Last Movie You Watched

Boxing day viewings, some of our favourites

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 26, 2020, Original Post Date: Dec 26, 2020 ---

Solo is a damn good SW movie. I have spoken.

 

In true Pixar fashion, a home run of a flick.
Pushes the boundaries of what a children's movie can be. A deeply philosophical movie that ponders what life is about and what our purpose on earth is.
Could have easily been an awards contender drama with a few small edits and done in live-action.

The voice cast is stellar. It's probably the most aesthetically pleasing Pixar movie I have seen.
And have yourself a year Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. This movie sounds fantastic.

This sort of deep-thought, asking the hard questions story telling for children but also enjoyable for adults is what I hope other franchises outside of Pixar are eventually willing to integrated to their stories.

 

Deadpool 2 was disappointing though, I would have loved to see Tim Miller's take before Reynolds gave him the boot. Cable, X-Force, and Domino are all characters I grew up reading about and Funnyman Reynolds didn't respect the source material. He just wanted to be a funny man just to be funny. Deadpool is also a crazy assassin. I would have loved to see Miller's take for DP2. The first Deadpool was great! Tim Miller wanted to take Deadpool to a different place but Reynolds wanted to be the funny man lead. let's see where Reynolds takes Deadpool next...

I will never forget a mom seating in the row in front of me escorting her 4 children out of the first Deadpool film, that was hilarious some parents think all comic book films are for kids. Parents, please refer to the ratings before purchasing video games, comic books, and films for your children.

I still think Tim Miller is a great director even though Terminator Dark Fate failed miserably. Tim is a comic book guy, the MCU should recruit him for an MCU film. I bet He'd knock-it-out the park.

R.I.P Jon Schnepp LOVE YOU DUDE!!!

 

I get what you're saying, but I can't really comment as I I've never read any Deadpool comics. I just like the films for what they are, first one is slightly better IMO but 2 Is a lot of fun.

 

Forgot to include Jon Batiste who did the jazz arrangements for the film, which are superb

 

YUP, DP2 is a lot of fun, but as a comic book guy, I understand where Tim Miller wanted to go with DP2. It's a shame that due to creative differences Reynolds booted Miller off the project. Miller would have paid homage to Cable and X-Force. Ryan Reynolds kills the entire X-Force team in one scene which to me is the worst joke in comic book history.

I only saw it once but I believe Juggernaut farts in the movie at some point and I was like Reynolds has turned these beloved characters into silly jokes. Something the MCU tried so hard to correct. There are so many different iterations of Deadpool. He can be badass and not overly silly.

Once again I wish Kevin Feige would take Deadpool away from Ryan Reynolds or set Reynolds straight on the real origins of the character but I'm afraid Reynolds has put his stamp on the character so much so that they have given him creative control to do whatever he wants.

Rob Liefeld created Deadpool to compete with Todd McFarlane's Spiderman at the time, back in the '90s. Deadpool is a mercenary version of Spiderman. A merc who uses humorous quips when battling his antagonist, similar to Spiderman. There is a version of Deadpool where he gets overly silly but the jokes become stale after a while, so the writers created a serious badass version to sustain the character's ongoing series.

The mistake Reynolds has not realized is the overly silly version will get stale, you have to change it up and that's what Tim Miller wanted to do.

 

Wonder Woman 1984 tonight! Overall, I liked the movie, but I don't think it was as good as the previous WW movie. I'd give it a 7/10 or 7.5/10. To some that may be generous, but there are very few superhero movies that I don't like.

Wonder Woman 1984 is a weird thing. It's a mixture of true, heartfelt optimism, campy fun, brilliant ideas, and mediocre execution. It has a lot of things to like - the action scenes, while seemingly fewer than before, are sharper than ever; the side-characters have been trimmed down, allowing for more time and depth to be given to Diana; the villains are FAR more fleshed out than the previous movie (...which isn't saying much, but it counts), and the score has some really nice call-backs to other DC movies Snyder has worked on.

But this movie is far from perfect. The ending was bad. There's no two ways around it. It was a bad ending, both the resolution to the climax and the final scenes. The mid-credit scene was nice, but it also made me realize that I HATE winking towards the camera. It always creeps me out. The optimistic tone, while very needed for 2020, doesn't really fit the message of the previous movie and feels far more...hopeful than I feel Diana should be at this point in the main DC timeline. (I will address some of this later on in the "things I would have changed" part towards the end.) There were a couple of moments in several of the fights that reminded me of scenes in the Captain America trilogy also, although not nearly as well done there.

But again, there are good things too. Steve's return was very well done, and the jet scene was brilliant. Maxwell Lord's early uses of his powers was great, and I loved when it felt like there was a grounded explanation for the wishes. Cheetah was well-done as a villain, and felt very understandable and ultimately human, although certain parts were very on-the-nose.

Which leads into an interesting feeling I had about this movie. In a lot of my complaints about things, I always feel like there are scenes that were left on the cutting room table that should have been in the final production. Here, there were scenes that should have been cut out or shortened that were put in in their entirety. I personally didn't mind this, as I LOVE those sorts of scenes. They flesh out our characters and help us see the world they live in. But I would have understood if certain scenes were cut here. For example, Barbara - no, not THAT Barbara - and Diana go out for a (seemingly very) early dinner in the first quarter of the movie. We get a scene where Barbara explains her personality and her lonely background while asking Diana a few questions, eventually asking Diana if she's ever been in love. I think that we could have cut the first half of that scene. We would start with hearing (and not seeing) Barbara ask Diana if she's ever been in love, and do a shorter version of that dinner. We don't need to hear Barbara's feelings about herself because her awkward behavior and encounters with all of her coworkers show us that reality. What we needed was a separate scene where Barbara and Diana become friends, or at least feel like coworkers instead of the "meet my new best friend" dynamic they have. It reminded me a bit of Electro's dynamic with Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and I'm not sure I liked it.

My second fix for this movie would have been putting it in modern times, in a post-Justice League world. WW84 acts like it's trying to cash in on that 80s nostalgia, but quite frankly it does a terrible job of doing so. I think setting it in modern times could really help us realize how far we have to go as a culture at times, while also letting a more optimistic Wonder Woman truly shine. We also wouldn't have to worry too much about Diana's secret identity, the movie's message would be more striking, and Barbara's envy would make more sense. Besides, Steve's flabbergasted nature would be even funnier...and a lot more like another Steve we know and love. What if she was driven by what she saw of Diana and other women on social media? What if we tackled the dangers of appearances in a more approachable manner?

The movie could also do more with romance. For example, what if this was set in modern times, and Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne was involved, eventually being promoted to a sort of love interest by the end of the movie?* It'd be a nice throwback to the Justice League cartoon. Imagine if we see her turn down guys (and gals) asking her out for coffee, only by the end of this movie, asking Bruce out to get coffee, signaling that she's ready to move on.** Honestly there were more than a couple of times where it would have felt right for Bruce to be in the movie. All of that said, however, I can see why the chose NOT to set this in modern times. Some of the topics talked about may have felt too...on the nose, given how this year has gone.

Ultimately, if you're a fan of superhero movies and Wonder Woman, check this out. If not, then don't be afraid to skip this or come back when drunk (on friendship and good times).


*In my head, however, this spins out into a sort of Flashpoint storyline. Bruce's wish would be for his parents to come back, and him having to say goodbye to them again would probably overshadow anything Diana does. Then again, having in the movie maybe would work as a solid juxtaposition for Maxwell. Here you have Bruce, the man who seemingly has everything, not making a wish on one side; and you have Maxwell Lord, the man who is trying to make everything work but comes from nothing on the other side. Maxwell meeting and being even more motivated to succeed because of his background compared to Wayne's would be a really interesting motivation.
**Also in my head, it wouldn't necessarily be that Bruce didn't make a wish when given a chance, it'd be that he didn't have the chance to do so. He'd admit this to Diana at the end of the movie, claiming that her willingness to give up Steve makes her stronger than he could ever be. Diana would mention how there are probably those out there who didn't give up their wishes, and Bruce would respond that they'd deal with those people as a team if it comes to that end.

 

Love Actually

That one didn't age well at all. Gosh, that movie is barely watchable anymore. It's downward creepy.

 

I agree.. but I could happily watch a 2hr movie with just Jamie & Aurélia


I just watched ‘Yesterday’

this was like pure joy for me. feel good and Beatles magic.
I highly recommend

 

Their story was the most cliche one. I think the one with Liam's character had potential.

My favorite love movie is easily The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Jack Black.

 

Tenet, pretty intense, I wonder if Nolan will ever get the opportunity to direct a Bond film.

 

Okay. This was a doozy. Get the bad out of the way since there isn't a whole lot here.
It's just too long. Plain and simple. It's a 90-100 minute romp strewn out to 2.5 hours.
Kristen Wiig didn't need to be in here at all, only makes the bloated run time feel more noticeable.
The plot is overdrawn and nonsensical at times (2.5 hour run time. Seeing the theme?)
The CGI on Cheetah is bad. STOP MIXING HUMANS AND CATS HOLLYWOOD. IT'S JUST BAD.

And that's about it in terms of negative.

Gal Gadot has won me over. Charming as all get out.
Chris Pine is always good so nothing new there.
The movie (while long) doesn't drastically shift in the third act like the first one did.
Pedro Pascal is hammy and it's amazing. Dude radiates charm and oozes charisma and some silly show had the audacity to hide him in a mask!
It's bright and colorful and fun. It's really fun.
Unleashing Jenkins' creativity with the catalog of Wonder Woman abilities is great.
The further from Snyder these movies get the better they get. SHAZAM the only recent DC flick that's more fun than this.
I would watch Gadot in a Star War in the right role. Still very limited acting range but charm and being an 11/10 helps.
Like Arnie in the 90s. All charm and goofy line delivery done with a big wink and smile and you just roll with it because you want to spend this time with them.

 

My sister made the same Cats reference too.

 

I think this is the most I've ever agreed with you about a movie

It had some glaring structural issues and the stakes felt a bit cartoony and undefined. But darn it, Gal Gadot is so effervescent as Wonder Woman, and the movie has so much joy, you have to love it.

Also

Spoiler

how dare Pedro Pascal make me cry in two different father/son scenes from two different properties in the space of one week

 

The only good human/cat hybrid in western media.

 

So with no theaters and the wrong streaming service, when is the earliest I can see WW84?

 

Saw the first half of The Sound of Music with my mom and sister! I was distracted due to mobile game time limits for most of it sadly, but overall it was a fun experience. It's my mom's favorite movie (and her mother's favorite movie too), and it had been too long since we all watched it. My mom had been talking about it for DAYS, and when my dad found us all watching, he was amused and surprised that she was serious...mom is always serious about watching this.

It's up in the air on whether we'll watch the second half, as all of the good songs and most of the good scenes are in that first half, but we may watch it.