Controversial Cinema-Related Opinions

[Jinsai]

Glad to see some newer appreciation for Batman Returns. It was criminally underrated for the longest time. Out of all the Batman movies, that one and The Dark Knight are my favorite screen adaptations.

@WorzelG, I can get not wanting something around like that... I gave away my copy of the book The Girl Next Door. It wasn't a bad book at all really, it just disturbed the shit out of me, and I didn't like it sitting on my bookshelf, reminding me of all the disturbing stuff in it. That said, I loved the American Psycho book, and was actually looking for my copy recently so I could reread the "music review" chapters.

[WorzelG]

Glad to see some newer appreciation for Batman Returns. It was criminally underrated for the longest time. Out of all the Batman movies, that one and The Dark Knight are my favorite screen adaptations.

@WorzelG, I can get not wanting something around like that... I gave away my copy of the book The Girl Next Door. It wasn't a bad book at all really, it just disturbed the shit out of me, and I didn't like it sitting on my bookshelf, reminding me of all the disturbing stuff in it. That said, I loved the American Psycho book, and was actually looking for my copy recently so I could reread the "music review" chapters.

I think sometimes it’s just random and weird what will disturb me, I’m quite happy playing survival horror games or setting random people on fire in Tomb Raider. When I first watched the film adaptation of Pet Semetary (even though I had read the book and knew the story) I was drunk and blubbered so much when Gage died we had to abandon watching. Also I know the ending of the modern version of The Mist and I have refused to watch it and so has my husband as it just hits too close to home

[Space Suicide]

Glad to see some newer appreciation for Batman Returns. It was criminally underrated for the longest time. Out of all the Batman movies, that one and The Dark Knight are my favorite screen adaptations.

Returns is my favorite. It’s so goth, gritty and dark. I love the portrayals in the film and the cast. Penguin might be a crime kingpin but the disgusting half man half sea mammal thing DeVito played was an awesome design.

The Catwoman suit in the film is my favorite suit from any filmed portrayal also.

[r_z]

I have a weak spot for Batman Forever for nostalgic reasons as it was the first Batman movie where I was old enough to go see it in a theatre. I remember I had the sticker album, loved the U2 song and played the video game. I also had the audio version of the movie on cassette, where they exchanged Gotham for New York (because of that statue of liberty crash at the beginning, I suspect).

But: Returns is my favorite Batman movie as well. I can't stand Nolan's movies.

[eversonpoe]

I can't stand Nolan's movies.

i love "the dark knight" and i understand that it can't exist without "batman begins" (which is good but not great). but god i cannot stand "the dark knight rises".

[WorzelG]

Why is there such a big competition between the D.C. expanded universe and the Marvel one? It seems to me if you’re into the concept of superheroes you’d probably like a variety of them and find something to enjoy in both universes?

[MrLobster]

Why is there such a big competition between the D.C. expanded universe and the Marvel one? It seems to me if you’re into the concept of superheroes you’d probably like a variety of them and find something to enjoy in both universes?

On the surface, you're quite right... but how each of those products are presented does matter. For example, the many versions of Superman and Spider-Man on film that are available... some of these connect with larger crossover audiences well and some very much feel like it's in own thing. No, that doesn't really address the larger expanded universes of each, and for me personally, the DC stuff after Nolan just didn't connect (but I enjoyed most of Wonder Woman). Would I have liked if DC did something more Marvel has done... I'm not sure but I just know what they have done so far hasn't made me want to pay attention.

[WorzelG]

On the surface, you're quite right... but how each of those products are presented does matter. For example, the many versions of Superman and Spider-Man on film that are available... some of these connect with larger crossover audiences well and some very much feel like it's in own thing. No, that doesn't really address the larger expanded universes of each, and for me personally, the DC stuff after Nolan just didn't connect (but I enjoyed most of Wonder Woman). Would I have liked if DC did something more Marvel has done... I'm not sure but I just know what they have done so far hasn't made me want to pay attention.

There seems to me so far to be a much more widespread pool of directors and writers for the Marvel films, rather than majority Zack Snyder - although I haven't watched any of the DCEU films yet, theyre next on the agenda after the MCU - and at one film per weekend it will take a while to get there!

[eversonpoe]

There seems to me so far to be a much more widespread pool of directors and writers for the Marvel films, rather than majority Zack Snyder - although I haven't watched any of the DCEU films yet, theyre next on the agenda after the MCU - and at one film per weekend it will take a while to get there!

the only ones i've seen were Wonder Woman (loved it, for the most part) & Birds Of Prey (SUUUUUPER fun...like a live-action looney tune with harley standing in for bugs bunny). i have zero investment in the overall "universe" of DC, but they have some badass women and that makes me so happy.

[WorzelG]

the only ones i've seen were Wonder Woman (loved it, for the most part) & Birds Of Prey (SUUUUUPER fun...like a live-action looney tune with harley standing in for bugs bunny). i have zero investment in the overall "universe" of DC, but they have some badass women and that makes me so happy.

i must have seen the trailer for Justice League a million times and the woman who plays Wonder Woman is incredibly hot and seems great in the role, I used to love the Wonder Woman series from the eighties so I am hoping for good things when I get around to it.

[allegate]

...eventually.

[slave2thewage]

For some reason, I decided to get through all of the Resident Evil films. I’d only seen the first two before.

Honestly, I thought the first was the worst. It’s so plodding. At least the others knew when to mindlessly blow shit up to keep your attention (well, maybe not Afterlife).

[blassster]

The Witch, Joker, Bladerunner 2049, and Bly Manor are all fucking garbage.

[eversonpoe]

The Witch, Joker, Bladerunner 2049, and Bly Manor are all fucking garbage.

those takes are so hot i need an ice pack!

having not seen the witch, joker, or more than 2 episodes of bly manor, i can't comment. but i'm bummed you didn't like BR2049. oh well. :/

[blassster]

those takes are so hot i need an ice pack!

having not seen the witch, joker, or more than 2 episodes of bly manor, i can't comment. but i'm bummed you didn't like BR2049. oh well. :/

I'm a nerd and didn't even like the original BR...

Bly isn't the horror I came for, especially after being blown away by season 1 and expecting the same thrill. It mostly turns into a love story drama with stakes I don't care about.

Joker added nothing - excellent performance by The Phoenix as usual, though.

Fuck The Witch, it was so slow and didn't pay off (for me), so I thought it was a waste of my time. I might have even told it to fuck off when it was over.

[allegate]

I'm posting on behalf of a coworker ad his thoughts on Bill & Ted:

I do have a gripe about the Future Utopia, too: in the original, the group of floating special people were both men and women, but in this one they are all women.
Combine that with both children being daughters and they essentially sidelining the title characters in their own movie confirms the "Girl Power!" message that is so ubiquitous in modern art. Like men and boys can never have cool stories to themselves anymore.
It wasn't loud in this movie, but it was there and it irks me. Why can't boys have role models of their own anymore?

Uh, because boys have tons of movies that were made just for them? and still are, for that matter?

[MrLobster]

Many controversial movie opinions in this... but also, he's not wrong. You go Cody...

[allegate]

Christopher Nolan Slams HBO Max as Worst Streaming Service While Calling Out Warner Bros.

Nolan's the one with the controversial opinion here.

[blassster]

Christopher Nolan Slams HBO Max as Worst Streaming Service While Calling Out Warner Bros.

Nolan's the one with the controversial opinion here.

My view, many assumptions:

I think streaming simultaneously makes sense, even for post-covid. With the streaming generation, they're guaranteed monthly cash instead of getting a 50% (or less) cut of a ticket sale when one was to MAYBE decide to go to the theater (overall attendance has been falling for a few years, or so I've read). The theater takes the other 50+%, plus those expensive treats.

Taking the US household average of 2.5 people, they'd net about (9 x 0.5) x 2.5, or $11.25 for a household attendance. If we make an assumption that the usual household sees 1 movie a month, they're grossing a little more money this way with their $14.99 monthly streaming fee. People will pay that, but also still have the option to go to the theater for larger movies if they care about upping the experience. In that case, WB will have the potential to double dip, in a way, if one was a subscriber and still went out to see a WB movie. Also, more investors will show up if HBO manages to convert a lot of people.

Theaters can still be around for those who want that, they'd just cut down to a few screens for bigger movies, instead of having 20-30 screens for every living fart directors want to squeeze out.

[talkingnothing]

i'm interested in hearing more opinions about the warner bros streaming decision.

up until 2020, i mostly went to the theaters to catch the next big blockbuster i was pumped for and couldn't wait for home release, marvel, starwars, james bond, etc. Theaters have come a long way, reclining seats and all, but even still, i find most of their sound systems to be shit, either too loud or not loud enough, muddy dialogue, etc. and the picture quality doesn't even usually match up to my fairly cheap 5 year old 1080p 46" TV. I feel like some them had been getting better lately, but not like watching a bluray for picture quality (i have no experience yet with 4K). also you get idiots making noise, checking their phones, etc at the theater, it's just a hassle.

I would almost always choose to see a movie at home over in a theater. i have good tower stereo speakers (no surround) and an ok 1080 TV. I just don't subscribe to the "you gotta see this on the big screen" thing. i don't really find it more immersive, and frankly sometimes the screen is so big you cant see the whole frame with out swinging your head back and forth like a tennis match.

All this said, i find it odd that the big directors have this love affair with the theater. I mean, i bet christopher nolan has an amazing screening room, that's like being in a theater. Maybe these guys just have a romantic memory of going to the movies 30 years ago vs watching a betamax or vhs on a 13" tube at home and they can't get over that.

Also, maybe what i consider to be a modest, average set up isn't average at all. i mean, if people are watching at home with the sound coming though the awful factory speakers on their flat screen, that admittedly sucks.

[burnmotherfucker!]

i'm interested in hearing more opinions about the warner bros streaming decision.

up until 2020, i mostly went to the theaters to catch the next big blockbuster i was pumped for and couldn't wait for home release, marvel, starwars, james bond, etc. Theaters have come a long way, reclining seats and all, but even still, i find most of their sound systems to be shit, either too loud or not loud enough, muddy dialogue, etc. and the picture quality doesn't even usually match up to my fairly cheap 5 year old 1080p 46" TV. I feel like some them had been getting better lately, but not like watching a bluray for picture quality (i have no experience yet with 4K). also you get idiots making noise, checking their phones, etc at the theater, it's just a hassle.

I would almost always choose to see a movie at home over in a theater. i have good tower stereo speakers (no surround) and an ok 1080 TV. I just don't subscribe to the "you gotta see this on the big screen" thing. i don't really find it more immersive, and frankly sometimes the screen is so big you cant see the whole frame with out swinging your head back and forth like a tennis match.

All this said, i find it odd that the big directors have this love affair with the theater. I mean, i bet christopher nolan has an amazing screening room, that's like being in a theater. Maybe these guys just have a romantic memory of going to the movies 30 years ago vs watching a betamax or vhs on a 13" tube at home and they can't get over that.

Also, maybe what i consider to be a modest, average set up isn't average at all. i mean, if people are watching at home with the sound coming though the awful factory speakers on their flat screen, that admittedly sucks.

I have mixed feelings about all of this. On one level it does seem to me to be just a further degradation of the art form of cinema to throw everything on streaming. On the other hand I think the public at large doesn't, and hasn't, viewed cinema as art for a long time now. Its just mindless entertainment for most. I think my honest answer is that if I could just sit alone in a theatre then I'd prefer that but otherwise I'd prefer watching at home.

Last year alone was pretty hit or miss in terms of actually being able to enjoy a movie in a theatre. For example I saw Joker and this girl a few seats over talked through the entire first hour of the movie. I don't mean she talked off and on, I mean she was spouting bullshit into her dates ear the entire film. I actually went over to them and asked them to leave if they wanted to continue to talk as I had paid money to see the film. And that's not my personality at all to do that sort of thing, it was just that egregious. The guy she was with actually apologized immediately and seemed just as annoyed as I was and thankfully they were quiet after that, but the movie was ruined by then.

Earlier I had gone to see Midsommar which would have been great except that the multiplex played some spider man movie or whatever garbage marvel shat out that week right next door so throughout the entire movie there was the bass from all the loud explosion boom cgi effects and that kinda thing takes you out of the film you're trying to watch. I also saw the Lighthouse, which was great. Probably only 6 other people in the room and a great movie. It wasn't until I saw it again at home later that I really appreciated the cinematography because of how much better the picture was. And that's supposed to be where a theatre shines.

But on the flipside seeing Jordan Peele's Us and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in a packed house with the entire audience actually invested in the films made them a lot of fun.

One thing I will never be on board with though, is food at the cinema. When watching a film, picture and sound are the only things that matter, anything that distracts or detracts from that is sub optimal. So why did anyone ever think it was ok to have every other mouth breather in there slurping up sodas and shaking the ice and crinkling the rapper to the snickers and chewing milk duds and popcorn the whole goddamn time. I mean there was even a dude eating nachos one time for christ sakes. Its a fucking movie and these people sell the loudest foods possible.

At home it may be a smaller screen but the picture is better and I also have some speakers (which is probably more important than picture but most people don't realize it and use stock tv sound) so I'm pretty happy with it. Turn off all the lights and it feels more immersive than the theatre. Its more comfortable, cheaper, and no 30 minutes of adds to watch beforehand.

I mean I don't want to see cinema die, but one way or another its going to move to home viewing. Real film fans will invest in equipment that makes it as enjoyable as possible. The other 95% of people will watch it on their phones. The same people that talk and eat and snore in the theatre anyways and then claim the movie sucked. I for one won't miss them one bit. Maybe the future is theatres become niche and only films fans actually go to them. Maybe that would help the experience some but it does feel like change is already happening and there's no going back.

[WorzelG]

Isn’t the US the ONLY country that can access HBO Max though? But I suppose if a film came out I could get a Now TV subscription but it would be a pain

[Haysey_Draws]

Isn’t the US the ONLY country that can access HBO Max though? But I suppose if a film came out I could get a Now TV subscription but it would be a pain

Yeah, apparently due to how Warner did their international licenses they just don't own their stuff internationally to offer the service...which is fucking nuts when you think about it. That also puts in doubt just how the rest of the world will get the streaming, some might come to NOW but with a large markup, some might not be able to even stream internationally.

I'm firmly of the "i think this is good for the pandemic but utterly sucks for cinema and peoples jobs" A large chunk of WB's films are big screen spectacles that need that vision and sound. With my current home set up i wouldn't even try watching them, it would suck and spoil my experience BUT for the none big blockbuster...this might be a great thing. Smaller indie films will reach a much bigger audience which can only be a good thing. I dunno i guess i'm mixed on this, valid arguments for and against here.

[marodi]

Denis Villeneuve is not happy about that HBO Max thing:

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/d...234851270/amp/

I think we should have a new thread to talk about this. What I thought was brilliant a few days ago is a lot less shiny now. Not because of Denis, but because I've been thinking.

Mmm...

[Space Suicide]

Denis Villeneuve is not happy about that HBO Max thing:

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/d...234851270/amp/

I think we should have a new thread to talk about this. What I thought was brilliant a few days ago is a lot less shiny now. Not because of Denis, but because I've been thinking.

Mmm...

I'm pretty sure that's gonna kill most revenue for that movie. Unfortunate considering it was gonna be a two parter.

[WorzelG]

Denis Villeneuve is not happy about that HBO Max thing:

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/d...234851270/amp/

I think we should have a new thread to talk about this. What I thought was brilliant a few days ago is a lot less shiny now. Not because of Denis, but because I've been thinking.

Mmm...

I have had enough of the whole streaming service competitiveness - who can afford to subscribe to Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Hulu etc all at the same time? Not to mention you physically can't access HBO outside of US (and Canada I presume?)

[talkingnothing]

I started a new thread for Theatrical Release vs Streaming Debate, apologies if there was a better way to split this off.

[MrLobster]

Spielberg should have stuck with creature features. I find he does tension and suspense pretty well but to me, most everything else falls boringly flat.

[WorzelG]

People talking about Suicide Squad in the DC thread made me look up David Ayer and I read something that made me go WTF. Apparently he was supposed to direct a remake of Scarface but was let go as his script was TOO DARK. How the fuck do you get too dark for Scarface? I mean chainsaw dismemberment? Are they going to get Joss Whedon to direct and add some jokey lines to it?

[MrLobster]