D-Man

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Everything posted by D-Man

  1. D-Man

    Episode 255

    Thanks, guys. I appreciate the kind words. And yes, as much as I hate to admit it, Des and Dread Media will move boldly forward in my absence. Resourceful is only one basic descriptor for Des. Creative, dedicated, and professional are some others. Silly drunk is another.
  2. D-Man

    Episode 253

    I've decided that HORROR EXPRESS is the CASABLANCA of it's genre.
  3. D-Man

    Episode 250

    What a fuckin' crock! So what we saw wasn't the movie? Fuck that. Does it seem as though, in that interview, Scott is, in a veiled fashion, actually blaming the studio for Prometheus? It's like he's claiming, "it's nothing personal, it's just business. I don't ask questions. I do what the studio tells me. Don't blame me if you don't like it." He should know better.
  4. D-Man

    Episode 250

    This Open Letter to Damon Lindelof really sums up the direction my anger has taken over PROMETHEUS.
  5. And let me tell you something else. PROMETHEUS does not make me look forward to a BLADERUNNER sequel. Not by a long shot.
  6. This BLADERUNNER sequel news disturbs me because I think it's a marketing ploy. They think that by promising a BR sequel they are exhibiting supreme confidence in the success of PROMETHEUS. "We're so sure your going to love Prometheus that we've gone ahead and started developing a Bladerunner sequel. How about that?" It's like when they announce with great fanfare that they are already planning the sequel to a film that hasn't been released yet. We're supposed to say, "Wow. They're already doing a sequel and No one's seen the first one. It must be awesome!" It's all marketing bullshit designed to generate positive word of mouth without actually committing to anything.
  7. D-Man

    Episode 249

    Great show. Damien is the ultimate macguffin.
  8. D-Man

    Episode 248

    Hey! I didn't talk myself into anything. Well, okay. I kinda' did. But quality and fun don't always have to go together. They can be enjoyed separately. This one was definitely a Fun > Quality situation. My rating reflected this. I also wanted to give points for the obvious passion exhibited by the filmmakers. They were drunk on film and it showed in nearly every frame. Fun > Craft. It's a nebulous zone but they inhabited it with gusto.
  9. Holy shit, Stavros! That's an awesome idea. Though, I've got a feeling Stark would be morally opposed to the idea it'd still be great. Also, I immediately think of Ultron in relation to this idea.
  10. Ok. More speculation and dreaming. Assuming they drop Hawkeye for Avengers 2 (which they probably should) which new character should be introduced? My vote goes to THE VISION! Any others?
  11. Speculation on Cap 2 makes sense: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00050369.html
  12. I'd like that too. Hawkeye and Black Widow would certainly be welcome in that action. How about the Falcon? An early sidekick partner for Cap.
  13. Sure, but he’s also the most interesting personality of the Avengers team. I’d have given him the most screen time too. I thought the Captain America movie was kind of dull. I liked Cap more here, but he’s still the least interesting of the main four heroes. That's fine, but Iron Man has had three movies now to develop his character. I've had my fill of him. Captain America, on the other hand, has a lot more potential. His fish out of water, 21st century thing was played mostly for laughs in The Avengers but I'd like to see that idea explored in a standalone film where he gets himself up to speed. Also, Avengers hints that Cap is starting to realizing that SHIELD may not share his core American values. It's actually the catalyst for him to stop trying to make the others comply with SHIELD and, instead, re-orients himself to the new team dynamic. I for one would like to see this idea explored. A Cap sequel should send Cap out to explore the new America to try to find his place in it. What an opportunity for internal struggle! Will his traditional American values be swallowed by the vapid pop culture of this future America? I'd also like to see more of the "tactical genius" I mentioned in previous posts. He needs to reassert his leadership skills in this age of high tech war. I think Captain America could be a really interesting character. More interesting than Iron Man, even.
  14. A lot of studio marketing nonsense analysis went into the development of this story. Iron Man's dominance is proof of that. Whedon knows these characters. He knows Cap is supposed to be the team leader. He knows that Cap could take any one of the Avengers in a fight through sheer tactical genius. But marketing wisdom dictated that RDJ be the leading man. That much was out of Whedon's hands. We cover this briefly in our Dread Media review. Check it out. To not like the Avengers means you want Loki to win. That's been proven by science.
  15. Presenting my dream plot for AVENGERS II: THE FINAL THREAT - http://marvel.com/ne...he_final_threat I had that Marvel Two-in-one with Spiderman and Thing when I was a kid. It was so dog eared because I read it like a thousand times. This SHOULD be the outline for an Avengers sequel. It's so fucking epic!
  16. Alright, thanks. I'm definitely gonna have to see this again.
  17. I have a question. In the part where Loki ran interference at the art history exhibit while Hawkeye scanned that guy's eye to enter a room. What the heck was the outcome of that? I have no idea what they wanted in that room or where it fit in the bad guys' master plan. Can anyone fill me in?
  18. The thing is, Avengers does have character development. It's very, very basic development and so simplistic as to be almost invisible amidst the chaos but it's there. First of all, these are individuals who value their individualism but by the end they value both the team dynamic and each other. They become a team rather than some vague initiative. Those are really broad strokes but it counts as development. Then we have the individual arcs. This won't take long. Iron Man learns to be a team player. Captain America begins to realize that Shield may not share his values. Black Widow pays back some karmic debt she believes she owes. Thor comes to terms with his brothers madness. Hulk comes to terms with his anger. Hawkeye gains a personal stake over cold professionalism and Agent Coulton learns what that big gun can do. They all have arcs. Granted, they are tiny, almost insignificant arcs that are buried in the action and adventure but they count. Now we must speculate. What if they had spent more movie time developing complex, adult internal dilemmas for these characters to wrestle with? Everyone, except for Dread, would have complained about a lack of explosive action. The target audience (Kids. That's important to remember) does not want a movie full of colorful navel gazers. The arcs that are present barely fulfill the requirements but I think the filmmakers made the right choices for the most part. I still wanted less Iron Man, more Captain America but whatever. I can imagine pretty vividly the changes I would make and that's enough for me.
  19. I'm sorry, Dread. As the token Avengers Curmudgeon on these boards you are disqualified from list revisions. I'll give you X2, though. It's awesome. It actually improves upon the first film which almost never happens. It's what I hope an Avengers sequel will accomplish. I will be seeing Avengers again next weekend with my dad. I know he will dig it as much as I did.
  20. 1. Blade 2 2. Avengers 3. Captain America 4. Iron Man 5. Everything else (I've yet to see Thor or Incredible Hulk. Doubt I will at this point.) Blade 2 trumps all. That will never change.
  21. Dread, could you elaborate on what you mean by a safe movie? See below for my preconceived notions of what you mean but I need clarification. For myself, I only had one prerequisite for AVENGERS. Fun, and I had a ton of it. The good far outweighed my small reservations. I mean, yeah, Captain America got severely short changed in favor of making this basically Iron Man 3 with guest stars but look at the picture as a whole. So much cool, awesome, hilarious shit happens in this movie that my jaw was hanging open for most of the run time, either in laughter or in awe at the awesomeness on display. And yeah, the dramatic stakes could have been higher, with meaningful sacrifices and ominous overtones but I seriously feel that going that way could have actually hurt the film. The playful, spectacular, summer popcorn tone was, by far, the best way to envision these characters together. Trying to darken the proceedings with adult style drama could have sucked the fun right out of the movie. Having said that let me say a few words about an AVENGERS sequel (and you can be damn sure there will be a sequel). The sequel will be the place to heighten the dramatic stakes. In fact, I feel it's the only direction for an Avengers sequel to go in to be successful. Now that the first film has cemented the friendships and the camaraderie and the fun of saving the world together it will be time to explore how deep a sacrifice these heroes are willing to make for the team. I would even go so far as to say it will be time for one of the heroes to fall in battle. It should probably be the Hulk. Banner is the most sympathetic character and Hulk is the most powerful. It makes sense that he should make the largest sacrifice since the very nature of his superpowers basically dooms him anyways. Death may actually be a welcome release for Banner. On the spectacle side of that equation, I can't help but wonder what it would take to kill the Hulk. His sacrifice would have to be huge, epic in scope. Moving a planet, saving the galaxy, going toe to toe with Galactus or something crazy like that. I would love to see something like that get invested with real pathos. A balance of the epic with the intimate similar to Spock's exquisite death in Wrath of Khan. But enough speculation. Back to the film at hand. After all the spectacle and fun what's the main job this film accomplishes? It makes us like these characters. It makes want to follow along on this wild, improbable adventure because we enjoy seeing them interact. That's job #1. To make us feel like part of the gang. Saving the world should be fun, otherwise, what's the point? Having amazing super powers should be awesome! Hanging around with other super heroes should be awesome. And this movie explores that theme better than any other super hero film. The only other one that comes close for me was the animated JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER. The job of showcasing a crowd of egocentric super beings and making it make sense is a monumental task. By all rights, AVENGERS should have played like a dog's breakfast. All mixed up. The fact that it at it at least tricks you into thinking it's coherent is a brilliant plate spinning act. I've got to hand it to Joss Whedon for that one. He is the super glue that keeps this thing together. His ability to balance effective character acting with spectacular special effects will serve him very well in future projects. It's a skill set we've been looking for in a director for a long time. Despite what Hollywood execs may believe, we have high standards for our summer movies. Avengers met those standards for the most part. It's a huge success in my mind and may even be a game changer for the super hero genre. Nuff' said. P.S. Bring on Thanos! Fuck yeah! I just about shit when he smiled at the camera.
  22. D-Man

    Episode 242

    Slothian, you've changed my life with that video!
  23. Ha, ha! Good one, Knightwing. It does, too.
  24. We're almost halfway to episode 300. Better start pre-production soon.