
 

Old_Hunter_77

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I've often wondered if that movie only garnered as much love (and now nostalgia) as it did (does) because Brandon Lee was killed during filming, and they did the then groundbreaking CGI thingy to keep him in the movie. I remember watching it and not being that impressed by any of it.
From what I remember about the original Crow, it was combination of it being Bruce Lee's but also the look and vibe were extremely of its time. We're in Nine Inch Nails, still-angsty Pearl Jam, Kurt Cobain dying, goth kids quoting Nitsche peak 90's, and that movie was like the Hot Topic of movies.
 
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Phoenixmgs

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I've often wondered if that movie only garnered as much love (and now nostalgia) as it did (does) because Brandon Lee was killed during filming, and they did the then groundbreaking CGI thingy to keep him in the movie. I remember watching it and not being that impressed by any of it.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I watched it way back when it came out, never really remembered much about it as it didn't leave an impact on me. Then, maybe 10 years back or so, we put it on while hanging out and we were all like "what is this trash" basically and were making fun of it the whole time.
 
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Thaluikhain

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Looking back at the older James Bond films, many are of course very dated, but the one thing that really holds up is the music.
 
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BrawlMan

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The "I miss witty banter/good superhero banter" shit critics are saying on YouTube. Even the good ones like Shady Doorags constantly bring this up or unprovoked when it has nothing to do with Marvel/MCU. You're talking about a great DCAU episode, I don't need you to constantly bash Marvel like the dead horse you and everyone else are doing. Also, the MCU didn't "ruin" witty banter/good superhero banter, Shady. WTF you've been watching? I've seen plenty of action shows, kids shows, superhero and non superhero movies do banter and avoid "MCU dialogue" (when it's not even that) just fine. We get it, you're disappointed or hate the Marvel's lack output and DCEU being shutdown/not given a chance. But can you please focus on the positive subjects you're talking about and not weigh down nor pad the video for another tired bad MCU movie or "characters not acting like heroes" rant? Even when you do have a point, you're not saying anything new or unique. How about just don't watch these movies anymore, if they bother you that much or feel they're lacking?
 

Drathnoxis

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I've been re-watching Yugioh the Abridged Series again, because it never gets old, and I've been thinking about what an absolute loser Joey is in the anime. In the manga he was a total badass fighter and it was a role that really worked for him and gave him a way to shine in his own special way. In the anime, he's just second fiddle duelist with a temper. Like, Yugi is always going to be a better duelist, and Joey is just there to fill time until the main act arrives. It just breaks my heart, because he used to be so much more.
As an illustration here are some scenes of Anime Joey vs Manga Joey:
Manga Joey

Anime Joey

Manga Joey

Anime and Manga Joey

It's so sad what they did to my boy! He just gets effortlessly overpowered by everybody he comes across. It's like Worf, except he was actually intended to be cool.
 
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Casual Shinji

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This thread is so old I can't even tell whether or not I mentioned this before, but John Carpeter's The Thing has the most flimsey internal logic I've seen in a movie held in this critically high regard. And make no mistake, this movie is exceptional, but it also falls to utter pieces if you just think about it logically for a minute.

1) It makes no sense that the dog (thing) behaves this suspicious. Instead of acting like a regular dog, it acts like a fucking weirdo, even drawing Clark's attention in how it acts around the other dogs. I know this is for the sake of the audience, so that we know something is off, but in-world it makes no sense.

2) It makes no sense that dog-thing would choose to try and copy/absorb 7 or 8 dogs simultaneously. I thought this thing was supposed to be quick and quiet, and not rock the boat unless exposed for all to see. Trying to take on 8 dogs at the same time is bound to make a lot of noise.

3) How this this thing even work? Apparently it needs to grab you in order to take you over, even needing to tear through your clothes in the process, but then we see that not only does it function on a celular level, but one little piece can become its own creature. So why is all this pomp and circumstance necessary? It could just give someone a wet willy and have a tiny cell creature crawl into the victim's ear. Boom, infected.

4) Blair becoming the Thing feels rather weak as it is, but apparently he was also able to dig several yards under solid ice and make a little flying saucer from helicopter parts?! Ignoring how improbable that already is, why not just fix the bloody helicopter than when you were already breaking out of the shed to get the parts?
 

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makes no sense that the dog (thing) behaves this suspicious. Instead of acting like a regular dog, it acts like a fucking weirdo, even drawing Clark's attention in how it acts around the other dogs. I know this is for the sake of the audience, so that we know something is off, but in-world it makes no sense.
It's pointed out and implied in the movie and script that Clark has bigger attachment to dogs than people. He wanted to give the dog thing tied to adjust and just assumed it was still wary of others. Clark clearly has a love for dogs all over his sleeve and in the open. Not to mention everyone had other things on their mind and thought nothing else otherwise.

It makes no sense that dog-thing would choose to try and copy/absorb 7 or 8 dogs simultaneously. I thought this thing was supposed to be quick and quiet, and not rock the boat unless exposed for all to see. Trying to take on 8 dogs at the same time is bound to make a lot of noise.
One or two humans were already infected by the time it started working on the dogs. Plus the dogs could smell/sense something was not right and started barking at it first. And it knew it had been found out so it might as well go out in a blaze and infect everything at once. It's also pointed out that some things are dumber or smarter than the others in desperate situations. It varies.

How this this thing even work? Apparently it needs to grab you in order to take you over, even needing to tear through your clothes in the process, but then we see that not only does it function on a celular level, but one little piece can become its own creature. So why is all this pomp and circumstance necessary? It could just give someone a wet willy and have a tiny cell creature crawl into the victim's ear. Boom, infected.
See my previous answer.

Blair becoming the Thing feels rather weak as it is, but apparently he was also able to dig several yards under solid ice and make a little flying saucer from helicopter parts?! Ignoring how improbable that already is, why not just fix the bloody helicopter than when you were already breaking out of the shed to get the parts?
The Things are stronger than they look. But we don't see most of it when they remain hidden in human. It didn't want to leave anything to chance and taking one of those choppers will still leave it the odd thing out. Even if it destroyed all but one. They're about diverting as much attention as way as possible. To the point of exposing other things if it gives the other thing a chance to survive. The thing also doesn't want anybody leaving uninfected, or chance to escape and get help. Less outside interference. That space craft is more like a hovercraft, and was just supposed to get him far enough or to go back into hide and freeze again, until somebody found it. The spare parts are implied to be from the chopper themselves. And whether scrapping metal could find out on the base. It has the mind of 1000s of other creatures and was probably able to learn how to retrofit the technology to work to its advantage. Also, for all we know, other things could have possibly helped Blair Thing off screen. Even if it were smaller items.
 

Casual Shinji

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It's pointed out and implied in the movie and script that Clark has bigger attachment to dogs than people. He wanted to give the dog thing tied to adjust and just assumed it was still wary of others. Clark clearly has a love for dogs all over his sleeve and in the open. Not to mention everyone had other things on their mind and thought nothing else otherwise.
That doesn't explain why the Thing is drawing attention to itself by acting weird. It's supposed to NOT do that, to be a perfect imitation of a dog, in both appearance and behavior.

One or two humans were already infected by the time it started working on the dogs. Plus the dogs could smell/sense something was not right and started barking at it first. And it knew it had been found out so it might as well go out in a blaze and infect everything at once. It's also pointed out that some things are dumber or smarter than the others in desperate situations. It varies.
No, the dogs only start barking once the Thing starts weezing heavily, clearly exposing itself as not a dog. When Clark brings it into the kennel and the Thing calmly lays down in the middle (very suspiciously) the dogs are fine and none the wiser.

The Things are stronger than they look. But we don't see most of it when they remain hidden in human. It didn't want to leave anything to chance and taking one of those choppers will still leave it the odd thing out. Even if it destroyed all but one. They're about diverting as much attention as way as possible. To the point of exposing other things if it gives the other thing a chance to survive. The thing also doesn't want anybody leaving uninfected, or chance to escape and get help. Less outside interference. That space craft is more like a hovercraft, and was just supposed to get him far enough or to go back into hide and freeze again, until somebody found it. The spare parts are implied to be from the chopper themselves. And whether scrapping metal could find out on the base. It has the mind of 1000s of other creatures and was probably able to learn how to retrofit the technology to work to its advantage. Also, for all we know, other things could have possibly helped Blair Thing off screen. Even if it were smaller items.
If it's strong enough to dig that far under the ice in that short amount of time, why even hide at all? It could've just killed everyone through brute force alone. Or why not detach a small part of itself to hide in the ice, or any of the other numerous ways it could've done anything based on how it operates as an organism. It could've clipped its toenail and than have the toenail hide itself in Kurt Russel's beard till he rotated back to civilization