That is what I heard reported at the time.
Excellent analysis of Guardians of the Galaxy sub-franchise (major spoilers included):
I went and saw the Inhumans TV show âMovie IMAX showingâ. First off IMAX tickets are 20 dollars a piece so already this film is kind of confusing, paying premium price in the theater for TV (in IMAX) quality content. The TV is probably the most important part of the whole thing. It feels like you are watching a TV show but with really great clarity and great shots of the moon and Hawaii. This leads to some awkward moments in the middle of the âmovieâ when it transitions to ep 2 and has to do some recapping that seems out of place in a movie format. Overall, strong points were Blackbolt, Medusa, while Karnak has some of the funniest moments. Maximus was portrayed decently as well. Weak moments opening scene is really bad (Triton), Crystal is kind of annoying and useless so far, Gorgoran does some very questionable moves (I.E. walks into the Ocean when he clearly canât swimâŚ)
itâs definitely not worth paying 20 dollars a ticket to go see in the theater, but when it comes out, it should be some fun comic TV. Will be interesting if they try and tie it to SHIELD in some way by the end.
The show should be worth watching just to watch Blackbolt a character who canât speak and while he has sign language itâs clearly not the same as ASL navigate Hawaii. (pretty sure Hawaii gave some AWESOME tax breaks to this production).
Also inspired me to read the Inhumans 1998 comic series which was a great read that I highly recommend.
The Avengers: Infinity War Trailer has landed. That is all.
Even though they are not exactly some high brow masterpieces, I am a big fan of Infinity-related Marvel comics. One of the first ever comics I bought was Warlock and the Inifinity Watch #1. I still have it, and I still love it.
That trailer reminds me why I am still not missing anything by not watching any of these underwear pervert movies. Although many of the same fictional characters appear, all the things I actually like about the comics are not there.
The actual story of the Infinity Gauntlet is about a guy (Thanos) who literally worships death. Death is an actual being. Like, sheâs standing right there waving her skeleton hand at you. He wants to make her happy so she will love him back, so he gathers the Infinity gems to become a literal god. He is actually omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, etc. He uses this power to kill half of all living beings in the universe, with a snap of his fingers. Poof, gone! Yet, despite being actual god, he is somehow defeated. Read it to find out how!
The reason I like it is because it is totally insane psychedelic nonsense. I mean, just look at this shit.
Just literal satan, literal death, and a bunch of space gods chillinâ out. Like you do. I mean, there is a part where Spider-Man kicks Thanos in the face, which the movie probably also has. However a teenage kid from Queens NY who got bitten by a spider kicking god in the face means a lot more when you put it in the context of scenes like the one shown above.
Meanwhile the movies just look like generic mediocre American summer blockbuster action movies. And not the good Die Hard or Terminator 2 kind. It looks more like, the Expendables kind. Which is to say, expendable. Just because all the characters are wearing costumes that look like these same characters does not give me any interest whatsoever. Let me know when they finally produce a fucked up acid trip in deep space. Until then Iâll continue to not waste my time.
Considering you havenât seen the movies, you donât actually know what they will end up doing. The first movie is clearly going to be a defense or gathering of the infinity stones and Iâm sure the second half will be the cosmic scale level stuff that is in Infinity Gauntlet.
The other issue is that most of Marvelâs really trippy cosmic stuff is tied up in Fantastic Four rights. Thatâs why Marvel actually had to trade for Ego the Living Planet to appear in Guardians Vol 2. Half of those beings canât actually appear in the Marvel Cinematic universeâŚ
It doesnât matter to me that the story is set in space or has certain characters appearing. I donât like a thing just because of where it is set, or what the graphics are. I like it because itâs a totally fucked up story that could only be written with the aid of some powerful pharmaceuticals. As someone who doesnât take drugs, I really like to live vicariously through others.
Even if they have more movies that go to space, are they going to have a very long court scene where the judge of the universe (who has a detached rotating head with three faces) hears a case between someone with the power of god and the living embodiment of the universe itself?
If they do, let me know, because Iâll be there opening night. If itâs just more punching and kicking and stupid one-liners, but in space, then I have no interest.
Iâd say the run of Dr. Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Thor Ragnarok are as close to acid trip in deep space as youâre going to get with modern mainstream cinema. Not superhero movies, but all of modern mainstream cinema.
Dr. Strange was appropriately weird. I enjoyed it more than I expected.
The ending to Dr. Strange is no less trippy than 2001, it just leads the audience through the trippiness.
Really, if you want an omniscient being killing half the universe and being defeated in a cool way which isnât just an excuse for more punching, watch Dr. Strange. Itâs literally the ending of a movie you are asking for.
To be fair, I think Dr. Strange is really only as trippy as Scott wants it to be in bits and pieces. Most of the movie is still conventionally shot, plotted, and scripted (still well-done IMO, but conventional nonetheless). The only really bold, acid-trip-type visuals and scenes that stand out are when The Ancient One first shows Strange the nature of reality, some of the stuff during the sanctum fights, and the climactic scenes.
I mean, those scenes are really worth seeing and I do think you would appreciate them, Scott. Theyâre the closest the MCU has yet come to actually bringing that Kirby Crackle to life, and like Luke said, the way the climax resolves is exactly the kind of thing youâve been asking for in movies like this. But itâs also probably best to not raise your expectations too high for the rest of the movie. Itâs a normal Marvel movie in most other respects.
Iâd say watch this clip to get an idea of the kind of imagery that does occasionally show up in Dr. Strange, and decide if itâs worth watching an otherwise normal Marvel movie to see the other bits that are like this. And if you decide that itâs not worth it to you? Then hey, at least you got to see that one cool clip.
Thor Ragnarok was everything I hoped it would be. Goofy, Goldblum playing himself, Cate Blanchett being a large ham, and a quality Sam Neill cameo.
I also enjoyed that the scene they filmed in our CBD which shut streets down for about a week had all of 30 seconds of screen time.
Taika Waititi can do no wrong in my book.
I just realized that Josh Brolin is double dipping in the Marvel franchise by playing Cable in Deadpool 2 and as Thanos in Avengers Infinity War. Itâs the year of the Brolin.
Okay so he is not the first but Brolin circumstance is different in that he gets to play a hero and a villian in the same franchise. With both films coming out in the same year.
^ The same MONTH even!
Also, Josh Brolin is covered in prosthetics and CGI in Avengers, so the kiddies wonât even notice itâs the same guy.
Josh Brolinâs head is so rectangular, you could use it as a set square for building cabinetry.
Hey now, what Brolin does in his own home is his own business.