The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[Asura]

I bet you like Speed Racer too.

I ****ing love it. Unironically. I think it's fantastic. Though I haven't watched it in years and I'm told it has aged badly due to casting/racism related stuff.

[Neon Ignition]

It'll be interesting to see how the sequel navigates her. Eternals Icarus, though played as less powerful, is more on the nose Supermanesque and it does a decent job of portraying those powers without him feeling too out of sync with the rest of the (massive) cast.

I do wonder if they plan on having her be a badass central focus or more of a kill-all weapon that the Avengers become too dependent on then freak when she's taken out in a future film

[Dogg Thang]

I can't know but I feel like she will retain the role of some distant character who just pops in and out, precisely because of that power balance. Generally they have handled mismatched powers pretty well. Like you can't think too hard about how someone like Black Widow could hold their own on a team with Thor. The only time I really noticed it as an issue wasn't with Captain Marvel but with Vision, who had powers far exceeding most of the Avengers. In the airport fight in Civil War, Vision essentially vanishes for a chunk of that fight. He's just gone. I'm guessing we're not supposed to notice that but he could have ended that fight right at the start and the mismatch would have been all the more apparent had he been visible for most of it.

On her own, though, as you know, I have never bought into the 'overpowered' thing. Superman's greatest antagonist was Lex Luthor. The power mismatch is only an issue if you think every superhero story should be characters punching each other to death. And that's exactly why Man of Steel was so utterly boring. There is much more to any good superhero story than that.

[Neon Ignition]

That reminds me that I'd like future MCU films to start addressing the biggest weakness. A lack of good villains

[Dogg Thang]

That reminds me that I'd like future MCU films to start addressing the biggest weakness. A lack of good villains

Yep, I would reckon that has been a pretty consistent weakness. I feel like Michael Keaton in Spider-Man might be one of the only ones that I felt was strong. Actually Shang-Chi was pretty good in that regard for me. It was that personal connection in both cases that made a difference.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, looking back the only ones where I felt a real impression from the villain was:

-Red Skull (who's very, very quickly squandered)
-Loki (but very quickly hero-ised and largely because of the amount of screen time)
-Thanos (again, mostly because of the screen time and event than anything else)
-Mandarin (because Shang-Chi handled it well)

Past that, Keaton was well done but I hold off a little because generally it was a retread of Green Goblin's arc which now technically counts. Goblin and Doc Ock are great but again it took drafting in existing films into the MCU to raise that bar. It's a shame Marvel doesn't make more of recurring credible threat characters.

[Asura]

That reminds me that I'd like future MCU films to start addressing the biggest weakness. A lack of good villains

Admittedly if they start to work in the X-Men characters, that gives them access to Magneto - who is probably the best Marvel villain of them all.

Though the difficult thing about that is the character was one of the aspects of both previous incarnations that was really well done.

[Dogg Thang]

Also Toad. And the Blob.

[QualityChimp]

Dave Made a Maze (2017 via Prime).
There's a guy, called Dave and he makes a maze.

This was actually a lot of fun. Dave's girlfriend comes home from a weekend away to find he's built a little cardboard labyrinth in their flat. He's lost inside but won't let her tear it down until it's finished. He asks for his gamer friend to come over and help, but before long a bunch of friends and a camera crew are trying to find him and also survive the cardboardy booby traps!

Absolutely crackers and unique. The story is okay, but the main attraction is seeing what room they come up with next and how they make it happen using just cardboard.

It's on Prime, it's about 90 minutes long and it's a lovely little curio.

Silent Running (1972 via The Horror Channel). So I recorded Vivarium on Film 4, but when it started, it turned out to be Cuban Fury, which I wasn't in the mood to watch, but I also saw I had this to watch, which I've not seen for a long time.

The effects have dated quite badly on this and it's quite clearly a lot of model work for all the spaceships. I don't mean I thought it should have really been filmed in space with spaceships, just that you can see it's a model, which breaks the suspension of reality.
The sets are a lot better, though with a suitably generic airline feel to the controls and hangar with a crazy robot pool table in the rec room.

The plot revolves around Earth losing a lot of its plant life so giant biodomes are created and sent to orbit Saturn on American Airlines spaceships, waiting for the signal to return to Earth and begin reseeding. Chief botanist, Lowell spends most of his time in the domes, tending to the plants, whereas the other crew just see it as a job and distance themselves from him.

When the call to return home finally comes, it's not to reseed the planet, it's because American Airlines want to return the ships to commercial service and order the ships to jettison and explode the biodomes. Lowell then has to decide between returning to a dying Earth or protect his biodomes.

It's a classic that has stood the test of time, but it's not perfect. Bruce Dern has to carry a lot of the film, but the silent robots (Huey Dewie and Louie) are surprisingly full of character. Director Trumbull worked on 2001's effects and reused his abandoned idea to fly through Saturn's rings in this. Ultimately, it's a bit one-note with Lowell milling around the domes, going a bit loopy, protective of the nature he's helped cultivate.

[Neon Ignition]

Black Widow
Following the success of Shang-Chi, the missus was open to catching up on one of the other two recent releases she'd skipped. She didn't mind it but fell into the same logic trap many have... why is it so hard to care about ScarJo's character after 10 years but so easy to adore Yelena after 10 minutes?

[Atticus]

I watched Candyman at the weekend. The new one. I hadn't realised but it works as a sequel to the first film, but you don't have to see that. I was expecting something more basic and slashery than the (surprisingly intelligent) original but this carries the torch well, heaping layers into the legend and how he endures. The social commentary is bold but not out of place. It meshes with the source material and it it's not the most dominant factor. That belongs to the story, or the story within the story. If there was one negative it was how soon the finale arrived. I was enjoying the ride and then suddenly I was like, eh, is this the ending, here, now? Bit too abrupt ... which left me feeling a little unfulfilled, but spending a day or two with it in my head it those feelings have subsided. Really enjoyed it. Stunning 4k disc too (it's a very good looking film).

Dave Made a Maze (2017 via Prime).
There's a guy, called Dave and he makes a maze.

Dave Made a Maze is great fun. The cardboard world is brilliant. Loved the Raging Bull skit too

[Atticus]

I watched The Night House (on Disney+) after hearing it crop up in numerous ’best horror of 2021’ lists. I can totally see why as it’s creepy as hell at times and features a fantastic main performance. It’s basically about a grieving widow of a guy who took his own life on the lake they live next to. Straight after his funeral strange things start to happen. There are some great ideas going on with the spooky stuff but I found it a little bit messy at times with one too many plates spinning (not literally). Worth a look though if you’re in the mood for something creepy and you need to feel some value from your D+ sub.

[wakka]

Sounds interesting, I'll check that out. Need to get a month of D+ as my partner wants to watch Shang Chi (which will be a good opportunity for me to see how the IMAX feature works on D+), so I'm on the lookout for other stuff to watch while I've got it.

[Atticus]

Watched Grindhouse in its full format. Works far better as shorter films double-billed with the trailers. PT is great fun ... like an exreme Resident Evil film in all its dumb glory. DP has its highs and lows. The action scenes and everything involving Stuntman Mike is generally fun, the banging music is great, but the bants between the girls, jeez, especially in the second half is still full-on cringe factor. Mark Kermode was right when he said all of the characters talk like Quentin Tarantino. It is tough on the ear. Still, I focussed on the good, of which there is plenty, and had a good time watching.

[Atticus]

A couple of 'Final Cuts' ... starting with The Wicker Man. Absolutely brilliant but tbh I used to love what is considered the butchered studio cut. The final cut makes more sense though ... the story does flow much better. One of my fave soundtracks too ... has me wanting to learn all the songs on guitar. Next up Apocalypse Now. Not only the final cut but the latest 4k master too which is incredible. The film looks and sounds unbelievable. The rumble of the helicopters before you can see them and the napalm attacks sound amazing. Not sure about the final cut cut though. The French plantation part is good material but breaks momentum right when you feel ready to enter the Kurtz compound. There's less time in said compound too, and I missed the daytime bits with Kurtz and Willard. But I'm nitpicking. I came to this film late, maybe only 10 years ago (always avoided watching it as I was never comfortable with the famous sacrifice - I still turn away) but it's an astonishing piece of work.