Rolling Marvel Cinematic Universe thread (+ a poll: Classic or Dud?)

Anecdotally, I have to say that the broader cinematic wasteland for which Disney et al are being blamed these days (not without justification) feels very like the cinematic wasteland that small town USA has been for decades. From the time that I first felt sparks of interest in something more than big dumb blockbusters, I was forced to dig and scrape like a motherfucker in order to discover anything that skewed from the mainstream (although I at least had a guide inasmuch as I was lucky enough to come of age at a time when Film Threat was inexplicably available on podunk grocery store magazine racks). If I hadn't made a great deal of use of that Morbs-approved resource of choice, the public library, I would have been at least well into college before I ever saw anything independently-distributed. Hell, even in college we had to drive for an hour and a half to the one theater which was screening that obscure art film Being John Malkovich. I get that there's been an unsavory shift in the market, and particularly to the extent that Disney is being an evil megadick wrt the Fox acquisition, but I honestly wonder how much that shift is even registered outside of metropolitan areas. If anything, it's a helluva lot easier these days to see non-mainstream fare even if you don't have many theatrical options available to you.

"And... I just think his ideas about cinema are askew (way too much focus on character and narrative, BORING!)"

lol as if you could come up with anything better

xp I was super into “indie film” in hs/college (early ‘90s), but I was seeing almost all of it on home video. I didn’t need to resort to the library like Old Lunch; the cool little video stores around (pre-Blockbuster hegemony) had all that stuff. It was a big deal when I was interning near NYC in ‘95, and could, like, take the train to see Amateur at the Angelika.

Maybe that’s why I can’t lament the “home viewing is the only option for most ppl outside NYC/L.A.” angle — I came up watching movies on much crappier screens than exist today.

"And... I just think his ideas about cinema are askew (way too much focus on character and narrative, BORING!)"

lol as if you could come up with anything better

― xyzzzz__, 5. november 2019 15:02 (thirty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Fp'ed you for that, and I know the theory is to just fp and otherwise ignore these kinds of unprovoked personal attacks, and just assume that you're having a bad day, and has to sort through some issues, that you just want to take out on somebody else, but seriously. Go fuck yourself, and stop trying to make other people feel as bad as you do. It's so shitty behaviour.

sometimes when we touch
the honesty's too much

Can't decide whether Martin Scorsese or Fred has better ideas about cinema

No wait I can tbh

Fred I thought you blocked me so you couldn't see my posts?

Yeah, then decided you were getting better. But you're apparently still a trolling piece of shit, so back on you go.

I was hoping to just snipe at your shit with no consequences. Now that I've been flagged I don't know how I'll sleep tonight.

Also, why the fuck would you write that crap directly aimed at me, if you didn't thought I would be able to read it? What the fuck is wrong with you?

Like, seriously, are you sick or something?

Tell me why
Everything turned around
Packing up
Shacking up is all you want to do

get a fucking room you two, this is the thread for alternately despairing about the dismal state of current cinema and ruminating on hailee steinfeld's casting as kate bishop

And cornbread
Delicious cornbread

When it comes to assessing ILXors I feel like sickness is maybe the logical starting point

A Chicago metal quartet, Disturbed has been driving fans in the Midwest wild with their frenetic, theatrical live show. On their debut album, The Sickness, the band combines an over-the-top metal groove appealing to the underground with radio-friendly melodic hooks that grab hold of mainstream rock fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIcm7WzjC2k

Also Epstein didn't kill himself

well, yeah

I really liked that piece. Just seeing Fred talk about ideas and being all patronising -- especially given what given what he posts on here -- was just too much for me.

And Epstein didn't kill himself

Horshack, on the other hand

take it to the watchmen thread buddy

Took me a second but A+

Unlike Epstein, cinema killed itself

has the coroner weighed in on cinema's hyoid bone yet

Otherwise known as Happy Madison productions

Marty should get in on this action; save Goodfellas for eternity: https://variety.com/2019/film/news/project-silica-superman-warner-bros-microsoft-1203390459/

I thought I read it on this thread but I can't find it - the workhorse doing the most to move Netflix over to the next, respectable, phase of its plan is one Martin J Scorsese, who's going to get it some Oscars.

In the wake of Paramount's dark fate with the Terminator movie, both Sony and Warner Bros. have now suffered "franchise" flops. WB's doing ok, though, in part b/c the Joker movie (which Scorcese considered directing!) was a huge smash.

The article on WB is also interesting, b/c it talks about how how "mid-level" films just aren't making it these days:

“It has to be so frustrating as a studio,” said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “If you look at these misfires, they’re all unique films. ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ would have been a big hit in the 1990s, but that genre is being phased out.”

...“When we think about the best adult dramas these days, we think of streaming and TV shows,” Bock said. “There’s so much genre specific [material on TV] that it’s really hard for these dramas in theaters to compete with that in terms of poignancy.”

Meanwhile, it sounds like the forthcoming Black Widow movie may have things going for it that even Scorsese will appreciate...

But instead of helping propel ticket sales to new records, everything from Sundance darling “Blinded by the Light,” to the gritty action flicks “The Kitchen” and “Shaft” sputtered in spectacular fashion. Moviegoers all but ignored these films, even when the reviews, as in the case of “Blinded by the Light,” were sterling. It’s led to a wildly unpredictable year for Warner Bros.

I can't believe that a Bruce Springsteen musical wasn't an enormous hit in 2019!

Tbf He did sell out 236 nights on Broadway in the preceding months.

Major diff between a romcom set in Luton that merely features the music of Springsteen vs actually seeing the man perform live

xp Billie Joel did something similar at MSG, but I don't think the gritty coming of age musical Piano Man is getting greenlit soon.

(the former is actually really good but it didn't get a lot of fanfare when it came out)

Its not really a musical tbf, it’s Brit feelgood mulch of a kind that has historically been quite successful

Also it’s bad

Xxpost He already has a Broadway jukebox musical, Movin' Out.

It's pretty dumb

Also tbf Springsteen had his *own* Warner Bros. theatrical release that massively flopped. Could be Bruce fatigue, could be "Blinded" came out after "Yesterday" ...

Could be it’s bad

Could be the audiences who attend expensive shows on Broadway and audiences who see movies aren't the same

an unloved Shaft remake gets a horribly reviewed watered-down reboot(?)/sequel(?) that people forgot was coming out and it didn't do well, it's a sign of the times.

Shaft was mentioned in the part of the article specifically talking about WB’s recent releases; it’s not being presented as a sign of the times.

The ad campaign for that Blinded By The Light movie was horrific. "Indian dork is super into Bruce Springsteen" is not gonna get people flooding into theaters.

Where focus testing meets a coked-out film exec's humvee jams.

Xpost he was Pakistani

i saw Endgame, finally. Cool spectacle, everyone seemed to handle the 50% of life in the universe is gone thing pretty well, they were a bit angsty about it but still cracked a lot of good jokes. the vv quick glimpses of ordinary ppl seemed to indicate they were either completely recovered from it or just going through a bit of mild PTSD.

never seen a film where the three-act structure was this obvious, which is less a criticism and more of a neutral comment. i enjoyed the very beginning in terms of the setup, dispatching Thanos early on and all that business.

Everyone got their big telegraphed moments in the end, so the final battle felt very by-the-numbers, until the absolute last moment w/Iron Man. I thought the part where all the ladies banded together in the big battle at the end was cringe-worthy, like a moment of intended positivity and strength that came off as pandering instead.

Tony Stark's last scene was a good one, i liked it for it's low-key brutality and finality. I liked the Cap'n getting his second chance w/Peggy.

i was kind of joking around when i said these films always end with a giant smoldering enemy spacecraft slowly crashing to the ground but i guess maybe it's not a joke after all.

it was a good funhouse ride. i assume that there will be another 20-30 of these things coming out in the next decade.

Xpost he was Pakistani

I apologize. That changes everything.

Yesterday and Blinded By the Light looked equally MOR, and both got good reviews, but the former did well and the latter didn't. Who knows.