|
Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 19, 2024 16:38:17 GMT
House of the Dragon - being back in the immersing world of Westeros is one thing, but it's remarkable how little weight the Big Bad Northern Threat carries once we remember how lamely it all ends up being resolved in Game of Thrones. Five years later, I still shake my head when I recall all those bearded White Walkers doing absolutely nothing in the final battle. HotD is at its best when it's doing as much as it can to make us forget its predecessor, but it's hard when it's still ever-conscious of the reason these families are ultimately supposed to be (but aren't) banding together. I'm hoping it leads to an eventual GOT reboot. Much as I still love the early seasons, we deserve better than what we got down the stretch.
|
|
|
Post by Shane Falco on Jun 19, 2024 20:56:42 GMT
House of the Dragon - being back in the immersing world of Westeros is one thing, but it's remarkable how little weight the Big Bad Northern Threat carries once we remember how lamely it all ends up being resolved in Game of Thrones. Five years later, I still shake my head when I recall all those bearded White Walkers doing absolutely nothing in the final battle. HotD is at its best when it's doing as much as it can to make us forget its predecessor, but it's hard when it's still ever-conscious of the reason these families are ultimately supposed to be (but aren't) banding together. I was extremely excited when that show was announced. I so deeply wanted to forget how GOT finished and go back to that world. I watched the very first episode and I just couldn't bring myself to care anymore. Maybe I still need time to forget the final seasons of GOT or something because there is so much more in that world to explore but I think I'm still recovering from the disappointment. Maybe in a few years I'll try and revisit it. I've heard good things but GOT was great up until it wasn't and got beyond the books. Im not sure if HOTD is based off any stories or just its own original series based in that world.
|
|
|
Post by sdm3 on Jun 20, 2024 7:00:04 GMT
House of the Dragon - being back in the immersing world of Westeros is one thing, but it's remarkable how little weight the Big Bad Northern Threat carries once we remember how lamely it all ends up being resolved in Game of Thrones. Five years later, I still shake my head when I recall all those bearded White Walkers doing absolutely nothing in the final battle. HotD is at its best when it's doing as much as it can to make us forget its predecessor, but it's hard when it's still ever-conscious of the reason these families are ultimately supposed to be (but aren't) banding together. I was extremely excited when that show was announced. I so deeply wanted to forget how GOT finished and go back to that world. I watched the very first episode and I just couldn't bring myself to care anymore. Maybe I still need time to forget the final seasons of GOT or something because there is so much more in that world to explore but I think I'm still recovering from the disappointment. Maybe in a few years I'll try and revisit it. I've heard good things but GOT was great up until it wasn't and got beyond the books. Im not sure if HOTD is based off any stories or just its own original series based in that world. It’s based on Martin’s Fire and Blood, which reads more like a straight account of Targaryen history than the narrative voice(s) of the main series. I made it about halfway through but got sidetracked. It’s actually pretty good, though - I just wish Martin was as interested in the main story as he is in fleshing out the backstory. Yet another HBO series is currently in production adapting another of his ASOIAF prequels - meanwhile the possibility of the long-awaited sixth book ever being published continues to dwindle.
|
|
|
Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 26, 2024 19:14:50 GMT
I can tell you what I won't be watching: Peter Pan's Neverland NightmareThat last part actually sounds sickly hilarious, but I would've expected coke and not heroin to double for Pixie dust. I guess it depends on the story you're trying to tell. Anyway, this whole project (not just this movie, the Poohniverse) is a shitshow that will go down as the worst 'franchise' in history.
|
|
|
Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 27, 2024 0:52:43 GMT
I can tell you what I won't be watching: Peter Pan's Neverland NightmareThat last part actually sounds sickly hilarious, but I would've expected coke and not heroin to double for Pixie dust. I guess it depends on the story you're trying to tell. Anyway, this whole project (not just this movie, the Poohniverse) is a shitshow that will go down as the worst 'franchise' in history. It'll be far from the worst 'franchise' in history. There's more garbage out there than you know. There's a chance I'll see one or more of these (I saw the first), knowing fully that they're terrible before I do. This is the current trend in low budget exploitation films these days, and the biggest problem is just that they aren't well made. A clever and subversive filmmaker could make something funny and entertaining from these shoddy ideas...but so far no clever person has made the attempt... just the subversion without the wit isn't getting it done.
|
|
|
Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 27, 2024 12:41:09 GMT
I can tell you what I won't be watching: Peter Pan's Neverland NightmareThat last part actually sounds sickly hilarious, but I would've expected coke and not heroin to double for Pixie dust. I guess it depends on the story you're trying to tell. Anyway, this whole project (not just this movie, the Poohniverse) is a shitshow that will go down as the worst 'franchise' in history. It'll be far from the worst 'franchise' in history. There's more garbage out there than you know. There's a chance I'll see one or more of these (I saw the first), knowing fully that they're terrible before I do. This is the current trend in low budget exploitation films these days, and the biggest problem is just that they aren't well made. A clever and subversive filmmaker could make something funny and entertaining from these shoddy ideas...but so far no clever person has made the attempt... just the subversion without the wit isn't getting it done. Hell yeah, I think we talked about this before, this could be an interesting concept in the right hands. But it seems like whoever is behind it is a total hack, even by Rob Zombie standards.
|
|
|
Post by sdm3 on Jun 28, 2024 10:55:56 GMT
Going to see The Bikeriders today - wife’s choice. Tom Hardy’s accent drives me nuts in the trailer. It sounds like a parody. What is it with this guy and weird voices?
|
|
|
Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 28, 2024 12:07:26 GMT
Going to see The Bikeriders today - wife’s choice. Tom Hardy’s accent drives me nuts in the trailer. It sounds like a parody. What is it with this guy and weird voices? I don't get it. He's like a voice actor masquerading as a leading man. The only voice more annoying than his in that trailer is the woman's. She sounds like a cartoon character.
|
|
|
Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 28, 2024 13:40:54 GMT
Going to see The Bikeriders today - wife’s choice. Tom Hardy’s accent drives me nuts in the trailer. It sounds like a parody. What is it with this guy and weird voices? I don't know if I've actually seen the trailer. I like Jeff Nichols a lot though. They're not all winners, but he's committed to making original, smaller stuff, which is cool.
|
|
|
Post by sdm3 on Jun 28, 2024 21:43:02 GMT
Going to see The Bikeriders today - wife’s choice. Tom Hardy’s accent drives me nuts in the trailer. It sounds like a parody. What is it with this guy and weird voices? I don't get it. He's like a voice actor masquerading as a leading man. The only voice more annoying than his in that trailer is the woman's. She sounds like a cartoon character. You got that right - between her and Hardy, if you close your eyes you could swear you're watching either Fargo or Bugs Bunny. "Ehhhh, what's up toots - I'm the president of 'dis motorcycle club and you don't got nuttin' to worry about, y'know?"Double-bill - we also saw A Quiet Place: Day One. These movies have a half-decent premise (I guess) but I've had to conclude that they just aren't for me. The basic concept of "run away from something scary for 90 mins" just isn't interesting to me - unless the setting and craftsmanship are truly exceptional (see: Alien). But it got me thinking: what are some of the best prequels in movie history? It's an idea that so rarely works and yet modern filmmakers and producers seem convinced that we absolutely want them; that we simply must know how and why this happened, what led to x, what this character was like before, yada yada yada. Off the top of my head I can't think of a true prequel (as in, something that was made after an original film and depicted events prior to those from the original film) that stands out as great. Casino Royale 2006 doesn't count - that's a reboot, not a prequel.
|
|
|
Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 29, 2024 2:02:39 GMT
I don't get it. He's like a voice actor masquerading as a leading man. The only voice more annoying than his in that trailer is the woman's. She sounds like a cartoon character. You got that right - between her and Hardy, if you close your eyes you could swear you're watching either Fargo or Bugs Bunny. "Ehhhh, what's up toots - I'm the president of 'dis motorcycle club and you don't got nuttin' to worry about, y'know?"Double-bill - we also saw A Quiet Place: Day One. These movies have a half-decent premise (I guess) but I've had to conclude that they just aren't for me. The basic concept of "run away from something scary for 90 mins" just isn't interesting to me - unless the setting and craftsmanship are truly exceptional (see: Alien). But it got me thinking: what are some of the best prequels in movie history? It's an idea that so rarely works and yet modern filmmakers and producers seem convinced that we absolutely want them; that we simply must know how and why this happened, what led to x, what this character was like before, yada yada yada. Off the top of my head I can't think of a true prequel (as in, something that was made after an original film and depicted events prior to those from the original film) that stands out as great. Casino Royale 2006 doesn't count - that's a reboot, not a prequel. I was thinking about this the other day too as it came up on this thread. I think the subject was that Game of Thrones prequel. Klaw mentioned Better Call Saul, which of course is not a film, but is about as good as a prequel could be. Especially a prequel to a great work. Some people would talk about these recent Planet of the Apes movies as great prequels, but I never got into them. Nobody thinks that Indiana Jones prequel is anything particularly special. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is technically a prequel, but most people don't even realize it... so does that really count? I never was into Twin Peaks, but apparently the movie is a prequel to the series...not sure if that counts either. There are lots of decent examples, but few really great ones. The obvious example is The Godfather Part II, but really only half of that movie is the prequel story... and that material was from the book but excised from the original film... so again.. does that really meet the criteria? A recent one that I think is quite strong is Pearl from 2023 which is a prequel to X from 2022. It was made immediately after X but wasn't planned, initially. X is a really well thought out, character driven, high-end/trashy slasher movie set in the 70s with unusual killers. Pearl not only is at least as good a film, but it's also a completely different film. It's a rich but very dark character study, made as a technicolor melodrama, of sorts, that is a fully satisfying character piece on its own, but completely enriches the story that's set decades later. It all works, and Mia Goth is terrific. The third movie (MaXXXine) will be out later this year. I also enjoyed Prey recently, but that falls firmly into the decent-but-not-great category.
|
|
|
Post by sdm3 on Jun 29, 2024 7:12:11 GMT
You got that right - between her and Hardy, if you close your eyes you could swear you're watching either Fargo or Bugs Bunny. "Ehhhh, what's up toots - I'm the president of 'dis motorcycle club and you don't got nuttin' to worry about, y'know?"Double-bill - we also saw A Quiet Place: Day One. These movies have a half-decent premise (I guess) but I've had to conclude that they just aren't for me. The basic concept of "run away from something scary for 90 mins" just isn't interesting to me - unless the setting and craftsmanship are truly exceptional (see: Alien). But it got me thinking: what are some of the best prequels in movie history? It's an idea that so rarely works and yet modern filmmakers and producers seem convinced that we absolutely want them; that we simply must know how and why this happened, what led to x, what this character was like before, yada yada yada. Off the top of my head I can't think of a true prequel (as in, something that was made after an original film and depicted events prior to those from the original film) that stands out as great. Casino Royale 2006 doesn't count - that's a reboot, not a prequel. I was thinking about this the other day too as it came up on this thread. I think the subject was that Game of Thrones prequel. Klaw mentioned Better Call Saul, which of course is not a film, but is about as good as a prequel could be. Especially a prequel to a great work. Some people would talk about these recent Planet of the Apes movies as great prequels, but I never got into them. Nobody thinks that Indiana Jones prequel is anything particularly special. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is technically a prequel, but most people don't even realize it... so does that really count? I never was into Twin Peaks, but apparently the movie is a prequel to the series...not sure if that counts either. There are lots of decent examples, but few really great ones. The obvious example is The Godfather Part II, but really only half of that movie is the prequel story... and that material was from the book but excised from the original film... so again.. does that really meet the criteria? A recent one that I think is quite strong is Pearl from 2023 which is a prequel to X from 2022. It was made immediately after X but wasn't planned, initially. X is a really well thought out, character driven, high-end/trashy slasher movie set in the 70s with unusual killers. Pearl not only is at least as good a film, but it's also a completely different film. It's a rich but very dark character study, made as a technicolor melodrama, of sorts, that is a fully satisfying character piece on its own, but completely enriches the story that's set decades later. It all works, and Mia Goth is terrific. The third movie (MaXXXine) will be out later this year. I also enjoyed Prey recently, but that falls firmly into the decent-but-not-great category. Yeah, Godfather II doesn't count for me - incredible as it is. TGtBatU is outstanding, but I also didn't realize that was meant as a prequel. Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom is technically a prequel... but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense in that regard (Rey pointed this out before). Are these new Planet of the Apes movies supposed to be prequels? I thought they were a reboot of the story rather than there being a suggestion of directly leading into the events of the 1968 original.
|
|
|
Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 29, 2024 11:39:11 GMT
I was thinking about this the other day too as it came up on this thread. I think the subject was that Game of Thrones prequel. Klaw mentioned Better Call Saul, which of course is not a film, but is about as good as a prequel could be. Especially a prequel to a great work. Some people would talk about these recent Planet of the Apes movies as great prequels, but I never got into them. Nobody thinks that Indiana Jones prequel is anything particularly special. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is technically a prequel, but most people don't even realize it... so does that really count? I never was into Twin Peaks, but apparently the movie is a prequel to the series...not sure if that counts either. There are lots of decent examples, but few really great ones. The obvious example is The Godfather Part II, but really only half of that movie is the prequel story... and that material was from the book but excised from the original film... so again.. does that really meet the criteria? A recent one that I think is quite strong is Pearl from 2023 which is a prequel to X from 2022. It was made immediately after X but wasn't planned, initially. X is a really well thought out, character driven, high-end/trashy slasher movie set in the 70s with unusual killers. Pearl not only is at least as good a film, but it's also a completely different film. It's a rich but very dark character study, made as a technicolor melodrama, of sorts, that is a fully satisfying character piece on its own, but completely enriches the story that's set decades later. It all works, and Mia Goth is terrific. The third movie (MaXXXine) will be out later this year. I also enjoyed Prey recently, but that falls firmly into the decent-but-not-great category. Yeah, Godfather II doesn't count for me - incredible as it is. TGtBatU is outstanding, but I also didn't realize that was meant as a prequel. Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom is technically a prequel... but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense in that regard (Rey pointed this out before). Are these new Planet of the Apes movies supposed to be prequels? I thought they were a reboot of the story rather than there being a suggestion of directly leading into the events of the 1968 original. I don't really know if the newer Planet of Apes is considered a prequel or not. They take place before the Charlton Heston movie in the timeline, but they maybe they'll remake that movie eventually... apparently they'll have to make 35 trilogies before they get there. But as far as I can tell there's no great, classic film that's a straight up prequel. There are plenty of decent ones and plenty that count as prequels if you squint hard enough, but there's no one definitive great prequel. Not in film at least. Again, Better Call Saul is an excellent prequel series to one of the great classic series, but TV is a different thing.
|
|
|
Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 29, 2024 17:28:15 GMT
I don't get it. He's like a voice actor masquerading as a leading man. The only voice more annoying than his in that trailer is the woman's. She sounds like a cartoon character. You got that right - between her and Hardy, if you close your eyes you could swear you're watching either Fargo or Bugs Bunny. "Ehhhh, what's up toots - I'm the president of 'dis motorcycle club and you don't got nuttin' to worry about, y'know?"Double-bill - we also saw A Quiet Place: Day One. These movies have a half-decent premise (I guess) but I've had to conclude that they just aren't for me. The basic concept of "run away from something scary for 90 mins" just isn't interesting to me - unless the setting and craftsmanship are truly exceptional (see: Alien). But it got me thinking: what are some of the best prequels in movie history? It's an idea that so rarely works and yet modern filmmakers and producers seem convinced that we absolutely want them; that we simply must know how and why this happened, what led to x, what this character was like before, yada yada yada. Off the top of my head I can't think of a true prequel (as in, something that was made after an original film and depicted events prior to those from the original film) that stands out as great. Casino Royale 2006 doesn't count - that's a reboot, not a prequel. I've mentioned it in the past, but I love A Quiet Place because it's anti-horror. It isn't people making dumb decisions and getting killed, it's a family figuring out how to survive these impossible circumstances. I didn't love the sequel because it felt like a repeat, but not as clever. I didn't have much interest in this one, but we're headed to see it tonight. I wanted to see Horizon, but I got outvoted 1-1 by my wife. The truly great prequels I think, as you guys mentioned, aren't really prequels, or at least not seen as such by most of the audience. (Temple of Doom; Godfather II; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.) The best true prequel I can think of is Rogue One. It's a war movie disguised as a Star Wars movie. It depicts how this war affects everyday people, and how it can bring out the darker side (pun not necessarily intended but somewhat unavoidable) of every belligerent. It retains its Star Wars DNA, yet ultimately takes itself more seriously than any other SW property other than its spinoff show, Andor. Ironically, my least favorite part of the film is the stuff everyone else loves: the tacked on Vader battle at the end. It felt too fan-servicey to me and didn't fit the tone of the film. It doesn't ruin anything, I just don't think it was needed.
|
|
|
Post by Shane Falco on Jun 29, 2024 19:26:15 GMT
I don't get it. He's like a voice actor masquerading as a leading man. The only voice more annoying than his in that trailer is the woman's. She sounds like a cartoon character. You got that right - between her and Hardy, if you close your eyes you could swear you're watching either Fargo or Bugs Bunny. "Ehhhh, what's up toots - I'm the president of 'dis motorcycle club and you don't got nuttin' to worry about, y'know?"Double-bill - we also saw A Quiet Place: Day One. These movies have a half-decent premise (I guess) but I've had to conclude that they just aren't for me. The basic concept of "run away from something scary for 90 mins" just isn't interesting to me - unless the setting and craftsmanship are truly exceptional (see: Alien). But it got me thinking: what are some of the best prequels in movie history? It's an idea that so rarely works and yet modern filmmakers and producers seem convinced that we absolutely want them; that we simply must know how and why this happened, what led to x, what this character was like before, yada yada yada. Off the top of my head I can't think of a true prequel (as in, something that was made after an original film and depicted events prior to those from the original film) that stands out as great. Casino Royale 2006 doesn't count - that's a reboot, not a prequel. X-Men First Class is the only one I can think of not mentioned. The Fox X-Men movies were close to 50/50 on being good or bad. There was the OG cast trilogy. X-Men X2 Last Stand. The first two were good and the third garbage. Then they wanted to kind of reboot the series with First Class. It is still a prequel though as it takes place 30 years before X-Men you still get Hugh Jackman as Wolverine making a cameo in it to tie the films together making it a prequel and not a full reboot. Then the next film brings most of the OG cast together to tell two stories one in the present/future with the OG cast and Wolverine going back in time to be in the rest of the film with the younger new cast cementing First Class as a prequel. These series of films were. First Class Days of Future Past Apocalypse Dark Phoenix The first two were very good while the other two garbage (I never watched Dark Phoenix but I can safely say it was garbage.) Then you've got the three solo Wolverine movies with Origins being another prequel. X-Men Origins Wolverine The Wolverine Logan Origins is famously bad. The Wolverine at best is fine. It was seen more positively because of how bad Origins was. Logan was a top tier level comic book movie. The other two Fox X-Men films were the two Deadpool films with the first being very good but the sequel being disappointing. There were 6 good films, 4 bad and 2 at best were meh. That said, First Class was probably in the top 3 with James McAvoy and Michael Fasbender bringing great performances as younger Charles Xavier and Magneto. The later films in this version of the cast became so bad via bad casting/writing and a focus placed on Mystique who is a secondary character simply because she was Jennifer Lawrence. Because she was Jennifer Lawrence and her star was rising she wouldn't go through the makeup process much either. Just became trash. But again back to the main topic, First Class was one of the good highlights of that franchise. Brought a new spark to the franchise only for them to ruin it again with the third and fourth installments.
|
|
|
Post by sdm3 on Jun 30, 2024 7:55:26 GMT
You got that right - between her and Hardy, if you close your eyes you could swear you're watching either Fargo or Bugs Bunny. "Ehhhh, what's up toots - I'm the president of 'dis motorcycle club and you don't got nuttin' to worry about, y'know?"Double-bill - we also saw A Quiet Place: Day One. These movies have a half-decent premise (I guess) but I've had to conclude that they just aren't for me. The basic concept of "run away from something scary for 90 mins" just isn't interesting to me - unless the setting and craftsmanship are truly exceptional (see: Alien). But it got me thinking: what are some of the best prequels in movie history? It's an idea that so rarely works and yet modern filmmakers and producers seem convinced that we absolutely want them; that we simply must know how and why this happened, what led to x, what this character was like before, yada yada yada. Off the top of my head I can't think of a true prequel (as in, something that was made after an original film and depicted events prior to those from the original film) that stands out as great. Casino Royale 2006 doesn't count - that's a reboot, not a prequel. I've mentioned it in the past, but I love A Quiet Place because it's anti-horror. It isn't people making dumb decisions and getting killed, it's a family figuring out how to survive these impossible circumstances. I didn't love the sequel because it felt like a repeat, but not as clever. I didn't have much interest in this one, but we're headed to see it tonight. I wanted to see Horizon, but I got outvoted 1-1 by my wife. The truly great prequels I think, as you guys mentioned, aren't really prequels, or at least not seen as such by most of the audience. (Temple of Doom; Godfather II; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.) The best true prequel I can think of is Rogue One. It's a war movie disguised as a Star Wars movie. It depicts how this war affects everyday people, and how it can bring out the darker side (pun not necessarily intended but somewhat unavoidable) of every belligerent. It retains its Star Wars DNA, yet ultimately takes itself more seriously than any other SW property other than its spinoff show, Andor. Ironically, my least favorite part of the film is the stuff everyone else loves: the tacked on Vader battle at the end. It felt too fan-servicey to me and didn't fit the tone of the film. It doesn't ruin anything, I just don't think it was needed. Great call - I thought Rogue One was excellent.
|
|
|
Post by sdm3 on Jun 30, 2024 8:07:31 GMT
House of the Dragon - being back in the immersing world of Westeros is one thing, but it's remarkable how little weight the Big Bad Northern Threat carries once we remember how lamely it all ends up being resolved in Game of Thrones. Five years later, I still shake my head when I recall all those bearded White Walkers doing absolutely nothing in the final battle. HotD is at its best when it's doing as much as it can to make us forget its predecessor, but it's hard when it's still ever-conscious of the reason these families are ultimately supposed to be (but aren't) banding together. I'm hoping it leads to an eventual GOT reboot. Much as I still love the early seasons, we deserve better than what we got down the stretch. I've been thinking about GOT recently, no doubt due to HOTD returning. Looking back, I really think the first five seasons were very strong overall. They each had their own flaws and weaker individual scenes, but the show was still reliably great for the most part. Hardhome (5x08) was breathtaking. Major cracks began to appear by the sixth season, but that year also gave us such incredible highs (Hold the door; Battle of the Bastards; the Fall of the Great Sept) that it was easy to overlook the deteriorating writing. Arya surviving her stabbing was particularly egregious - suddenly plot armor was becoming apparent in a show that was previously known for its "anyone can be killed" ethos. Season seven had its moments but I was becoming highly concerned by the writing at that point. The Beyond the Wall stuff seriously insulted our intelligence and took the show's sped-up travel times to ludicrous levels. Then the final season completely fell off a cliff, of that I'm sure we can all agree. What a waste. In many ways the polar opposite of the early years - instead of great television with the occasional bad scene, it was garbage with the occasional bright moment. A stunning fall from grace.
|
|
|
Post by masterofallgoons on Jun 30, 2024 13:19:02 GMT
You got that right - between her and Hardy, if you close your eyes you could swear you're watching either Fargo or Bugs Bunny. "Ehhhh, what's up toots - I'm the president of 'dis motorcycle club and you don't got nuttin' to worry about, y'know?"Double-bill - we also saw A Quiet Place: Day One. These movies have a half-decent premise (I guess) but I've had to conclude that they just aren't for me. The basic concept of "run away from something scary for 90 mins" just isn't interesting to me - unless the setting and craftsmanship are truly exceptional (see: Alien). But it got me thinking: what are some of the best prequels in movie history? It's an idea that so rarely works and yet modern filmmakers and producers seem convinced that we absolutely want them; that we simply must know how and why this happened, what led to x, what this character was like before, yada yada yada. Off the top of my head I can't think of a true prequel (as in, something that was made after an original film and depicted events prior to those from the original film) that stands out as great. Casino Royale 2006 doesn't count - that's a reboot, not a prequel. I've mentioned it in the past, but I love A Quiet Place because it's anti-horror. It isn't people making dumb decisions and getting killed, it's a family figuring out how to survive these impossible circumstances. I didn't love the sequel because it felt like a repeat, but not as clever. I didn't have much interest in this one, but we're headed to see it tonight. I wanted to see Horizon, but I got outvoted 1-1 by my wife. The truly great prequels I think, as you guys mentioned, aren't really prequels, or at least not seen as such by most of the audience. (Temple of Doom; Godfather II; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.) The best true prequel I can think of is Rogue One. It's a war movie disguised as a Star Wars movie. It depicts how this war affects everyday people, and how it can bring out the darker side (pun not necessarily intended but somewhat unavoidable) of every belligerent. It retains its Star Wars DNA, yet ultimately takes itself more seriously than any other SW property other than its spinoff show, Andor. Ironically, my least favorite part of the film is the stuff everyone else loves: the tacked on Vader battle at the end. It felt too fan-servicey to me and didn't fit the tone of the film. It doesn't ruin anything, I just don't think it was needed. That's not 'anti-horror,' it's a just a good horror movie.
|
|
|
Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 30, 2024 19:18:03 GMT
You got that right - between her and Hardy, if you close your eyes you could swear you're watching either Fargo or Bugs Bunny. "Ehhhh, what's up toots - I'm the president of 'dis motorcycle club and you don't got nuttin' to worry about, y'know?"Double-bill - we also saw A Quiet Place: Day One. These movies have a half-decent premise (I guess) but I've had to conclude that they just aren't for me. The basic concept of "run away from something scary for 90 mins" just isn't interesting to me - unless the setting and craftsmanship are truly exceptional (see: Alien). But it got me thinking: what are some of the best prequels in movie history? It's an idea that so rarely works and yet modern filmmakers and producers seem convinced that we absolutely want them; that we simply must know how and why this happened, what led to x, what this character was like before, yada yada yada. Off the top of my head I can't think of a true prequel (as in, something that was made after an original film and depicted events prior to those from the original film) that stands out as great. Casino Royale 2006 doesn't count - that's a reboot, not a prequel. X-Men First Class is the only one I can think of not mentioned. The Fox X-Men movies were close to 50/50 on being good or bad. There was the OG cast trilogy. X-Men X2 Last Stand. The first two were good and the third garbage. Then they wanted to kind of reboot the series with First Class. It is still a prequel though as it takes place 30 years before X-Men you still get Hugh Jackman as Wolverine making a cameo in it to tie the films together making it a prequel and not a full reboot. Then the next film brings most of the OG cast together to tell two stories one in the present/future with the OG cast and Wolverine going back in time to be in the rest of the film with the younger new cast cementing First Class as a prequel. These series of films were. First Class Days of Future Past Apocalypse Dark Phoenix The first two were very good while the other two garbage (I never watched Dark Phoenix but I can safely say it was garbage.) Then you've got the three solo Wolverine movies with Origins being another prequel. X-Men Origins Wolverine The Wolverine Logan Origins is famously bad. The Wolverine at best is fine. It was seen more positively because of how bad Origins was. Logan was a top tier level comic book movie. The other two Fox X-Men films were the two Deadpool films with the first being very good but the sequel being disappointing. There were 6 good films, 4 bad and 2 at best were meh. That said, First Class was probably in the top 3 with James McAvoy and Michael Fasbender bringing great performances as younger Charles Xavier and Magneto. The later films in this version of the cast became so bad via bad casting/writing and a focus placed on Mystique who is a secondary character simply because she was Jennifer Lawrence. Because she was Jennifer Lawrence and her star was rising she wouldn't go through the makeup process much either. Just became trash. But again back to the main topic, First Class was one of the good highlights of that franchise. Brought a new spark to the franchise only for them to ruin it again with the third and fourth installments. I liked First Class when it was released, but the follow up flicks were so terrible I've never had reason to watch it again. Personally, I think DOFP is just as awful as Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix. Maybe not as much overacting, but the story still makes no sense at all.
|
|
|
Post by Shane Falco on Jun 30, 2024 19:40:55 GMT
I'm hoping it leads to an eventual GOT reboot. Much as I still love the early seasons, we deserve better than what we got down the stretch. I've been thinking about GOT recently, no doubt due to HOTD returning. Looking back, I really think the first five seasons were very strong overall. They each had their own flaws and weaker individual scenes, but the show was still reliably great for the most part. Hardhome (5x08) was breathtaking. Major cracks began to appear by the sixth season, but that year also gave us such incredible highs (Hold the door; Battle of the Bastards; the Fall of the Great Sept) that it was easy to overlook the deteriorating writing. Arya surviving her stabbing was particularly egregious - suddenly plot armor was becoming apparent in a show that was previously known for its "anyone can be killed" ethos. Season seven had its moments but I was becoming highly concerned by the writing at that point. The Beyond the Wall stuff seriously insulted our intelligence and took the show's sped-up travel times to ludicrous levels. Then the final season completely fell off a cliff, of that I'm sure we can all agree. What a waste. In many ways the polar opposite of the early years - instead of great television with the occasional bad scene, it was garbage with the occasional bright moment. A stunning fall from grace. The final battle with the white walkers could have used one of those bright moments. Would have helped us all see what was actually happening. Back to your original thought of a reboot. I think it is too early to do it because of those first 5 seasons. They were so good with memorable performances and episodes that I dont think they could possibly improve upon them. I just think to myself that a reboot currently would be hard to see characters like Cersei, Tyrion, Joffrey, Ramsey as anybody else other than those actors. The good memories are still there despite how badly the last couple seasons tried to ruin everything. Maybe when/if George RR Martin finishes the books we can have a reboot but I fear doing so before hand we may just run into the same problem the original had once they got beyond the books. A reboot could expand on areas that the books covered and the show ignored like a Lady Stoneheart. However I just think we need Martin to finish the books before we even entertain the idea of a reboot. One of my biggest issues with the final few seasons of the show was how uninteresting some of my favorite characters became. Like Tyrion became far less compelling once he left Kings Landing. Jon Snow somehow the same after leaving The Nights Watch. Cersei felt like she was just going through the motions without much to do. Jaime was the only character that seemed to get more and more interesting as the show went on only for them to fuck it up in the end. A ton of people hate the Danerys arch but I am seemingly in the minority as I enjoyed her evil turn. Maybe its because I was never super invested in her beforehand. The turn was incredibly rushed as the entire final couple seasons were but I did like seeing that turn to the character. Made her far more interesting.
|
|