Movies You’ve Only Just Watched

Off-Topic
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Just saw Michael Bay’s Ambulance, and I think I might be done with Michael Bay movies. I mean, I’m not a huge fan of his work overall (the only good movie I can think of that he’s done is the Rock, and that’s 26 years ago), but this was touted (at least by some) as Michael Bay being “back”, and he doesn’t even do what he’s supposed to be “good” at, action, particularly well

This is basically one long chase / action sequence.
The problem is, it is almost entirely incoherent. Poor use of shots that establish the geography of the action (where everyone is in relation to everyone else). Weird edits… I swear there’s shot early on that’s edited in a way that makes it look like Jake Gyllenhaal is in a firefight with himself.

I had the same experience watching 6 Underground, only with 6 Underground it was so bad that I couldn’t make myself watch the entire movie.

Ambulance isn’t unwatchable, but it made me go “what the fuck were they thinking?” repeatedly.
It’s not good.

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Michael Bay essentially makes porn films, only showing his super attractive leads in the middle of explosions instead of sex. That’s essentially it for Michael Bay.

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Sorry to hear that. I was hoping AmbuLAnce would be good. If you need some comic relief and want to see a flick that is essentially just one long chase sequence done right, go back in time and watch The Chase with Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson.

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I watched ‘Revolver’ thanks to a friend sharing their Amazon Prime account. :sweat_smile:

It seemed like it went a bit ‘all over the place’ with the cartoon part, and some of the action scenes, then the side panning camera bringing in shots almost like it were a comic book. :man_shrugging: There were moments of what would be the main antagonist having thoughts of what he could do, and what the outcome of those actions could be. Then you’d snap back to what he actual does. Or he has inner dialogues regarding his current situation or past events. And these moments of ‘thoughts’ work out to what must be the main message of the whole movie. It hits at this the hardest towards the end of the movie… Overcoming the Ego. Then you have all these psychologists and maybe a “guru” or 2 explaining stuff…

Having some exposure to such ideas, I was reminded of the concept of “self”. Kinda hard to explain to others and you have to have some personal insight to the idea. It was a pretty good movie given the (okay) plot, actions scenes, and it’s message.

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Venom: Let There Be Carnage

The good–

  • The Eddie/Venom relationship.
    • (i believe the gay headcanon)
  • CGI mostly looked believable.
    • Final fight was easier to track (spiky red vs. smooth black, instead of black puddle vs. grey puddle)
  • The bits of comedy. Venom’s wants and needs.

The bad–

  • To stave off eating human heads, Venom/Eddie raids chicken coops instead :worried: RIP :headstone:
  • So. Many. Plot. Conveniences.
  • Very fast pacing.
  • Cletus’ super weird attachment to Eddie, and being a rushed “tragic” character.
  • Why do these chaotic action scenes love to be set at night?

The totally rad–

  • Venom keeps 2 chickens as pets. Sonny and Cher. :partying_face:
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Wait why wouldn’t that make sense in the story? In the comics Venom and Carnage are progenitor and spawn respectively.

Aside from the uphill battle of making a murderous, sociopathic and nihilistic redneck likable Carnage/Cletus aren’t good characters in the comics either. So at least they got that right.

Because directors with no skill and/or money can hide their mistakes better utilising the low-light conditions.

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I’m talking about Cletus and Eddie though, not Carnage and Venom

There’s just this weird moment near the end of the film, where they try to “justify” or at least sympathetically explain why Cletus is so insane and insanely attached to Eddie. He wanted a friend in Eddie. He also wanted him to publish his life story about his murders and his abuse he suffered as a child (which isn’t an excuse for his behaviour).

It was also a moment that happened so quick, with very little buildup leading to it, as if they had to toss that in there to gain “sympathetic villain” cred.

Just a part of this wild movie that rubbed me the wrong way, that’s all.

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Ugh, I hate how they keep trying to go for a sympathetic angle for the most deprived of characters in fiction these days. Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, Freddy Kruger, Negan, etc.; they all have to have some moment where we feel sorry for what happened to them and see some greater villain behind them who made them what they are. The Joker is one thing, since he doesn’t even remember his past and so doesn’t lean on it, and Carrie at least had the excuse of giving in to her rage only a single time in a single event directly triggered by the actions of others, but a lot of the other repeat offenders have to have these moments of being “relatable” to audiences. I’m so tired of that.

Why does every character have to be relatable? Why can’t we view fictional characters as what they are; people who we are not and never will be, but should aspire to be in the case of heroes and who we should never be for the villains? Why do we have to see ourselves in them, instead of wishing we were them instead of ourselves like it has been for most of the history of fiction? And in the case of villains, why can’t the super bad ones just be bad for the sake of being bad, like the real world villains we’ve been seeing in politics the last few years; just for the hell of it? Does a character like Carnage really need to have a moment where you feel bad for how he became what he is? Why can’t he just be a murderous asshole for the sake of being a murderous asshole because he likes it, and we can either enjoy or hate him on those terms alone?

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As it should that is insanely stupid. Even in the comics Cletus is drawn to Eddie merely because their symbiotes are related and even then Carnage still hates his father. Comic Cletus doesn’t even feel bad for all of his murders either.

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Saw Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I’d give it a 7/10. Fun time, I did like it better than the first Doctor Strange movie.

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:musical_note: BUUH BUH BUH BUM :musical_note: BUUH BUH BUH BUM :musical_note: BUUH BUH BUH BUM :musical_note:…

the batman chk sketch
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Why yes I just saw THE BATMAN what gave you that idea?

Right, thoughts:

Movie had a specific style and theme – neo-noir mystery, thriller – and stuck to it very tightly, but pepperring in a bit of funny moments, thanks to Batman’s stoic nature or random thugs’ over confidence.

Be prepared to see this film in a dark room. Most of it takes place at night, in the rain. They really nailed the anachronistic style of a moden Gotham city, with its very antique architechture, vehicles, but inserting laptops, mobile phones, streaming, etc.

The mystery behind the film is very engaging, and since it’w 3 hours long, it branches off far. There was even one point in the film where I’d forgotten about a major loose end from the previous hour, since this new thread took up so much of the plot.
The Riddler is frightening but also a bit silly, given how seriously he takes himself and his crusade online. Probably the effect that was intended so I enjoyed that

And Robert Pattison. Wow. To think a lot of people were skeptical about his casting. Nope, he did really well here. The costume is imposing, he has a very gruff attittude as Batman, and what little we see of Bruce fits the recluse character.
The Batmobile was especially cool too, given how basic we all thought it would be. It’s reveal scene had me giggling.

The climax was especially tense. Going off of what felt like a resolution to a: “oh shit, this villain really does have an evil master plan”. I also like how it tackes the running theme involving superheroes – do their methods or their power specifically cause others to rise to take the challenge?

Overall, it was a really enjoyable film. Definitely deserved its length given how much mystery and action and how slow it likes to take things – but it’s gripping.
Screw rushing into a cinematic universe, DC. Just make good standalone movies like this.

Fun fact: My family and I were the only ones in the theater last night. Wild. So we didn’t have to whisper to each other lol

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I just saw multiverse of madness

And boy oh boy, samuel ramuel has done it again.
This man never lost touch with how to make a good superhero movie

9/10 that might change to an 8.3/10 after my usual new movie i watched honeymoon period is over

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Just saw The Help (Niceville) and Hidden Figures. Two moving and incridble films historical dramas about black women back in the 60’s.

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Agreed. Saw it last night. He really put a lot of his directing blood into the film. (unique camera fade-ins, extreme close-ups/zooms, rad electric guitar, Bruce Campbell, one or two corny one-liners, etc.)

Felt like they packed a bit too much story into 2 hours (felt like it needed another 30 mins to slow down) but it was fun, had major surprises, and surprisingly spooky and gory at times.

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Totally agree with yer assessment of the movie. It really felt like a raimi movie ratber than an mcu movie. I thought the runtime was fine but more wouldn’t have hurt the film

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I really enjoyed that film as well. That was the year I discovered Jessica Chastain in both this film and in Coriolanus.

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Saw it a few days ago, but didn’t want to post on here to break up the positive reviews with a slightly more negative one. :slight_smile:

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, and it contained a lot of bits I really liked, but I just felt like it was kind of a mess. Especially the third act. I also felt like the Raimi cheese kind of got to be too much for me at times, and other stuff just seemed unintentionally funny/awkward.

The biggest problem I have though, is probably expectations, which in part is on me, but definitely not entirely. For a “multiverse of madness” this felt pretty tame. There’s like two main 'verses that this is set in, and I was just expecting a lot more. A lot of the story beats also felt like they had an air of “made up on the spot”, which always annoys me in movies.

First and second act are quite enjoyable though. The second action set piece is very reminiscent of a sequence in Spider-Man 2. The unexpected brutality of the movie, and the general Raimi-isms were great as well.
Kind of a bold move to have Anson Mount return as Black Bolt, even though the Inhumans series was a dud. I respect it, and since I like Anson Mount I was happy to see him.

I was particularly happy to seeJohn Krasinsky as Reed Richards though I’m kind of worried that his appearance will be a one-off. .

Because the movie feels structurally messy I believe it’s the kind of movie I might like more on rewatching (as I will be prepared for the structure).

I rarely give scores to movies, because I don’t think the experience of a movie can be boiled down to a number, but just to sort of place it for people I’d say this is like a 6.5-7 out of 10 for me.
I didn’t come out of the theater over-the-moon, like with some other Marvel-flicks, but it’s still OK.

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I wouldn’t consider this a negative review, this is balanced and fair view on a movie you had some issues with.

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Tonight I finally got around to watching Spiderman: No Way Home

It was a decent movie, I definitely enjoyed it after taking about a year away from any MCU stuff.

I’m going to see the new Doctor Strange this Saturday and I’ve heard that NWH is sort of required viewing, is there anything else I should catch up on? I saw Wandavision when it aired and haven’t seen What If just yet

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nwh and wandavision are the only required watching for the doctor, what if is only required watching if you wanna go ooh ooh i know who that is during a few scenes.

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