Rate the latest movie you've seen.

[Blackleaf]

So many interpretations and levels of knowledge and expertise about super heroes.  It seems to be driven by the same mechanics that drive the creation of various concepts of god, and the descriptions of what those gods think, and how they behave and what they want.  In the world of make believe, things can get out of hand pretty fast.  When I was a boy, I don't remember such a huge knowledge base surrounding zombies.  Our understanding of zombie lore has quadrupled during my lifetime.  Zombies are now well understood across the many cultures of the Earth.  Knowledge is power; We now know that we can kill them.  We know that they are capable of great speed, and have acute sensory abilities, and are not a all like we thought during my youth where everyone believed that zombies would move about in a dull witted trance.

Just think how this knowledge base can grow and refine in 4000 years.  We now have universities dedicated to mythical gods, and supported by "true" believers.  What was just a band of migrating outcasts has become a major industry and life force on Earth, with books written by real experts that can explain the finer points of god lore that are unknown to the less diligent.

It's kinda similar in that both are occasionally rebooted to reflect the modern age and their standards. The anti-gay position of fundamentalist Christians will be mostly phased out, or at least turned into a subtler form of prejudice. Just as racism and sexism still exist in the church, but have become more subtle. For example, Christians will say that woman are equal to men, but God has different uses for them. Still sexism, but a more palatable form of sexism.

For comics, though, reboots don't mean that previous comics are completely erased from canon. Instead, they have multiverses now. Each age of super hero takes place in a differently numbered universe, which sometimes interacts with other universes. Both DC and Marvel do this.

[Solomon Zorn]

...metal armor like an 8 year old would draw a robot...

Excellent memory, overall...but, THIS STATEMENT...now your raggin' on JACK KIRBY, man! You don't want me to come through this screen, and SLAP YOU, now do you?

[Hydra009]

I was a Siskel and Ebert fan back in the day.  I was captivated by the format of two critics often disagreeing and sometimes agreeing that a movie was either bad or good.  It seemed innovative at the time.  When they disagreed, I didn't know what to think, which is not very comforting.  So was the movie good or bad?  I didn't know.  If they agreed, I was relieved because then I thought the movie must be good or bad depending on the agreement.  But then I started to notice that they would often give a movie two thumbs up (essentially that's a 100 percent), and it would turn out later that I thought that movie was bad, sometimes even egg sucking bad.  I would question my judgment because I didn't know what to think.  It wasn't a good feeling.  It might have been better just to decide the movie blew chunks and be done with it, but if others disagreed with that, then I would feel bad again, not because people disagreed as much as that I wasn't sure what to think.  The confusion would upset me.

I liked them, too.  And I also found their mixed verdicts to be uncomfortable.

I stopped liking them after a few years.  I got the impression that they consistently thumbs-down sci-fi and fantasy and superhero films, especially the sorts of films that I like.  It felt like they were writing off whole genres just because that's not their cup of tea.  Looking back, that's probably not 100% accurate.  But what is accurate is that I frequently had MAJOR disagreements with them on specific movies:

Ebert (all reviews out of 5 possible stars)
Star Wars: Phantom Menace - 3.5 stars
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - 4 stars
Matrix - 3 stars
Matrix Reloaded - 3.5 stars
Kick-Ass - 1 star
The Passion of the Christ (2004) - 5 stars

Clearly, something is very wrong here.

It would be easier if you had someone tell you what to think.  We see this in teenage peer groups.  People think what the peer group tells them.

I don't blindly follow my peers (or maybe I do and tell myself I don't) but I find peer groups to be the most useful source of input.  That's why I'm here and not on some swanky hollywood review site.  Generally speaking, you guys give me a pretty good impression of what to expect.

I trust someone with a similar background and similar interests over someone who doesn't understand these darn kids and their Star Trails and Iron Mans, doesn't know anything about the source material of the movie, and watches the movie out of obligation rather than interest and so might come into it with the verdict already in hand (not necessarily directed at Siskel and Ebert, but at aged professional reviewers in general)

I'm glad the internet has somewhat balkanized reviewers.  Instead of an all-purpose reviewer, you can go to several reviewers who specialize in different genres.  For example, a critic who specializes in sci-fi movies is more likely to have the expertise to rate a movie fairly accurately than some random suit who doesn't know jack about the movie and probably doesn't even care.

Viva la revolución!

[trdsf]

Eegah! - rotten movie, fantastic live MSTing: even though this movie was done during the Joel era, that was 25 years ago now (oy) and while the riffs are updated, they're just as hilarious.  Joel looks so happy to have MST up and running again, and Jonah and company are worthy successors.  If the Watch Out For Snakes tour comes anywhere near you, run, don't walk to your ticketing outlet.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - Always a little creepy despite being great fun, watching it with the knowledge of the mind games that both star Gene Wilder and director Mel Stuart pulled on the kids to get the reactions they wanted does kick the creepy meter up just a little.

Speaking of creepily fun...

https://vimeo.com/113180815

Yes, exactly what it sounds like, Primus covered the WW&tCF soundtrack and someone went and dubbed their music in.  'Candyman' takes on a WHOLE 'nother spin done this way.

[Munch]

There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination, living here your be free.. if you truly wish to be.

At least when Willie Wonka went into the bizarre and irrational, it lead to something sweet. All religion leads to are dry crackers and rice

[Solomon Zorn]

...I stopped liking them after a few years.  I got the impression that they consistently thumbs-down sci-fi and fantasy and superhero films, especially the sorts of films that I like...

I didn't watch them all that much, but I do remember, oddly enough, that Ebert, for the 1998 movie "season," endorsed Dark City, for "Best Picture"(outstanding movie, in my opinion, as well).

[Solomon Zorn]

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

The video, that you posted, looks a little bit long, for me...but that movie is one, of a handful of movies, that I remember seeing, at the long-gone local theater, as a child(Benji is another).

I still find this song inspirational...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ-uV72pQKI

[Shiranu]

My black panther hype might be even higher than Dunkirk (which is getting great reviews).

[trdsf]

The video, that you posted, looks a little bit long, for me...but that movie is one, of a handful of movies, that I remember seeing, at the long-gone local theater, as a child(Benji is another).

Yeah, it is the whole movie, save the link for when you have time.  :)

I still find this song inspirational...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ-uV72pQKI

I don't mind admitting that I misted up watching that scene in the original.

[SGOS]

I didn't watch them all that much, but I do remember, oddly enough, that Ebert, for the 1998 movie "season," endorsed Dark City, for "Best Picture"(outstanding movie, in my opinion, as well).

Great film.  It mixes fantasy with the sublime.  I loved the down to business inspector.  He's as serious as anything, but the writers named him Bumstead in spite of his demeanor which commands the utmost respect.  The evil doers are entirely unique, and while they are almost comical, you couldn't make them any more creepy. 

I've got another favorite film from about the same time period, probably a few years earlier, The Thirteenth Floor, which is an entirely different plot.  It's about computer technology that so outpaces our present abilities that it has to be centuries ahead of us, but because it was filmed when it was, the programmers are filmed using big heavy monitors and entering commands in DOS.

When I watch one, I end up not having had enough, so I usually watch the other one as soon as possible, and after that I end up wishing I had more movies of that caliber.

[Baruch]

There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination, living here your be free.. if you truly wish to be.

At least when Willie Wonka went into the bizarre and irrational, it lead to something sweet. All religion leads to are dry crackers and rice

No more cruel gruel for Yule ... Oliver!

[caseagainstfaith]

I enjoyed War for the Planet of the Apes.  Wonderful filming!  If you hate 3D, well, then see it in 2D. But, if you occasionally like 3D if it is good quality and effectively used. If that is the case, then consider seeing this one in 3D.  I thought the 3D was well done and effective.

It is certainly a war movie.  The title is apt.

Yet, for me, for whatever reason, it didn't hit me as strongly as the previous two. Maybe it is just my mood, or whatever.  But I didn't feel as engaged in the story this time as much as the previous two.  I still really enjoyed it, but, at least for me, a notch below the previous two.

It has been many years since I saw the original, and Beneath.  To my recollection, the story indicated a nuclear war.  Of course Beneath ended with a nuclear bomb destroying the world.  But, to my recollection, a nuclear war was explained as part of how apes became the masters of the planet.  Yes?  Hopefully it is not much of a spoiler for me to say that we don't see any nuclear war yet.  And while I have read that there are possible plans to continue the series, overall, this feels like a good way to end the series, that no more films are really needed.  But if they did continue the story, then maybe nuclear war could be a part of any remaining movies.

I suppose they could also do a movie where the apes start to enslave the humans, to put the story up to the moment that Heston arrives. Or even show the humans that still talk going underground to set the stage for Beneath.  But, at least at the moment, I'm not feeling like those are good stories to tell, the nuclear war story, the human enslavement story, the humans going underground story.  But, who knows, I could be wrong.  But my vote is to end it on a high note.

[Cavebear]

I thought Dr. Blake was the name Thor took when Odin sent him to Earth to learn humility.

That may well have been the after-story, but I clearly recall the earliest panel when Dr Blake picked up a staff in a cave and accidentally struck it on a wall and became Thor.  Sadly I do not recall the reason or the threat that caused the event.  My recollection is that the staff was just sitting there in the cave.

[trdsf]

Glen or Glenda? - seen it before, but never on the big screen, and while it's an unintentionally hilarious movie due to Ed Wood's... well, let's call them Ed's limitations as a writer, actor and director, it was turned into a special event due to the live commentary from Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff, Classic MST3K's Dr Forrester and TV's Frank.  And unlike classic MST3K, they're not restricted by what they can get past the censor...

If The Mads Are Back comes to your town, run, don't walk, to the appropriate ticketing agent.

[Cavebear]

Glen or Glenda? - seen it before, but never on the big screen, and while it's an unintentionally hilarious movie due to Ed Wood's... well, let's call them Ed's limitations as a writer, actor and director, it was turned into a special event due to the live commentary from Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff, Classic MST3K's Dr Forrester and TV's Frank.  And unlike classic MST3K, they're not restricted by what they can get past the censor...

If The Mads Are Back comes to your town, run, don't walk, to the appropriate ticketing agent.

Interesting.  One of those is a family name and I don't know the person...