film

Reeling in the DVDs, II

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More of the movie collection – this is going to go on for quite some time.  And no, I’m not going in super strict order.  I finished the numbers, and now I’m just meandering through the A’s.

300: Rise of an Empire . . . I like Sullivan Stapleton on Blindspot – and Eva Green since Casino Royale – but again with the slow motion!!  I briefly considered timing the amount of slow motion, but that would entail watching it again and I am not prepared to do that at this point in my life.  Thanks to google and the often hilarious Cinema Sins, I know there is at least 30 minutes of slow motion in the first film – and this one feels like more.Handy tip: slow motion does not automatically equal artistry.  But props to the film for working in the word “glabrous.”  (More on my word obsession in other posts.)

*Note – I do collect movies based on comics – one of my things, written some papers about adaptations, etc – and I will be keeping 300 – so since they’re on the same disc, I’ll be keeping 300: RoaE.  Otherwise, might be iffy.  And a personal thanks to the filmmakers since the last two days showcased more man-abs than I’ve seen in years.

Alien – basically summed up as “no one listens to the smart woman who wanted to follow correct quarantine procedure – and everything goes to hell as a result.”  Strangely appropriate for 2020.  I remember that a guy in my class brought the movie book to class one day (they used to put out books of the films with images from the movie as illustrations – I think I have my Star Wars one in a box still – it was a whole Scholastic book fair draw) and it grossed everyone out.  Didn’t see it until years later.

Aladdin – wow, was Robin Williams so funny.  I used to have a VHS tape which had the original version of the opening song (with the “bad” lyrics), but my dvd set does not.  The rug manages to be quaintly human – my favorite is right after “A Whole New World” when Jasmine confronts Aladdin about why he lied about being in the market – Aladdin looks at the rug, who gestures with a tassel in a very human-esque “go on” way and then collapses into a “good grief” posture when Al doesn’t fess up.

Avengers – Okay, I’m a comics junkie.  And a movie junkie.  Of course I dig the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  And this was well done – getting them all together.  I think my favorite bit was Steve handing Nick the $10.  No comment, just passing it over.  My ex said that Natasha’s line, “I don’t see how that’s a party” sounded like me.  I remember in the theatre laughing out loud when Hulk smashed Loki around.

Avengers: Age of Ultron:  “That’s not going away any time soon.”  Yeah, I love Cap.  Almost all the casting, in fact.  That’s part of what made the MCU so good – great casting.  (Not so hot on the Hawkeye casting, but eh.)  I can even go along with changing Ultron to a thing with Tony instead of Hank.  And James Spader is perfect.  But what they did to Quicksilver was practically a crime 

Aquaman – they must have used a real golden for the beginning, because my dog suddenly sat up and stared at the tv.  Aside from that, well, I always feel for Arthur because he often gets the short end of the stick (and I wish I could think of some “fishstick” joke to go here, but my brain is not cooperating at the moment).  It looks impressive.  And it’s better than many other DC movies.  I’m hoping they’ll develop him more with the next one – maybe even go Peter David on him – cheers for the harpoon hand!

Alien V. Predator (AVP):  I admit it, I like this movie.  It’s cheesy but fun.  Mad props for having Lance come in – I’m geek enough to love that blatant pandering.  And I like the franchise combo – makes me want to re-read the Stormwatch issues with Aliens that kicked off the Authority.  The “unrated” version is better in the sense that the story is more complete.  More scenes which tie everything together – it’s only 8 minutes, but it helps.  Though I wonder why they felt they had to cut those 8 minutes.  Maybe some for the gore and the rating?

Ant-Man: We can all agree that Luis is the best part, right?  Maybe tied with just having Paul Rudd as a superhero . . . That meme that was going around – saying Luis should do the “sum up” part for Endgame – I would have been so there for that.  Kind of wish that Micahel Peña had spent his time doing that during quarantine.  

DVDs Don’t Go Bad, Do They?

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I’m a bit of a movie junkie.  Okay, a lot of a movie junkie.  Once during a conversation with a colleague, he was trying to remember the name of a movie – which he described as “the pregnant burger movie.”  I said, “Oh, Home Fries with Luke Wilson and Drew Barrymore?”  He said, “Yes!  You’ve seen it?”  And I replied, “No.”  

Yeah, my brain just retains stuff like that.  Incidentally, I did see it some time after that.  But now I don’t remember much about it other than it was  “the pregnant burger movie.”

With my movie addiction comes a large dvd collection.  The kind where I’ve had to find alternative storage because those plastic cases take up too much space.  It’s those darn cheap bins at Target and Walmart!  The dvds don’t really go “bad” – and a $5 dvd is cheaper than going to the theatre.  So I wind up with a lot of movies.

Thanks to the quarantine, I’ve started to go through my movie collection.  Hopefully there will be some fun surprises as I watch old favorites – and some enjoyable new films.  (Yes, I sometimes pick up a film, intending to watch it later, and then forget about it.  Especially if I buy it near finals.)  Maybe I’ll even find some movies that I don’t think are worth keeping and might actually shrink my collection.

Probably won’t happen since I’m a pack rat and I love bad movies, but that’s probably an issue for a therapist.

I’m trying to go in rough alphabetical order unless a whim takes me.  (How can I not watch Jaws on July 4th?)  I know some people would alphabetize a film that starts with a number under the spelling of that number, but I put the numerical ones first.  Seven  goes under S, but something like 101 Dalmatians goes at the beginning.

Speaking of, I had forgotten many details about 101 Dalmatians.  The twilight bark!  The insane capabilities of Cruella’s car to make it up and down snowy ditches – that’s impressive.  And sheer cuteness of the scene where the puppies are all watching the Thunderbolt show – and they’re all wagging their tails – so I’m a sucker for cartoon puppies – it happens. 

Then there’s The 10th Kingdom.  Underrated in many ways.  Yes, the golden retriever who is a major character was adorable.  But an interesting blend of fairy tale elements and fun.  I still can’t hear “Whiter Shade of Pale” without thinking of the mushrooms singing “cartwheels cross the floor.”  

2 Guns was also fun.  I mean, Denzel could read the phone book out loud and it would be a work of art, so anything with him can make my list.  Throw in Bill Paxton, and it’s worth watching.  Based on a comic book series, though I have not read it, which explains some of the outlandish bits.  

And 300 . . . Michael Fassbender notwithstanding, well, it’s a Snyder film.  Look, I appreciate the ways they tried to use some of the cool bits from the comic – and some of the visuals are amazing.  But geez, the narration?  The overacting?  The endless slo-mo?  Plus I still loathe – and yes, I mean loathe – what they did with the Queen’s character.  I understand that they wanted to have something more for Lena to do, but what they chose . . . Gorgo would have kicked Theron’s ass for even asking for sex.  No way she would have done that.  Does not work with her character at all.

The worst part?  I picked up 300 as a set – two movies on one dvd – so the sequel (which I have avoided until now) is lurking out there, waiting for me to watch it.  But that’s for another night.

Binging Without Fear

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I am a comics nerd. I think I have already established that, but just a note up front in case there’s any confusion. So naturally I have already worked my way through the new Netflix Daredevil series. I’m glad there were only 13 episodes, because I do have to do other work this weekend. I am greatly impressed (even the opening titles were amazing) and very much looking forward to the Jessica Jones and Luke Cage series – and Iron Fist to an extent, but he was never my favorite (couldn’t get past the collar and the slippers).

As for Daredevil, I am thrilled. I like the character and I think there are some great stories to be told with him. The 2003 film did not do him justice. It was not the low point of the recent spate of comics movies (I think that’s a dead heat between Catwoman and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance), but I would put it in the bottom half. I won’t spend much time pulling that one apart because that’s been done before. From annoying missed opportunities (Bullseye specifically says he wants a costume – why doesn’t he get one?) to spots that seem problematic for the plot (why is Matt displaying his fighting skills out in public for a random woman? A blind guy fighting like that is pretty memorable), the film had plenty of problems. However, it also had Michael Clark Duncan, who could make reading a shopping list sound good.

This Daredevil is played by Charlie Cox (wonderful in Stardust), who gives an impressive performance. His scenes with the priest, talking about his responsibilities and the devil inside him, are very well done. I don’t know how much of the physical performance is his – I would presume at least some. But he manages to convey a fair amount with a tilt of his head and body posture when he’s in the black outfit. And I absolutely love the fight scene in the second episode – where he proves that Murdocks don’t go down. It’s a refreshing approach to show the hero having trouble, struggling to do what he needs to do, all the way through the fight. (If you’re a Steven Seagal fan, well, I can’t explain it to you. But it adds depth. Again, if you’re a Steven Seagal fan, I can’t explain that to you.) We assume Matt will make it because he’s the hero – but we admire him more because despite his enhanced senses, he’s so clearly human. And we respond to his humanity, both the good and the bad.

The serial nature of comics can lend itself very well to the equally serial medium of television. While I love many of the big screen versions of comics, the constraints of the medium are just different. And I’m thinking more along the lines of story than effects. For a film, one page of script is roughly equal to one minute of screen time. So even a two hour film might be only 120 pages. That’s shorter than most novels.

13 episodes of about 60 minutes each comes out to around 780 pages. Of course the show can do much more with that! And having the whole series at once relieves the creative team of certain pressures associated with shows these days. Shows used to get a whole season; if they weren’t popular, they wouldn’t be renewed. But now, shows have maybe two or three episodes to deliver ratings. And that’s just not enough time. Not enough time to build characters or even word of mouth.

A complete season at once is like a 13 hour long movie. The writers on Daredevil did not feel the need to give the whole backstory in the first episode because they knew they could reveal it slowly. They knew they had time to develop the characters, build tension, use moments that would be cut for time in a film. The whole episode between Foggy and Matt would have been a single scene in a film – and that would be a shame.

Comics readers love the characters. That’s why we keep reading. A television series can often treat the characters better (I said often – there are no absolutes – don’t bring up Birds of Prey – I’m still upset about that one).   I’m excited to see what else Netflix can do with these characters. If only the seasons could be made faster!

I do have to add one complaint, though. I can understand the reluctance to put him in bright red spandex. Muted or dark red is fine with me. But did the black splotches on his final costume remind anyone else of Deadpool?