Koete

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  3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

    in Comic Book Adaptations

    Posted

    I worked out my thoughts chatting with Hannah and Don, which are that it's not a good movie.

    Launching a universe out of this one movie was a bad idea from day one. I thought after the first full trailer they had a grip on it, but the later trailers made me pretty worried they didn't. And they didn't. The problem with the cinematic universe approach we now have is storytelling across films equaling weight. There was no way the second movie in this project could a. deal with the ramifications of Man of Steel, b. introduce Batman as an antagonist, and c. set-up future films in a satisfying manner. Add the Death of Superman as well, and there was no avoiding the mess this movie is. 

    There's so much shorthand with introducing Bruce and Lex. I love the idea of this Batman, this 20 years deep Batman. But a lot of the burden on understanding his motivations and life is on the audience. You can pull out that he's branding people after 20 years of villains and death, that his anger is from thinking his life of crimefighting is nothing next to Superman, but this is the first time we're seeing this Batman; knowledge of the character is substituted for actually knowing him. And then there's the wanton destruction, which reaches a point where the "20 years older" conceit doesn't justify what this Batman's doing. Same for Lex; he's more Joker than Luthor, but why? Family psychosis? Driven mad by a Fourth World vision (based on his last lines)? His position of "messiah denier" relates to his history of hating Superman, but again, that's a connection based on knowledge. This movie requires not just prior knowledge to fill in gaps, but comic literate knowledge. 

    And then there's what a bizarre collage of scenes this is. The post-apocalyptic Elseworlds vision via the Fourth World. The suicide bombing at the government hearing. Wonder Woman watching videos of The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. The Death of Superman. And many more, with typical Superman and Batman scenes scattered throughout like it's just another one of those movies. 

    I've seen people angry at this, but I can't be, it's too much of a grotesque to be angry. The fact that we got a superhero film like this, with these characters, is astonishing.

     

  5. The Flash

    in Comic Book Adaptations

    Posted

    That was a really awkwardly written episode. I don't know who read the club scene and thought "yep, let's shoot that." The annoying habit of the show killing villains continues. There was room to develop the character, and the actress was pretty good. The Crisis on Infinite Earths reference was a cool way of shedding light on Zoom, but it still feels like a waste. And what was up with Iris' editor thinking it would be ethical to date her? Just so sloppy.

  10. The Defenders

    in Comic Book Adaptations

    Posted

    Like the previous season, it took awhile to get going, which I again put on the Netflix model; efficiently getting to the point goes to the wayside when your episodes drop all at once and can be up to a full hour. There were compelling elements like The Punisher and the one-er in episode 3, but a lot was stretched and padded. Once it got to the trial, the quality went up and it felt like Daredevil again. This reached its peak with the episodes where Vincent D'Onofrio returned. While D'Onofrio was the best part of the first season, the Kingpin deviated pretty far from the comics. Here though, this is a perfect translation. The conversation between Matt and Fisk is one of my favorite comic adaptation moments ever; it so perfectly captures those characters and their relationship. The Hand story afterward was good, and I liked Elektra more when they went into her backstory, but I didn't think the story was as strong as the comics. It was pretty cheap to already unearth her body for a cliffhanger, too.

    The characterization of The Punisher was interesting since this is him at the beginning. He's more human, talking about his family several times and not just being a silent killing machine. Crucially, despite this and Karen's degree of sympathy for him, the show doesn't forget what The Punisher is. Opening fire in a hospital, the prison massacre, using Karen as bait, crashing the car with the truck that was more about getting revenge on Clancy Brown than saving Karen...he's still The Punisher, just not completely guarded yet. Him just showing up to snipe a couple ninjas was dopey though. Speaking of Karen, I think she's a great character. She's so proactive, keeps pushing even when her life is threatened, and her becoming a reporter is a great bit of growth.   

  11. The Defenders

    in Comic Book Adaptations

    Posted

    When she comes back and she's flirting with him, trying to mesh herself into his life, saying that she's the only one who can understand him. Their relationship's much more antagonistic and complex than that, but they've reduced it to crazy ex-girlfriend.

  17. Supergirl

    in Comic Book Adaptations

    Posted

    It did get a lot of play on Smallville, but those are some of the better episodes because Tom Welling actually got to act.  Here, we got to see another side of Melissa Benoist's acting ability, which is great as always. I liked her the most at the beginning when she was snidely dismissive of everyone as Kara, but her dialing it up later worked too. Because of Chyler Leigh not quite nailing the emotional scenes, Supergirl's "you gonna cry" bit made me laugh.

    Once again, I'm amused by Supergirl covering the same ground as the current DC films and getting praised for it. Everybody turning on Supergirl so fast was surprisingly cynical for this show. I liked that the Red Kryptonite didn't just make her evil, but that, like on Smalville, it brought out thoughts she's kept bottled up. Even better, there was some truth in them. Maxwell Lord creating Red K really felt like the creators bending over backwards to not involve Superman when he should've been part of it though. 

  20. Every film you've watched in 2016

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    The Ghost and Mrs. Muir - Romance between a widow and the ghost of sea captain that haunts the cottage she just bought. Gene Tierney is an underrated actress of the '40s, and you can't help joining in whenever Rex Harrison laughs. The story hits the right notes, and the actors are great enough to sell them, that you get caught up in their growing attraction to each other.  

    A Letter to Three Wives - Three wives (spoiler) receive a letter while on a day trip from a mutual female friend, who tells them that she's run off with one of their husbands. The bulk of the film is devoted to individual flashbacks from their marriages, with the friend figuring into each one. Each flashback is a different point and situation in a marriage, fleshing out the wives and keeping the theme of marriage fresh. Linda Darnell is the standout as the most free-spirited one, her personality bursting from the screen. Kirk Douglas appears with his charm in an early role, a rant about radio pointing toward how great he would be.  

    Films: 62

  24. Every film you've watched in 2016

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Play Misty For Me - Clint Eastwood's directorial debut, which hasn't aged well. It's a trip seeing a young Jessica Walter, and Eastwood's bewildered reactions to her increasingly unhinged behavior are his best acting contribution.  

    The Punisher 1989 - Already talked about this in another thread.

    Meek's Cutoff - A group of settlers are making a dangerous trek across the desert in 1845, with a guide that's clearly done much less than he brags about. It reminded me of the other Kelly Reichardt film I've seen, Night Moves, in how meticulous the filmmaking is. Rather than the typical adventure, the narrative is about how dull and arduous those journeys probably actually were. Long takes, along with slow dissolves and pans, further emphasize this. Through the attention paid to framing and blocking, the film also communicates the social divide of the era between men and women. If story is what's most important to you, this won't be your kind of movie, but on a pure filmmaking level, it's fascinating. 

    Trainwreck - The humor in this really worked for me, especially how Apatow uses John Cena and LeBron James. Storywise, it's much less successful. It starts off like it's going to flip rom-com cliches on their heads, but ends up in the same place they always do, with the addition of betraying its own premise. Amy Schumer is much more of a comedian than an actress, but Brie Larson provides a support in that area. You completely forget Tilda Swinton is who she is until you see her credit, she's uncanny as always. A couple scenes where Apatow just let the camera run are DOA, leaving you to sit through a bunch of tedious jokes.   

    Crimson Peak - My favorite del Toro since Pan's Labyrinth, although I'm lukewarm on it. It really speaks to how little people pay attention to movies that Mia Wasikowska says "the ghosts are just a metaphor" at the beginning and so many people complained that it wasn't enough of a horror movie. Ironically, the biggest problem with it is that so much of what it does is "just enough," with just enough mystery and romance before it plays its hand. It looks as beautiful as del Toro's movies usually do, the decaying mansion and costumes especially. Its greatest strength is Jessica Chastain, who dominates on the acting front. She's always strong, but this is the most I've seen her become a character. She's also the most successful at achieving what del Toro wanted to accomplish. There are other bits, like the iris-ins and the scene lit like a Mario Bava movie, that hit what I love dead center. 

    Films: 60