Rate the last movie you watched

[Joey Goldberg]

del

[BlissedandGone2]

Pig - A-
The Batman - C-

[topleybird]

Originally Posted by BlissedandGone2

Pig - A-

Yeah, I agree. Uneven in places—like, how did they not fire and replace the guy playing the chef of that high-end restaurant—but the end really got to me, and Cage is insanely good. When the trailer for this hit, a lot of people dismissed it as a John Wick ripoff, but I think it's a deliberate... conversation?... with those movies. (Brain is mush, can't think of a less stupid way of putting it.)

[BlissedandGone2]

Originally Posted by topleybird

Yeah, I agree. Uneven in places—like, how did they not fire and replace the guy playing the chef of that high-end restaurant—but the end really got to me, and Cage is insanely good. When the trailer for this hit, a lot of people dismissed it as a John Wick ripoff, but I think it's a deliberate... conversation?... with those movies. (Brain is mush, can't think of a less stupid way of putting it.)

I will openly admit that I went into it expecting a john wick action revenge movie subbing in a pig for the dog and Cage for Reeves, which in my head just felt like great trades to make if theyre gonna keep putting out the same movie.

But yeah it ended up being so much more interesting and funny and strange. And what a great performance from Cage! Definitely some weird pacing and moments that didn't quite make sense, but easy to ignore the faults in something so unique I think.

[topleybird]

I think your expectation was sort of built into it, intentionally, particularly the marketing. I watched it on Hulu, which classified it as as "Thriller, Drama," and I see it's tagged as a thriller on IMDB as well. I don't know if a studio can influence those classifications, but I did wonder if the filmmaker had pushed for it. I'd thought the same thing as you until I started seeing people describe it in totally different terms.

[topleybird]

Finally watching The Batman and I'm not sure what you folks were talking about

[teh b0lly!!1]

Originally Posted by topleybird

I think your expectation was sort of built into it, intentionally, particularly the marketing.

This and the john wick thing are interesting takes. When I watched the film it messed with my expectations similarly, only the film I had in mind was Mandy from a couple of years ago, where Cage plays a very similar character. That one is a fav of mine from recent years. Pig starts out very similarly, almost egging you on to expect it to be a vengeance flick.

I watched it some time ago and didn't really care for it much tbh. It's a movie pretending to be an art film. I did think the idea of following a man who simply will not acknowledge the truth of something terrible that has happened to them was interesting and unique. But there's way too much irrelevant fodder and that other lead character was so fucking terrible and added nothing to the film.

To put it in netphoria terms, Cage's performance here was like the solo on Song for a Son.

[teh b0lly!!1]

Another worst film! Full of boring conversation, and annoying overuse scene! Not recommended!

[topleybird]

Okay, actually saw The Batman, pretty much agree with what's been said about it. It is different from the Nolan films, which I was happy to be wrong about. And I kind of liked Riddler being Bruce's, like, "dark twin" or whatever, that idea of calling bullshit on his sad little origin story, although it reminds me of how most of the Marvel movie villains have been the hero's dark twin, and a little more variety would be nice. At any rate, Paul Dano is the MVP of the movie. Loved everything he did.

I do see how this Batman comes to realize he needs to reprioritize, and I suppose that's an interesting arc, but it's also... the credits started rolling and I thought of this tweet from @topherflorence:

back in the day if u did a tv show called surf dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get to see him surf for 5 min in the finale

And can we please, like please God, keep Joker in his cell. Have him pulling some strings behind the scenes if you must, have Bats visit him sometimes like in that deleted scene, but ferchrissakes can we just not have him be the main villain again any time soon.

[Disco King]

Yeah, when Nolan did Begins, the whole "we explain everything about why the character does what they do" seemed fresh. And it made sense at the time. Between the Adam West series and '90s movies, nobody ever stopped to ask, "why does he dress up as a bat, specifically?" We just took it for granted. "Cuz he's Batman, duh." But no, wait. He didn't get bitten by a radioactive bat or anything. It's not obvious why he chooses bats. So, Nolan and Goyer go back into his 1940s origin, into Year One, and "The Man Who Falls," to show us how the very symbol he picks is tied to the theme of mastering your own fear and pain to turn those things against themselves. It seemed like it was part of his project of doing a "what if Batman existed in the real world?" take. Instead of the character inhabiting a fantastical world that seems practically designed for him, like in the Burton films, this take is "what if a guy did this crazy shit tomorrow?" And if you're asking us to accept an inherently fantastical idea as plausible, you have to justify and give reasons for everything the character does does so that we kinda get lulled into buying the premise. Even down the the scallops on his gloves. "Oh, they anti-blade defenses he learned from ninjas."

But then Hollywood got this idea that the "grounded reboot" that gives an origin story for every little detail about a mythos is the way you're supposed to do everything. Not even for a specific purpose, like doing a certain kind of take on Batman that only works if you do this. It was because it was just seen as obligatory, and a way to insert these cute little winks to make the fanboys and nostalgic boomers cream their pants. You know, you get the fucking origin story of how James Bond came to like his drinks shaken instead of stirred or something. Or, "my name is… Khan!" *Points at screen with mouth full of popcorn* "OMG that's KHAN!!11!" Without Begins, there probably would have never been the Rob Zombie Halloween, Casino Royale, or the rest of those "gritty reboots." Before that, it seemed that revived franchises opted for the loose sequel rather than building from the ground up.

[topleybird]

For folks who watched The Batman: I urge you to watch the 30-second video in this tweet. I promise it's worth it.

If you haven't seen the movie but intend to at some point, it's best to skip this, as it involves easily my favorite part. If you have zero intention of ever seeing the movie, I don't know if this is 100% going to make sense, but sure, go see the tweet, knock yourself out.

[topleybird]

This Mission: Impossible trailer: A fucking plus

[Shallowed]

the lighthouse

good

everything everywhere all at once

meh

[smashingjj]

Originally Posted by Shallowed

the lighthouse

good

everything everywhere all at once

meh

agreed on both counts

[Shallowed]

persona

good

[Shallowed]

[topleybird]

The number of times I've seen that tweet weaponized against people, Marvel and/or Harry Potter stans in particular, is staggering, and satisfying to see every single time

[Joey Goldberg]

X - wow, trailer really made this seem like it was at least going to be somewhat interesting, mysterious, scary

it was none of those things, complete one-dimensional style over substance bullshit & probably the worst thing I've ever seen associated w/ a24 as of now

[Joey Goldberg]

double post hehe!

[smashingjj]

AHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA

[teh b0lly!!1]

can confirm it was very funny

[teh b0lly!!1]

also I've never once in my life watched a trailer and thought to myself "wow this movie sure looks interesting, scary and mysterious"

[ovary]

Originally Posted by Shallowed

persona

good

when she tells the story about having the orgy

that shit is sexy

i think about it all the time

[topleybird]

Originally Posted by Shallowed

everything everywhere all at once

meh

Originally Posted by smashingjj

agreed on both counts

I'm really sorry but fuck you both, solid A, A- for me despite some misspent youths tossing a cup of water on us about 30 minutes in

This was not retribution for texting or talking or something, they were just running into every auditorium in the place causing mischief, and I hope the cops caught them and put them in Miscreant Jail for the rest of their utterly wasted lives

[ovary]

you must have looked really lame, sitting there. to have incurred their wrath

[Shallowed]

high praise

[topleybird]

I have no doubt we did look "lame" or "mid" or whatever to these underage ruffians, but we were also the only two people in the theater, so I like to think it was a crime of convenience rather than a targeted response to our profound lack of coolness

Helps me sleep at night, anyway

[Joey Goldberg]

Originally Posted by teh b0lly!!1

also I've never once in my life watched a trailer and thought to myself "wow this movie sure looks interesting, scary and mysterious"

well you're missing out, bud!

[Shallowed]

Originally Posted by topleybird

I have no doubt we did look "lame" or "mid" or whatever to these underage ruffians, but we were also the only two people in the theater, so I like to think it was a crime of convenience rather than a targeted response to our profound lack of coolness

Helps me sleep at night, anyway

alright, we get it, you liked the movie

[topleybird]

I sure did!