What was the last movie you've seen?

[Luke]

I don't see anything wrong with enjoying the films that take that approach.

Just because the idea of a man who can fly and shoot lazers out of his eyes is silly doesn't warrant a really, really shitty movie. I enjoy awesomely terrible things such as Full House, but Green Lantern, X3, X-Men The Origin of Wolverine Who Wears Boxing Gloves are terrible, awful films with no redeeming qualities.

And the big thing is that the comics don't (always) come off as, well, stupid. The stories are well written, well paced, and not bad to look at. It's fiction, but fiction doesn't have to be a complete mess like the Ghost Rider movies.

I like the fact that some people are going to enjoy what they want to enjoy, and that's perfect. But at some point you have to admit that "It was an awful movie, but I liked it".

[indecks]

I was gonna write up a response defending some of the things in the Green Lantern movie. But I couldn't list one.

UNTIL RIGHT THIS SECOND:

I liked that they had Amanda Waller in the movie. When I saw Angela Bassett (who could totally still play Storm) come out as The Wall, I got excited. I figured "hey they're trying to Nick Fury this piece!" But the rest of the movie was terrible.

Other than that, the film has no redeeming qualities. I hate to say it, but its the truth.

[Retrodude]

Now for a film that gets so much wrong (and so much right), how do you feel about Judge Dredd?

I never read any of the comics, so I can't compare the two, but I did enjoy the film because I thought Stallone was a good choice for that type of character and did a fine job. As for the writing, I thought it was suitably comic-bookish and that's really what I look for in these movies, something that has the feel of the comics, regardless of how well or how poorly the actual adaptation is done.

That said, the one comic book film I truly hate is The Amazing Spider-Man. The cast is okay, no real complaints there, but I felt that Peter Parker was horribly out of character for most of it. The film turned him into an even bigger whiny bitch/arrogent jackass than people claim he was in Spider-Man 3 and yet, somehow, a lot of people said that that was better. I don't get it. In the dinner scene, I actually found myself siding with Captain Stacy. That's bad writing because you're supposed to be on Peter's side and I just couldn't be. I was really disappointed because I know Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves can do better than that and I honestly wonder what went wrong. Fortunately, Sony seems to have realized that they messed up because Orci and Kurtzman are writing the sequel. There may be hope for the series yet.

[indecks]

I am right there with you about Amazing Spider-man. I didn't hate it as much as I expected to when I watched it, but I was irritated that they did another origin story, even though it's a reboot. Also, the suit was balls, and Peter was terrible. John Ralphio did pretty good as SPIDEY, but as Peter, he was terrible. Unfortunately, the same (although opposite) can be said about Tobey MacGuire. He nailed Peter, but the Spidey persona was flat, and lifeless.

[Jrecee]

Giant Slayer's effects look terrible even in commercials. Then again that 1st person spidey scene looked crappy on my computer but pretty cool when I saw the trailer at the theater. But Giant Slayer just looks awful anyway, then again I usually don't like orc/giant/middle ages type fantasy at all.

As far as comic stories being silly, some of them are, but some of them aren't. Thing is, with comics they can suck for a few months or a year, but then someone else comes in and does something great with it. With movies you only get one every 3 or 4 years, so when they blow it that's it. I personally felt that Avengers was the most comic-booky comic book movie ever made. And it was good too. Good dialogue, action, special effects.

[Luke]

I AM THE LAW!

The first Judge was poop, mostly thanks to the supporting characters and that all we got was Sly in a helmet, the new Dredd was overlooked.

My thoughts on Amazing haven't changed since my first screening. "Hey! I'm a web a slinging here!" remains one of my most loathed lines of 2012. Not as bad as Rami's Spider-Man, but Amazing didn't get Parker right. They got Spider-Man right (kinda sort-of) but Parker was off.

That said, I've heard some really good things about Amazing's sequel. Not saying that Universal is scrambling to release another super hero movie in 2014, but there will be stiff competition.

[Retrodude]

Unfortunately, the same (although opposite) can be said about Tobey MacGuire. He nailed Peter, but the Spidey persona was flat, and lifeless.

I would argue that that's precisely why those movies worked. Sam Raimi decided to show what it would actually be like if a hopeless nerd put on a costume and tried to be a superhero. It really makes you root for him and I imagine that's what Lee and Ditko had in mind when they came up with Spidey in the first place. As for Spider-Man 3, I agree that it does seem like a bad movie on the surface. However, dig a little deeper and you realize that if Peter is acting like a whiny emo jerk because of the Symbiote's influence, than the fact that he looks like a total tool to the audience is the entire point. It's a brilliant bit of filmmaking that blurs the line between the world of the film and reality.

[Luke]

It's a brilliant bit of filmmaking that blurs the line between the world of the film and reality.

...*







*(It's hard to say you are at a loss for words without typing anything)

[Retrodude]

Well, I am a Film Studies major, so I guess I just look at some stuff differently because I was trained to. You didn't see what I saw in it. That's fine. Most people didn't.

[Ack]

Well, I am a Film Studies major, so I guess I just look at some stuff differently because I was trained to. You didn't see what I saw in it. That's fine. Most people didn't.

You'd be surprised. Luke has some sort of in with the film industry, I do film and television analysis for Turner Broadcasting and did take radio/television/film courses in college, certain other members here have family in the industry and have spent their lives analyzing it...there's an interesting mix of folks here who have various levels of background and expertise. We look for various things, some of which may be highly different (I spend a lot of time looking at product placement for instance), but we still look for things that may not usually be noticed.