[Movies] Talk about the last movie you saw 2: Electric Threadaloo

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
We went as a family to see it, and it was enjoyable. The visuals were beautiful and there were tons of easter eggs. Christ Pratt and Charlie Day did just fine as the titular twosome. I was worried Jack Black was going to go too over-the-top like he tends to, but he reigned it in while still being animated (ha!), so I ended up enjoying his Bowser a lot. Didn't love Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong, though. It was just too "Seth Rogan". I feel like they could have done better on that one. And I noticed how much Ana Taylor-Joy's voice sounds almost identical to Sarah Michelle Gellar's, which made me sad we didn't get Buffy!Peach. I did like that Peach got to play an active role in the movie, rather than be the damsel-in-distress she sometimes is in the game.

I just wished it had more of a plot. It just felt like we were moving from Mario game-reference-scene to Mario game-reference scene without a lot of reason or development. And when I saw it was being directed by the team responsible for Teen Titans Go!... I guess I was just expecting more. I thought the dialogue would be a little more punchy. It wasn't bad, but it felt a little flat in spots. I can't blame that on being a kids movie, because there tons of kids movies and shows where this isn't the case. All-in-all, I would definitely watch it again, but I don't think it was worth a trip to the theater.
 
Arcade(1993)

A post Tron evil video game straight to VHS movie, with crap-tastic CGI, and an early appearance of Seth Green and later appearance of the kid who played Ralphie from a Christmas story! Also John Delancie as and I quote "Mr. Different". This movie is begging for a reboot.
 
weird: the al yanchovic story (WestJet inflight entertainment)

Everything you need to know is in the title. It's weird. It's a weird Al take on biopics and on himself. And it works, I think. Definitely need to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate this one. But overall, entertaining.
 
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

Wow. Just...wow. By far the best MCU work since Infinity War and this will shoot way up my rankings, maybe even past GOTG 1 and 2.

It's incredibly well shot, the action is amazing, all the characters have satisfying arcs, and the chemistry between all of them is better than ever.

I cried just as much as I cheered. The High Evolutionary is by far one of the better villains in recent history and you will absolutely want to see him destroyed by the end.

Some minor nitpicks, like some jokes feel more forced than others (though the batting average is still high). Warlock and Gamora aren't in this as much as I expected. Gamora takes a literal back seat more times than I thought she would. She's still pivotal, but Nebula winds up taking her place on the team more than anything. (And well deserved because Karen Gillan has been the MCU's secret MVP for awhile).

But goddamn if it still didn't all come together so well. I will dearly miss Gunn's footprint in the MCU. He hits levels of high, consistent quality like no other has. It's a hell of a send off for his weird side of the universe.
 
Super Mario Bros

Ain't the best animated adventure film I've seen, but I still loved it, especially the animation which was gorgeous. Didn't know the team behind Teen Titans Go was behind this, which explains the Khary Payton cameo, but it's got that flavor.
 
Tenet

I know I'm super late to the party. Good movie but there is one thing I don't understand. Why did people had a hard time following the movie?
 
GOTG3
It’s not perfect, but I’m glad it is a wonderful film to end the Guardians trilogy on. The version of “Since You’ve Been Gone” from the trailer has been playing nonstop on my phone for some time now just for the pure feels.
 
Tenet

I know I'm super late to the party. Good movie but there is one thing I don't understand. Why did people had a hard time following the movie?
When I saw Tenet in theaters the sound mix was so insane I couldn't understand half the dialog.

If other people experienced what I did, the movie was basically unintelligible.
 
When I saw Tenet in theaters the sound mix was so insane I couldn't understand half the dialog.

If other people experienced what I did, the movie was basically unintelligible.
That wasn't your theater, that's just what the sound mix on the movie was. Nolan doesn't believe in dialogue
 

GasBandit

Staff member
That’s just how movies are mixed these days. No, really.

—Patrick
I knew Nolan was full of himself but Jeezus. I can't remember the last time there was an "Auteur complex" so far up its own ass.
 
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

I don't know who they'll get to replace Kang....but whoever they pick will need to step it up because Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary was GOD DAMN amazing. Loved this film, great ending to the Guardians trilogy, rewatched the climax scene on three separate bootleg YouTube videos because God DAMMIT was it good!
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Finally got around to watching the DnD movie. Was alright. Nothing amazing, but I didn't feel like I'd been robbed of my time. Good production value, ok acting, trite plot, REFERENCES REFERENCES REFERENCES.
 
Finally got around to watching the DnD movie. Was alright. Nothing amazing, but I didn't feel like I'd been robbed of my time. Good production value, ok acting, trite plot, REFERENCES REFERENCES REFERENCES.
I liked it purely because it felt like it could have been an actual retelling of someone's dnd campaign, right down to the obvious DM insert npc that gets the party back on track
 
I liked it, it was objectively OK. Like Gas said, not a waste of time.

I kinda like the OG movie with Jeremy Irons better because it's so batshit shitty. There's not a moment in that movie something insane or terrible isn't happening.

To clarify, new movie is the better movie, but the old movie was pretty special in how shitty it is.
 
I remember when that came out in 2000. The third edition had just been released. There was a joke in my gaming group that there was a spell that could turn any film into a pile of excrement. Power word: Wayans.
 
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Man, i did not expect them to actually have the beginning joke villain actually be his arch-nemesis...

Anyway, go watch it, it's awesome... and the animation is even better...
 
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Overall I liked it, but I think I can see why some people didn't.

First the good. I thought the cast did well enough, with Kang being a good villain. Jonathan Majors played him with just the right blend of gravitas and weirdness, with his weird cadence of speech and subtly strange mannerisms. Michelle Pfeiffer was the other standout for me, with her hitting all the right notes in every scene she's in. Kathryn Newton was also solid as Cassie. The visuals were nice and interesting, and a lot of the new characters were fun and imaginative.

On the other hand, I wasn't a fan of some of the story choices. I've complained before about how movies with superpowered characters will sometimes choose to have a normal fistfight as the climactic confrontation, and this happened here, with Kang's high-tech suit and Scott's suit both getting damaged so neither of them can use their tech, so they have some good ol' fashioned fisticuffs. That's boring. Scott and Hope's big declaration of love at the end also seemed to come out of nowhere, especially since the focus of the movie has been on Scott and Cassie's relationship. Actually Hope seemed more or less relegated to the background for a lot of the movie aside from when she's needed in action scenes. And while I know that the MCU loves its bathos, I think some of the more serious scenes undercut by humor missed the mark here, with the scene ending up neither funny nor poignant. Darren's death is the most prominent example in my mind. The end credits scene was also a bit bizarre in my mind, why are a bunch of Kang variants hopping around and screeching like apes?

Still, despite these complaints, overall I had fun watching it.

Finally, Michelle Pfeiffer is so hot. Kathryn Newton is also hot. Evangeline Lilly is hot, but I didn't like her hairstyle here as much. And Katy O'Brian makes me both frightened and aroused.
 
The Little Mermaid (2023)

Y'know what, I liked it. I liked it a lot.

I want to first say that Halle Bailey is great as Ariel. Vocally she knocked it out of the park, and her acting was on point as well, especially the sections where she's mute. You can always tell what she's thinking at a glance. The other cast members all do well as well, though naturally this is Ariel's movie to carry, so the rest of the actors have comparatively less to do. Melissa McCarthy is nicely hammy as Ursula, and Jonah Hauer-King is as princely as he needs to be.

With live-action remakes like this, naturally there will always be comparisons to the animated original, and I did plenty of mental comparisons, at least at first. I would note how Bailey sang Part of Your World differently from Jodi Benson, and how the new arrangement for Under the Sea changed it from a solo/group number to a duet, and how the background action wasn't quite as spectacular and busy as the original... but somewhere along the line the mental comparisons stopped and I just started enjoying the movie for what it is. The new Under the Sea is beautiful and enchanting in its own way. The setting changing to a Caribbean island brings its own charms. The additional subplot of Eric also trying to break free from his mother's overbearing influence brings an interesting parallel to Ariel. All in all, it's different, but different is definitely not bad.

If I had to pick some deficiencies, the new songs were merely fine instead of memorable. I think the sound balance for Eric's new song was a bit off or something because I could barely hear what he was singing. And the song was filmed like a Westlife music video. I half expected Eric to stand up from a stool halfway through the song during a key change. A couple of songs from the animated version were cut, but I guess they weren't major losses. And Awkwafina playing Scuttle was too Awkwafina-y. I wasn't watching a character played by Awkwafina, I was watching Awkwafina being herself through a bird filter.

Anyway, all in all this was a satisfying experience. Like most of Disney's live-action remakes, it would've been fine if this movie had never been made, but ultimately I had a good time watching it.

Also Halle Bailey is amazingly hot. And Ursula's human form is also hot.
 
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse is actually insane how well it was done, even taking how great the first was into consideration. Animation, cinematography, sound(though more on that below) and story, everything.

There were some weird mix issues with the dialogue, which can likely be fixed easily enough, that made it really tough to hear at points.

Still a wonderful movie. I guess it wasn't common knowledge that it's a 2 parter? cause when it ended the theater was HOWLING.
 
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse is actually insane how well it was done, even taking how great the first was into consideration. Animation, cinematography, sound(though more on that below) and story, everything.

There were some weird mix issues with the dialogue, which can likely be fixed easily enough, that made it really tough to hear at points.

Still a wonderful movie. I guess it wasn't common knowledge that it's a 2 parter? cause when it ended the theater was HOWLING.
I had absolutely no idea it was a two parter going into it. Hopefully the wait between movies won’t be as long.
 
I guess it wasn't common knowledge that it's a 2 parter? cause when it ended the theater was HOWLING.
I intentionally avoided spoilering myself (and the trailers i saw where pretty good at not giving much away), so i had no idea either. But it was pretty clear arounf 4/5th of it that there was no way that they're wrapping everything up in the time they had left, even if it went 3h+...
 
So...Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

It's...hmm. How do I put this? Okay. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Visually, it's more stunning than the first one, and that's saying a lot. The slowed down character beats between the action is absolutely top notch.

But...

First of all, I don't know if it was just the theatre I saw it in (Cineplex Dartmouth Ultra AVX), but I could barely hear what the characters were saying over the blaring music. Maybe I'm spoiled by always having subtitles on at home, but I could barely hear most lines.

Second, for as visually stunning as the movie is, the action was often far, FAR too frenetic. Sometimes too much for me to follow. Far too many quick cuts and just too much going on the screen at all times. I could MOSTLY follow it, but it was not easy at times.

The action was made worse by the constant quick character chatter. It was hard enough to follow along to the action, but the lines delivered came just as fast and frenetic that I didn't always catch what they said (the above audio issues didn't help).

By far, my favourite moments were the quieter character scenes. If only because it was a break from the frenetic action. Much like the first one, this one had many great emotional moments. If the action had just stopped having directorial seizures, I'd have enjoyed it more.

Actually, it's not just the action. During the big intro to the rest of the Spider-People, there was a barrage of character intro boxes you'd see in the comics. Except they pan by so fast, it's too blurry or pop out before I had time to read them. Ditto the cute "editor notes."

Finally, the core conflict in the movie is absolutely stupid and somehow goes completely against a core element of Spider-Man's character. I can't say more than without spoiling, so I'll spoiler tag my argument.

Overall, I still very much enjoyed it and I look forward to its sequel/conclusion, Beyond the Spider-Verse. Of the two so far, though, I think the first one was much more level headed and focused. It didn't flash things in your face without holding on at least for a second.

The core conflict in the movie is that Miles saved Captain Singh in Spider-Man India's universe. And that went against the "canon" because Spider-Man is always supposed to have a tragedy in not saving someone. Which, okay, sure. Superheroes often encounter a tragedy to "motivate" them to do the right thing or teach them a lesson. For Spider-Man, he's often faced with a hard decision where he has to choose to save someone or his actions cause someone to die. Common in Spider-Man stories (and Superman, too, actually) is the phrase "you can't save everybody." And that's nailed hard in this movie; particularly in the scene where the conflict arises. (Though I did like where they included all the Uncle Ben deaths in various other Spider-Man media, both cartoon and live action. That was a nice touch.)

But that doesn't mean he doesn't TRY to save them or just let someone die. He always, always, always tries, no matter what. He doesn't just say "Eh, sometimes, someone dies." And yet THAT is exactly what Miguel and his group are preaching. Which, amazingly, so many other Spider-People, including Gwen and Peter, are not only okay with (until the end for those two, anyway), but actively enforce it? Holy shit, that goes completely against Spider-Man's code of ethics.

Anyway, rant over.
 
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So...Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

It's...hmm. How do I put this? Okay. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Visually, it's more stunning than the first one, and that's saying a lot. The slowed down character beats between the action is absolutely top notch.

But...

First of all, I don't know if it was just the theatre I saw it in (Cineplex Dartmouth Ultra AVX), but I could barely hear what the characters were saying over the blaring music. Maybe I'm spoiled by always having subtitles on at home now, I could barely hear most lines.

Second, for as visually stunning as the movie is, the action was often far, FAR too frenetic. Sometimes too much for me to follow. Far too many quick cuts and just too much going on the screen at all times. I could MOSTLY follow it, but it was not easy at times.

The action was made worse by the constant quick character chatter. It was hard enough to follow along to the action, but the lines delivered came just as fast and frenetic that I didn't always catch what they said (the above audio issues didn't help).

By far, my favourite moments were the quieter character scenes. If only because it was a break from the frenetic action. Much like the first one, this one had many great emotional moments. If the action had just stopped having directorial seizures, I'd have enjoyed it more.

Actually, it's not just the action. During the big intro to the rest of the Spider-People, there was a barrage of character intro box you'd see in the comics. Except they pan by so fast, it's too blurry or pop out before I had time to read them. Ditto the cute "editor notes."

Finally, the core conflict in the movie is absolutely stupid and somehow goes completely against a core element of Spider-Man's character. I can't say more than without spoiling, so I'll spoiler tag my argument.

Overall, I still very much enjoyed it and I look forward to its sequel/conclusion, Beyond the Spider-Verse. Of the two so far, though, I think the first one was much more level headed and focused. It didn't flash things in your face without holding on at least for a second.

The core conflict in the movie is that Miles saved Captain Singh in Spider-Man India's universe. And that went against the "canon" because Spider-Man is always supposed to have a tragedy in not saving someone. Which, okay, sure. Superheroes often encounter a tragedy to "motivate" them to do the right thing or teach them a lesson. For Spider-Man, he's often faced with a hard decision where he has to choose to save someone or his actions cause someone to die. Common in Spider-Man stories (and Superman, too, actually) is the phrase "you can't save everybody." And that's nailed hard in this movie; particularly in the scene where the conflict arises. (Though I did like where they included all the Uncle Ben deaths in various other Spider-Man media, both cartoon and live action. That was a nice touch.)

But that doesn't mean he doesn't TRY to save them or just let someone die. He always, always, always tries, no matter what. He doesn't just say "Eh, sometimes, someone dies." And yet THAT is exactly what Miguel and his group are preaching. Which, amazingly, so many other Spider-People, including Gwen and Peter, are not only okay with (until the end for those two, anyway), but actively enforce it? Holy shit, that goes completely against Spider-Man's code of ethics.

Anyway, rant over.
They knew the movie's soundmix was shit going in. They're giving out stickers about how you need to turn the sound up and the director is on twitter talking about it.

 
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So I used to run a theatre and we got the same prompt for Gravity for instance but I don't think that would have worked here. The difference being that in Gravity when things were loud because of explosions and SFX and whatnot, there was no dialogue that needed to be understood beyond yelling and the increase in volume for the "quiet parts" was actually just what they would be at normally.

Spider-Verse had specific parts where dialogue was spoken during fights or music that if you had turned it up and also made the music louder, since there is no dialogue increase only knob, it would have been just as inaudible I'd think.


Also, and this is me being pedantic, those stickers are gonna go out to no one. Most, almost all?, theatres don't have projectionists anymore. It's just a manager that builds the playlist of video files and lighting and sound cues that set volume for commerscials and trailers, which based on that should have been 7 compared to the standard 5.5.
 
They knew the movie's soundmix was shit going in. They're giving out stickers about how you need to turn the sound up and the director is on twitter talking about it.

Maybe it was the subtitles, but i don't recall having that issue here...
 
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

I'm going to echo everyone's positive reviews. It was visually beautiful and beautifully told. We all loved it. And no sound issues here, although I did notice they turned up the volume once all the trailers were over.

There is one plot point that's bothering me, though:

Wouldn't Uncle Aaron be Miles' "canon"? He fits the requirements as much as Peter did for Gwen. I don't understand why Miles' dad would have to die as well to keep the "canon" in place.
 
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