Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[chronovore]

There’s plenty of things to complain about regarding Disney, but the idea that your future animation career wasn’t going to involve moving is kind of bullshit.

[chronovore]

[Madrun Badrun]

Looks like a lost episode of 90's Outer limits.  I mean that in a good way.  Kinda.

[Madrun Badrun]

The first 2 hours of The Batman were excellent and then the ending was a bit weak. 

[chronovore]

The first 2 hours of The Batman were excellent and then the ending was a bit weak.

Yeah, I was less thrilled with the ending, but it's still a fantastic Batman movie.

[Polident Hive]

Months after trying to get somebody to watch After Hours when they enjoyed that one Ted Lasso episode, we watched it last night.

Great movie and all, but other than whether Paul's unibrow was acceptable in 1985, there's the question of his age. We're guessing the twilight of his 30s, 41 at worst. And in fairness they make him look haggard. But finishing and learning he's 29. Contemporary movies and TV warped my perception of what 20s 30s 40s and occasionally 50s look like. Or less chain smoking and more moisturizing.

[Beezy]

[Madrun Badrun]

Looks great

[Polident Hive]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/minecraft-movie-jason-momoa-1235131605/

https://deadline.com/2022/04/streets-of-rage-film-adaptation-john-wick-creator-derek-kolstad-1235004975/

Guess the sonic movies are successful?

[Bebpo]

OH MAN

THE BATMAN was SO COOL. It's like the most Gen-X gothic emo Batman for 40-50 year olds EVER. The closest a Batman film has been to The Animated Series and some of the comics. Also despite every fucking Batman movie namedropping The Long Halloween, the first one that actually feels like a live-action adaptation of that comic.

The casting is insane. Like every.single.fucking.actor pulls their weight. John Turturro as Falcone is inspired casting. The cinematography is awesome and gothy, and the main theme which drums into your head over and over is fucking fantastic.

The movie is like 2.5 hours of 5/5 and feels tailor made for my nostalgic 40 year old ass, and then the final setpiece is lame but then the epilogue is good again and brings it back so it exits alright. If the last 30 mins went in a different & better plot direction for the finale it'd be about as perfect as a cape film can get.

Still fucking great, the opening monologue is shot so well and is like the best cold open Batman introduction. Great costume design too, the makeup jobs on everyone were like award-winning. Just total pleasure of a film to watch if you grew up on the animated series.

[Polident Hive]

Those just watching Batman, they released a deleted scene some weeks back. It’s more of the only thing I didn’t care for from the movie. Glad it was cut lol. But others seem to like it.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

https://vimeo.com/691577505

[close]

Since it’s Vimeo, if you really wanted to, you can download the source file. Double digit gigs for a five minute clip.

[Bebpo]

Yeah, I am a big weirdo Barry Koeghan fan since Killing of a Sacred Deer, but that scene is not good and definitely makes sense for it to not be in the movie.


Still can't get over how cool the tone & style of that movie was. It's almost like an Arnosfsky Batman. Wonder if his Wolverine would've been like this. Really glad The Batman's not gonna be a one shot and Reeves/Patterson get to do another film like this.

[Potato]

Well shit, you guys have me excited for a DC movie for the first time in a while. I'm glad they completely screwed up their whole shared universe thing and have really gone in hard on the standalone stories.

[Bebpo]

Yeah, people were hyping up Matt Reeves the whole production, and I mean the Planet of the Apes films were fine and Cloverfield was fun, but neither really screamed some A-game stylish director.

But this actually lived up to the directorial hype. He had a vision and he really got that across and stuck with it for almost the entire runtime. You can basically tell within the first 10 mins if this style is up your alley and if it is, you'll be eating good for the next 2.5 hours.

[Madrun Badrun]

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/04/19/ezra-miller-actor-who-played-flash-arrested-again-hawaii-island/

[Bebpo]

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/04/19/ezra-miller-actor-who-played-flash-arrested-again-hawaii-island/

Yeah, they're fucked. Gotta imagine WB is gonna cut ties soon and someone else will play The Flash going forward. Just a question of what does it do to the Flashpoint movie already filmed.

[Madrun Badrun]

It will be released but it was meant to tie all their stuff together, so I imagine it was pretty important to their plans.  Kind of a shame, but maybe an opportunity for them to just focus on the few things they are doing well.

[Polident Hive]

What I’m hearing is not only were they the lead, they were a major supporting character. A Parent Trap or Multiplicity deal. Practically impossible to work around in post production. Have to assume it’s got a bloated budget. Shelving it and eating a nine figure loss is unprecedented.

I’m happy The Batman is its own franchise. I’m happy Justice League happened last year. Cool with whatever else happens.

Anybody see The Good Place? Guy playing Jason on that looks somewhat close to Ezra. Sort of. Maybe. Reshoot half the movie with him. Do a scene like this towards the middle.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Sonic 2 so amazing.

puts the entire mcu to shame.

[GreatSageEqualOfHeaven]

What I’m hearing is not only were they the lead, they were a major supporting character. A Parent Trap or Multiplicity deal. Practically impossible to work around in post production. Have to assume it’s got a bloated budget. Shelving it and eating a nine figure loss is unprecedented.

After the shenanigans of Justice League, they've already shown their commitment to the gamblers fallacy, so there's no way its being shelved, but I can only assume they're offering their own 'justice league' (a team of high powered lawyers to make sure he never sees jail but just fucks off quietly until hes Not Their Problem) in exchange for a 3D scan of his head and a voice recording of every phoneme while a linkedin invite is going out to every VFX, Deepfake, AI learning and mocap crew available

[Leadbelly]

I watched 'X' the other day. It's quite an entertaining movie. The old woman is hot! :p

I don't think it's a spoiler to say the old woman is also played by Mia Goth. And I mention that because there is something interesting about it. First of all there are a few similarities between Pearl ( the old woman) and Maxine (the pornstar). It's clear that Pearl finds something in Maxine that she relates to. What's also clear is it's not a time travel movie, so they're not the same person (although played by the same person). The real interesting thing about it though, is there is a prequel to 'X' called 'Pearl'. And what's more, some critics have already seen it, or at least the trailer to it. Pearl is played by Mia Goth. That weird connection between Maxine and Pearl may play out in the second movie. And it's that which has got me interested.

[Potato]

That sounds interesting.

I'm not a real horror movie fan, but my partner is, so it's great when there's an interesting story to go along with the rest.

[Mupepe]

X was a lot of fun for a horror movie. Leans hard into how fucking nuts it is. I loved it.

[Sideshow Raheem]

Batman was pretty good, and I enjoyed it far more than the Dark Knight films. I think Robert Pattinson makes a good Bruce Wayne and Batman.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not exactly sure about the car chase scene, though. I mean it seems like Batman didn't have to chase Penguin into oncoming traffic on a rainy night. Maybe I'm only stuck on this because someone on social media suggested this Batman genuinely cared about human life.

[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

And I like the new take on the Riddler, but sort of prefer the John Astin/Frank Gorshin prankster Riddlers better.

[close]

[D3RANG3D]

Watched The Batman, and it was alright, I found the fact that he works with the police in public jarring and there was way too many villains for a first entry if you ask me. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I want someone to edit some of the scenes of him walking into those crime scenes with Robocop sound effects and dialogue.

[close]

[Tasty]

The Batman was cool but messy.

Looking back, Begins might have been a bit schmaltzy at times and Generic Love Interest had been done to death even by 2005, but I dunno, I felt more for the characters.

RPats can mopingly glare at a little boy as many times as he wants, but it feels like it lacks something. Batman's parents don't need to be killed on-screen in every adaptation, but the pre-death flashback scenes with Bruce and his dad in Begins grounded the emotional core of the film (along with James Newton Howard's parts of the excellent score). That wouldn't work in The Batman since Thomas is supposed to be a dirtbag and the movie doesn't really "do" flashbacks (except for that one weird Alfred scene), so maybe I'm complaining just to complain.

Still, as good as the "TDK Trilogy" is I still think I prefer The Batman to Rises.

As a comics fan it was vindicating seeing some of my favorite runs have parts adapted. The big ones are obviously Year One, The Long Halloween and Zero Year, but the movie even ends with a No Man's Land setup which would be a FANTASTIC idea for a sequel. Rises kinda half-assed it but a real No Man's Land film would be amazing.

It did make the plot VERY boring though. Every twist is lifted from a run, even the Catwoman thing. So I mostly just sat there enjoying the aesthetics but not really the plot or characters.

[Tasty]

And the fact they couldn't even wait a single movie to bring back The Joker annoys me. The post-credits scene is irksome enough but the fact they thought it was a good idea to put him in the actual movie originally is setting off big alarms in my head.

Either it was Reeve's creative decision in which case I've lost some faith in his cinematic vision for Batman, or it was a WB edict from jumpy execs who probably ask every new Batman director "Why isn't Joker the villain?" Either way, it derails some of my hype for the sequel.

Begin's tease for the character came in the last 20 seconds of the film and had no actor cast. That's how you do it.

Also the new Joker just sucks. Not as bad as Leto but I'm so over the character now. It took me a few years but I finally got to Wrath's level of Joker exhaustion. The character is beyond a punchline now, ironically.

[Tasty]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/netflix-pumps-brakes-smith-action-194458637.html

Bright 2 next please

https://collider.com/will-smith-bright-2-canceled-national-geographic-series-delayed/

[Bebpo]

Watched The Batman, and it was alright, I found the fact that he works with the police in public jarring and there was way too many villains for a first entry if you ask me. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I want someone to edit some of the scenes of him walking into those crime scenes with Robocop sound effects and dialogue.

[close]

I don't get the too many villains complaint. Like the comic it's based off, the villains are just side characters in the story. The story isn't about them, they just replace Joe Bob side guy who would otherwise be a nobody in the script. The only exception is the Riddler but even then he's sorta a side character for a lot of it.

Also the scenes of Batman just hanging out with the police and everyone going WTF Man....you aren't supposed to be here.... were funny. They worked at showing that Batman does.not.give.a.shit at this point in his career.

[Bebpo]

And the fact they couldn't even wait a single movie to bring back The Joker annoys me. The post-credits scene is irksome enough but the fact they thought it was a good idea to put him in the actual movie originally is setting off big alarms in my head.

Either it was Reeve's creative decision in which case I've lost some faith in his cinematic vision for Batman, or it was a WB edict from jumpy execs who probably ask every new Batman director "Why isn't Joker the villain?" Either way, it derails some of my hype for the sequel.

Begin's tease for the character came in the last 20 seconds of the film and had no actor cast. That's how you do it.

Also the new Joker just sucks. Not as bad as Leto but I'm so over the character now. It took me a few years but I finally got to Wrath's level of Joker exhaustion. The character is beyond a punchline now, ironically.

Ehhhh, I get why Reeves did the Joker bit. IIRC he has the same kind of bit in The Long Halloween. It's also an interesting take to show this is year 2 of this Batman and explain away some of Year 1 that's off-screen through the dialogue.

But yeah, this Joker doesn't work and that deleted scene doesn't work so thankfully they cut it. I actually really like the end bit that's left in. I think it's fitting.

Plus I like that again, this feels less like the Nolan stuff and Burton stuff and more like the games/comics where

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Villains don't die, they just keep getting sent to Arkham where they all hang out together

[close]

It's kind of goofy, but it's a big part of the comics and honestly the MCU would be better if they did that with more villains rather than underusing them and getting rid of them.

I really doubt Joker will be a lead antagonist for the 2nd film. Reeves probably gets the burn out on Joker as much as everyone else. He seems pretty in touch with nerdy fanbases.


Also I think this movie just works a lot for me because I never got the love for the Nolan trilogy. It was ok. Ledger did a great joker, but the only movie I actually dug was Begins of the three and I think The Batman is better than Begins. I actually think this one is probably the best live action Batman film even with its poor final act.

[D3RANG3D]

He felt like a non sanctioned Robocop to me in those scenes.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Is it based on an actual comic? I wouldn't know I don't read comics still seems ghey to me.

[close]

[Bebpo]

He felt like a non sanctioned Robocop to me.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Is it based on an actual comic? I wouldn't know I don't read comics still seems ghey to me.

[close]

Nah, he definitely hangs out with the cops more than normal in this one.

But I think it works. Especially because a lot of Batman material is basically just Batman being in a police procedural and figuring out murders. Hell that's like every sidequest in the Arkham games.

So I think him just jumping into crime scenes and not giving a fuck about the police and the police being like uhhhhh what, yeah I don't want to fuck with this crazy dude so I'm just gonna peace out, works and is also pretty humorous. Plus they do show that the police outside of Gordon aren't cool with it, but it's just that no one wants to cross Batman and this Batman does what he wants.

I'm more curious how they'll do this in the next film since

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The ending is Batman ditching the Vigilante aspect for trying to be a hero. You'd think the cops would be even more ok with him next film. Which is kind of weird and unbatman. Maybe he'll have to get framed early on or something to get them back against him.

[close]

[Tasty]

And the fact they couldn't even wait a single movie to bring back The Joker annoys me. The post-credits scene is irksome enough but the fact they thought it was a good idea to put him in the actual movie originally is setting off big alarms in my head.

Either it was Reeve's creative decision in which case I've lost some faith in his cinematic vision for Batman, or it was a WB edict from jumpy execs who probably ask every new Batman director "Why isn't Joker the villain?" Either way, it derails some of my hype for the sequel.

Begin's tease for the character came in the last 20 seconds of the film and had no actor cast. That's how you do it.

Also the new Joker just sucks. Not as bad as Leto but I'm so over the character now. It took me a few years but I finally got to Wrath's level of Joker exhaustion. The character is beyond a punchline now, ironically.

Ehhhh, I get why Reeves did the Joker bit. IIRC he has the same kind of bit in The Long Halloween. It's also an interesting take to show this is year 2 of this Batman and explain away some of Year 1 that's off-screen through the dialogue.

But yeah, this Joker doesn't work and that deleted scene doesn't work so thankfully they cut it. I actually really like the end bit that's left in. I think it's fitting.

Plus I like that again, this feels less like the Nolan stuff and Burton stuff and more like the games/comics where

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Villains don't die, they just keep getting sent to Arkham where they all hang out together

[close]

It's kind of goofy, but it's a big part of the comics and honestly the MCU would be better if they did that with more villains rather than underusing them and getting rid of them.

I really doubt Joker will be a lead antagonist for the 2nd film. Reeves probably gets the burn out on Joker as much as everyone else. He seems pretty in touch with nerdy fanbases.


Also I think this movie just works a lot for me because I never got the love for the Nolan trilogy. It was ok. Ledger did a great joker, but the only movie I actually dug was Begins of the three and I think The Batman is better than Begins. I actually think this one is probably the best live action Batman film even with its poor final act.

It may be fair to say The Batman is a better adaptation of the comics, and the Nolan films are better conforming to film/cinematic convention. The Arkham thing you mentioned cuts straight to the point: for the decades of film history until very recently, blockbusters had a convention of actually, uh, concluding the film you were watching without dangling threads.

For the decades of comic book history, it was the opposite, culminating in Superman breaking the convention of death entirely in the 90s.

It makes sense for Nolan to have went the former route and I suppose it made some sense for Reeves to go the latter. However my viewpoint is still rooted in judging films as films, and I find more to appreciate in Nolan's trilogy (or even only comparing opening acts, Begins works for me much better than The Batman.)

[Bebpo]

The Batman does absolutely nothing new that hasn't been done in multiple Batman adaptations. I guess emo Bruce blasting Nirvana in the Batcave was new.

Eh, disagree?

What other Batman film is essentially a police procedural?
What other Batman film is more a mob story than supervillains running amock?

If you count games & animated stuff within adaptations, sure, the games and comics have done it, but for films it’s doing some new stuff.

Plus I think the tone & style is new for Batman films. It feels very different from the prior takes.

[Rahxephon91]

Disagree. This is a Batman that really reflects the millennial era.

This Batman unlike others is pretty unsure of themselves. Like I would say a lot of our generation. A theme I've seen in a lot of works is a general feeling of "what the fuck am I supposed to do". I mean Green Knight the movie that felt like it was just for 30 year old people deals with this as well. Raised by Wolves as well. These works really speak to my generation I think.

I haven't seen a Batman where Batman feels like he has no idea what he's doing. He's putting on this "vengeance" bravado because he thinks that's tough, kind of fighting aimlessly. Not really achieving anything. And then not only does he basically inspire a spree shooting, but realises how silly it was. This movie really actually revokes the emo Batman. Says Batman needs to actually help people, not punch them.  It really almost is a critique of action Batman.

[Rahxephon91]

 

[Transhuman]

The Batman does absolutely nothing new that hasn't been done in multiple Batman adaptations. I guess emo Bruce blasting Nirvana in the Batcave was new.

Eh, disagree?

What other Batman film is essentially a police procedural?
What other Batman film is more a mob story than supervillains running amock?

If you count games & animated stuff within adaptations, sure, the games and comics have done it, but for films it’s doing some new stuff.

Plus I think the tone & style is new for Batman films. It feels very different from the prior takes.

Mask of the Phantasm

[Tasty]

Mask of the Phantasm

[Madrun Badrun]

X was great

[Polident Hive]

Ambulance is dumb and fun, if overly long. Jake G acts coked out the entire movie. Bay remains a master at blunt product placement and name dropping his previous movies. Early on the lead makes a point to arm their ADT security system. Not relevant. The nurse is drinking beer at lunch. She holds the label to the camera and says it’s nonalcoholic. Not relevant. There’s an AirPods ad interlude.

The military veteran resorting to heists after they’re abandoned by the government thing seems to be hot right now.

[Joe Molotov]

X was great

Did he give it to you?

[Bebpo]

The Batman does absolutely nothing new that hasn't been done in multiple Batman adaptations. I guess emo Bruce blasting Nirvana in the Batcave was new.

Eh, disagree?

What other Batman film is essentially a police procedural?
What other Batman film is more a mob story than supervillains running amock?

If you count games & animated stuff within adaptations, sure, the games and comics have done it, but for films it’s doing some new stuff.

Plus I think the tone & style is new for Batman films. It feels very different from the prior takes.

Mask of the Phantasm

Yeah, that's my favorite.

I really think Reeves should do a live-action adaptation of it in this trilogy.

[Madrun Badrun]

X was great

Did he give it to you?

Ya which was nice, but he insisted on wearing prosthetics that made him look like an old white women when he did it, which wasn't nice.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

The Batman does absolutely nothing new that hasn't been done in multiple Batman adaptations. I guess emo Bruce blasting Nirvana in the Batcave was new.

It did something nolan's trilogy didnt.

Make a three hour movie not fee like twenty five hours. 

[Bebpo]

I wonder if Reeves could make an Arkham Asylum (game) movie work.

Like make it a horror film that takes place almost entire in Arkham where multiple villains have broken out. Not sure how you'd make it exciting with grounded non-power villains though.

[Tasty]

You say that like it's a con but I like that there's more to dig into on subsequent rewatches.  That said The Batman seems really rewatchable from an action scene perspective, I just don't know how well the mysteries and twists will work when you already know them.

[Bebpo]

One of my biggest issues with the Nolan trilogy is I really dislike Bale as Batman. Worst Batman imo. Bale is a good actor, but like Toby in Spider-Man I never felt he fit the role.

I did enjoy Baffleck for the I'm too old for this shit Batman. Keaton, Conroy are great and I like this new take as well. Clooney...ok maybe Bale is 2nd worst lol

[Madrun Badrun]

The Batman does absolutely nothing new that hasn't been done in multiple Batman adaptations. I guess emo Bruce blasting Nirvana in the Batcave was new.

It did something nolan's trilogy didnt.

Make a three hour movie not fee like twenty five hours. 

All movies should be 3 hours long. 

[Bebpo]

I actually think The Batman should've been 4 hours long.

The final act and character progression of Batman in the movie doesn't work because it's done so rushed in the last 30 mins to up the stakes for studio tentpole film because studio tentpole films need high stakes according to studio demands.

If the final act was an hour long, with more setup, I think it could've worked. I wonder if there's a longer cut out there that's focused more on this act.

[Polident Hive]

Been said by others but feels like they cut an early scene where the cell video of the subway fight went viral. Characters call him Vengeance at various points. You can imagine the public seeing this video and him referring to the concept as stating his moniker. Likewise it's easy to imagine his arc and progression as him branding himself as Batman for the sequel.

The other common complaint about lack of humor or lightness. Personally disagree with that. I'll give them that Andy Serkis as Alfred is the most serious the character has been, lacking the wry sense of humor he's typically shown with. I liked him. But that's another change I can imagine happening with a sequel.

[Madrun Badrun]

Uncharted wasn't good but it also wasn't bad.  On par with Tomb Raider.  I liked the end set-piece. 

[Madrun Badrun]

https://twitter.com/RottenTomatoes/status/1519086541313740801

[Polident Hive]

https://twitter.com/wbpictures/status/1519098004992512002

MOTY 2023

[Bebpo]

Still weird that's a Greta Gerwig/Baumbach movie.

https://twitter.com/RottenTomatoes/status/1519086541313740801

This is odd. Guess him and Vin had different views on how to end the franchise. I can't see anyone outside Vin having the power to push Lin out in the franchise.

[Bebpo]

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcqfJkADqkW/

Damn, this was posted 4 days ago. They just started shooting the film and Lin co-wrote it. Lin does not seem excited.

[Bebpo]

https://twitter.com/ViewerAnon/status/1519115207682838528


Damn, and 7 was good too. Vin must be shit to work with these days  :'(

[Madrun Badrun]

watched Sleepless in Seattle for the first time.  movie is pretty gross.

[Tasty]

https://twitter.com/wbpictures/status/1519098004992512002

MOTY 2023

1000% ready for the trailer's bomb-ass Barbie Girl remix. It better deliver.

[benjipwns]

LET 👏 JUSTIN 👏 LIN 👏 DIRECT 👏 STAR TREK 👏 AGAIN 👏

[Tasty]

https://twitter.com/ViewerAnon/status/1519115207682838528


Damn, and 7 was good too. Vin must be shit to work with these days  :'(

Hopefully Wan is busy making Malignant 2 anyways.