| Author | Message | ||
     86129squids |
Wow... https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/incre dibles-2-seizure-warning-1.19287279 Oh, and as I drink coffee this AM I realized that the BW spelchuk doesn't recognize a plural of "Incredible".  | ||
| Oopezoo |
Oh yeah.....the scene referenced is no joke about the seizure warning. It was the equivalent to sitting in a completely dark room with a black and white checkered patterns being flashed like a strobe light in the background, while a very fast fight scene with a bunch of colors was going on in the foreground......and for quite a lot longer than expected. I know it was enough for me to feel disoriented. Made a comment to my wife that it was worse than the old Simpsons episode that made a bunch of people have seizures. (Message edited by OoPEZoO on June 19, 2018) | ||
| Aesquire |
https://marionharmon.com/2018/06/22/a-incredible-s equel/ Some have complained about migraines. The above link is to a review, and a complaint about ignorant political commentary. ..... The key here is that, to enjoy a movie like The Incredibles II, you need to recognize the conventions and tropes of the genre, identify which the show is playing straight, or lamp-shading, or deconstructing, and just roll with it. Fortunately, most viewers do that rather easily. Unfortunately, too many people who are payed by the word to think about and write about movies don’t. The result can be something like this: “Like “The Incredibles,” the new film presents the Incredible family chafing under the ostensibly democratic order that prevents them from taking the law into their own hands whenever they perceive a threat that their talents could thwart.” And: “Yet what’s chilling about “Incredibles 2” isn’t its smug self-promotion; it’s the superhero essentialism—the vision of born leaders with an unimpeachable moral compass to whom all right-thinking people should swear allegiance and invest confidence.” And: “Incredibles 2” invokes a political world in nonpolitical ways; it’s a vision of apolitical, quasi-unanimously acclaimed virtues that are assured by the supreme powers of innate and doubt-free strongmen and strongwomen who intervene only in emergencies. It’s a nostalgic vision of total power of a local minimum that echoes sickeningly with the nostalgic pathologies of the current day, nowhere more than in Win’s enthusiastic declaration of his plan to “make superheroes legal again.” In such moments, “Incredibles 2” stakes an unintended claim to being the most terrifying movie of the season. Those are quotes from Richard Brodie’s New Yorker review of the movie, the title of which is The Authoritarian Populism of “Incredibles 2.” In case you missed the last reference, he was equating “Make superheroes legal again,” with “Make America great again!” In a word, “Huh?” Now, I’m not saying that TI2 was politics-free. It wasn’t; in fact it contains a couple of “clever” throw-away lines that had nothing to do with the plot and should have been thrown away. And the way the legal situation resolves at the end . . . Just go with it. Maybe I’ll address it some other time. But Brodie and many, many critics like him are falling into a trap because they don’t recognize the self-conscious conventions of the superhero genre. He looks at The Incredibles movies and sees Superhero Essentialism as a sinister ideal; “…the vision of born leaders with an unimpeachable moral compass to whom all right-thinking people should swear allegiance and invest confidence.” But if there is such as thing as Superhero Essentialism, it’s “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Which is in many ways exactly the opposite of what Brodie sees. Responsibility, not authority. I think that where Brodie and the rest often go wrong when trying to derive social and political metaphors from superhero stories, is they equate superhuman power with moral authority. But superhuman powers are fantasy. The unique position they put superheroes in simply doesn’t exist in the real world; how many people do you know who can stop a train full of people from crashing? How many people do you know who can shut down an active-shooter situation quickly, decisively, and at no risk to themselves? Beyond the idea that if you can do something, you should do something (and any of us can make a difference in much more human-scale ways), superpowers as a fact in a superhero world don’t mean anything. The Incredibles don’t want to “lead with an unimpeachable moral compass,” they want to help because they can. We enjoy wish-fulfillment movies like this because the wish to be able to help is a near-universal human trait. While I’m often critical of billionaires and celebrities who use their money or fame to push causes I think are less than informed, I’ll never deny their right to try and leverage their “superpowers” to make a difference. The way we’re wired, many of us actually feel bad if we don’t try and make a difference when we can. We expect it of ourselves and others. So if you haven’t seen The Incredibles II yet, go enjoy it. Do not fear the super-authoritarians, there aren’t any. There’s just a bunch of superheroes who want to do what superheroes do in a superhero world. Save the day. Marion G. Harmon | ||
| Aesquire |
Deconstruction. Tearing apart something to see how it ticks. Often with an eye to reversing the meaning, but that's an imposition of the Deconstructor, not the original author. “With great power, comes great responsibility.” The basis for why Superheroes are, heroes. Marion's own Astra, in the excellent Wearing The Cape series, is a freshman in college with her future planned. Sorority with her high school besties, a college degree, work in Mom's art gallery, do charity work. Raised in some privilege, primed to give back to the community, raised by hard working, responsible parents who instilled the above creed early on. When she gets super powers, How can she Not use them for good? It's no surprise that the Leftist Journo isn't aware of the tropes in the genre. He learned to parrot hatred on cue, and missed all the stuff that forms the foundations his activism is supposed to overthrow. I'll save Shakespeare for the next post. If you want a nice bargain sampler of the Super Genre, I just saw this and ordered it. It includes the 1st book in the Wearing the Cape series, and worth it for that alone. ( I REALLY like the series ) https://marionharmon.com/2018/06/26/a-box-full-of- dreams/ | ||
| Chauly |
I saw Incredibles II and enjoyed it more than I enjoyed Deadpool 2 and Infinity Wars. It was a good story, and the characters were well-developed. Well-worth the $5.50 mentioned... | ||
| Aesquire |
https://babylonbee.com/news/disney-buys-rights-to- the-bible-plans-37-sequels/ | ||
| Aesquire |
While we wait for Captain Marvel. | ||
| Aesquire |
VENOM. First, this movie has nothing to do with the Comic book history of Secret Wars & Spiderman. That I know of. He's not in it. ( there is a musical bit ) I Haven't read the Venom comic series so... have nothing to say. It does Not take itself too seriously. If it did, if it was pretentious and "important", it would have sucked. It's funny as Heck. Laugh out loud, long, hard funny. But not continuously. It's a Bad movie. It so Bad.... I understand why the critics hate it, but I think they are not genre savvy, and are missing the point. Yes, every cliche you can think of is in here. Tropes fall like rain. It's never, ever, ever going to be used as an example of great Cinema in college level classes, but it will get viewed at 3 am. in colleges for years to come. Fans are loving it because it just hits the right notes, imperfect hero, loser, spoiler, spoiler... etc. They aren't expecting Shakespeare, but they get the entertainment a comic book movie is supposed to deliver, the impossible action, the battle quips. Over the top motorcycle/drone/car chase scene. Not too much body horror... but enough. I'd avoid eating noodles with squid ink before.  I had fun. YMMV. The stinger ( just one after the pretty credits, none at the very end ) is related to the Spiderman animated... coming this Christmas, and is on My Must See list already. Dang. | ||
| Aesquire |
https://www.weeklystandard.com/john-podhoretz/ryan -goslings-first-man-review-one-giant-flop-for-movi ekind After sober reflection I now rate Venom as a "catch a matinee" film. My basic rating system is. Don't bother. ( there's much better on Amazon/Netflix/Hulu ) Wait for cable. ( good! But not worth $20 stale popcorn ) Catch a matinee. ( worth seeing on a big screen with great sound system. But if you've got that at home? You can wait or not. ) Definitely see in the Theater! ( don't care how good your home system is, it's worth full price because it's a series/spectacular & you don't want to wait to argue about it/etc. ) And. You gotta see this freaking movie, man! ( Ground breaking, worth $29 stale popcorn, (optional) I can't wait to argue about it, heart felt full on Disney tears! Etc. ) Keep in mind that I don't bother with theaters unless it's a special effects film, has lots of explosions, is profoundly awesome, or, like a Western, needs the Vista of a big screen to appreciate. Sitcoms and chick flicks work fine on a home screen. Also, it's one level negative & 4 positive, not a star system, and completely subjective. Examples of Catch a Matinee films include, Solo, Venom, Inside Out. Anything higher on the list you think I'm too fan boy on. Wait for cable. Darkest Hour. ( brilliant performances, Must see, historically important, perfect for home theater and fresh popcorn, no fancy special effects ) See in the Theater, full price. Most of the Marvel MCU, Hidden Figures, X-Men good ones. You Gotta see this freaking movie, man! Logan, Spider-Man Homecoming, Avengers, reserved for movies I thought deserve an Oscar but will only get one for special effects or costumes. | ||
| Aesquire |
If you haven't seen Hidden Figures, see it instead of Ryan Gosling's eyebrows. We can argue about it's flaws, after. Or not, it's almost perfect. I'm going to skip First Man & watch Apollo 13. And The Right Stuff. I might even dig out Marooned. Btw, if the critics are all wrong? Please let me know. | ||
| 86129squids |
+1, Hidden Figures. On a totally different note, we watched the Netflix documentary on Quincy Jones the other nite. AWESOME, especially for music lovers/geeks. Plus a great dose of his humanity. | ||
| Aesquire |
One of my favorite astronaut anecdotes is about the late Gus Grissom. Sent to the Atlas Rocket factory to see the boosters being built for the Orbital Mercury program, the factory workers were gathered together to listen to several NASA and government speeches intended to be inspirational and used for P.R. purposes.... After hours of polished prose, Grissom was put before the microphone as the final speaker in a long day. With the speech making prowess of a man who had dedicated his life to being one of the best test pilots in the world, Gus looked out over the crowd, then blurted "Do good work!" . He got a standing ovation. They understood him perfectly. | ||
| 86129squids |
RIP Stan Lee... https://www.npr.org/2018/11/12/106322838/a-marvel- of-a-man-stan-lee-dead-at-95 And https://www.npr.org/2018/11/12/666883376/r-i-p-hal -douglas-rain-voice-of-computer-in-2001-dies-at-90 | ||
| Aesquire |
2 of the most chilling lines in motion pictures. "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that." 2001 A Space Odyssey, Douglas Rain, the Voice of HAL. "It won't make any difference" Aliens, Carrie Henn as Newt. | ||
| Crusty |
Godspeed, Stan Lee. You made me see a world of endless possibilities. | ||
| H0gwash |
This one is for Stan  | ||
| Daddio |
From the WaPo; I usually only look at it to do the free crossword puzzles.   | ||
| 86129squids |
Very cool, thanks for sharing. | ||
| Zac4mac |
God bless Stan the Man. Z | ||
| 86129squids |
"Godspeed, Stan Lee. You made me see a world of endless possibilities." John, I was just sitting here thinking of something more erudite to say. As a kid, I could read very fast, and I'd scan every comic book on the rack. I remember a clerk watching me... "Are you gonna buy that?" I said no, bought my beef jerky and soda, walked home. I guess my superpower might be reading and language, needs more study. Stan Lee was a storyteller. I can't think of many more powerful superpowers than that. | ||
| Aesquire |
and April can't come fast enough.... And... a bit wordy take on why DC vs. Marvel has been the way it is. SPOILER> Characters. Tony Stark is a real person after a decade in a way that Bruce Wayne just, isn't. It's not just the reboots, it's not even that the actors change. ( although continuity helps. ) Rhodey ( War Machine ) was a good character in the first Iron Man, and even changing actors, the film makers didn't change the motivation and concern the character has. Wonder Woman, and to a lesser extent, Man Of Steel, DID have character growth, and arguably are the best DC movies. ( although the Dark Knight trilogy deserves credit ) And, I think if Suicide Squad could have been a great movie... if something hadn't gone horrible wrong somewhere. Because it had Characters, not Icons. The story writing technique where you have an image of that great scene, like the Avengers gathering scene, then write the movie around it? That technique works, IF you ask yourself, "how would these people get themselves in this situation?" and write THAT story. Joss Whedon works that way, and for all his flaws, it is character driven writing. Batman vs. Superman used the system of "we want these cool scenes" and then moved the chess pieces to get them. | ||
| Aesquire |
Just saw Spider-Man .....Into The Spiderverse. Wow! WAY better than I expected. I haven't seen the comics in forever, didn't matter. Trailer is a bit misleading, which is good. Don't have a lot to say. No spoilers. Animation, voice acting, plot twists, all great. Rap music for the credits, but hang in for the after credit stinger. Niece declared it the best comic book movie.... How it should be done. Go see it. Take the ladies in your life. | ||
| Aesquire |
And.... For the hardcore fans..... Listen for music cues. Nuff said. | ||
| Froggy |
 Best part of the movie right there Holy crap so many Easter eggs and self referential gags, I think they even outdid Deadpool. That's all folks. (Can I post that? Legally?) | ||
| Ebutch |
https://www.gamiss.com/hoodies-11571/product344387 6/?lkid=121213&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2sfjgL2y3wIVx4bAC h05-gkLEAEYASAAEgKCuvD_BwE | ||
| Aesquire |
Aquaman. The niece & her bestie & I made the late showing ( work schedules ) and I give it a thumbs up. May be the best cinematic depiction of a comic book, ever. At least in competition with Watchmen, & the best of Marvel. Almost as good as Wonder Woman for giving us a real fantasy world. Paradise island had food, and markets, and life as we know it. I have no idea what anyone in Atlantis does. To be fair, I didn't have to be bored with daily life in Atlantis either. WW showed us all the background stuff following young Diana running from her tutor in a beautiful motion sequence, win win. Dialog is a bit stilted. To be fair, Atlantian Kings and Royal familial conflict is going to sound like bad Shakespeare, unless it's good Shakespeare. Feel free to pick on DC dialog. Brooding. Ah! Brooding. We do get some, and Jason Mamoa broods beautifully, but only for 30 seconds or so at a time, quickly followed by "and that's why I want no part of your stupid destiny" So the best so far on brooding. Picture/scenery. It's hard to do underwater stuff without being murky. Or almost as bad, sun dappled. They did a darn good job of doing dark in the deep with enough light and detail to be interesting. ( The ray tracing alone took more computer power than the planet had a few years ago. ) Again, just behind Wonder Woman for scenery. Ditto hottness scenery. Mamoa is the only one to be shirtless all the time, but WW had scores of Amazons. I admit to bias. Amber Heard has a nice.... never mind. I admit to bias. I did hear audible sighs from the ladies, several times. Cons are: "coming of age movie", kinda silly plot, really stupid news programs, dialog, Bad actor Bad guy. All in all, a winner. Take the SO and let her swoon. Worth the big screen. Sit through fancy credits for stingers. ( I just verified, they say there are three, but they are strung out through the fancy model credits ( scenes from the film in model form ) ) No stinger after the black & white long credits. Yes, you have time to go to the can & get back in time for the song list. | ||
| 86129squids |
Here's how behind the times we are- last night, started watching the first season of Game of Thrones. I watched 4 episodes, my honey fell asleep before the 2nd was over, thank God- I really didn't care for the part where Stark killed the wolf. Due to a horrible real-life incident we've had, I told her not to watch anymore unless she was prepared to see that. By the time I stopped watching, not sure if I care for GOT- acting was good, scenery great, lots of gratuitous pretty nudes, but the storylines got too dark and convoluted. I guess I'll keep at it- heck, they made 7 seasons so far, and a girl (dingbat) I worked with quit her shift early to watch some episode on Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. She no longer works with me. | ||
| Aesquire |
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| Aesquire |
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/oscar-winn ers-2019-updating-live-1178560/item/best-picture-1 172473 This is the first Oscars in a long time to have movies I've seen win. Or get nominated for other than technical awards. Production design, costume, and score for Black Panther. 'Spiderverse for best animated. And very well deserved, all. And a shout out to Spike Lee. I haven't seen Blackkklansman, but I've heard good things. When Mr. Lee does his best, it is outstanding. | ||
| Aesquire |
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-06/anti-sjw s-launch-alita-challenge-boycott-man-hating-captai n-marvel I've been avoiding the flat a$$ed actress and her "political" comments. Dang it, don't make me think of you as another idjit actor! I actually can dig being tired of the same fat white press herd. I don't know if there's a way to say, "how about we get some gals and skinny hot dudes in here to ask the same five questions?" Without sounding like a jerk. if I've misinterpreted her complaints, too bad. I'll blame Disney. 2 things. This isn't a breakthrough roll. It might be the first female MCU lead movie, but that's because you haven't given us a Black Widow film, as we ASKED! Heck, we'd watch a Pepper Potts movie. Tony can only be in it five minutes. I'll write the script. But ground breaking? We just hope it doesn't suck. Ripley, Xena, Buffy, Samantha, Leia, Diana! We LOVE strong female characters! It's the old fat farts at the studios that fail to see the multiple successes. That the director had to fight to keep the "no man's land" scene in Wonder Woman tells you how dumb studios can be. Second. Actors! Kiss my shiny metal..... I don't want to restrict your free speech. But I don't give a dang it you don't like Trump, or Republicans or kittens. Unless you make me. Don't make me. The Chris who has done a great job with Captain America, a series of good, nuanced, performances. Can't imagine a different face. I'm ready to see you go, because I can't get away from your crap. Won't go to a movie now with you as a draw. Bite my shiny...... I'll go to End Game, I'm invested. Ditto Captain Marvel. But you guys aren't getting fan mail. I expect actors to be idiots. Their job is to look good and pretend to be some fictional character. Sometimes, a historical one. That skill set is independent of good sense. Arguably, the better at acting, the worse at stable rational thought. But that may be envy. You have to work at it to annoy me into not bUying your work. Some actors, athletes, singers, seem to think their paychecks and fan base make them expert at World Hunger or genocide because they can catch a ball or not break the auto tune. Not so much, sorry. Please don't work on being a jerk. Let me enjoy your performance on it's own merit. |
