Rate the latest movie you've seen.

[Nobody]

Last night I watched Blade Runner 2049. It was even better than the first one! Lots of twists and turns, a lot of action, great everything!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

But no Soliloquy In The Rain?

[Cassia]

Last night I watched Blade Runner 2049. It was even better than the first one! Lots of twists and turns, a lot of action, great everything!

Yeah, def one of the best sequels ever. I went in begrudgingly too ;)

[Cassia]

But no Soliloquy In The Rain?

It was there, silently. Not in the rain but in the snow.

[Nobody]

I just saw a very funny movie with Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, called Bowfinger!
One of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time.
I can't believe I've missed this for so long, but I'm glad I finally came across it. It was a lot of fun to watch! 🤣

[Nobody]

The other day I saw Red, and today I saw the sequel, Red 2. It was even better than the first one, but this time it didn't have Morgan Freeman. Instead it had Anthony Hopkins. A really great cast of characters, lots of action, a plot that rolls along smoothly without ever getting boring, and some very good car chases.
I really wish they could make a third one, but Bruce Willis isn't going to be able to do it.

[Nobody]

I just saw The Postman, and found it to be a very good movie. I'd heard about it a long time ago, but never got around to watching it, but I'm glad I finally did. It was better than I expected, even though the critics apparently didn't care much for it. But who cares what the critics think, anyway?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The other day I saw Red, and today I saw the sequel, Red 2. It was even better than the first one, but this time it didn't have Morgan Freeman. Instead it had Anthony Hopkins. A really great cast of characters, lots of action, a plot that rolls along smoothly without ever getting boring, and some very good car chases.
I really wish they could make a third one, but Bruce Willis isn't going to be able to do it.

The next one should be titled "Better RED than DEAD."

[Blackleaf]

I meant to see this movie in theaters, but I got around to it recently. Why didn't anyone tell me how good this movie is? Ironic that it takes four attempts to do the Fantastic Four right on the big screen. This movie does what I find to be refreshing in super hero media these days, and has the group as an already well established team. Their origin story is briefly mentioned, but it's not that important to the plot. They have a rogues gallery of villains they have history with, and they already know how to work together as a cohesive unit. The characters are well written, and play off each other naturally. I especially appreciate that Johnny Storm isn't treated as a hot headed idiot. He is a bit impulsive in this movie, but he's also really smart in his own way and comes up with his own solutions. He is an astronaut, after all. They don't let just anyone do that.

As for the plot, it's hard to sell it without saying too much. But Galactus has chosen Earth as his next meal, and the Fantastic Four have to figure out a way to save the planet. Their initial solution is pretty clever, and when that plan fails, they pivot and use what they have in a different way. Galactus is a huge and powerful monster, so I wasn't sure how their powers were going to come into play, if at all. If their powers were useless, then they might as well not have them at all. Well, Galactus isn't someone they can kill, but they can definitely slow him down. They ultimately win through a combination of smarts and desperation, which I think was a good way to handle it. It sells the villain as an overwhelming threat, but also doesn't undersell the heroes as helpless weaklings.

If you like superhero movies, I'd definitely recommend giving this one a try.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

If strength was a super power Big Ass Saw Thing would be wearing leotards, yes?

[Hydra009]

I meant to see this movie in theaters, but I got around to it recently. Why didn't anyone tell me how good this movie is?

Iirc, I said I liked it.  The retrofuture theming was 100% on-brand for the FF.  And even though it was a stretch to get Pedro Pascal to play a protective parent, I think they pulled it off. /sarcasm

I especially appreciate that Johnny Storm isn't treated as a hot headed idiot. He is a bit impulsive in this movie, but he's also really smart in his own way and comes up with his own solutions. He is an astronaut, after all. They don't let just anyone do that.

Same.  It's important for a character to have nuances and not get flanderized as one thing all the time.  Johnny might not have the same book smarts as Reed, but he's not an idiot and is often very perceptive and clever.

But Galactus has chosen Earth as his next meal

Imho, that's a huge thing, not just because we like the Earth, but because the Celestials already claimed it in Eternals.

It sells the villain as an overwhelming threat, but also doesn't undersell the heroes as helpless weaklings.

I agree.  I loved that part.  And the part in the space ship fleeing from Galactus was so damn terrifying.  It really sold that this isn't a guy you can manipulate or refuse.  In the rare chances you get to talk to each other, you better choose your words carefully.

And that stinger was perfect.  It didn't tell us much, but we can deduce a lot from it.

[Nobody]

I saw a good heist movie last night, called, appropriately, Heist, with Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito. Lots of interesting twists and turns, kept me guessing right to the end about where the gold was hidden.

[Hydra009]

So I've been watching a retrospective about the Avatar movies because you could literally dangle me out of a window and ask me basic questions about the plot or characters and I wouldn't be able to come with the right answers.

Main character?  Scully?  No wait...that's the X-Files.
His hot alien wife?  Teferi?  No wait...that's Magic the Gathering.
Villain?  Human greed.  About as subtle as a 2x4 there.  Oh, you mean the antagonist?  Quarry?  Quarrel?  Something like that.  And I think the corporate guy was named Selfish.
And don't get me started on macguffin [placeholder name]

You get the idea.  And I'm the guy who obsesses over stuff I like.  Avatar was just "Wow, that looks nice.  Welp, time to forget it forever."  Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it.  But it falls off my brain like a bouncy ball on an uneven countertop.  Hell, one YouTube guy I watched talk about it kept calling it "Pantora", so I know I'm not alone.

Meanwhile, there are people who absolutely love it, and I sort of understand why.  For them, they're immersed in a fantastic alien world for about 3 hours.  The plot is just there to get the characters to the cool floating rocks and the cool spirit tree and the cool whales.  So forget about plot, forget about the characters (they're very forgettable for the most part anyway), and just take in the scenery.  It's really quite nice.

And when Avatar came out, it was groundbreaking in terms of technology and had a very unique aesthetic, but the ideas underpinning it are not exactly groundbreaking.  Gaia hypothesis, pantheism, imperialism, ecocide, etc.  To put it bluntly, if you've seen Pocahontas or Dances With Wolves or Fern Gully or the Last Samurai, you've seen this movie.  These themes have been done to death.

But Hydra, you may ask, isn't that a bit hypocritical?  You watch 20 different variations of the same superhero or mecha story.  That's true, I do.  But typically, those stories aren't told beat-for-beat the same way every time.  I mean, the instant I see Scully start to turn against the marines, I already knew basically every plot point all the way to the end.  Wake me if the humans do a major about-face and take a much more conciliatory position.  Or if the na'vi become too vengeful or somehow lose their spiritual ways.  Otherwise, it's just a shiny retread of old ground, and with very flat and uninteresting characters.

[Blackleaf]

I did see the third movie last week. I liked it. It didn't feel as long as it was to me. As far as the story goes, I do agree with the general consensus that it's the weakest of the three so far, but that doesn't make it bad. I just thought the previous movie was more emotionally impactful. By the end of the third movie, I found it ridiculous how often Sully and Quaritch would team up to save the kids, have this awkward period where it feels too weird to try to kill each other again, then they meet later and try to kill each other again. Quaritch even says himself, "Well, this is awkward." Bringing attention to the trope doesn't make it feel any less repetitive, Cameron! It was kinda funny, but Jesus Christ, if they do the same thing in the fourth movie... Either have Quaritch have a change of heart or go full villain. This in-between stuff is getting old.

I saw the movie with my family, including my black brother-in-law. I heard him laugh every time the Na'vi would say something racist, like "monkey boy" or "pink ass." That kind of thing is not typically directed at white people. lol

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I like the Avatar movies. YMMV. Seeing the new one for my birthday this year. If I live that long.