Donomark

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Everything posted by Donomark

  1. Spider-Man Ooooh...Guardians maybe? MOTP Haaaaa.....this is hard...I'll say Blade. Casino Royale 2006 Fight Club Batman Begins
  2. Collateral Damage (2002): Directed by Andrew Davis Arnold plays a fireman who loses his wife and son in a terrorist attack carried out by Cliff Curtis playing a Colombian radical. This is playing more into the dramatic thriller than Arnold actioner, and while it doesn't exactly succeed more than it fails, its failures aren't miserable. By this point, Arnold's acting has gotten remarkably better. He doesn't try to badass his way through moments of intense grief and shock, and in the first act I'm pretty impressed with him. This makes him a stronger character than who he played in The 6th Day. Elias Koteas plays a CIA operative who's a bit shady but ultimately well meaning. John Leguizamo and John Tuturro have what ultimately are cameos more than roles. The problem with this film is that it goes on too long without a long of interesting things happening. Arnold's not the guy to star in a pensive treatise on the similarities of international warfare between the US and South American countries, you expect more action. There's not that much suspense, and a lot of the middle act is going from A to B in droning on succession. I will say the final action scene with the final kill brought it up a lot of points for me. Not enough to save it, but I did get a heartly laugh worthy of a scene from Commando or Total Recall. Overall this movie doesn't suck, exactly. It's just not very good.
  3. Overall I'm quite pleased. Superman Legacy sounds like exactly the right foot it should jump off of. Brave and the Bold (Because "Batman and Robin" has been tainted) being a springboard for the Bat-Family is a really smart idea, especially in countering Matt Reeves' early days Batman. The fact that Peter Safran said it's a film specifically to introduce the Extended Bat-Family on the grounds that they've been too long ignored is precisely what I'm here for. And I think Damian's a strong start on that basis. Glad Viola Davis is not being wasted. Glad Lanterns isn't just going to be the Whitebread Mayonnaise sandwich that is Hal Jordan and John Stewart is returning to the mainstream. The Authority is very interesting. Supergirl is the one I'm not feeling, as they're expressly making her a more dour character than Superman. That being said, we just had several years of a highly well received Supergirl series, so doing something different might be a good idea. But I know Supergirl fans disliked the Tom King run, so IDK. The fact that Gunn explicitly confirmed Flash to be a reset button for the DCU is interesting. Up until now it's been universally understood, but that he gave that away makes it a must-see tbh. At least in terms of if you care about this franchise. If people boycott because of Miller, they can't be blamed for it. The rest, I've no strong feelings for. Gunn starting off with Creature Commandoes was 100% on brand for him, and I was momentarily worried this new era would be polluted with Z-listers that only he cared about, but I knew better. That Reeves' Batman and Phillips Joker movies are listed under "Elseworlds" (alongside Teen Titans GO!) is interesting, and apparently the Ta-Nehisi Coates Superman film is still in the works? Interesting stuff all around. They're not copying Marvel, diversifying their lineup but working to redefine the classic heroes with the broader universe at the same time.
  4. Collateral Damage (2002): Another in the post-Batman and Robin Arnold letdown movies, although this one had definite effort put into it. It's a drama, it's not meant to be a typical Arnold actioner. I think it starts out with promise, with clear dramatic ambitions. Elias Koteas is reliably good, and Arnold is allowed to give a strong performance as a grieving father. He doesn't go in on the tears, but his anguish is very tangible, and he's not pulling the tough guy face for the sake of being a badass. The movie wants to question the imagined equivalency of terrorists vs US imperialism, but it's not smart enough to sufficiently stick the landing. There's a "We're not so different, you and I" scene between Arnold and Bad Guy Cliff Curtis. John Tuturro and John Leguizamo have supporting roles that are essentially cameos, barely more than two scenes each. This movie could've been interesting, but it's too straight face to be thoughtful or provocative. At the same time there's not enough harrowing action for Arnold to rise above, so it's not the action movie that The 6th Day turned out to be. I till say there's a fantastic final kill at the end, complete with suitable quip that gave the film a lot of points for me in the final minutes. Not enough to save it, but just enough for me to give a heartly laugh and round of applause. This movie isn't BAD, it's simply not very good.
  5. First official gross out of the year was that historical outtake... I still need to see Blazing Saddles, it's one of those classic films that'll come down to a pass/fail hype test.
  6. LOLOL Blade Trinity would count for a Dracula special 😆
  7. The 6th Day: Directed by Roger Spottieswood A 2000 Arnold actioner, returning to his sci-fi roots after End of Days, this continues the Governator's downward spiral of films with a moderately intriguing but ultimately silly premise of a near-future where cloning is possible. The actual plot is not bad, with a conspiracy resulting in him being cloned for a cover-up. The bad guys - Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker, Stephen Dorrf, Terry Crews and Kate Warner from Season 2 of 24 - effect a kind of Team Rocket quality where they're a bit whiny but are used well to illustrate the world we live in. Michael Rappaport plays the best friend in a less obnoxious turn than I typically see from him. Problem is that Arnold's character(s), somehow, is/are lame. This is by far the weakest of his cadre of protags that I've seen. He's just not badass. When he says "You've cloned the wrong man", there's nothing really to back that up aside from the fact that he's Arnold. His quips are really terrible, lazily written with the feeling that the writers thought the low quality was the point, when the fun of Arnold's quips is a cocktail of bizarre circumstances ("Let off some steam Bennett") and the fact that he's a big mother fucker ("Claudius...you killed my father. BIG MISTAKE."). Lines like "Try to stay dead this time" and "When I said that you should screw yourself, I didn't mean it literally" are some of the biggest groaners I've had in a long time. They're as bad as people think his Freeze quips are. I can see a way, WAY better movie in this, as the concept and outline are both good. But no, it sucks. I liked it more than End of Days however.
  8. I waited nervously for you guys to get to the Cassandra talk lol
  9. Oh yeah, Dreamgirls was the one he got robbed on, but the claim is that the Academy watched Norbit and subbed him out of revenge.
  10. Yeah I predict Beverly Hills Cop might be an easy pick, because it's so popular, but when I watched it I enjoyed him for his acting moreso than the comedy. Similarly, Boomerang is a star-studded romantic comedy he headlined, but the movie ends up being a decently sentimental and earnest story about a guy in a serious relationship. By the third act there's very little gags over drama, despite how broad the film starts out. It's personally my favorite performance from him. I think I'd suggest Nutty Professor over Coming to America because it's a bit less dated and more ubiquitous, even though Coming to America is a better movie. Like, IDK how the Soul Glow gags will translate with Ian and Pandy lol
  11. Glass Onion: I don't agree with our esteemed Mr. Desmond, or at least I don't feel as hotly about it. I liked Knives Out, but the twisted knot of the mystery to where you think you know what the situation is until the twist at the very end kind of put me off as it felt more of a veritable chase movie in which Blanc actually didn't do much for the majority of it. I only saw it once in theaters, it was the penultimate movie I watched before the start of the pandemic, and I liked it but didn't love it. Glass Onion is far more straightforward as a mystery with clues and moments to keep the viewer guessing. Who sent what, why did such-and-such happen, how will *BLANK* get solved? There was more viewer participation in this that I enjoyed. I get the criticism about the cast of characters, but that didn't bother me. Benoit Blanc is a patently fictional archetype, what keeps anyone else from being the same? I thought everyone from Batista to Norton to Janelle Monae did a fantastic job. Very entertained by it.
  12. Initially read as Winnie the Pooh VERSUS Paddington
  13. There's things I definitely appreciate about Batman Returns, like the visuals and most of the acting, but it's such a mean- spirited movie that whenever somebody jumps to the head of the line and impulsively says "And that's why this is the best Batman film!" I'm quick with a slap upside their head.
  14. The thing about the depictions of queerness in anime and Japanese media is that it's historically treated differently than when compared to America. Homosexuality in Japan hasn't been a crime since 1880, and through media near the end of the 20th century and into the 21st, it's been increasingly popularized as a romance drama in manga. At Barnes and Noble, we're been getting dozens and dozens of Boys Love and Yuri titles, in addition to more expansive stories depicting main characters who are non-binary or trans. And those aren't comedies, they're every bit as penetrative and reflective of a community as our modern day YA Fiction is by comparison. The weird thing about it is that earlier this year Japan reiterated that their constitution does not recognize same-sex couples as eligible for marriage. There are currently gay politicians in the country fighting to change this, but ultimately queerness in media and even in communities is seen as harmless but also non-serious. Like, it's not viewed as something to sufficiently respect in regards to every single natural right in Japan. But it is different than here in America in that it's not been used as much of a fear-mongering, fundamentalist Christian bogeyman. So in anime, even as far back as Project A-Ko, and continuing into the 1990s with Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho and into the 2000s with stuff like Code Geass, queerness and homosexuality is recognized as a thing embodied by people. But because the representation is in manga, it's only seen as so respectable, similar to how even now most people in America only take the concept of comic books so seriously. Regarding the racial element with the Fist of the North Star parody, I think Mari was rendered tanned because the series she's parodying takes place in the Post-Apocalypse, where everyone is sun-kissed. I say that because I've seen much more pointed, negligent but by no means less offensive depictions and references to black people in anime, even if the intent seems benign. It's generally a type of Will Eisner kind of thing, much of it was the style at the time. It wouldn't be until the late 90s where shows like Afro Samurai and Cowboy Bebop would bring anime out of that, and that's because Japan would be exposed to more American media that would feature stronger depictions of black people for them to get educated on.
  15. Margin Call (2011): A more serious, Wall Street focused tale about the 2007-2008 Financial Market Crash headed by a Murderer's Row of stars: Kevin Spacey (who is Cancelled) Jeremy Irons Demi Moore Paul Bettany Zachary Quinto Penn Badgley Simon Baker Aziz Ansari Stanley Tucci This is really an actor's movie, where unlike The Big Short, it doesn't work as hard to let the viewer know precisely how what's going on is going on, but it is fun to see everyone react. I enjoy watching very good actors underplay deeply dramatic moments, and this is full of realistic conversations and even-tempered dialogue. Penn Badgley's the one guy I was most curious about, as I've seen the least from him but really enjoy his work from the show "You" and a couple other things. He plays the young, somewhat self-interested hotshot analyst, which is a change from his more determined characters. Paul Bettany is also good as a seasoned, slightly cynical stock broker guy. Overall a fine movie. Notting Hill (1999): Yeah, this is definitely a 90s movie alright. I'm sure I'm the last person on Earth-2 to have watched this for the first time. In a decade which already worshipped Julia Roberts, that metatext is subsumed into the text of the film's plot, and a simple story of a normal guy dating a big celebrity only goes so far for me in terms of supreme nuance. I mean, it's good, but I was thinking it'd be a bit more than the sum of its parts. I will say the press junket scene was pretty cool, considering I've been doing the same thing for over ten years. I'll also say that I would not have changed my mind on Anna after rejecting her near the end if I were Hugh Grant. I think the whole "Oh, but she really means it this time" only carried so much for the needs of a happy ending, because he was right in protecting his sanity by the end. When we get into the merry chase sequence, that's when I was like "Oh right, this is a Hollywood movie". It's fine, but I would've been down for something a bit less pat.
  16. I was really waiting for official confirmation from this, but the general Warner Bros. liaison sent out an official notice to press over an hour ago... Right now it's too much. Will post more after some time's gone by.
  17. Yeah this wouldn't be a hard choice for me at all
  18. Reposting this here from another Message Board regarding autopsy thoughts on the Whitaker/Chibnall run (from what I've seen, which is roughly half): I can't speak to the whole of her era because, for the first time, I didn't watch half of it. I saw her first ep, and wished she had a bit more of a scary, taking command moment that both Smith and Capaldi did (even Tennant pretty much pwns the moment he steps out of the TARDIS in The Christmas Invasion). Now I watched all of Broadchurch well before she was cast, so I was familiar with Jodie Whitaker and Chris Chibnall and didn't think there was really anything to worry. But while in the end I liked Jodie Whitaker and was truly sorry to see her go, I think a previous poster has a point that she seemed to be too much of a passive Doctor. It reminds me of how people describe Peter Davison's 5th Doctor, too often he's getting captured and does little to initiate an escape. Whitaker, in the episodes I've watched, has never been given a badass moment. Now I'm not someone who buys into the whole Longbarrow, "The Doctor is God" McCoy/Matt Smith era Galaxy Chad that some people see them to be...but I do want moments where I point to the television and shout "THAT'S THE GDMN DOCTOR". Whitaker never had those moments. Is it because she's a woman? IDK...I really want to know what Chibnall and the writers were thinking in approaching that element to the character. Were they aware of some of the previous Doctors' more toxic traits and trying to move away from that? But I did get a frustrating sense that the 13th Doctor recalled too much of Tennant and Smith for me to totally enjoy it. But when Spyfall happened, I saw I lot more potential manifest. Her performance in that is great, and she comes the closest in part 2 to what I was looking for in confronting the Master. "Let them go...then you can have me." Her reaction when he commands her to kneel, almost like a "Are you serious?" look on her face, was really cool. It felt like Jodie's acting coming through. But really, more than anything she did, I think the problem really was the writing and direction. I liked Flux when it started out, but I didn't have a clue WTH was going on by the end. We also really didn't get a lot of signature emotional moments that defined Modern Who. Moments that just lay on the screen and allow the actors to act. It felt too fast paced, too clinical at times. I mean, even if the Doctor and Yaz weren't going to get together in the end, Yaz's feelings should've been properly addressed. RTD and Moffat would've never, ever just let that hang, and why deny Mandip Gill a chance to really shine? She had a terrifically acted reaction to seeing the Doctor's regenerating hand at the end, but why does she leave? Do we even see that conversation? A lot of really obvious stuff was just tossed aside. The fanservice did carry that last episode, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I still loved it the best out of the era, but there was still some needlessly frustrating things that went on, indicative of the era.
  19. I hadn't seen this episode yet, the line "I thought you didn't like people..?" "WOMEN AREN'T PEOPLE" absolutely destroyed me. I couldn't stop laughing, that sounds made up from a joke tweet.
  20. Chainsaw Man is as fun as it's long been hyped up to be. Very dark and twisted with animation so good it's almost over-animated. Like, shots of Makima's iris' so close up you can look right through them. But the show has got style, man.
  21. Ultimately we all agreed that the best Spidey films require an appearance by Willem Dafoe. ALSO: I neglect to actually say what my least favorite Spider-Man scene from the franchise is, so here you go...
  22. Oh yeah! I think I knew about that, there's a great commentary for the movie's DVD, but that totally blipped from my brain. I love Spider-Verse, I feel I shortchanged it somewhat with my thoughts, but I was burning to gush about some films, defend others and rag on my bottom pick. Spider-Verse needed little else from me. Thanks for listening!