What movies have you seen recently?

[Blzer]

I came home to some terrible news so I'm not in the best mindset to make a long-winded post, which is probably to your liking anyway.


Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

If you're coming off a high from Spider-Man: No Way Home, either from a narrative standpoint or the crowd-pleasing moments that hit left and right, this may not necessarily be the follow-up you're looking for. I'm not a diehard Marvel fan and I haven't read any of the comics, and hell I think No Way Home is the worst of the three Spider-Man movies, so take all of this for a grain of salt if you experience it differently. Maybe some bits will hit more than you in the fan experience way. Personally, I'd say that this movie makes much more of an impact coming off of WandaVision.

By the way, I'm not coining those things as negatives. I don't go into these films hoping for fan service, which you'll definitely get some but I don't think it dominates the main story. While others may have been concerned that Doctor Strange wouldn't be the main character and focal point in his own movie, I'd say we can meet halfway on that. This isn't a Captain America: Civil War situation and this is a very D.S. movie, but at the same time the plot is mainly concerning Wanda and America, where Strange is basically trying to be the main hero of it all. However, I also feel this is a more internal story than it is an overall MCU-impacting story. I can see where things may carry over, but at the same time it didn't feel like what other films are trying to do. I'm glad that they don't feel like they have to do that each time out, so for me that was a good thing.

That being said, this movie had a single beat and drive throughout, which made it hard to separate different acts or natural storytelling arcs. It drives relentlessly without so much a daybreak that I could point to. Although there were visually creative and stunning moments, I'd say so much of the artistry was focused on it that they had to sacrifice overall good/convincing CGI, especially earlier on in the movie. I mean some of it (and the greenscreening) was laughably bad for a 2022 film that cost $200 million. I'm not a big fan of the Doctor Strange fights besides what he can do with dimensions and such, but then they try and get creative in two other ways and they don't really work either (I knew I was going to get magic fights in this movie, but a ****ing music fight?).

Elizabeth Olsen was the absolute knockout in this film. She works both ways so incredibly well, being sweet and charming and then being evil and creepy. Her work as Wanda Maximoff has been nothing but extraordinary, and it continues here. Any time she was on screen, I was captivated. You get some fun moments with other characters playing their parts too, but I can't state enough about Olsen as Wanda here.

The runtime was fitting and fine for this movie. Those thinking they needed to punch in 150 minutes or something like that maybe don't understand the minimalized plotline being followed here. Anyway, there are also two credits scenes. I'm sure others may get a kick out of what they show. I personally left thinking I could've left six minutes earlier. If you want to check out some true bonkers multiverse action, check out Everything Everywhere All At Once.

By the way, if you watch this, see if you can pick apart the Greg Jennings moment.

[RockinDaMike]

Dr Strange In The Multiverse of Madness

I had fun and enjoyed myself but thought the first one was much better.

Definitely worth it for MCU fans but if you aren’t heavily invested in it then no rush.


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[KSUowls]

Spider-Man: No Way Home

I haven't seen what others have said, but I'm sure I'll be in the minority here. This was one of the 2 or 3 worst MCU movies to date. The 10 minutes of Dr. Strange and the copious amounts of fan service via legacy characters were positives, but they could not overcome the atrocious writing around Tom Holland's character that this story presented. I maybe could have forgiven the insanely asinine catalyst for the events of this movie were not for the fact that all of the MCU timeline (and prior events that Peter Parker was involved in) do exist....maybe. Even forgiving that though there were just egregious plot holes that were impossible to not be dumbfounded by.

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by KSUowls

Spider-Man: No Way Home I haven't seen what others have said, but I'm sure I'll be in the minority here. This was one of the 2 or 3 worst MCU movies to date. The 10 minutes of Dr. Strange and the copious amounts of fan service via legacy characters were positives, but they could not overcome the atrocious writing around Tom Holland's character that this story presented. I maybe could have forgiven the insanely asinine catalyst for the events of this movie were not for the fact that all of the MCU timeline (and prior events that Peter Parker was involved in) do exist....maybe. Even forgiving that though there were just egregious plot holes that were impossible to not be dumbfounded by.

I'm not in agreement with ranking, but I am in agreement with writing. The catalyst sucks. I cringe watching that part. I also think while the ending provides a lot of emotional weight, it also carries a lot of illogical baggage.

As I said in my previous post, it's my least favorite of the three MCU Spider-Man films. If fan service is what puts it over the edge for others (or rather what was built before it), then I suppose we value film aspects differently. Hell, even the CGI was unimpressive. It's even worse in the new Doctor Strange film in parts.

[Blzer]

Blacklight

Liam Neeson stars in generic action movie.

This was bad. Really, really bad. The script was cringe, the acting was atrocious, the directing was uninspiring, the ending had no payoff, and it would be a disservice to call it an action movie given the limited, lifeless action that there was.

It's even sad to watch Neeson do action now, where editing has to be his best friend and it loses out. He can't run ten steps without looking like he is treading and tiring. I hoped it could captured some of the greatness that Non-Stop had. Hell, even The Commuter wasn't that bad. It seems he is now taking the Bruce Willis route of showing up, getting a paycheck, and bumping out of there. I don't even know the reason for the title.

I probably should've looked up the RT and IMDb ratings for this before I rented it, but this movie has no redeeming qualities. Stay far away from it.

[KSUowls]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

I came home to some terrible news so I'm not in the best mindset to make a long-winded post, which is probably to your liking anyway. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness If you're coming off a high from Spider-Man: No Way Home, either from a narrative standpoint or the crowd-pleasing moments that hit left and right, this may not necessarily be the follow-up you're looking for. I'm not a diehard Marvel fan and I haven't read any of the comics, and hell I think No Way Home is the worst of the three Spider-Man movies, so take all of this for a grain of salt if you experience it differently. Maybe some bits will hit more than you in the fan experience way. Personally, I'd say that this movie makes much more of an impact coming off of WandaVision. By the way, I'm not coining those things as negatives. I don't go into these films hoping for fan service, which you'll definitely get some but I don't think it dominates the main story. While others may have been concerned that Doctor Strange wouldn't be the main character and focal point in his own movie, I'd say we can meet halfway on that. This isn't a Captain America: Civil War situation and this is a very D.S. movie, but at the same time the plot is mainly concerning Wanda and America, where Strange is basically trying to be the main hero of it all. However, I also feel this is a more internal story than it is an overall MCU-impacting story. I can see where things may carry over, but at the same time it didn't feel like what other films are trying to do. I'm glad that they don't feel like they have to do that each time out, so for me that was a good thing. That being said, this movie had a single beat and drive throughout, which made it hard to separate different acts or natural storytelling arcs. It drives relentlessly without so much a daybreak that I could point to. Although there were visually creative and stunning moments, I'd say so much of the artistry was focused on it that they had to sacrifice overall good/convincing CGI, especially earlier on in the movie. I mean some of it (and the greenscreening) was laughably bad for a 2022 film that cost $200 million. I'm not a big fan of the Doctor Strange fights besides what he can do with dimensions and such, but then they try and get creative in two other ways and they don't really work either (I knew I was going to get magic fights in this movie, but a ****ing music fight?). Elizabeth Olsen was the absolute knockout in this film. She works both ways so incredibly well, being sweet and charming and then being evil and creepy. Her work as Wanda Maximoff has been nothing but extraordinary, and it continues here. Any time she was on screen, I was captivated. You get some fun moments with other characters playing their parts too, but I can't state enough about Olsen as Wanda here.

While I actually do like some of the "Dr. Strange" style CGI, I do agree that the CGI here had issues. There were a few moments that looked like they were from a 1990's B-Movie. It was that bad.

Also in total agreement about Elizabeth Olsen. She really pulled off her role incredibly well, and there was a moment where I was actually cheering for her (though that was largely plot related).

Overall I did find the movie enjoyable, but it's way down the list of Marvel movie rankings for me. One of the things that kind of ruined it for me as the catalyst for events. Similar to my harsh criticism of No Way Home, there is a particular event here that just really turned me off on the movie. It wasn't as bad as what No Way Home featured, and in fact it was fairly tropey as far as these kind of conflicts go. It was just hard to reconcile it with the general setting though.

A few things specific things to add

Spoiler

Apparently every version of Captain Marvel sucks. Maybe they made this one so that the Brie Larson version would be comparatively better?

I could have done without the Wanda vs. Illuminati fight playing out the way it did. Where the 2 male characters are instantly annihilated while Captain Marvel and a girl with a shield put up a pretty decent fight. My wife noticed how cringe that was too. If they really wanted a female vs. female fight then they could have just had it Captain Marvel vs. Wanda after Wanda quickly eliminates the other 3. Doing it the way they did though was very cringe.

The specific critique around plot was when Wong took Wanda to the big evil tower because Wanda threatened to kill like 4 people. So Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, decides to risk the entire multiverse for it? Not to mention the fact that it completely contradicted other parts of the movie. The opening scene has a version of Dr. Strange willing to kill America for the sake of the multi-verse, and even Wong himself tells our Dr. Strange to sacrifice her at the final confrontation....but Wong wasn't willing to sacrifice 4 people earlier to avoid those events? It's a trope that is fairly common in general but....come on.

[Armor and Sword]

Was laid up in bed with a touch of the flu and had some time to watch movies. Some for the first time.

1. Borg vs McEnroe - 4/5 - loved it! HBO Max

2. Old - 2.5/5 - good twist but the journey getting there was meh. HBO Max

3. Margin Call - 2/5 - aged terribly and The Big Short is the film to see for this story. This was hollywood crap honestly despite the strong acting. HBO Max

4. The Rental - 3.5/5 - a really sneaky suspenseful and totally twisted horror film on Netflix

5. Krull - 2.5/5 - It really did not age well and I liked it a lot more when I was 13 HBO Max

6. Saving Private Ryan 5/5 - Nothing more needs to be said - Netflix

7. Choose or Die 1.5/5 - What a dud. Netflix

8. Soapdish - 4/5 - god I love this movie…pure joy as I am a longtime daytime soap fan (yeah a guilty pleasure as I was reared on this crap being born in 1970). Kevin Kline and Sally Fields killed it. I LOL every time I watch it.

9. A Bridge Too Far 4/5 - A classic! HBO Max



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[JayBee74]

Quote: Originally Posted by Armor and Sword

8. Soapdish - 4/5 - god I love this movie…pure joy as I am a longtime daytime soap fan (yeah a guilty pleasure as I was reared on this crap being born in 1970). Kevin Kline and Sally Fields killed it. I LOL every time I watch it.

I'd give Soapdish 4.5/5-Right up there with Tootsie.