slothian
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Posts posted by slothian
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This must be the Earth-2.net equivalent to Seagull's unfortunate Post Your Pic escapades on the Oratory earlier in the year! :laugh:
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01. So Spider-Man 3 is enjoyable because it could have been worse...?
Using that reasoning, Superman Returns wasn't bad because it wasn't Howard the Duck. See where I'm going? Enjoy something because "it could have been worse" is faulty logic. That's like saying, "Well, that guy broke my nose, which hurts like a bitch, but at least he didn't castrate me."02. Special effects don't make a movie. If the script and acting and everything else smells like rotten eggs, pretty visuals don't make it better. Hell, that makes it worse in my mind because it tells me they spent more time developing the "Spider-Man punches through Sandman's chest" scene than they did on the script.
03. Just because the franchise will continue doesn't give them a pass on Spider-Man 3.
Agreed with all of these.
Dude, if you want to defend Spider-Man 3 (see Episode 99 of E-2.net - the show, although I've since revised my score), you need to drop in the big selling points:
- Bruce Campbell's cameo: better than either of the previous two, and that is definitely the one thing that the 3rd film can trumpet, if only minorly as it's hardly integral to the story.
- Peter vs Harry - both fights were cool, be it the balls out action of the first fight about 5/10 minutes into the film, or their tussle in the Osbourne penthouse. Which ties into....
- Douchebag Peter!! I'm sorry, Tobey Maguire in an all-black suit with a different hair-do and dancing like an idiot isn't Emo, it's HILARIOUS!! And after all the shit MJ puts him through, his "FU, bitch" dancing in front of her with Gwen was pretty damn cool.
- The aforementioned graphics. True, as Des said, for a $250 million budget, you'd expect that, but if the Sandman's graphics had been anything like that of Reed Richard's stretching (or less impressive than the sand effects in the Brendan Fraser "Mummy" films) then the criticism would have been much worse.
- Topher Grace as Eddie Brock. So his background has been reinterpreted slightly - Grace still makes his character laughably odious so that when he eventually becomes attached to the symbiote, you understand the attraction to becoming Venom.
- Gwen Stacy. Gorgeous and a good get-out love interest if Dunst does leave the series (always a plus!)
- Amnesiac Harry. Him just painting a picture halfway through the film had me rolling. Then he regained his memory and went emo.
Now, there's a long list of flaws as well and if it weren't 3am with one day of my weekend left, I'd go over them for longer. The key thing I'd say is that the films flaws were two-fold. That the script was overly complicated and packed, which was a mistake on the producers and Raimi's side - Venom didn't need to be in action in the finale with the amount of money this franchise is raking in, but try telling producers that. The other is that you can't get invested in the three core characters if you make all three of them unlikeable to different degrees. If MJ was kept sympathetic (as Paker was dealing with the symbiote and Harry was part Goblin insane) then the drama that would really help drive the still somewhat convoluted script along at a more acceptable pace.
I still think Spider-Man 3 is a better film than something like Ghost Rider or the Fantastic Four films, despite its problems, but people get extra down on the film because it's such a comedown from Spidey 2, which is regarded as one of the greatest CBMs ever.
On topic: I caught a lot of flack whilst in Canada for enjoying a Comedy Network show called Beat the Geeks. Twas very cool, but try telling skiiers that!
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So I'm browsing over the active threads on my favourite geek culture site, and I find my web colleague (and boss, I guess) ranting about a wannabe fashion designer being done in by the trappings of reality television production, which exist to keep the petulant ratings grabbers in until the end.
Either my beer just got stronger or I need to start going to bed earlier....
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Best Individual / One-Shot Segment / Review is on James' list. I didn't put it on mine because I didn't feel like listing every segment and review from this year. Unless someone wants to create said list, I figure it can be a write-in category.
Agreed. Far too much stuff to list in its entirity. Must have missed it on James' list the first time around.
Best Podcast Segment isn't on my list because it wasn't on James' list, but we can very easily add it in. Would it exclude the new segments (which have their own award), or would they be included, too?The latter if you're keeping the best new segment award. Every seg being in the mix is only fair, rather than having a best old segment award to counterbalance the other one!!
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I like New Written Segments! Although I'm still confused why "New Segments" is an award when "Segments", which was an award, last year, isn't. Again it's a two horse race, whilst people can't recognise segs like Previews, Anticipation, CR.
I again want to champion best one shot segments too. You had Kellen & pals reviewing an anime conference, individual panels from the summer conferences, Mike's reviews of the JLA/JSA, THE EVIL HORDE~!!!, Mike & Jenny's movie reviews (Transformers or Saw IV being particularly of note), Des's reviews prior to DM being an individual podcast, my reviews, the Blink Dr Who review, the bumper Star Trek episode....etc etc etc.
(PS: In no way did I scan the list of shows to find examples to support my case!!!
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Not to bang the same drum again, but in that E2.net - the show is a platform of many different contributions, are there separate categories for segments and one-shot moments like last year? This isn't me going "I want more categories I can win in", but I'd prefer more blanket awards to things such as "Best New seg", if only because there are two candidates. I mean, the written CR has already won one award by being the only choice on offer in a new category!!! Not that there weren't small categories last year, but the 1st year set a precedent for future awards (and covered pretty much all the bases that the site covered last year).
The point is, it's great to recognise new stuff, but the new stuff is SO good by their own individual merits, that they can easily compete in the main categories. And I for one wouldn't mind at all if CR lost out the Countdown reviews or IIWY? - heck, I'd regard it as a good sign for the site as a whole if my stuff was getting edged out by new material and segments!!
Just food for thought - I'm worried my last couple of posts are me getting ranty about my column, and making myself out to be a self-interested scumbag!! I'm more of a self-interested alcoholic.....
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Don't forget me guys...I'm Canadian, a real Canadian...from an actually cold city.
My God....Kellen's alive!!!
I hope the above post didn't come off as a complaint btw.
(When I have the money, I will take Des up on his offer!! 2011 will be one wild year!!)
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Mike confuses me with his girlfriend logic. He'll hit Des for wishing Jenny a happy birthday, but is perfectly comfortable with Chicago men hitting on her. Would he be as comfortable if holidaying in Britain and men hit on her? Methinks not!! :devil:
In fact, you talk for an hour about the events surrounding Jenny's birthday and then play my segment!!! And whilst it's always nice to have my segment's introduction staged as female aural enticement, I'm never sure how people take Comic Reel-lief segs nowadays because I get fairly limited feedback on them. That's why I was surprised my Superman Returns review won an E2 award last year - whilst it did get feedback, the awards episode merely involved knowing laughter when the result was announced!! Also, Stardust is something I've covered in my CBM correspondant role, but I haven't heard it get talked about on this site at all, other than Des clarifying the film's precise origins in my last article.
Nice to hear the Kaiser Chiefs get international love! They're a band that have showmanship in their music and performances, which is why I too find them more enjoyable than the Foos at times.
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Coming next week, my girlfriend Nicola and I shall sit down and record an alternative commentary to Batman Forever!!!
Eh, it might happen in the future - just wanted to pass comment on partners! I did like the review that you and Megan did, Des - the film sounds pretty damn interesting.
Oh, and I bought the Outkast double album, but I can't find the Love Below disc, so I haven't heard that Dracula's Wedding track in AGES!! Great song!
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What happened to Best Recurring segment?!?! That's one of my favourite awards!!
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Normally, I'd raise concerns over her acting background,or lack of it, but as this is the JLA movie, I'm none too fussed. She looks pretty good for the role though.
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Regardless of whether the Marvel films as a whole (not necessarily including SM) are better, DC makes more money and in the film business that makes them win.
In general, DC films all comand a respectable grossing - Batman & Robin beat Daredevil in takings, when it was a much worse film - but their lack of production and franchise creation has been their loss at Marvel's gain. The Spider-Man movies, love 'em or hate 'em (and I know where you fall on that line, Des!), round out the top 3 whilst the latter X-Men films also took in more than $2 million domestically. With the Top 10 breaking down as 5 Marvel films, 3 DC and 2 others, I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say DC makes more moolah.
That was poorly put and rushed because I"m at work not trying to get caught talking about comic book movies online but what I meant was that recently Marvel is pumping out the films at an alarming rate but when DC does release one, it is generally a big film whereas Marvel seems content with Ghost Rider, Daredevil and the FF movies which are piss poor in quality even though they look shiny.
But because CBMs are in vogue, it makes those film companies money on a more consistent basis. And if the films were helmed by more competent people than Mark Steven Johnson or writers like Zak Penn, the release pattern isn't exactly that stupid. What I *DO* think Marvel screw up on, in terms of releasing movies, is setting the sequel date before a film has been released. Not only is it being premature and slightly arrogant to suggest that the current film will definitely do well enough to warrant a sequel, but it rushes the production of the subsequent film, hence the disappointments of X-Men: The Last Stand and Spider-Man 3.
Not saying that Superman Returns was great, because it wasn't, but for all intents and purposes it was still an amazing popcorn movie if you weren't a fanboy and a box office powerhouse.Whilst I try and review films taking into account both the neutral & fanboy perspectives, I think even the neutral watcher would fail to get much out of the last 20-30 minutes of Superman Returns. I do see where your point's coming from though.
The Spider-Man comment: I'm getting this a lot these days...SM 3 was utter shite tossed from a monkey cage by an overrated director who had little to no care for how the characters were portrayed in the biggest waste of movie budget since Waterworld. On the other hand, the first two movies are some of my favourite SM stories, period.Heh! Honestly, the only reason I generalised you that way was your comment on Raimi in the Spidey 3 thread. Even detractors of Raimi's style generally rate the first two films. I still enjoy how the symbiote suit basically fuelled Parker's moodset throughout all the other many, many, many other things he went through over the course of the film. But no-one's going to deny that it was a clusterfuck, not least me.
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I still like Ang Lee's Hulk despite what anybody says. One of the best Marvel films to date.
I'd argue that it's certainly one of the best acted films of the genre, but the script took a nose dive in the second half of the film and not deciding on who the villain was really hurt it as a whole. Not to mention the recockulous ending which you couldn't really follow. But I do think it gets more hate than is warranted - I thought the panel effects were quite cool at first, until they got used on Talbot, who single-handedly made them look douche-y.
Regardless of whether the Marvel films as a whole (not necessarily including SM) are better, DC makes more money and in the film business that makes them win.In general, DC films all comand a respectable grossing - Batman & Robin beat Daredevil in takings, when it was a much worse film - but their lack of production and franchise creation has been their loss at Marvel's gain. The Spider-Man movies, love 'em or hate 'em (and I know where you fall on that line, Des!), round out the top 3 whilst the latter X-Men films also took in more than $2 million domestically. With the Top 10 breaking down as 5 Marvel films, 3 DC and 2 others, I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say DC makes more moolah.
Stardust, by the way was a novel first and then adapted by Gaiman and Russell into comic book form before being made into a movie.I do keep stumbling over the origins of Stardust - I knew it was a novel as well but must have been in a "comics-before-novel" state of mind when writing the article. I think I've done the same in the audio review as well - if I have, I'm sure Mike will catch it beforehand!!
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My interest perked up when I heard of Bale's involvement. It then plummeted back down to "meh" when I heard of McG's involvement.
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The thing I really like about Dread Media is that it is more an education than it is a podcast. I know nothing of horror as a genre, other than thinking of the Freddys and Pinheads et al. And whilst sometimes I yearn for the odd populist review of that kind of film/franchise on the podcast, I'm intrigued by the interviews I've heard so far. Joe R. Lansdale was a name that meant nothing to me before I heard Des go over his career as an introduction to the interview.
Incidentally, because of its source material, I half-thought The Dead One was something I'd have to "Comic Reel-lief" at some point (that's right, I used my segment as a verb - deal with it!). But a Hispanic version of The Crow REALLY doesn't appeal, and I may blame a lack of watching on it being direct to DVD!!!
Good show as always!
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MORE VIRAL GOODNESS!!!
Site #1: The Gotham Times - Gotham's newspaper.
Site #2: We Are The Answer - Harvey Dent's snitch site on Gotham cops.
Site #3: The Ha Ha Ha Times - The hilariously tampered Gotham newspaper.
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My next audio seg has a review of Stardust, precisely because it only came out over here a month ago! It's a very nice fantasy film though. I was flipping channels the other day and caught the last 30 minutes of 'Legend' with Tom Cruise and Tim Curry and it was the weirdest bullshit I've ever seen.
On topic: I guess that's why we didn't get Grindhouse features back-to-back in the UK. Come to think of it, I don't remember either coming out over here. Clearly the marketing is partially to blame....
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I think ABC are missing a trick not resurrecting 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?'. Such a great show....
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I stream straight from the site, and I'm having no problems.
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You know the pillocks who didn't get that Nolan's series in a totally different continuity to the Burton/Schumacher series?
It at least appears that whoever interviewed him had the balls to inform him of the different continuity. Jack may take his wronged feelings to the grave!
you could read it as him not knowing that the movies are in different continuity but you could also read it as him being upset that they didn't have him as a consultant to Heath on the Joker role for the new movie and also that he is upset that in the old continuity they never did a sequel with him as the Joker (which actually raises even more questions because if he had seen the movie that he starred in he would know the character died at the end.....but i guess that's a different can of worms altogether). I will say though either way the man has a bigger ego than i originally thought.
From what I've read on wikipedia (known for never being wrong, ever, of course), the intended film after Batman & Robin would have The Scarecrow "bring out Batman's worst fear: the return of The Joker!!" whilst Harley Quinn would've been the Joker's daughter. In that capacity, Nicholson could (and sounds like he would) have come back to reprise the role, but B&R being the abortion that it is, saw that film get shunted out of the picture. If the above picture came true, I honestly couldn't see Scarecrow playing much of a part in that film; it'd be all about Joker. Who's dead...
On topic: Filming in Hong Kong has apparently finished, meaning that the shoot is all done! Now they just have to make it perfect in the 250 or so days that we have to wait.
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You know the pillocks who didn't get that Nolan's series in a totally different continuity to the Burton/Schumacher series?
It at least appears that whoever interviewed him had the balls to inform him of the different continuity. Jack may take his wronged feelings to the grave!
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You know the pillocks who didn't get that Nolan's series in a totally different continuity to the Burton/Schumacher series?
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Damn, it's almost like nothing can go right for this franchise.
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That's different. Millar is actually exclusive to Marvel. He's very much a Marvel guy. On the other hand, Singer is a Hollywood guy who directed a film for Fox. Yes, it was a Marvel property, but he's still a Hollywood guy.
Two films, the second of which being especially successful and cementing the X-Men series as franchise. Then again, I wasn't aware of the contracts that bind comic writers, so I retract my statement. Still, judging by this example of enthusiasm, DC should be looking long and hard at their own staff writers for someone passionate enough to salvage their franchise, rather than a Hollywood guy and his screenwriter pals.
Using that reasoning, Superman Returns wasn't bad because it wasn't Howard the Duck. See where I'm going? Enjoy something because "it could have been worse" is faulty logic. That's like saying, "Well, that guy broke my nose, which hurts like a bitch, but at least he didn't castrate me."
Favorite / Best: Paul Verhoeven
in General Discussion
Posted
I can't vote, because I haven't seen enough of these films. I will say, though, that I bloody LOVE Robocop!!!