#wolverine being a theater kid just makes sense

[starymoondoodles]

That car fight goes craaaazzzy, the song choice was sooo on purpose

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[praphit]

F9: What does Absurdity even mean anymore?

Due to COVID, I thought that my last movie theater experience was going to be "Bad Boys For Life". I'm happy to say that if I died today, I would be telling souls in Heaven that "F9" was the last movie I saw on the big screen (I'm sure that films are big talking points in the after life).

There weren't too many people there:

There was a woman coughing in the corner; I barely looked at her. I imagined that COVID was mugging her, and I didn't want to be a witness, and so have COVID come after me next. I'm vaxxed, but still I was thinking of ways to distract COVID, so I could enjoy the film. There was an old couple sitting up front (like REALLY OLD... sitting UP FRONT... Ha! that's awesome). Awesome or not, I was going to point them out if COVID came after me. There were two obese kids sitting a few rows behind me that I could also point out, as well as my friend that I was sitting next to... what?? Look, they would ALL want me to escape, so I could bring my "F9" review to the people!

WHAT??!

Let's not talk about my survival skills, let's talk some Vin & the Fam - that's why we're here!

It took a while for me to remember what was going on:

Dom (Vin), Letty (M. Rod), and their... kid? Oh, right, they have a kid, and they moved on to start a new life together. 

Didn't the real mom die or something?? Idk. You've got the British lady from "GOT" still hanging out with Luda and Tyrese. 

(they so crazy)

"Hobbs and Shaw" are still gone 

(making their own money, cuz bleep family!). 

Brian (Paul Walker's character - rip) is apparently, now everyone's babysitter. So, if anyone in this gang, who could die on any of these missions, ever have kids, they can just send them off to Nanny Brian's. 

There's a dude named Mr. Nobody who sometimes sends the gang on secret spy missions.

Oh, and people in the gang keep coming back from the dead. Boom! We're caught up with this absurdity. That's actually what I asked for when I got to the movies 

"Give me one ticket for Absurdity please."

In this batch of the absurd, we find out that Dom has a brother, and he's John Cena (Jakob). 

Charlize Theron is back! That must have been the worst bet that she has ever lost. I consider her to be one of the most underrated and underappreciated actors we've got, but movies like these ain't helping that case.

And who's idea was it to give her that haircut? - part of the bet she lost, I suppose. 

It was reported that the gang goes into space (at least two of them do). 

Annnnd the X-Men Jet is back! 

(it really does look like that - Wolverine included)

Seriously, after the X-Men's last two movies (which were turrrible), I was expecting them to crossover for a fresh start. Why not?? They're a spy team now, that goes to space! - nothing should be off the table.

They're looking for two halves of some... war sphere?? If put back together with some key... idk... John Cena rules the world.

Remember when Vin and the gang were all about street racing, money, survival, and brown booty? - those were simpler times!

But, why discuss the plot? Seriously, why? None of it makes any sense. From Dom and Letty living like Amish people (which is an ending worse than death for action heroes) 

to their convoluted explanation for bringing the latest person back from the dead (which reminds me of a married couple, when the husband or wife get caught watching porn, and try to explain that it was just a pop-up that came out of nowhere. The other spouse gulps their glass of wine and plows forward - that was me with this - gulping my soda (with a lil Henny) saying "whatever guys, let's please just move on".

and  what's going on with the two brother's is a thin thread at best. AND the villain's motivation...  

But, it's foolish to get into that., and take points off. I LOVE THESE MOVIES, but it ain't for the story. Let's grade "F9" by its own standards:

Racing, Action, and Family (they graduated from booty to family):

Racing

They've done the racing in a small city thing before, but this time it's with magnets! - SUPER MAGNETS!

YES!

I loved this! Cars are getting sucked into magnets. They're using them to make people fly away and explode. Which btw, they did my man Francis Ngannou wrong (an mma fighter). There's a fight scene with a giant white dude on top of a speeding vehicle. That giant white dude could have and should have been the role for Francis, instead he's just here to say high, and then blow up. As much as I loved these scenes, they were too quick in some areas. I think if they had slowed some of the magnet stuff down a bit, we could appreciate more what's happening.

Action

M.Rod is legit. 

She needs her own franchise. The only action star I enjoyed more than her was Vin, and that's really due to the absurdity of one scene. Do y'all remember the "Civil War" scene when Captain America has one hand on a building and another pulling back a helicopter?? 

It's the same level of strength needed for what Vin does in some underground chambers. You can see a bit of it in the trailer. He pulls the whole place down, and then, just like in "Civil War", he ends up in the water (but unconscious). Oh, and he does this after beating up like 50 people at once. Ha! I love it! Then, how he is rescued (cuz c'mon, he can't die) is splendidly preposterous, and I mean that is a complimentary way. That scene is perfection.

The only action that bothers me comes from Dom's sister (mia). 

She just doesn't sell being a fighter, but whatever. No disrespect... she’s beautiful, but... her hair might weigh more than the rest of her body.

Apparently, the highest trained fighters (agents) in the world (who have GUNS) never trained for a unskilled, unprepared, 110 lb woman in her 40's with a frying pan.

Family & Corona

Tyrese and Luda are always funny, but their act is growing a bit thin. It actually felt like an act this time around. I think it's time to add another black man in the mix; perhaps one who's older than they are... TRACY MORGAN?

Throw an OG in there and it'll freshen things up again. I do like though how Tyrese is starting to suspect that they might be immortals. I think they should test that theory out in the next movie; maybe have Tyrese break the fourth wall, kinda like Deadpool, as he realizes this is just a dumbass movie.

Dom and Letty's kid... terrible. I'm sorry! This is a bias of mine, but kids normally suck at acting. This one is no exception. Just get an older actor to play the young kid. I'm thinking Ryan Reynolds would have been a good choice.

You may be saying "that's absurd!" - I'm glad that y'all can still tell what that word means, cuz I can't.

The rest of the chemistry family magic is great!

Oh, and Cardi is here, but... barely (for like 30 seconds, if that). 

No rapping, no wapping, no cursing... kind of a waste of Cardi B, if you ask me.

John Cena aka Jakob with a K!

Meh. JC def has charisma, just not in this movie. He doesn't stand out at all. You know?? - The Rock, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, etc all have a presence about them in this franchise. Cena?! what happened, buddy?

There are certain music artists whom you'd think would have a great personality based off their music and how they dress. But, then you meet them, and you realize that they're just normal bozos like you and I (only rich and famous). And normal bozos like you and I, AT TIMES can be boring. You gotta have some flair if you're not going to have personality. Give my man some pink glittery highlights, a face tat, some vampire teeth, and maybe a chainsaw for his left arm or something.

Grade: Good action. The absurdities were funny. I was entertained! Production was great! BUT it's getting tired, my friends. It's the same formula that I've mentioned and then, like always, they're grilling and drinking Corona's in the sun. After nine movies (with at least two more on the way)... I never thought I'd say this, but it's actually not absurd enough. Wait... I seriously can't believe I just said that.

I need to say that again to know it's real.

This movie wasn't absurd.. enough? ENOUGH. IT WASN'T! They're going to need to step it up for the next two.

They were in space, but not for long. They raced for the most part in regular cars (regular for them). . You only brought ONE person back from the dead??! C'mon! We can do better.

I'm giving it an entertaining C+

I like that we saw different younger Dom's (during flashbacks) through time. I think that the next type of vehicle they bust out should be a DeLorean.

Y'all feel me?? TIME TRAVEL, baby! 

Vin and the gang race through time! They can have Tracy Morgan. They'll each have a younger version (or older) of themselves join the group. Cardi B will actually do something this time - maybe turn into a car! 

And maybe Cable shows up as they tie it to Marvel.

Think bigger, Vin!

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 10/1/21: VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE, THE ADDAMS FAMILY II, THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK, TITANE, MAYDAY, THE JESUS MUSIC

Yeah, so I haven’t had the time over the past couple weeks to write a column, and I kind of hate that fact, especially since I’m coming up on a pretty major milestone for me writing a weekly box office column and reviewing movies. In fact, that milestone comes next week! And once again, I’m struggling to get through the movies I was hoping to watch and write about this week, because I’ve been out of town and once again, very busy over the weekend. Let’s see how far I get...

Before we get to this week’s wide releases, I’m excited to say that my local arthouse movie theater, The Metrograph, is finally reopening for in-person screenings, and they’re kicking things off with a 4k restoration of Andrez Zulawski’s 1981 thriller, Possession, starring Sam Neill and Isabell Adjani, who won a Best Actress prize at Cannes for her performance in the film. I actually saw this at the Metrograph a few years back, and Metrograph Pictures, the distribution arm of the company is now distributing the 4k restoration. There’s a lot of exciting things ahead at Metrograph, including an upcoming four-film Clint Eastwood retrospective, including White Hunter, Black Heart (1990) and A Perfect World (1991) this Friday. Also, Lingua Franca director Isabel Sandoval will be showing her fantastic film from 2020 (a rare chance to see it in a theater and I’ll be there!) as well as program a number of other favorites of hers. Sunday will have screenings of Ingmar Berman’s Scenes from a Marriage (1973) in its full four plus hour glory, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993) and John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness (1994).. In other words, the Metrograph is back!

Moving over to the weekend’s three wide releases, the first one up being Sony’s VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (Sony Pictures) with Tom Hardy returning as Eddie Brock aka Venom, joined by Woody Harrelson as the psychotic symbiote, Carnage. Taking over the directing reins is Andy Serkis, who has only directed two other movies, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and Breathe, but as an actor, he’s been heavily involved with the CG VFX (and performance capture) needed to bring the characters in this Marvel anti-hero movie to life.

Venom has been one of Spider-Man’s most popular villains and sometimes allies for quite a few decades now, starting out life as a cool black costume Spider-Man found on a strange planet during the first “Secret Wars,” which turned out to be an alien symbiote that had malicious intentions. Spider-Man got the costume off of him but it then linked up with Eddie Brock, a sad-sack journalist whose emotions drove the alien symbiote to become the Venom we known and (mostly) love, thanks to one Todd McFarlane. Venom continued to play a large part in the Spider-Man books before getting his own comics, and not before a super-villain was created for him in Cletus Kasady, a vicious serial killer whose infection by the symbiote turns him into Carnage. And that’s who Harrelson is playing.

Being a sequel, we do have some basis to go on, although the original Venom movie, released in early October 2018, also arrived at a time when it was only the second time the character of Venom was brought to the big screen -- the first time being Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, in which the character was received without much love as Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And yet, Venom did great, opening with $80.2 million and grossing $213 million domestically, which is more than enough to greenlight a sequel. (It made over double that amount overseas, too.) For comparison, the Wolverine prequel opened with $85 million but at the beginning of summer, so it quickly tailed away with other movies coming out after it. Venom: Let There Be Carnage has to worry about the new James Bond opening a week later, so it very likely could be a one-and-done, opening decently but quickly dropping down as other big movies are released in October (basically one a week).

I’ve already seen the movie, and by the time you read this, reviews will already be up --including my own at Below the Line. Social media reactions seem to not be so bad though, so maybe it’ll get better reviews than its predecessor, which was trashed by critics, receiving only a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But if you look at the fan ratings, they’re higher with 81%, although it’s hard not to be

I’m thinking that bearing COVID in mind and the law of depreciation since the previous movie, Venom: Let There Be Carnage will probably be good for around $50 million this weekend, maybe a little more, but however it’s received, I expect it to drop significantly next week, though a total domestic gross of $135 to 140 million seems reasonable.

Another strong sequel to kick off October is the animated THE ADDAMS FAMILY II (MGM), which is following up the 2019 hit for MGM/UA Releasing with most of the voice cast returning, including Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Finn Wolfhard, as well as Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, and Bette Midler voicing the popular characters from the New Yorker cartoons, a popular ‘60s TV series, and two Barry Sonnenfeld movies from the ‘90s.

The 2019 animated film was a pretty solid hit for the newly-launched UA Releasing, grossing $100 million domestic after a $30.3 million opening, making it one of MGM’s biggest hits since it was restructured under UA and became its own distributor again. Who knows what’s going to happen with Amazon’s plans on buying MGM and whether the latter will remain a distribution wing, but MGM still has a number of movies out this year that likely will be awards contenders. But that doesn’t mean much for The Addams Family II, which will try to get some of those people who paid to see the original movie in theaters back to see the sequel… and if they’re not going to theaters, MGM is once again offering the movie day-and-date on VOD much like they did with last year’s Bill and Ted Face the Music, which opened much earlier in the pandemic (late august, 2020), so it far fewer options to see it in theaters compared to this animated sequel.

It’s highly doubtful that The Addams Family II was going to open anywhere near to $30 million even if there wasn’t a pandemic, and it wasn’t on VOD just because MGM just doesn’t seem to be marketing the movie as well as its predecessor. You can blame COVID if you want, but it’s also the fact they’re distributing the company’s first James Bond movie in six years, No Time To Die, on their own vs. through another distributor, ala the last few Daniel Craig Bonds. But we’ll talk more about that next week, since that’s going to be an important movie to help cover MGM’s expenses for the rest of 2021. (I haven’t had a chance to see this yet, but it’s embargoed until Friday, so wouldn’t be able to get a review into the column regardless.)

We’ve seen quite a few family hits over the past few months even when the movies were already on streaming/VOD, but parents are probably being a bit more careful with kids back in school, many younger kids still not vaccinated, and the Delta variant still not quite under control. Because of those factors, I think The Addams Family II is more likely to do somewhere between $15 and 18 million its opening weekend, maybe more on the lower side.

Third up is THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK (New Line/WB), David Chase’s prequel to his hit HBO series, The Sopranos, which went off the air in 2004 but still finds fans on the new HBO Max streamer. Ironically, this prequel will air on the streamer at the same time as it's getting a theatrical release, which probably won't be a very tough choice for fans.

Chase has reunited with director Alan Taylor, who won a Primetime Emmy for his work on the show in 2007 before moving onto other popular shows like HBO's Game of Thrones. Taylor has had a bit of a rough career in film, though, having directed Marvel Studios’ sequel, Thor: The Dark World, a movie that wasn't received very well although there were rumors that Taylor butted heads with the producers and maybe didn't even finish the movie. He went on to direct Terminator Genesys, which honestly, I can't remember if it was the worst Terminator movie, but it was pretty bad.

What's interesting is that because this is a prequel set in the '70s and '80s, none of the actors from the show appear on it, but it does star Alessandro Nivola, a great actor in one of his meatiest roles for a studio movie. It also introduces Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini (who played Tony Soprano, if you didn't know), playing the teenage Tony, plus it has great roles for the likes of Jon Bernthal (as Tony's father), Vera Farmiga (playing Tony's mother), Corey Stoll (playing the younger "Junior” Soprano), and Lesile Odom Jr, as the Sopranos key adversary, even though he ends up coming across like the good guy of the movie. It also stars Billy Magnussen, who oddly, also has a key role in next week's No Time to Die.

I'm sure there's quite a bit of interest in seeing where Tony came from and to learn more about his family, many who were dead long before the events of the HBO show, but will that be enough to get them into theaters when they already have HBO? I already reviewed the movie for Below the Line, and reviews are generally positive, which might get people more interested in this prequel.

As with most of Warner Bros’ movies this year, Many Saints will also debut on HBO Max and unlike some of the studio’s other 2021 offerings, it will actually make more sense to watch this one on the streamer since that’s how most people watched The Sopranos. That seems like a killer for Many Saints, and it’s likely to keep it opening under $10 million, where it might have done better on a different weekend (like sometime over the last two weeks).

This is what I have this weekend’s top 10 looking like:

1. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Sony) - $50.4 million N/A

2. The Addams Family II (MGM/UA Releasing) - $16.5 million N/A

3. The Many Saints of Newark (New Line/WB) - $9 million N/A

4. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Marvel/Disney) - $7.5 million -44%

5. Dear Evan Hansen (Universal) - $4.1 million -45%

6. Free Guy (20th Century/Disney) - $3.3 million -30%

7. Jungle Cruise (Disney) - $1.1 million -35%

8. Candyman (Universal) - $1.3 million -48%

9. Cry Macho (Warner Bros.) - $1 million -52%

10. Malignant (Warner Bros.) - .7 million -53%

Opening in select cities is French filmmaker Julia (Raw) Ducournau’s TITANE (Neon), the genre thriller that won this year’s coveted Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It stars Agathe Rouselle as a young woman who has an interesting relationship with automobiles, but she also has psychotic tendencies that leaves a trail of bodies behind her. On the run, she decides to pretend she’s the missing son of a fireman (Vincent Lindon), who has been missing for 10 years, and things just get weirder from there.

I honestly wasen’t sure what to expect from this although I do remember walking out of Ducournau’s cannibal movie, Raw, just because it was so gross, even though so many of my colleagues and friends swear by the movie, and this one, for that matter. Sure, there’s a certain “prove it” factor to me watching a movie that wins the Palme D’Or, because it’s very rare that I like the movies that do win that benchmark cinema award.

After a flashback to Agathe’s character Alexia when she was an obstinate young girl kicking the back seat of her father as he’s driving. They crash and she’s forced to get surgery that puts an odd looking piece of metal in her head. Decades later, she seems to be a pseudo-stripper at weird punk rock car show -- I guess they do those things different in France -- and hooking up with a fellow “model” afterwards. Agathe is actually a very popular model/dancer but when one fan gets too grabby, she pulls a knitting needle out of her hair and stabs it through his ear, killing him. Oh, yeah, she then has sex with a car and seemingly gets pregnant, but that only happens later. First, she goes on a bit of a killing spree and then goes on a run and decides that by strapping up her breasts and breaking her nose, she can pass off this fire captain’s son… and it works!

So the second half deals with acting great Vincent Lindon’s absolutely bonkers steroid-addicted man who seems to be sexually attracted to his own son, and most of his fellow firefighters knows that he’s gay but in the closet, but I’m honestly not sure what that matters. He’s a pretty disgusting character whose 70-year-old ass we see way too much of, and even those who might find Rouselle to be quite fetching, there’s a certain point where her nudity is not alluring but quite horrifying.

Oh, and at this time, Alexia (or Adrien, as she’s now going) has also gotten significantly pregnant, but it’s not a normal pregnancy because what should be milk from her breasts seems to some sort of motor oil. That’s because she FUCKED A CAR earlier in the movie!!! What do you expect when you fuck a car and don’t use protection, girlie? The fact Alexia/Adrien is trying to hide the fact she’s a pregnant woman from a station full of men isn’t even particularly disturbing. The part that really got me was when she broke her own nose to pass off as this guy’s son -- I actually had to look away for that part.

Listen I’m no prude, and I think I can handle most things in terms of horror and gore, but Titane just annoyed me, because it felt like Ms Ducournau was doing a lot of what we see more for shock value than to actually drive the story forward. There just doesn’t seem to be much point to any of it, and once the movie gets to the firehouse, and we see her interaction (as a young man) with her “father” and his colleagues, it just gets more grueling.

It’s as if Ducournau had watched a lot of movies by the likes of Cronenberg or David Lynch, or more likely Nicolas Refn or Lars von Trier, and thought, “I could be just as strange and horrific as those men… let’s see what people think of this.” And way too many people fell for it, including the Cannes jury. While I normally would approve of any good body horror movie, especially one with cinematography, score and musical selections as good as this one, I doubt I’d ever want to watch this movie again. And therefore, I don’t think I can recommend this movie to anyone either, at least no one I want to remain my friend.

As far as the movie’s box office, NEON is opening the movie in 562 theaters to build on buzz from various film festivals, including the New York Film Festival earlier this week. I think it should be good for half a million this weekend, although maybe it'll surprise me like NEON's release of Parasite a few years back. I just don't see this getting into the top 10 but maybe just outside it.

And then we have a few more movies that I got screeners for but just couldn’t find the time to watch, but might do so once I finish this verdammt column.

The faith-based doc THE JESUS MUSIC (Lionsgate) by the Erwin Brothers (I Can Only Imagine, I Still Believe) takes a look at the rise of Christian Contemporary Music through artists like Amy Grant and Stryper and everything in between, featuring lots of interviews of the artists’ trials and triumphs. Even though there isn’t much CCM I ever listen to, I’m still kind of curious about this one, since I generally like music docs and this is guaranteed not to be the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll of most of them. I have no idea how wide Lionsgate intends to release this but it certainly can be fairly wide, because the Erwins have delivered at least one giant hit for Lionsgate, and I Still Believe may have been another one if not for the pandemic. It actually opened on March 13, just days before movie theaters shut down across the country, so it's little surprise it only made $7 million domestic. That said, the acts in this one have a lot of fans, and if Lionsgate does release The Jesus Music into 1,000 theaters or so (which is very doable), then I would expect it would make between $1 and 2 million, which would be enough to break into the Top 10.

I haven't seen any of the movies based on Anna Todd's YA romance novels but the third of them, AFTER WE FELL, will play in about 1,311 theaters on Thursday i.e. tonight through Fathom Events, and may or may not continue through the weekend. These movies just kind of show up, and again, having not seen any of them, I'm not sure what kind of audience they have, but this one stars Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes, as well as Stephen Moyer, Mira Sorvino and Arielle Kebbel with Castille Landon directing.

Grace Van Patten (Under the Silver Lake) stars in Karen Cinorre’s action-fantasy film MAYDAY (Magnolia), playing Ana, a young woman who is transported to a “dreamlike and dangerous” coastline where she joins a female army in a never-ending war where women lure men to their deaths. It also stars Mia Goth, Havana Rose Liu, Soko, Théodore Pellerin and Juliette Lewis. It will be in theaters and On Demand this Friday.

The great Tim Blake Nelson stars in Potsy Ponciroli’s action-Western OLD HENRY (Shout! Studios/Hideout) about a widowed farmer and son who take in an injured man with a satchel full of cash only to have to fend off a posse who come after the man, claiming to be the law. Not sure who to trust, the farmer has to use his gun skills to defend his home and the stranger.

The romantic-comedy FALLING FOR FIGARO (IFC Films) is the new movie from Australian filmmaker Ben Lewin (The Sessions), who I’ve interviewed a few times, and he’s a really nice chap. This one stars Danielle Macdonald, Hugh Skinner, and Joanna Lumley, and it will be in theaters and On Demand this Friday. This rom-com is set in the world of opera singing competitions with Macdonald playing Millie, a brilliant young fund manager who decides to chase her dream of being an opera singer in the Scottish Highlands. She begins vocal training lessons with a former opera diva, played by Lumley, where she meets Max, a young man also training for that competition. Could love blossom? This actually sounds like my kind of movie, so I’ll definitely try to watch soon.

The second season of “Welcome to Blumhouse” the horror movie anthology kicks off on Amazon Prime Video on Friday with the first two movies, Maritte Lee Go’s Black as Night (which I’ve seen) and Gigi Saul Guerrero’s Bingo Night (which I haven’t), and actually I’ll have an interview with Ms. Go over at Below the Line possibly later this week. The former stars Ashja Cooper as a teen girl living in Louisiana who has a bad experience with homeless vampires, along with her best friend (Fabrizio Guido).

Also, Antoine Fuqua and Jake Gyllenhaal’s remake of the Danish film THE GUILTY will begin streaming on Netflix starting Friday after premiering at TIFF a few weeks back. I never got around to reviewing it, but it’s pretty good, maybe a little better than the original movie but essentially the same. I’d definitely recommend it if you like Jake, because he’s definitely terrific in it.

Also hitting Netflix this week is Juana Macias' SOUNDS LIKE LOVE (Netflix), a Spanish language romance movie that (guess) I haven't seen!

A few other movies I didn’t get to this week, include:

STOP AND GO (Decal) VAL (Dread) BLUSH (UA Releasing) RUNT (1091 Pictures)

Next week, it’s not time for James Bond, it’s time for James Bond to die… no, wait… there is NO TIME TO DIE! Also, a very, very special anniversary for the Weekend Warrior….

[thehollowprince]

Extremely broad question: What's your overall opinion about the X-men movies produced by 20th Century Fox? How do you think they handled the franchise? Which movies did you like and which ones did you hate?

20th Century Fox made X-Men movies?

Huh?

I must have missed that.

(shifty eyes)

No, in all seriousness, I don't like to associate those films with the X-Men in any capacity. Those were not the X-Men. They were like the MCU version of Peter Parker and his friends: completely original characters that utilize aspects of the beloved characters to draw people in with a sense of nostalgia while delivering this weird Frankenstein creation.

If we get right down to it,, there were so many things wrong with Fox's attempt to do an X-Men franchise that its hard to try and narrow it down, but I'll do my best.

1: Those Aren't the X-Men!

I said already that those aren't really the characters from the comics that we know and love. They're caricatures of those characters, with just enough of their core attributes there to trick people into seeing these movies. There is no sense of actual teamwork or a Found Family dynamic, which is an intriguing part of the X-Men narrative. Instead, the X-Men of these films act more like the MCU Avengers, a bunch of casual superpowered acquaintances who tolerate each other for the sake of a common goal.

There is no sense of any actual teamwork and the few times the team work together, they're a patchwork of fan favorites plucked from various different incarnations of the team. At first glance, that would be fine because the Team has been very unofficial. There is no standing roster of "active X-Men" in the comics, because its not a job for them. Its usually whoever is at the mansion or is nearby at the time and can help because the mutants are in danger. In the movies, they just threw a bunch of fan favorites together and said "Yeah, that's good enough." There's no attempt to utilize the relationships between the different characters because aside from one or two characters (usually Logan/Wolverine and Magneto) the movies treat the other members of the team as side characters. Place fillers who don't actually get any real stories.

And then there's the casting.

Casting non-Jewish actors to play Jewish characters (Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender for Magneto/Ellen Page for Kitty Pryde) and then butchering them even further (Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff instead of Pietro). And I don't know what the fascination is with making Professor Xavier British (Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy).

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of these actors, but they shouldn't have been cast as these characters that have decades worth of history regarding their ethnicities and cultures.

The biggest one right now is probably Henry Zaga in the role of Roberto Da Costa (aka Sunspot) in The New Mutants movie that will never actually hit theaters. While they did improve somewhat over the last time they introduced the character (played by a Mexican actor despite the character being Brazilian), they completely ignored the fact that Roberto is black. He was introduced as Afro-Brazilian and, as you can see, Henry is not.

In their defense, I myself forgot that Berto was black, because the more modern comics portay him as lighter skinned

See?

But that's not an excuse, and they should have done better.

And while we're on the subject of Roberto, I want to talk about his portrayal in Days of Future Past, namely the fact that this...

... wasn't Sunspot. The powers this character exhibits is more indicitive of Sunfire, a completely different Japanese mutant. Its not just him, as they've done this before with characters like Callisto and Kid Omega and Psyloche in the disastrous The Last Stand. That's another point in favor of The New Mutants, in that, af least they managed to get the powers right, from what I've seen in the trailers.

Sadly, I'm still probably going to see The New Mutants when it comes out, because that's my favorite X-Team and with Disney buying Fox, its probably the only time I'll get to see these characters on a big screen in a staring role.

2: The Timeline

If you ever decide to watch these movies (assuming you haven't already), do yourself a favor and don't attempt to follow the timeline. Time does not flow the same way in those movies as it does everywhere else.

It was fine, at first, until we got to Days of Future Past, at which point they dabbled in a form of time-travel that just made everything so much more confusing. Reintroducing characters and erasing others and then there's the fact thst that the prequels encompass three decades and yet none of the characters seem to age at all.

It was confusing as hell, especially when you factor in Logan and Deadpool, neither of which seem to take place in the actual mainline X-Men timeline(s).

It honestly hurts my head just thinking about it.

3. Directors

I'm going to be honest and say I really considered just titling that Bryan Singer, because he's reason enough to hate this franchise.

Just in case you don't know, Bryan Singer is a predator and a pedophile, sexually abusing several underage men working on his films. The original actor that played Pyro was seventeen or eighteen at the time of the filming of the first X-Men movie and he filed a suit against several of Singer's cronies.

Then there's the more recent story that, during the filming of X2, he took some sort of narcotic before filming one day and got Hugh Jackman injured.

This man also refused to allow any of the comics to be in set, because why would you make a movie based on a long-running comic series and have the source material there. That's just crazy. Granted, it wasn't just him, as the director of Dark Phoenix (Simon Kinberg) reportedly said he never even read the comics the story was based on.

It makes it all the more infuriating when people praise his X-Men movies as the superior ones.

And then there's Brett Ratner, who outed an eighteen-year-old Ellen Page on the set of The Last Stand, and was just all around unpleasant to work with.

TL/DR - the X-Men movies are rather like the MCU, in that there are occasional gems and great visuals in an otherwise steaming pile of shit. I loved the future sequences in DoFP, and the invasion of the X-Mansion in X2, but there comes a point where you have to ask yourself if its worth digging through the shit to find the few good things. I don't hate them, but I don't love them either. I just wanted... more.

[warblyzombie]

Why didn't Thor Literal God or Captain Wolverine-Level-Health-Regeneration America do the finger snap instead of Iron Man?

No, Strange, it does not make fucking sense. Stop being a theater kid for a few minutes here.

Marvel, just keep letting Tahiti direct these things. He did Ragnorak and everyone loved it. The Russo brothers did End Game and I am still questioning 99% of their choices.

[naughtygirl286]

so yeah we finally went to see Avengers: Endgame we went to the 6:45pm showing and didn't leave until after 10pm lol We wanted to wait a bit for the excitement over the movie to fade a lil before going but surprisingly there were alot of ppl there for this I'd say 75% of the seats were filled by the time the trailers started. also of course there where collectables which I had already posted here https://naughtygirl286.tumblr.com/post/184613302890/unlike-dc-marvel-does-in-theater-collectables-i and yes being this was going to be a long movie I did go pee before it started lol I also was happy to meet my Spring time goal too I wanted to be wearing more summer clothes by the time I went to this so thankfully it was nice and warm on on Tuesday so I was happily wearing some jean shorts and a crop top lol  

but now as for the movie how am I going to talk about something this huge and this amazing with out spoiling anything?? I'll have to try my best not to.

The movie kinda starts with what happened to Hawkeye during Infinity War similar to How they showed what happened to Ant-Man being they were both on "House Arrest" then after the Hawkeye scene and the Marvel Studio logo the movie actually starts with Tony and Nebula stranded in space and there rescue. Once back on earth the remaining Avengers with the help of Nebula hunt down Thanos in hopes of using the Infinity Gauntlet to undo what Thanos had done but he destroyed the stones leading Thor to do what he should have done at the end of Infinity War. 5 years pass and the world is in chaos and the remaining Avengers have gone their separate ways do to them feeling like they have failed... But not all hope is lost as Ant-Man escapes the quantum realm and meets up with the others and has a plan to use the quantum realm to go back in time and collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos does and bring them to the future and then reverse the Universe breaking Snap! So the Avengers set out to do Whatever It Takes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOsM-DYAEhY) to set things right but this plan What did it cost?  ...Everything.

Personally I thought this movie was amazing!! I have to say I loved pretty much all of it I think I said this with Infinity War also but I have to say it again as a comic book reader this movie is like dreams come to life and seeing everyone on screen together its like being a kid again watching these movies

Now I did have some reservations about the "Time Travel" aspect of the movie. They do throw alot of jokes and references to "Time Travel" movies especially Back to the Future.  Also it was explained in a way that made sense and would not screw up the over all continuity at least I thought. Also them traveling back to certain points in the MCU such as The Battle for New York in the first Avengers movie as well as stuff from Thor:Dark World and the First Guardians of the Galaxy. You got to see certain things from a different perspective and it created some really cool, interesting and funny moments. but I do feel there is some inconsistencies in their "Time Hist"  

Now I'd have to say one of the best parts of the movie was the final showdown with Thanos and his arm near the end of the movie. I'd have to say it was one of the most awesome things That I have seen in a super hero movie and probably in a movie in general. they put everything they had into not just this movie but I feel in this Final Battle sequence. This is what fans have been waiting for and they do get a huge pay off it truly doesn't disappoint.  

from the actors to everyone behind the screen they put everything into this movie and it shows and it is the result off all these years of hard work and it is amazing.

Now where this is called Endgame it does have a feeling of finality to it this is The End now its not the end of Marvel movies but it is the end of the story that started back with Iron Man in 2008. It is the end of the idea "The idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to to fight the battles we never could." Now I felt like it was a bit of a Bittersweet ending were they fought back Thanos and his army but in the process some sacrifices had to be made. So it is a mixture of happy and sad moments.

So in the end the movie is truly impressively amazing and lives up to the hype I think and actually should be watched to fully experience it.  I loved it that is pretty much all that needs to be said.

Also you don't have to stay after the credits there is no scenes to watch but it would be nice to watch the credits tho to show respect for all the work that went into this

The only thing after the credits is when the Marvel logo appears there is the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil which is as many ppl are saying a tribute to the scene in Iron Man 2008 where he builds the MARK 1 suit in the cave (I've heard others say its the sound of Wolverine popping his claws in and out which is stupid being Wolverine popping his claws don't make a clanging sound)

BUT YEAH GO SEE IT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!

[mycasandstarrs]

SPN 10x05: “Fan Fiction”

As a former theatre kid, this episode brings me so much joy.

“Ghost? Meet Winchester.”

There’s our girl!

“Where is the Samulet?”

“Oh! I took it off. It kept hitting me in the lips, and...”

“That amulet is the symbol of the Winchesters' brotherly love!”

!!!

“There is too much drama in the drama department.” Well...yeah.

“Why couldn't they just do ‘Godspell’ like good little skanks ? Instead it's this... awful, unbelievable horror story. Hmm! Like that stuff really happens! Huh, theater is about life, you know? Truth! Truth! Where is the truth in ‘Supernatural’?”

What the fuck kind of teacher is this??

I had a theater teacher who told us theatre was magic. I think she would’ve liked Marie’s play about Supernatural.

There she goes.

“I mean, it's close, but it's just.... It needs a little more grrrr!”

Our very special title card.

“Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot

Our beautiful Baby.

Dean awake before Sam? A shocker.

“A teacher in an all girls school went missing in Flint, Michigan. She was heading to her car, disappeared, and nobody's seen her since.”

“Dean, there's nothing here that even remotely suggest there is a case.”

“There is nothing that even remotely suggest there isn't a case. Boom!”  

Logic!

Hell yes!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Robbie Thompson.

“Ugh, theater kids. Great.”  

“What? I was a theater kid.”

“Barely. You did ‘Our Town’, which was cool. But then, you did that crappy musical.”

“The - ‘Oklahoma’? Hugh Jackman got cast off of ‘Oklahoma’.”

“You ran tech, Wolverine.”

Hey, Techies are just as important as the actors.

They missed the huge banner advertising the show??

hahahaha, their faces are hilarious. Granted, if I found out someone made a musical about my life, I’d be speechless too.

“If there is case... It probably has something to do with all of this.” It has everything to do with it.

Marie, writer/director, and Maeve, the stage manager. (Fun fact: I was a stage manager once! Lots of fun, work, and telling people to shut up and pay attention.)

“I'm Special Agent Smith. This is my partner, Special Agent -”

“Smith.”

“Smith. No relation.”

Again with the joke.

There’s plenty of singing in Supernatural, mostly from you, Dean.

“If there was singing, it would be classic rock. Not this Andrew Floyd Webber crap -”

“Andrew Lloyd Webber.”

Love the improv correction.

Don’t shoot down “Carry on Wayward Son”, Sam.

I also had a theater teacher who went through a divorce.

“Maeve, right? You're the stage manager?”

“And I understudy Jody Mills.”

Maeve would make a great Jody!

“I'm gonna throw up.” Shush, Dean.

“I mean, I gotta say, it's kind of charming. The production value, and the...” I love Sam’s sincere interest tho.

Rule #1: You never touch the props.

“Why are they standing so close together?”

“Um...Reasons.”

“You know they're brothers, right?”

“Well, duh! But... Subtext.”

We gotta address that.

“You know, back when I did tech in school, we had two CD decks-”

“I'm sorry, I have to go sign the delivery.”

Aww Sam! I would love to hear his theater stories.

Pfft, Sam.

“There's no space in Supernatural.” We got close to it...

“Chuck stopped writing after ‘Swan Song’. I just- I couldn't leave it the way that it was! I mean, Dean not hunting anymore, living with Lisa?! Sam, somehow back from Hell, but not with Dean?! So, I wrote my own ending.” I don’t blame her.

“Dean becomes a woman.” Would still wanna see that happen in an episode.

“So, Sam came back from Hell. But without a soul. Then, Cas brought in a bunch of Leviathans from Purgatory. They lost Bobby. And then, Cas and Dean got stuck in Purgatory, Sam hit a dog. They met a prophet named Kevin, they lost him too. Then Sam endured a series of trials, in an attempt to close the gates of Hell. Which nearly cost him his life. Then Dean? Dean became a demon. Knight of Hell, actually.”

S6-9 summary, courtesy of Dean.

Here comes the second hand embarrassment.

“That is some of the worst fan fiction that I've ever heard ! I mean, seriously, I don't know where your friend found this garbage!” Oof, I still don’t like that.

“Siobhan and Kristen are a couple in real life. Although, we do explore the nature of Destiel in act two.”

“Sorry, what?”

“Oh, it's just subtext ! But, then again, you know, you can't spell subtext without.... s-e-x.”

!!!!!

Hi, Jensen.

“I don’t understand.”

“Me either.”

“I mean, shouldn't it be... Deastiel?”

LMAO SAM.

“You know... How about Sastiel? Samstiel?”

“Ok, alright. You know what? You're gonna do that thing, where you just shut the hell up. Forever.”

Teasing brother, Sam.

“This whole musical thing, everything, it's... It's all a coincidence? There is no case?” When is it ever just a coincidence?

“Get in the car!”  

!!!!!!!

BUT HE NEVER DENIED IT THOO, that’s all i’m saying.

“You know, we should've done ‘The Outsiders’, like I told you.”

Maggie’s the second person to get kidnapped.

“I called the cops, and a bunch of adults just told me I have an overactive imagination.” :(

“It is all real. And so are we. I'm Sam Winchester. That's Dean.” NO NO NO.

“You guys are way too old to be Sam or Dean.”

“Oh, yeah!”

“More of a Bobby/Rufus combo? Maybe.”

How old do they think Sam and Dean should be???

“We are what the books called hunters.” They believe that.

First guess: a tulpa.

“How do you kill an idea?”  

“Well, in ‘Hell House’, Sam and Dean burnt the house down, to take out the one tulpa they hunted.”

Correct!

“Gird your loins. It's horrifying.” Umm...okay.

I love how reluctant Marie was to burn her prop.

“What?”

“It’s not a tulpa.”

“Say it one more time, but just a little bit more Arnold--”  

LMAO, Dean.

Calliope.

“According to the lore, Calliope manifests creatures from the story she's tuned into.”

The show must go on.

An understandable panic attack over the possibility of getting eaten.

“Is Marie gonna get eaten?” Shush.

I love when Dean calls people “champ”. It’s so sweet and endearing.

“If Sam and Dean were real, they wouldn't back down from a fight. Especially my sweet, brave, selfless Sam. There's nothing he can't do.” !!!

“I used this for my one-woman ‘Orphan Black’ show, last year.” Marie is the theater kid I would’ve lowkey wanted to be.

“Writer. Director. Actor. I'm gonna Barbra Streisand this bitch.” FUCK YES! KICK IT IN THE ASS!

Dean fixing Stage!Cas’ tie!!

Funny Sam asked for Chuck...

“Oh! I-I, I love him. I do! But honestly, the whole author introducing himself into the narrative thing, it's just not my favorite. I kind of hate the meta stories.” I politely disagree.

“Alright, listen up, girls. Now, you're all here, because you love ‘Supernatural’.”

“Actually, I was hoping we'd do ‘Wicked’.” 

“I want you to get out there, and I want you to stand as close as she wants you to, and I want you to put as much sub and add text, as you possibly can. There is no other road. No other way. No day, but today.”

“Did he just quote ‘Rent’?”

“Not enough to get us into trouble.”

“Ghooooost-facerssss!”  This episode just adds wonderful years to my lifespan.

You know what I would pay to watch this play in full???

“The Road So Far”

There it is.

The misunderstood thumbs up, lmao.

Sam goes bye bye.

Maggie and the teacher.

They were in the school’s basement.

Hello, Calliope.

“I’ll Just Wait Here Then”

Nothing makes me more emotional than seeing the audience fall in love Stage!Cas, much like we did with our real Cas.

“If I have to sit through that second act, one more time... There's robots, and tentacles, and space. I can't even.” lol

“A Single Man Tear”

That exorcism special effect is so wonderful! I can see how they do it now, but from the audience’s POV, it’s absolutely magical.

What the hell did the audience think Dean was doing??

“We're through the looking glass, here, people. Strike the wendigo set, let's prep the priests costumes. And Sarah? Get understudies into hair and makeup.” Maeve’s a A+ stage manager.

“Supernatural has everything. Life. Death. Resurrection. Redemption. But above all, family. All sorts of music you can really tap your toe to. It isn't some meandering piece of genre dreck. It's... epic!” Agreed.

Stage!Dean is a pro if she could keep singing with everything going on in the background.

lmao at the one guy putting on his poncho.

Original Stage!Sam knocks out Calliope.

Understudy!Sam kills the Scarecrow.

Sam kills Calliope. A trifecta of Sam Awesomeness.

RIP Calliope. Killed by Sam.

The audience must be wondering how they managed to do that for years.

“Take a bow, Sammy.” Take a bow too, Dean.

“Thanks for saving my friends.”

“Sure.”

“You know? If you'd cut your hair a little, you'd make a pretty good Dean.”

Aww.

“Dean? You never should've thrown this away.” YYYEEESSS

“It never really worked. And, I don't need a symbol to remind me how I feel about my brother, so...”

“Just take it. Jerk.”

“Bitch.”

I love Dean’s panic when he realizes he just called a teenage girl a “bitch” without meaning to, lmaoo.

Take it away Stage!Winchesters!

Let me tell you, I literally bursted into tears when they started singing “Carry On Wayward Son”. It’s beautifully done.

Starting with Stage!Mary, who is more or less Square 1 of the entire story.

i remember a lot of people being upset about Cas not being part of the family lineup at the end, and I get it. But if Marie was only going off of the first 5 seasons, it makes sense that she didn’t see Cas as family yet because Sam and Dean didn’t see Cas as family yet. They’re just one year shy of that.

BUT the same girl who plays Cas is on stage as Adam, a technical Winchester. You could say Cas took over Adam’s role as the third Winchester “brother” because canonically speaking, that’s the highest title Sam and Dean have given Cas.

“Who's that?”

“Oh, that's Adam. John Winchester's other kid. He's still trapped in the cage, in Hell. With Lucifer.”

lmaooo. Awkward.

“Don’t you cry no more.” I sing, while crying.

I wish he had kept the Samulet Part 2 on there.

A picture perfect ending.

...One last surprise.

“Oh my gosh! But wait... That means that- Calliope came for me or for-?” Did Marie know who he was?

I thought it was Cas...

I legit lost my goddamn mind when I saw him.

A perfect episode of Supernatural, in my most humble opinion.

[smokeybrandreviews]

Out To Pasture

There is a ton of Capeflick content in the last few months. Disney+ has been shilling the completely-adequate-but-sometimes-brilliant, character specific shows and Invincible was brilliantly written but corny as f*ck animation; Both of which dropped after that marathon of dookie water, the Snydercut. It's f*cking May, man. I did not expect this much content. I Should of, it's been a year since we've had any of it, but the sh*t is bordering on overexposure. Today, Jupiter's Legacy drops on Netflix, yet another original take on the Capeflick and i gotta go watch THAT now.

Look, i love superhero sh*t. I was raised on them. My entire generation grew up watching Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman: The Animated Series, and The Adventure of Superman. Easily the best versions of those characters until really recently. Wolverine and the X-Men was dope as f*ck. That show deserved better than what it got. Spectacular Spider-Man has since taken the Webbed crown for me, also killed off by the studio long before it' time. When we all got older and anime became popular, the pioneers chosen to ease normies, not me, into the genre leaned heavily on superhero tropes. Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Sailor Moon proved to be laughably popular, spawning a loyal generation of teenagers who would follow anime for the rest of their lives, even though they gave the people who had been watching the sh*t their entire lives, so much sh*t for watching it before it was “hype”. I'm not mad, you're mad! I'm not even going to get into the direct sub-genre of Cape anime. Tiger and Bunny, My Hero Academia, and One-punch Man, are actual f*cking superhero narratives in the classic sense and they put a lot of our sh*t to shame. Especially One-Punch. That mess is brilliant!

Of course, I'm not tired of Capesh*t. That sizzle reel Marvel dropped for Phase Four triggered me to revisit Endgame and I'd be lying if i said Shang-Chi might get me back into a theater before I'm ready but it just seems like a lot. It feels like the market is too saturated with content. Well, let me correct that; It feels like the market is saturated with bad content. The Marvel stuff is going to take care of itself. They make excellent sh*t over there and people adore the direction they seem to be going. Pure curiosity, alone, will carry their success into at least Phase Five but the reception of their shows has been pretty good. Loki, I think, will be the home run but, as far as the first entries into a new medium, this feels a lot like Phase One. Time will tell but I bet the MCU shows will get to the level of Russo quality sooner than later. Sony can't make a good Spider-Flick to save their live and banking on building a loosely affiliated, MCU adjacent but still independent, universe of Spider-Man characters where Venom takes the lead, seems wildly unfocused. Venom wasn't great, Morbius looks pedestrian, and Woody Harrleson is definitely miscast as Carnage. That's going to be a trainwreck. No one knows what the f*ck DC and WB are even doing. They're corporate structure is ridiculous and it's poisoning potential all over the place. Amazon got their two franchises and, admittedly, they've been excellent so far, but i have concerns for The Boys going forward. It's starting to feel real Walking Dead-ish with the deviations. Invincible, so far, is pretty good. I don't now how long that last, popular shows on smaller streaming services tend to get way too much attention from the Suits which ends up ruining the content. Plus, they REALLY gotta do something about that animation, man. Again, lifelong anime viewer. Amazon needs to do better.

I'm going to watch Jupiter's Legacy because of course i am. It's Capesh*t. I love Capesh*t but i am starting to feel the fatigue set it. Not for Marvel. Never for Marvel. That stuff speaks to what's left of the little kid in me but definitely for everything else. I don't particularly care for Reeve's The Batman and could give a sh*t less about the Flashpoint flick. I've never liked the Snyderverse or it's grimdark, edgelord, view of that world. Batman is dope. A team of Batmen is not. Look at what happened with Dark Nights Metal and all of that nonsense. I'm all about independent Cape stories but can we stop trying to capitalize on the deconstruction motif? Kick-Ass, Chronicle, Mystery Men, Brightburn, and Super so this brilliantly and are already a thing. You can watch each of these right now. Like, does Invincible need to be a show when The Wicked + The Damned still hasn't been adapted? God, i long for a live action Lucifer. She was everything to me. I'm going to watch Jupiter's Legacy because of course i am. It's Capesh*t. But I'm going to watch with a little more cynicism because i can the see corporate strings at play. The genre has become too big, too successful, too fast, and it's burning people out. If these studios aren't careful, that comparison of the Capeflick being the new Western will come true. People will stop watching and the whole goddamn genre will be forced to ride off into the sunset.

[smokeybrand]

Out To Pasture

There is a ton of Capeflick content in the last few months. Disney+ has been shilling the completely-adequate-but-sometimes-brilliant, character specific shows and Invincible was brilliantly written but corny as f*ck animation; Both of which dropped after that marathon of dookie water, the Snydercut. It's f*cking May, man. I did not expect this much content. I Should of, it's been a year since we've had any of it, but the sh*t is bordering on overexposure. Today, Jupiter's Legacy drops on Netflix, yet another original take on the Capeflick and i gotta go watch THAT now.

Look, i love superhero sh*t. I was raised on them. My entire generation grew up watching Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman: The Animated Series, and The Adventure of Superman. Easily the best versions of those characters until really recently. Wolverine and the X-Men was dope as f*ck. That show deserved better than what it got. Spectacular Spider-Man has since taken the Webbed crown for me, also killed off by the studio long before it' time. When we all got older and anime became popular, the pioneers chosen to ease normies, not me, into the genre leaned heavily on superhero tropes. Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Sailor Moon proved to be laughably popular, spawning a loyal generation of teenagers who would follow anime for the rest of their lives, even though they gave the people who had been watching the sh*t their entire lives, so much sh*t for watching it before it was “hype”. I'm not mad, you're mad! I'm not even going to get into the direct sub-genre of Cape anime. Tiger and Bunny, My Hero Academia, and One-punch Man, are actual f*cking superhero narratives in the classic sense and they put a lot of our sh*t to shame. Especially One-Punch. That mess is brilliant!

Of course, I'm not tired of Capesh*t. That sizzle reel Marvel dropped for Phase Four triggered me to revisit Endgame and I'd be lying if i said Shang-Chi might get me back into a theater before I'm ready but it just seems like a lot. It feels like the market is too saturated with content. Well, let me correct that; It feels like the market is saturated with bad content. The Marvel stuff is going to take care of itself. They make excellent sh*t over there and people adore the direction they seem to be going. Pure curiosity, alone, will carry their success into at least Phase Five but the reception of their shows has been pretty good. Loki, I think, will be the home run but, as far as the first entries into a new medium, this feels a lot like Phase One. Time will tell but I bet the MCU shows will get to the level of Russo quality sooner than later. Sony can't make a good Spider-Flick to save their live and banking on building a loosely affiliated, MCU adjacent but still independent, universe of Spider-Man characters where Venom takes the lead, seems wildly unfocused. Venom wasn't great, Morbius looks pedestrian, and Woody Harrleson is definitely miscast as Carnage. That's going to be a trainwreck. No one knows what the f*ck DC and WB are even doing. They're corporate structure is ridiculous and it's poisoning potential all over the place. Amazon got their two franchises and, admittedly, they've been excellent so far, but i have concerns for The Boys going forward. It's starting to feel real Walking Dead-ish with the deviations. Invincible, so far, is pretty good. I don't now how long that last, popular shows on smaller streaming services tend to get way too much attention from the Suits which ends up ruining the content. Plus, they REALLY gotta do something about that animation, man. Again, lifelong anime viewer. Amazon needs to do better.

I'm going to watch Jupiter's Legacy because of course i am. It's Capesh*t. I love Capesh*t but i am starting to feel the fatigue set it. Not for Marvel. Never for Marvel. That stuff speaks to what's left of the little kid in me but definitely for everything else. I don't particularly care for Reeve's The Batman and could give a sh*t less about the Flashpoint flick. I've never liked the Snyderverse or it's grimdark, edgelord, view of that world. Batman is dope. A team of Batmen is not. Look at what happened with Dark Nights Metal and all of that nonsense. I'm all about independent Cape stories but can we stop trying to capitalize on the deconstruction motif? Kick-Ass, Chronicle, Mystery Men, Brightburn, and Super so this brilliantly and are already a thing. You can watch each of these right now. Like, does Invincible need to be a show when The Wicked + The Damned still hasn't been adapted? God, i long for a live action Lucifer. She was everything to me. I'm going to watch Jupiter's Legacy because of course i am. It's Capesh*t. But I'm going to watch with a little more cynicism because i can the see corporate strings at play. The genre has become too big, too successful, too fast, and it's burning people out. If these studios aren't careful, that comparison of the Capeflick being the new Western will come true. People will stop watching and the whole goddamn genre will be forced to ride off into the sunset.

[minaminokyoko]

Deadpool 2: A Spoilertastic Review

One thing I've noticed over the years is that there's nothing like it when someone busts their ass to make a movie happen, defying all odds, and pours their sweat, blood, tears (and in Deadpool's case, probably other fluids we don't want to know about) into a film, and it turns out to reward them spectacularly. Deadpool was one of those movies. They fought for years to get that movie made after the disgraceful ruination of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and they did him justice beyond words. It was magnificently done. It damn near beat Jesus, for fuck's sake. Actual Jesus.

And that's why I think that I don't like the sequel as much.

I've seen this happen many times: a sleeper hit or an unexpected smash hit blockbuster exceeds all expectations and then puts out a sequel. Well, unfortunately, sometimes success can ruin your party. Success, accolades, and the second highest grossing Rated R film of all time had an influence on how Deadpool 2 turned out, if you ask me. When you're not starving for it, then it means that sometimes punchlines don't land as hard, writing is not as tight, and scenes aren't as memorable. When you're already fat and happy, sometimes your motivation to make the best thing ever is just servicable at best.

I think Deadpool 2 is an enjoyable movie, but I think it didn't want it as badly as the first movie did because it was already fat, happy, and satisfied from the first film. Thus, I think they didn't try as hard to make it the best movie possible. It's still a good movie, but it can't compete with the first film by any stretch, and I'll explain why. Naturally, spoiler alert.

Overall Grade: B-/C+

Pros:

-Deadpool himself is still funny, even if the change in tone puts a damper on a lot of the enjoyment.

-Domino shines like a freaking diamond. I already like Zazie Beetz from what I saw of her in FX's show Atlanta, so I was jazzed when they announced her for the role. She still blew my expectations out of the water. I had never seen her do a physical role before, and she absolutely sold me. I'd love to see her in sequels and I sure as hell would watch a spin off of her with other female heroes should the Deadpool franchise get to borrow some X-Men in what I pray will someday be a collaborative effort between Fox and Marvel Studios. She's fantastic. She's the black girl magic the world needs to know about, and I'm so happy studios are coming around realizing black women are a massive untapped source of awesome in superhero films. For the longest time, Storm was all we had and she was weaksauce due to poor writing, but we've slowly been seeing more inclusion with the women of Black Panther and Valkyrie from Ragnarok and now Domino. Keep 'em coming, superhero movies. Black women deserve to conquer the genre and usher in other women of color alongside them.

-The X-Men pulling the door shut gag was top notch. Kudos. Even though it raises some seriously weird questions timeline-wise, I howled. That was brilliantly addressed, especially since it's so painfully obvious in the first movie that Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead were all Fox's stingy ass wanted to spare for poor Mr. Pool.

-Dupinder is still fucking adorable and precious and I'm glad he got his moment of glory.

-The Juggernaut getting a second shot was absolutely fantastic. I was trying to guess who it would be and then I saw that helmet and I might as well have done a fucking T-Rex roar in my seat the theater. Juggernaut was done right. He was everything I dreamt he would be ever since that disappointing appearance in X-Men 3. Don't get me wrong--Vinnie Jones had the right attitude, but making him just regular size guy defeats the whole purpose of why he's so unstoppable and terrifying. He literally ripped Deadpool in half. That was awesome, as was his grudge match with Colossus. I loved them going toe to toe with each other. It was staged extremely well. Aside from Domino, Juggernaut vs. Colossus was by far my favorite part of the film.

-Minor point, but I loved Deadpool's reaction to Yukio. He seemed genuinely charmed by her and vice versa and it was fucking adorable.

-The second post credits scene is exactly as good as the hype made it out to be. Oh God. Deadpool shooting Barakapool several times was just...I mean, it was the cherry on top of the sundae. It was so satisfying, as was the joke about shooting himself before he could star in Green Lantern. I love that Ryan Reynolds was so self aware that he severely fucked up his career from pretty much 2011 until 2016 when he finally got Deadpool made. He knew this movie was the only way he'd ever get himself out of that ditch in his career and I think it was a worthy redemption for sure. I also am so relieved they undid Vanessa's death, because that's the second biggest con I have for this movie as you'll see below.

-The Logan reference had me in stitches. It was so wrong, but so damn funny.

-The "blink and you'll miss it" Brad Pitt cameo. Fuck, that was amazing and surprising, thank you.

-The other "blink and you'll miss it" Alan Tudyk cameo. Holy shit, does Disney really like this man. I am so happy to see Wash getting some really great roles over the years. He's doing great.

Cons:

-Stuffing Vanessa in the Fridge. Alright, so technically I shouldn't put this in here because Deadpool fixes it in the end credits, but it pisses me off that they even attempted this stupid fucking trope. I am tired of dead girlfriends and dead wives used for Mangst. Fucking. Stop. It. Women are just as valid as men as characters. Stop killing them just to make the hero turn Super Saiyan. It's possible to still motivate the male motherfuckers without killing the girl and putting them on a revenge spree or depression spiral. It's lazy writing and all of Hollywood needs to move on from this tired ass trope. Vanessa was extremely charming, funny, and likable in the first Deadpool movie and Morena Baccarin is and has always been so wonderful to enjoy on screen in her dramatic and comedic work. I am so pissed off they Fridged her to only be in five minutes of the fucking movie. They shouldn't have even bothered putting her in the damned credits because she was only there for such a short period. If she didn't have time to film the movie, fine, just find another excuse that she's not there. Morena deserved better, dammit.

-Changing the tone of the film franchise from a screwball comedy to an action "movie" with jokes in it. This is the biggest reason I didn't like this movie as much as the first Deadpool movie. The first Deadpool movie is arguably a parody of superhero films. It takes most of the tropes and pokes fun at them in a really great way, but it also still manages to be a legit, streamlined revenge love story. It strikes the exact tone we'd all been craving ever since we heard the Deadpool movie would be greenlit. So why the fuck is the sequel written like an X-Men movie, but with more jokes? I hate the serious tone. I hate Wade moping over Vanessa, I hate the whole "family" bullshit that is spoken with a straightface somehow despite being almost as unearned as that hideous one in Suicide Squad, I hate Cable moping over his dead family, and I hate the "you're not my friend" bullshit between Wade and the incredibly annoying fat kid whose name I refuse to learn because he irritated me so much. Why did they play it all straightfaced? Why was I expected to see a "real story" in a Deadpool movie? The entire reason I like this franchise and haven't seen an X-Men film (not counting Logan) in years is because the X-Men franchise has completely played itself out. It's substandard acting, substandard writing, it doesn't adapt the comics the way it should, and it's just repetitive. All the movies since First Class are the same. The prequel babies are finally going to just end the charade with Dark Phoenix and I think most of the world is relieved because they have nothing creative or new to offer any longer. Deadpool 2 reeks of that same kind of lame writing and execution. There was no reason to switch the format. I pray to God they go back to formula in X-Force or Deadpool 3. I hate this change with a passion.

-The fat kid is annoying as hell. There, I said it. Fight me if you must. He had no sense of self preservation and the movie didn't go into enough detail to make me care about him in spite of how teeth-grindingly stupid and obnoxious he was. He was written like a twelve year old boy writing fanfiction about himself and Deadpool becoming best buds and fighting crime together. No. No, stop that right now. I don't want any part of it. I get the "he's just a kid" thing but the kid is an asshole and even if he's somehow justified, he's a pain in the ass to watch from start to finish. I also think the kid needs some acting lessons, but that's not entirely his fault. I think he probably just wasn't directed all that well, so I can let that slide, but I did notice it during the film.

-I don't care about Cable. Cable and Deadpool are righteous as fuck in the comics. In this movie? No. This is why I was against Josh Brolin being cast. He has no chemistry with Ryan Reynolds. I get that Cable is the Straight Man to Deadpool's Kooky Man, but they don't gel together at all. I never sensed any bonding even though they are setting it up for franchise reasons. He's just not interesting and he plays the role as blandly as he does all his boring ass biopics and other bland roles. Brolin worked much better as Thanos than he did Cable. Thanos had weight and was threatening and even though his reasoning was utter bullshit, at least he was convicted. Brolin's Cable just felt like some stock stoic character thrown in there as the minor antagonist. I still would have much preferred Liam Neeson or Ron Perlman, and yes, I understand both of them are getting up there in years, but we've seen older actors still kick ass and be in shape, so I think they could have done it if they were offered the part. Brolin is still one of the most drab actors I've ever seen and he just doesn't pull the role off, imo.

-The bait and switch with the X-Force team. This is a minor note for me, as I don't have a background with these characters so it's more for people who know these characters elsewhere and were expecting an awesome team up movie but that's not what they got. Are the gruesome deaths kind of funny? Yeah, sure, but it's kind of rude to advertise them that way and they're not in the movie. I just frown on it. It's not a dealbreaker. It was just disappointing in the same way that the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 was disappointing. I expected more and I got a farce instead.

-I don't know if it's for legal reasons, but it drives me crazy that we still didn't get a Wolverine cameo from Hugh Jackman. I mean, we finally got Deadpool--the real one--and I just want him and Ryan to share the screen again because even though Origins was trash, they were magical together.

-Deadpool's last "death" went on way too long. I was checking my watch. They really should have pulled the trigger on that gag. It was exhausting and not very funny to begin with.

-Negasonic Teenage Warhead getting reduced to an extra pissed me off. She was so great in the first movie and she doesn't get to do anything here and it irks the hell out of me.

-Aside from The Juggernaut vs. Colossus, the fight scenes weren't nearly as creative, cinematic, or memorable as the first film. I've already forgotten everything except the JvC fight and the convoy rescue scene. That's a bummer for me.

-The movie just isn't as funny as the first film. It's not the same kind of tight writing with excellent punchlines and ridiculous phrases that made me remember them. It's been a few days and I don't recall any insults or lines that stuck with me. I'll likely be seeing it again for Memorial Day weekend, but I still don't expect I'll remember much from it.

-Nitpick: God, I still want to push T.J. Miller off a bridge. He is not funny and never has been.

-Nitpick: WHY HAS NO ONE MADE A FIREFLY JOKE ABOUT MORENA BACCARIN AFTER TWO FUCKING DEADPOOL MOVIES?! COME ON. DEADPOOL IS ALL ABOUT NERD REFERENCES. GODDAMMIT MENTION FIREFLY YOU FUCKS. (But to be fair, this could also be because Fox is the reason we only got one season and so maybe they were forbidden from doing it. Still. That pisses me the hell off. Especially since Ryan Reynolds and Nathan Fillion (1) have both played the Green Lantern and (2) were on a sitcom with each other for years. Inexcusable.)

I'm sorry it sounds like I'm shitting on the movie. Really, it's enjoyable. I just think that maybe the first movie set the bar so high I can't help but feel frustrated by the sequel not trying as hard. Based on the online reactions, I'm on my own so...take that as you will, friends. Kyo out.

[eggheadsguidetorunning]

Top Ten Films I saw in @)!&

10.) Last Jedi/It

                I enjoyed Last Jedi, I think half of you will agree with that statement and another half will not where as the rest will not have even read this. But I did enjoy Last Jedi the use of space battles were awesome, the fight seen with Luke amazing, Lelia surviving in space weird. And that is the kind of problem with this Star Wars movie there are many great scenes but then there is something just off, something that doesn’t work at all. In the end this has just enough great moments to keep me loving it and interested in the next Star Wars, which I was probably already invested in.

                Considering another movie It was a enjoyable movie. It, that being the pronoun not the title although I guess it could still be the title I mean it works both ways NO focus Matt, had some great moments of friendship and development of strikingly relatable characters. At the same time there were for almost every two great moments some moments that were simply off. Like really, why did you decide to give a chain and a wife beater to the abusive dad after he decides to chase his daughter I mean at this point we already no he is bad news and is that also supposed to show that anyone who wears a chain and wife beater is suspicious for being abusive? I mean it is really nitpicking but that one net pick left me confused, I don’t know why it just did, for the rest of the movie which is still enjoyable. And since that is more of a personal scene that isn't right for the rest how about that rock throwing scene wasn't that odd?

In the end both these movies present a similar problem they are both here for nostalgic appeal and while being good enjoyable movies are weighed down by the few poor decisions they make. And if you don’t like a tie the bad news is that Star Wars wins the war of nostalgia for me because I still have memorized the sequence for the battle of yavin IV.

 9.) Captain Underpants

This movie confused me when I first saw it but the good kind of confusion. I was in awe of the fact that this movie, of all the Hollywood movies that were adapted from comics or books, this one this one for some reason decided to follow its source material precisely. Even with what it added seemed like something that could easily be added to and make sense in the source material. Like I could totally see George and Harold doing a parody of Handles Messiah when they found out a villain had a funny name. But this still led me to a question why Captain Underpants? As much as I enjoyed this movie why did this get a proper adaptation? I thought maybe I was reaching when I watched a critic I like talking about this movie and halfway through he stopped talking about Captain Underpants and started talking about the cartoons he drew as a kid. I having no artistic talent and barely even being able to write well, you are probably already tired of all the gramma mistakes I have made through this piece you probably also hate my jokes, didn’t write or make any comics as a kid but I did read many of the comics my friends and siblings wrote. That is when I realized the movie perfectly shows that feeling and care of being young and doodling stories in your notes and I put it here for that, also it is funny movie.

8.) Wonder Woman

This movie is awesome even with the beard helmet I love its use of Christiania to help get across the story of Greek mythology to a wider audience. I love the characteristics of Wonder Woman doing everything to help and the badass fighting scenes I love that the people without super powers help and make a difference. I don’t know what else to say without out spoiling it if you haven’t seen it see it this is the movie that will hopefully lead to more blockbusters with female heroes. Jeeze, it’s almost like if you make the movie more about the hero instead of the gender of the hero then it becomes a better movie who would have thunk it. Talking to you 1990s.

7.) Murder on Orient Express

The thing is these are turning into reviews and the general thought for this top ten should be: DUDE!!! you need to see these movies! And should say only that letting you go in cold I bring that up because putting a mystery on your list is not a good thing because there isn’t much for me to talk about because I don’t want to spoil anything. That being said I can say the portrayal Hercule Pirot is amazing the character is interesting in a manner I haven’t seen in a while. No not Sherlock Holmes interesting his own kind of interesting, I really hope we see more of him in the future.

6.) Disaster Artist

You’re tearing me apart James Franco. I mean this movie is still great despite the character of the actor playing a person with questionable character. In fairness this is a movie that needs to be seen in honor of not the room or tommy but because of Greg Sestero. This guy puts up with so much shit and forgives so much he needs to be a role model. Man he is such a good person just for putting up with this, go see this movie.

5.) Coco

Coco is a story about family and the necessity of letting family be free of family. It is about tradition and about not letting traditions being tie one down and most importantly is about forgiveness. It is a complex use of more contradicting themes that I am not smart enough to notice, but it still feels lacking. I think what weights it down to only number five on this list is that it seems too Disney it seems like the villain is too evil the ending is too happy, even for Pixar which had a string of bitter sweet endings. Of course the sweet ending makes sense I guess since that same problem hit Zootopia last year. In the end many won't care about that as Coco is still a stellar movie and the way it uses Hispanic culture is mesmerizing. 

4.) The Shape of Water

This movie is great. Like it is great fun I can't think of a award chasing movie that is as much fun as this one is. Everything happens in this movie EVERYTHING. Here's a slight list of things that happen in this movie, still trying to keep spoilers to a minimum so bare with the brevity, this movie is a comedy, an intrigue plot movie, a romance, a realism movie, a fantasy, a freaking musical, and a scam artist movie Ocean Eleven style. When I think of this movie I can only think of how fun it is which is why I want this movie to be the movie that wins gold for sucking Hollywoods cock if anything has to win it. I know Post will win but I want this one to.

3.) Guardians of the Galaxy 2

Maybe this should be four but naaahh, with more time to develop and grow the characters we loved from the first Guardians Guardians 2 is able to push  and to develop these characters as well as develop  and add more characters too develop. Plus I’m a complete and total sucker for a movie that provides a awesome soundtrack and then uses that soundtrack. I love this space rock opera I want more.

2.) Detroit

Leaving fun town next stop depression valley. Honestly the only real reason Detroit isn’t number one is because I didn’t see it in theaters I saw it on dvd, speaking of it’s the only reason John Wick 2 isn’t on this list. But Detroit is a horror movie I want to watch again and again because this is the type of movie that keeps me up at night staring at the ceiling hating myself and the world around me. It makes me use my mind to try and justify a world were this could even happen. Secondly this movie forces me to think from a perspective that I literally can never understand and offers a true piece of understanding with it. This is a movie that I can say changed me, maybe only a little, maybe a lot but it did change me.

2b.) Logan

I know I’m cheating but a lot of good movies came out this year so I’m going to cheat just this year. Don’t get confused this is 2b and is under Detroit its more like 3a I guess but still I maybe shouldn’t have put Logan on here because I almost forgot about it. But almost forgetting about it has more to do with it coming out so early in the year. It would be wrong to leave out an adult a truly adult version of wolverine and in many extent the X-men as a whole. This movie is fantastic in everything it does and I want more way more movies in the future to follow its example. We can have more smart adult super hero movies.

1.)Baby Driver

Like I said earlier I’m a sucker for a good soundtrack paired with great action. I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie and left with an adrenaline rush. The idea of making a movie in which one can only hear what the main character hears is extraordinary and someone else must have thought of it and I got to see that whatever it is even if it is bad. This movie is hype this movie is exhilarating this movie is insane. Let me put it this way in the first 6 min if the movie decided to end after this I would have seen everything I needed to see and this movie kept going from there delivering more than that. Baby this is a SWEEET movie!

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #176 - Logan

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: Yes.

Was it a movie I saw since August 22nd, 2009: Yes. #477

Format: Blu-ray

0) This is Hugh Jackman’s final turn as the character he made iconic seventeen years ago. While there might still be a chance the character could come back (likely if it were for a Deadpool crossover or if he got to fight The Avengers) this is likely it. And embracing that allows this film to go to places no X-Men film before it could (as does its R-rating).

1) The opening scene with the carjackers establishes a lot for this film. First of all, we get a good look at just how fucking disheveled and miserable Logan is. It even shows in his imagery; the gray hairs, the tired face, all of it. It also establishes the film’s more grounded tone. This isn’t X-jets and time travel, this is war and violence. R rated and bloody violence, which is also established in the opening scene.

2) Marco Beltrami returns to compose this film after The Wolverine, and his score is quite strong. It is subtle, nuanced, moving, and embraces its Western still in a surprising and emotional way. I absolutely loved.

3) Logan IS a Western more than it is a superhero film. In a superhero film characters KNOW what they are. Superman is aware he gives people hope, Batman knows he is order in a world of chaos just as the audience does. Logan however? He’s not a symbol. He’s not a warrior. He doesn’t play into tropes. Life is a sad, abysmal, bloody mess where nothing makes sense and it’s all just HARD. A lot of the best Westerns are like this (notably Shane), so Logan is really setting itself apart from the superhero crowd by embracing this.

4) Boyd Holbrook as Donald Pierce.

Holbrook makes the villainous Pierce wonderfully skeezy. He’s got this wonderful energy and charisma which makes the audience just love to hate him. Holbrook is an absolute delight in the part and helps elevate the film be being totally despicable.

5) Stephen Merchant as Caliban.

I mentioned in my X-Men: Apocalypse recap that both that film and this one features an adaptation of the character Caliban from the comics. This was the result of just poor communication between the filmmaking teams meaning both characters ended up in both films. But they play notably different roles, with Caliban being more of a plot device in Apocalypse but an actual character with decisions and consequences in this film. I have a head canon that Apocalypse Caliban is Logan Caliban’s father. I don’t know if anything supports this but I like it.

Merchant is wonderful in the decidedly NON comedic part (considering the actor has considerable comedic talent which he has shown off in the past). He is quiet, understated, you see that there is a pain there always lurking underneath (or not so underneath) the surface. Wonderful at drumming up empathy and occasionally giving exposition without forcing it down our throat, Merchant is the hidden gem of this film and absolutely glorious.

6) The decline of Xavier’s health in this film allows Patrick Stewart to play the character notably different than before.

For one thing, it is really interesting to hear Xavier dropping, “fucks,” left and right. But more than that the hope which has so defined the character for seventeen years is now largely gone. Not totally though, it’s still there. But it’s mixed in with pain and heartache, anger and confusion, bitter disappointment and self doubts. It is an absolutely heartbreaking and conflict filled role which allows Stewart to really shine in what is also HIS final turn as the beloved Professor X.

7) This line is very telling not only of Charles’ state in the film but also Logan’s conflict.

Xavier: “I always know who you are its just sometimes I don’t recognize you.”

8) When I first saw the film I thought this was just a nice wink to the first X-Men film.

Logan [after Charles says someone is waiting for him at the statue of liberty]: “Statue of liberty was a long time ago, Charles.”

Only with this viewing did I realize the motel where Logan meets Laura and Gabriella is the Liberty Motel with a statue of liberty logo.

9) This is part of the whole “the characters don’t know what they’re supposed to represent” trope in Westerns, but Xavier is kind of a dick in this film.

Xavier: “What a disappointment you are.”

Like, I get that you’ve had a hard life too Charles. But Logan is around 150 years old (I think). He’s been through the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, lost his memories, got them back at some point, and of course went through the events of every single X-Men film that happened before (including losing everyone in Days of Future Past then getting them back then losing them again before this film).

10) I thought it was a smart decision to only HINT at what happened with the X-Men instead of actually showing it.

Xavier: “Logan, what did you do? What did you do!?”

I’ll talk more about this in a little bit though.

11) Gabriella going to Logan for help feels like a Western trope. Like in The Magnificent Seven, the former outlaw/gunslinger trying to lead a quiet life is pulled back into it by someone who NEEDS them. In this case Logan is the gunslinger.

12) Dafne Keen as Laura.

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. This girl. This fucking girl. This fucking girl is so fucking incredible. It is wildly difficult for me to wrap my head around how fucking amazing Dafne Keen is as Laura. I mean, her first sign of unique character and strength is when she fucking knocks out Pierce by throwing a damn pipe at his head! A mostly silent part for the first half (two-thirds?) of the film, Keen is able to embrace the physicality of her role BEAUTIFULLY. The way she moves, the look in her fucking eyes. She’s SO intense and that’s amazing. Everything about her. The fact that an eleven year old girl could be so damn intimidating speaks massively to her performance in this film. Hugh Jackman has been playing this part for longer than she’s been ALIVE and she can hold her own with him in every one of his her fucking scenes! This girl is a tiny badass! You know you don’t want to mess with Laura because she will fuck you up! I mean holy shit, she walks up to a group of bad guys with a fucking decapitated head. SHE GETS A HARPOON SHOT THROUGH HER CHEST AND IT BARELY PHASES HER! That entire first fight scene with her, Logan, and Pierce’s crew at their makeshift home shows off her skills as an actress phenomenally! She is a raging force of nature you do NOT want to piss off! Dafne Keen is the breakout star in Hugh Jackman’s last time as Wolverine! That tells a lot!

13) Bad guys deluding themselves into thinking their good guys is very honest to reality, but honestly how can you hunt down and murder children like a fucking sack of shit and think you’re still the good guy?

Pierce [to Caliban]: “I’m gonna need you to do one more thing for the good guys.”

14) Fuck Transigen. This film really did a good job of making films who you are hoping get brutally massacred by Logan and Laura. THEY BIRTHED CHILDREN FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF STUDYING THEM AND SELLING THEM AS SOLDIERS!

Dr. Rice [Transigen head scientist]: “Do not think of them as children. Think of them as things with patents and copyrights.”

I cannot begin to express how absolutely fucking horrific and despicable that concept is. THIS IS A COMPANY WHO TRYS TO KILL CHILDREN BECAUSE, “They could not be controlled.” BECAUSE THYE DIDN’T SERVE A PURPOSE! BECAUSE THEY WERE ACTUALLY HUMAN CHILDREN TRANSIGEN TRIED TO FUCKING MURDER THEM!

I look forward to their deaths.

15) I dig this.

Xavier: “She’s your daughter Logan.”

In the comics X-23 is a female clone of Wolverine, pushing that forward into a father/daughter relationship I think is strong. You can feel their relationship in her performance. Even when Laura is giving Logan a death stare you can feel that they’re connected. I mean, he’s the only one who gets ANYWHERE by telling her what to do.

16) Shane is prominently featured in a scene during the first half of the film.

Xavier talking about an early memory of seeing Shane in the theaters (when he was a kid) was reportedly an improvised moment. According to IMDb, this is an actual memory Patrick Stewart has from his youth which he brought up for the film. Shane was a large influence on the film, and one of the most iconic moments from the film ties very significantly into the movie.

Shane: “A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can’t break the mold. I tried it and it didn’t work for me. Joey, there’s no living with…with a killing. There’s no going back from one. Right or wrong, it’s a brand. A brand sticks. There’s no going back. Now you run on home to your mother, and tell her…tell her everything’s all right. And there aren’t any more guns in the valley.”

17) Logan losing it at the X-Men comics he finds is very telling of how he views the past. The very first page he opens to is Wolverine saving Rogue, who is notably absent from this film and who Logan had the strongest relationship with in X-Men and X2. This is how he WISHES life was. A big adventure, where he got to save his friends and the world on a more regular basis. Instead he’s left with pain and heartache.

17.1) The X-Men comics had to be special made for this film, as Marvel wouldn’t allow the studio to use actual X-Men comics.

18) Xavier’s Oklahoma City seizure.

When I first saw this film in theaters, this was the moment I went, “Holy shit, this film is amazing.” The fact that they turn this scene where everyone is frozen into a pseudo-action scene is amazing. Logan taking the time to go around and kill the bad guys is not only intelligent and organic but amazing to the eye. According to IMDb:

Professor Xavier's Psionic blast was done by shooting shaky footage and then re-stabilizing the frame in post. Resulting a footage containing strange motion blur with smearing effect, that is both organic and very unusual. The team shot the sequences slightly wider than was needed so that shots could be blown up to hide the edges of the stabilizing effect.

All of this makes the scene CRAZY strong and memorable, with Laura even participating by killing the one guy Logan missed.

19) What exactly happened to the X-Men.

News Reporter [reporting on the Oklahoma City incident; referring to a similar instance back in Westchester a year ago]: “…and took the lives of several mutants, including seven of the X-Men.”

In the comics, because of a psychic attack on Wolverine, he killed what he thought were super villains attacking X-Mansion which turned out to be his fellow teammates. In pre production there was the idea to film this as a prologue to the movie, while in the later dinner scene there was a deleted moment where Xavier went into detail about what happened at X-Mansion. I prefer this because it allows us as the audience to have hope that our favorite X-Men survived. (I may have even gotten the quote wrong; the reporter could have said, “seven mutants, including several of the X-Men.”)

20) Logan and the family dinner.

This was a concept first introduced in X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Logan finding a bit of peace and normalcy before his life goes crazy again. It is a nice moment of warmth in a story of heartache. What makes it all the worse? Logan, Xavier, and Laura. They WANT this. They are eager to have it.

Xavier [to Logan, about the family]: “You should take a moment and feel it.”

This is the goal. Xavier wants the Sunseeker boat with Logan, Laura wants her friends and family, but only one of the three gets this. Excuse me, I’m sad now.

21)

Will Munson [after Logan takes care of some redneck thugs]: “You’ve had training.”

Logan: “Some.”

22) Well. This is heartbreaking.

Charles: “This was without a doubt the most perfect night I’ve had in a long time. But I don’t deserve it, do I?…I think I finally understand you. Logan?”

Except he’s pouring his heart out to NOT Logan, but a Wolverine clone who murders him!

23) Fucking Logan clones.

(GIF originally posted by @notias1)

The dual Hugh Jackman-s in this scene are amazing, especially the seamless transition between X-24 walking down the stairs and Logan looking after him. The fight is strong as well, but nothing compared with what’s to come.

24) I love that these are Caliban’s final words, in reference to what Pierce told him earlier. It’s surprisingly badass.

Caliban [before setting off some grenades]: “Beware the light.”

25) Can I be totally honest with you guys? Hugh Jackman deserves a fucking Oscar nomination for this film. Like, 100%. Maybe there’ll be enough better performances towards the end of the year, but it at least deserves to be TALKED about. Just look at the scene where he’s standing over Xavier’s grave. He barely says a fucking word but still there is so much incredible raw emotion in his performance. There is heartache, there is anger, and it is all just SO amazing. But of course it’s the Oscars. He won’t even be a part of the conversation because it’s a comic book movie that came out in March.

26) Having a mute character speak COULD take away from what makes them interesting, but because of Dafne Keen’s performance Laura she is even MORE compelling.

Logan: “I don’t know how you got me here [to the hospital] but thank you.”

Laura: “De nada.”

The passion, honesty, ferocity, and focus which made her physical performance so compelling in the first half of the film all carries through beautifully into her voice and it just works so seamlessly. I fucking love it.

27) I’m not crying, promise.

Laura: “You’re dying. You want to die. Charles told me.”

Logan: “What else did he tell you?”

Laura: “To not let you.”

This was the exchange that made me think Logan was going to survive the film. Boy, was I wrong.

28) Okay, um…

Logan [when Laura shows him his adamantium bullet]: “Actually, I uh…was thinking of shooting myself with it.”

In X-Men Origins: Wolverine Logan got shot point blank in the skull with an adamanitum bullet and survived, he just lost his memories. You could say he wouldn’t survive in this film because of his healing being weaker, BUT that’s how they kill the Wolverine clone X-24 by shooting him in the head with it. BUT IT DIDN’T WORK IN X-Men Origins!

29) Laura is vicious!

Logan [when Laura is being distant from him]: “I even gave back the money!”

Laura [coldly]: “Such a nice man.”

(GIF originally posted by @rocktheholygrail)

30) I’m not crying. I promise. Not yet.

Logan: “Bad shit happens to people I care about. Understand me?”

Laura: “Then I’ll be fine.”

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

31) Wolverine fighting in the woods to save the kids from being murdered by Pierce and Rice is probably the worthiest cause Logan has ever fought for, and the way he is choreographed as fighting alongside Laura shows their relationship is as strong as ever. They work with/off of each other, making each other stronger and helping the other survive. Because they’re family.

32) The fact that Wolverine’s final battle is against himself (or, a clone of himself) is probably deeply poetic but I’m too fascinated by what’s going on screen to analyze it. Again, he and Laura are fighting side by side here. Hell, it’s Laura he’s fighting for! And it’s Logan Laura is fighting to save. She’s the one who shoots X-24 in the head to kill him in an attempt to save Logan. But…oh boy…I don’t know if I can write this…

33) Pierce’s death is horrible and gratuitous and SO fucking cathartic considering he spent the entire film DESPERATELY TRYING TO MURDER CHILDREN! (Warning, below video features graphic content from an R-rated film. Viewer discretion is advised.

34) Logan’s death.

For one thing (holy shit I’m tearing up as a write this, what the fuck?), the prophecy Yukio made in The Wolverine comes to pass.

(Screenshot taken from a GIF set originally posted by @highsmith)

Except it’s not literally his heart, like in The Wolverine. It’s Laura. Laura is his heart. And, um…wow this is fucking hard. Okay look: I didn’t cry when I saw this in theaters. Everyone else did, but I kinda saw it coming. But a lot has happened between now and then so it hits closer to home. Anyone who has lost a parent or a loved one will be moved as Logan’s daughter watches him while he dies.

Logan: “Don’t be what they made you. Laura…”

Logan: “Ah, so this is what it feels like.”

This is the only time Laura refers to Logan as her father and also the only time Logan doesn’t deny it. Showing that they’ve accepted their relationship, but then he dies. Holding his daughter’s hand in his own. Because she’s his heart. Okay now I’m tearing up.

You know what makes the scene even harder? The little fucking funeral all the kids have for their savior. For the Wolverine. For Logan. And the fact Laura uses the same quote from Shane harkens back not only to a brief moment of just being a kid with Xavier and her dad in the other room, but also just what kind of impact those words have in a new light.

Laura [quoting Shane]: “A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can’t break the mold. There’s no living with a killing. There’s no going back. Right or wrong, it’s a brand. A brand that sticks. Now you run on home to your mother, and tell her everything’s all right. And there are no more guns in the valley.”

And then, in what is probably the most fitting final image of this 17 year old character, Laura turns the cross into an X.

Logan is a masterpiece. Working in a different style and going against established superhero and X-Men tropes makes this a worthy finale to Hugh Jackman’s tenure as the character. He is as strong as ever, Patrick Stewart is as strong as ever, and newcomer Dafne Keen fucking hits it out of the park. It’s heartbreaking and brutal and amazing because of these things. It’s fantastic and I think everyone should see it. Just...wow.

[theantisocialcritic]

This AntiSocial Life: Kingsman and Matthew Vaughn’s Sequelitis

There are many great directors working the crank in the Hollywood movie factory. Many talented filmmakers get caught up eternally in the wringer waiting for a shot that will never come while hacks are regularly offered lucrative deals most would kill for. Rare is it that you find someone talented who winds up at the top merely for his own talent. Even rarer than that scenario is the one where a filmmaker is so talented that he is able to make his aesthetic fetishes work within the confines of the highly controlled studio system of modern filmmaking. Of my shortlist of directors who are able to do so, Matthew Vaughn is one of the highest names on that list. 

Vaughn is a highly fascinating director. Over the course of his decade and a half career in the director’s chair he has directed a several of the most exciting and controversial action films in years. After a decade spent in the producers role on films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, his first directorial efforts of Layer Cake (2004) and Stardust (2007) dropped to respectable responses first a first time director. His breakout film however hit unexpecting audiences in 2010 with his adaption of Mark Miller’s lurid graphic novel Kick-Ass. 

The film established much of what we’ve come to understand as a “Matthew Vaughn” film would come to be known as. Kick-Ass isn’t a deep movie but it is a lurid retelling of the at the time already proliferating superhero genre that infuses an otherwise grounded story about a kid who wants to become a superhero with extreme violence and sexuality. At it’s heart is a surprisingly warm bite of empathy surrounded by a sea of contempt for his fellow man. We see in our film’s lead a real desire to imbibe in super heroism by protecting innocent people but that comes at the cost of unceasing cathartic violence against one’s fellow man. What’s most effective about the film’s execution is that it handles all of the wheels it spins eloquently. The violence dovetails perfectly, dragging the audience along and shifting from shocking to comedic on the director’s whim. Tone control of this strength is a rare directorial talent and he does it perfectly.

Just a year later he managed to deliver a miracle of filmmaking by making the best X-Men movie ever.  That’s probably a debatable statement as many fans still hold X2 in high regard. In my book however X-Men First Class is a miracle. Less than two years after the abysmal X-Men Origins: Wolverine crashed it’s franchise into the ground 20th Century Fox was already in the market to give X-men a shot in the arm to keep their own long running superhero franchise alive along enough to compete alongside the then ongoing Dark Knight films and slowly growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fox decided to fast track a Professor X/Magneto origin movie that had been floating around in development hell in the studio for years. Bryan Singer was originally slated to direct but dropped out. Vaughn was approached following the critical access of Kick-Ass and he jumped into the film, rewriting the script with his writing partner Jane Goldman and shooting in within a year. The film’s production crunch was so severe that scenes from the film were being shot mere weeks before it’s June 2011 release date. With an entirely new cast and set of characters from Singer’s previous X-Men franchise, the one off cynical spin off prequel managed to more fully imbibe the entirety of what made the Marvel Comic special than the four previous films had. 

Following a four year break from directing Vaughn returned to the stage with something completely different. One can easily pick up a few of Matthew Vaughn’s personal passions from a passive viewing of his filmography. Given his record with Star Dust, X-Men and Kick-Ass it’s easy to tell Vaughn has a more than passing affection for the superhero genre. Beyond that fascination he clearly shares a passion for another major hollywood genre, gentleman spy pictures. Shades of this can be seen across films like Layer Cake and X-Men First Class (the former most noticeably as this film arguably won Daniel Craig his role in Casino Royale). This passion made itself fully apparent in 2015 when Vaughn’s newest film Kingsman: The Secret Service splashed into unexpecting theaters. Much like Kick-Ass the film was once again a collaboration between Vaughn and comic writer Mark Miller and borrowed from his 2012 comic The Secret Service. The film’s release hit at a particularly severe movie drought in the early months of 2015 and earned significant buzz and controversy over a specific scene at the midpoint of the movie involving a violent massacre at a Westboro Baptist Church style hate church. It sparked numerous other discussions as well regarding it’s portrayal of climate change activism and sexual content. In a critical sense it was very difficult to get a full grasp on the film’s full strengths as a movie until long after the controversies and movie drought cooled off. Upon reprisal the film holds up spectacularly well as an action-comedy. While an over abundance of CGI mares the much film’s proceedings (likely due to it’s lower than average budget by studio filmmaking standards) Vaughn was still able to weave a lurid and touching tale of class struggle in English society set against an ultra violent homage to James Bond. Much like Kick-Ass again, Vaughn’s mean streak is very much intact and the lurid tone shifting violence drags the audience form one direction to the other in ways few directors can ultimately accomplish. 

With five films under his belt it felt safe to assume that Vaughn had officially found his voice as a director and was finally able to meaningfully communicate it in a way that was utterly unique to him. As the cavalcade marched onwards with his parade of mainstream successes a quiet issue began forming in the background culminating in the release of last week’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle. All three of his mainstream successes had received a sequel. Problematically though every single franchise he stepped away from seemed to languish without his creative control. Of those three his sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service has been the only direct sequel he personally directed and the direction of that film suggests a fascinating problem at the heart of Vaughn’s work. Matthew Vaughn doesn’t know how to make a proper sequel. 

Turning back the clock slightly to 2013, we saw the release of the immediate sequel to Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2. This time the film was written and directed not by Matthew Vaughn but by relative unknown Jeff Wadlow. By most accounts the film was highly panned upon release by critics and fans alike. Unlike the first film the deft creative control of Vaughn had been lost. While an immediate followup story to the first did managed to accrue a small contingent of fans the films far worse mean streak, more vile and unrelenting gross-out violence and sloppily handled story compounded on fan’s patience for the film despite some of it’s better moments (most notably an excellent late career Jim Carrey performance). The controversy suggested that Vaughn’s brand of controversy only worked when his deft touch were behind the camera using the tools of violence to tell his own style of stories. Without a careful hand a mean spirited movie becomes borderline cruel and detestable. 

After 2011 with the incredible success of X-Men: First Class Vaughn started working hard alongside Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Jane Goldman and 20th Century Fox to write the highly anticipated sequel. Following a discussion with Mark Miller about the spy genre and it’s unrelentingly serious tone in recent films, Vaughn departed the directorial chair to focus on preproduction for Kingsman: The Secret Service. X1 and X2 director Bryan Singer took the drivers seat for the franchise for first time in a decade. Vaughn’s help in the story room helped significantly in guiding the highly anticipated behemoth of a story into production. X-Men: Days of Future Past would come to be known as one of the most ambitious film in it’s franchise, serving as a much needed clean slate to help clear the wreckage of bad X-Men continuity accumulated over a decade and a half of mediocre blockbusters. A ship this huge is difficult to steer one way or the other. Matthew Vaughn’s assistance helped keep it mostly on track but the sheer weight of it’s multitude of sub-plots, world building and it’s large cast drowns the film at times. That it works at all is a minor miracle. Without Vaughn in the directors chair many assumed it would have been a much better film. 

With both of these sequels the discussion of their flaws are so deeply rooted in the failings of the other writers and directors at the helm of the films. Given his credibility with Kick-Ass, First Class and Kingsman it was difficult laying much of the blame on him given that he was only tangent ably responsibility for the flaws that dragged them down. With the recent release of the aforementioned Kingsman 2 things have changed significantly though. Vaughn wrote, directed and produced that film himself. 

Kingsman: The Golden Circle represents a sad chip in the armor of a director who has so firmly established himself at the top of his craft. It’s the kind of mediocre/bad film that makes you wonder what made him succeed with his prior films in the first place. Tonally and in it’s story the film feels entirely out of control. I’m forced to assume that Vaughn wrote a first draft of the film that he than proceeded to rush out the door to meet the two year turnaround deadline that 20th Century Fox wanted after the first film did so well. 

These probably seem like harsh criticisms given that the film is for the most part being well enjoyed by it’s plethora of fans returning after loving the first film. From a directional standpoint it’s a fine film with solid cinematography and action choreography. The places where the film truly breaks down come from the story department where the huge cracks begin to make themselves apparent. At face the script is a rudderless adventure story that’s functionally convoluted and has a habit of killing off large numbers of the cast at arbitrary points to falsely attempt to raise the tension. In a thematic sense the film is far more frustrating than even mere screenwriting issues. 

Much of the film’s plethora of critics have cited Men in Black 2 as the primary go-to example of how to describe the film’s problem. Personally I don’t find the comparison apt. Kingsman 2 is a better movie than that. I think a stronger example can be made to the mediocre yet frustrating Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock. Both films share similar circumstances for how they’re status quos came to be. Both are adventure stories where a the series’ major mentor figure sacrificed his life to a greater cause to help save the day. Similarly both are mediocre genre films that commit the cardinal sin of thematically ruining their predecessors by undermining them and resurrecting the mentor character of the sake of fan service. 

More than just Kingsman 2′s storytelling sins there is a fundamental failure of storytelling going on at the core of the film’s story. If you had to resurrect Colin Firth for the immediate sequel the smart money would've been to cast him as the villain role to play with the idea of Eggsy having to metaphorically and literally move on from his mentorship and take leadership in the Kingsman organization by facing his mentor. Instead of that Firth is resurrected so that he can do more kung fu flips. This comes at the behest of a story where all the villains are caricatures and where good guys are killed off arbitrarily because the script needs Eggsy to feel motivated for the scene. Once again this begs the question, how did Matthew Vaughn direct such a severe flop? 

The answer may not be so complicated. Filmmaking is extremely difficult. There is a reason so few souls are capable of working in Hollywood successfully. Fundamentally that doesn’t solve the problem. Kick-Ass 2 hemorrhaged because it doubled down on the gross-out factor without understand the core of the story. X-Men: Days of Future Past creaked under the weight of it’s own ambitions which came at the expense of good dramatic storytelling. Kingsman: The Golden Circle doubles down on it’s violence and sex while trying to expand the horizons of it’s world, in the process committing both of those sins. 

The answer to this puzzle may very well be that Matthew Vaughn has a bad habit of using all of his best ideas on his initial experiments. When it comes down to making lightning strike twice his franchises begin to universally crumble. With the potential of Kingsman 3, Kick-Ass 3 or a possible DCEU Superman movie on the horizon for Matthew Vaughn it’s impossible to guess where Vaughn’s career will take him. The best we can hope for is for Vaughn to learn from his mistakes and turn into his better tendencies as a filmmaker. 

Thank you all for reading!

If you would like to see more reviews, articles and podcasts lemme know by tweeting me at @AntiSocialCriti or commenting below. Also be sure to check out my review show The Fox Valley Film Critics!

Live long and prosper!

[flickdirect]

When Deadpool made its way to theaters on 2016 it did so with a hard R rating much to the studio's and parents' chagrin. It was only natural when the sequel arrived that it too would have that same R rating and be inappropriate for children. In fact, part of what audiences like so much about the films and the character is his crass demeanor that is so uncharacteristic of a superhero.

Unfortunately, that same inappropriateness also alienated a segment of the populations that would want to bring their children to a superhero film. This past December, Fox seemed to remedy this flaw with Once Upon A Deadpool – a PG-13 rated version of the film. With the success of the cleaned up film, it was only natural that it would be released for home entertainment and everyone can rejoice because that time has finally arrived.

For the uneducated, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds; X-Men Origins Wolverine) a.k.a Wade Wilson is a former special ops soldier turned mercenary who finds out he has cancer. In an attempt to discover a cure he undergoes experimentation that leaves him physically disfigured but with superhero powers. In Deadpool 2 the love of his life, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin; Gotham), is murdered and Wade finds himself with no desire to live. That is, of course, until he finds himself on a mission to save a mutant, teenage boy, Firefist (Julian Dennison; Hunt for the Wilderpeople), from the half human/half cyborg Cable (Josh Brolin; No Country for Old Men) who shows up from the future to stop the kid before he becomes a vicious killer.

While the original movies lend themselves to an R rating, they missed out on a large segment of the population. In order to be more inclusive Reynolds and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland) enlisted Fred Savage (The Wonder Years) to recreate his character from The Princess Bride to help tell a cleaner version of the story. The combination works in theory with a few hiccups along the way.

Once Upon a Deadpool is more of a companion piece rather than a replacement for Deadpool 2 as it doesn't easily explain several of the plot points which are glossed over in this family-friendlier version. It also doesn't make all that much sense to a younger generation that probably isn't familiar with the character a young Savage played in The Princess Bride. However, it does give parents what they want – a cleaner version of an R rated film that they can take their kids to see. Though, that isn't saying much as the PG-13 rating still leaves plenty of leeway for curse words to fly and to include inappropriate references throughout.

The Blu-ray disc is the standard fare quality wise with a 1080p resolution and a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Everything looks pretty much clean but at the end of the film, the color palette seems to be more muted than I remember especially when the team tries to save fire fist from killing the headmaster. Deadpool's red costume looks darker bordering towards a reddish black hue. The audio is a little stronger since it is DTS-HD Master audio 7.1. The dialog is crisp and the eclectic soundtrack comes across nicely. The combo pack does not offer any extras though which is a little disappointing. A few short features describing the concept for this version and perhaps an interview with Fred Savage would have been a fun addition.

I think the thing I love most about this film is that it benefits charity. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will be donating $1 from every Blu-ray™ Purchase or Digital Buy or Rent from January 15 to January 28, 2019, to Fudge Cancer (US only. Minimum donation of $100,000). Fox also donated $1 for each ticket purchased during the film's festive theatrical release.

It also offers younger audiences to get an idea of what Deadpool is without being subjected to the R rated version. However, this "tamer" version lacks some of what I originally loved about Deadpool with the filthy mouth and the graphic violence (shooting someone in the head just doesn't have the same impact thought the blood splatter). As I said earlier this would make a nice companion piece to the original film so if you own one you should definitely own the other. If you already have Deadpool 2 at home, go buy this one. If you do not, invest in both movies.

Grade: B

About Allison Hazlett-Rose Mrs. Hazlett-Rose attended Hofstra University where she earned her bachelor's degree in communications and is Vice Chair of the Florida Film Critics Circle and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. She can be found in print, online, and on talk radio, WENG 107.5 FM.

Read more reviews and content by Allison Hazlett-Rose.

via FlickDirect Entertainment News, Exclusive Celebrity Interviews, and Film Reviews

[twh-news]

‘Kong’ Beats His Chest On Saturday: Weekend Opening Now At $61M – Sunday AM Final | Deadline

2ND Writethru Sunday 7:37AM after 12:40AM post/7th Update: There it is. There’s that great word of mouth working in Kong: Skull Island‘s favor.

Early morning industry estimates are confirming what we saw late last night: Warner Bros./Legendary monster movie is poised to pull in between $60M-$61M after a $24M Saturday that was +19% from Friday’s $20.2M. And Warner Bros. is reporting Kong: Skull Island at $61M as well. On the high end, that’s a 35% improvement on the pic’s projections four weeks ago, and $11M higher from where we originally thought Kong would land. Imax brought in $7.6M at 382 auditorium repping 12.5% of the weekend. Eight of Kong‘s top 10-grossing locations included Imax bookings. In total, the global opening for Kong: Skull Island stands at $142.6M which is ahead of the $135M we forecasted.

Regarding Kong‘s rebound, Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. domestic distribution president said, “I think the marketing sold the movie perfectly heading into the weekend. This is a great weekend for the industry overall and all of our exhibition partners. The industry is up 24% from a year ago.” In fact for the period of Jan. 1-March 12, the total domestic B.O. is at $2.18 billion according to ComScore which is currently flat with the same frame a year ago. That’s good news as 2017 tickets sales were lagging for a few weekends there.

On social media, you can also feel the warmth for Kong: RelishMix reports that hashtag activity for the Jordan Vogt-Roberts-directed movie has tripled since Thursday at 5.2K unique hashtags combined across Instagram and Twitter to 17.3K on Saturday. #KongSkullIsland hashtags are at 61.4K over four weeks with 21.5K for #Kong and 17.8K for #KingKong. Social gender activity is 60.8% male and 39.1% female while age is slicing 78% over 25 and 21.7% under 25. Since the Mexico premiere, Tom Hiddleston’s Instagram popped heavily with 254K likes on March 6th.

Reviewers already knew Kong: Skull Island was a fun ride different from other Kongs, and for moviegoers to believe it, they simply needed to experience the movie. Kong could capitalize on another recent B.O. trend: Well-reviewed movies like Universal/Blumhouse’s Get Out and 20th Century Fox’s Logan have experienced decent first Sunday holds (both those titles dipped 22% from Saturday). Given that, there might be a chance that Kong bests what’s expected to be a -30% decline.

True, a $60M-plus No. 1 opening in March is noteworthy, and we’ve seen other movies like Divergent 1 & 2 open to $52M-plus during this month, but damn, Kong: Skull Island is bloody expensive at $185M along with an estimated global P&A of $136M putting a cloud over its profitability. And it’s that high cost that deflates the celebration of Kong‘s No. 1 win. Kong will get dinged around the world when Disney’s Beauty and the Beast opens next weekend, but WB is hoping to make good at the B.O. during that six-week play period stateside leading up to Easter when kids are rotating on spring break.

Overseas is at $81.6M in 65 markets, which is alright, though financiers have told us that $120M would have been a better start. WB/Legendary’s Godzilla after ancillaries yielded a profit off a $529M global haul. Does Kong get there? Japan and China open later this month, and despite the latter country’s Tencent Pictures being involved in Kong: Skull Island, the movie isn’t a Chinese co-production, therefore it’s subjected to the typical rental for U.S. pics that’s between 25%-27%. We deconstructed Kong: Skull Island on Friday, and aside from Logan and Get Out stealing the monkey’s money this weekend, the biggest challenge for the latest iteration of this classic Hollywood brand is King Kong himself.

It wasn’t too long ago that Warner Bros. over-indexed on another dusty, expensive Hollywood property during its opening weekend run: the July 4th weekend opener The Legend of Tarzan. It too arrived in theaters with a huge $180M production cost (just $5M shy of Kong: Skull Island‘s). The Village Roadshow co-production was expected to post a low $30M four-day take, but WB pushed it to $46.6M. Critics didn’t love Tarzan as much as Kong: Skull Island, 36% Rotten to 78% Certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Both Kong and Tarzan earned very good CinemaScores (Tarzan an A-, Kong with various demos awarding it A or A-). Tarzan legged out to a 3.2 multiple off its 3-day of $38.5M to $126.6M, and Kong could generate a similar multiple with an end result well north of $150M stateside (Beauty and the Beast will definitely take a bite out of his legs next weekend all around the world). But again, in light of Tarzan‘s budget, it was very hard to get excited about the movie’s overperformance: Film finance sources inform us that Tarzan was definitely below breakeven after all ancillaries despite making $356.7M at the worldwide B.O.

When Peter Jackson’s King Kong opened in December 2005, that beast too was slow out of the gate, minting a $50M FSS and $66M five-day. It’s clear that Kong: Skull Island will be well ahead of that amount on Tuesday, especially with schools and colleges off. Jackson’s King Kong posted a 4.36 multiple off its FSS and finaled domestic at $218M off an A- CinemaScore, but that movie had holiday foot-traffic on its side, which always carries uber-high multiples with it.

In regards to Kong: Skull Island‘s marketing campaign, WB’s campaign aimed to introduce the origin story of how Kong became King with a heavy social media push. Stars Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson, Marc Evan Jackson and other stars reached in excess of 53M followers.

Google Maps had their first custom program with Kong bringing the first fictional location to Google Maps. Kong: Skull Island Local is now officially on Google Maps, where users can leave ratings and browse photographs of the monster-ridden island. There were was an Alamo Drafthouse screening program in 20 theaters nationwide with talent Q&A broadcasted on Facebook Live. WB partnered with Machinima to bring the multiplayer gaming tournament Kong of the Hill whereby eight of Machinima’s top gaming influencers and network talent faced off during the Livestream hosted on Machinima’s Facebook and YouTube channels. There was also a #WeLOVEKong advance screening program asking each city to take to social media and profess their excitement to see the film through dedicated city specific hashtags, IE: #LALovesKONG, #PhillyLovesKONG, #LondonLovesKONG, #RioLovesKONG, #ParisLovesKONG etc. This program was tied to footprints Across LA – Large footprints appeared daily from LAX leading up to the Kong Premiere at Hollywood and Highland. Activity was covered and shared with #LALOVESKong.

Logan also had a great Saturday seeing a 58% rise over Friday for a $16.4M Saturday, putting the Wolverine R-rated threequel at $37.9M in its second weekend, down 57% for a 10-day cume of $152.7M.

Get Out ran past $100M on Saturday, the fastest Blumhouse title to hit that mark in 16 days, beating Split‘s 19 days to the mark. Uni is reporting a $8.76M Saturday for a third weekend of $21.07M and running cume of $111.05M.

Those that lost best picture at the Oscars, seem to be faring better than best picture winner Moonlight. The Barry Jenkins movie dropped screens and slid 57% as La La Land (-41%), Hidden Figures (-27%) and Lion (-36%) sustained decent holds. That said, Moonlight is a niche film that plays largely to upscale audiences. Given some of its adult content, it’s hard for the movie to play in the Bible Belt where pics like Hidden Figures and The Help thrive. Lion came up empty-handed at the Oscars, but is headed toward $50M.

Lionsgate is currently third in domestic marketshare with close to $300M thanks to the momentum of three titles in the top 10: The Shack, La La Land, and John Wick: Chapter 2.

1.) Kong: Skull Island (20th/Leg), 3,846 theaters / $20.2M Fri. (includes $3.7M in previews) /$24M Sat/$16.7M Sun/ 3-day: $61M /Wk 1 2.) Logan (Fox), 4,071 theaters (0)/ $10.4M Fri. (-68%) /$16.4M Sat/$11.1M Sun/ 3-day: $37.9M (-57%)/Total: $152.7M/Wk 2 3.) Get Out (UNI), 3,143 theaters (+205) / $6M Fri. (-25%) / $8.76M Sat/$6.3M Sun/3-day: $21.07M (-25%)/Total: $111.05M/Wk 3 4.) The Shack (LG), 2,888 theaters (0) / $2.7M Fri. (-51%) / $4.2M Sat/$3.15M Sun/3-day: $10M (-38%) /Total: $32.2M/Wk 2 5). The LEGO Batman Movie (WB), 3,303 theaters (-353) / $1.7M Fri. /$3.6M Sat/$2.5M Sun/ 3-day: $7.8M (-33%) / Total: $159M/Wk 5 6.) Before I Fall (OR), 2,346 theaters / $930K Fri. / $1.3M Sat/$858K Sun/3-day: $3.1M (-33%)/Total: $9M/Wk 2 7.) Hidden Figures (FOX), 1,421 theaters (-161) / $715K Fri. /$1.3M Sat/$750K Sun/ 3-day: $2.765M (-27%) / Total: $162.86M / Wk 12 8.) John Wick: Chapter 2(LGF), 2,031 theaters (-444) / $695K Fri. /$1.2M Sat/$805K Sun/ 3-day: $2.7M (-44%) / Total:$87.4M / Wk 5 9.) La La Land (LGF), 1,578 theaters (+167) / $486K Fri/$803K Sat/$481K Sun/ 3-day: $1.77M (-41%) / Total: $148.4M / Wk 14 10.) Fifty Shades Darker(UNI), 1,498 theaters (-707) / $537K Fri. /$718K Sat/$375K Sun/ 3-day: $1.63M (-54%) / Total: $112.9M/ Wk 5

Notables:

Lion (TWC) 960 theaters (-300)/$340K/$619K Sat/$402K Sun/3-day: $1.36M (-36%)/Total: $48.6M. Moonlight (A24), 987 theaters (-577) / $243K Fri /$421K Sat/$337K Sun/ 3-day: $1M (-57%) / Total: $26.99M / Wk 21 Table 19 (FSL), 868 theaters / $250K Fri. /$380K Sat/$220K Sun/ 3-day: $850K (-47%) /Total:$2.986M/Wk 2 Badrinath Ki Dulhani (FIP), 152 theaters / $236K Fri /$370K Sat/$244K Sun/ 3-day: $850K/ Wk 1 Personal Shopper (IFC), 4 theaters /PTA: $23k/ 3-day: $92,5K/ Wk 1 The Sense of an Ending (CBS), 4 theaters / $9,9K Fri /$19,5K Sat/$12,4K Sun/pta: $10,5k/ 3-day: $42K/ Wk 1 Raw (FOC), 2 theaters / $9K Fri /$10K Sat/$6k Sun/$12,6k ptA/ 3-day: $25,2K/ Wk 1

[briangroth27]

Logan Review

The first X-men film is one of the few movies I’ve seen in theaters more than once and the first time would've been unforgettable even if the movie hadn’t blown my 14-year old mind: a fight between two adults broke out during the movie and one guy got flipped over the other’s head! A little old lady usher came down the aisle armed with a flashlight, whisper-shouting “There are kids in here!” and kicked them out. The movie itself was—and is—awesome, bringing characters I’d loved since the early 90s animated series to life while taking place squarely in our (slightly heightened) world. Even without nostalgia, X-men is still one of my favorite superhero movies and kicked off my favorite comic book film franchise (even if it also counts my least favorite superhero film, X-men The Last Stand, among its ranks). Among its other achievements, X-men included the perfectly-cast Patrick Stewart as Professor X and unlikely newcomer Hugh Jackman (who didn’t have the role until Dougray Scott got injured on Mission: Impossible 2, delaying filming and necessitating his replacement), who became the iconic Wolverine for me while maintaining the things that made the comic character—one of my favorite X-men—great (even when scripts like X-men Origins failed to live up to both Logan and Jackman’s potential). Seventeen years later, Logan has been announced as Jackman and Stewart’s final turn in these roles, and both of them made the most out of their final X-cursion into this world. Unfortunately, I think the film as a whole boasts strong performances but could’ve gone deeper into areas it only touches on. Jackman, Stewart, and newcomer Dafnee Keen are all outstanding! Stewart playing a broken Xavier was hard to see, but he was brilliantly layered and vulnerable. Keen has a very bright future ahead of her: she doesn't speak at all for the first half of the movie and her expressiveness is amazing; she might have been my favorite part. Jackman is great and gives it his all, but my problem is that we've seen nearly all his plot points before. Logan dealt with massive loss in both his previous solo movies and The Wolverine left him learning to hope for all the promise and good his immortality could bring to the world rather than feeling cursed for outliving his loved ones (such an original take on immortality that I’m annoyed it wasn’t followed up on). In Days of Future Past, he seemed at peace with himself, even in the midst of the apocalypse. But Logan opens with everything horrible once more and makes him learn to form new connections all over again. The new factor—Logan as a father—wasn't explored as much as I hoped it would be. It's there enough for me to be invested and emotionally affected, but I wanted more of Logan and Laura interacting and learning about each other (and Logan teaching her to fight the animal inside as he had years earlier would’ve been a fine arc). Still, I liked the levity that was in the script and the family bonds between Logan, Xavier, and Laura that are there worked well.

The villains were pretty thin, though Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) had charisma and presence; ultimately they served their purpose and I didn’t feel like I needed any more from them. The evil plan that was killing mutants off and controlling evolution was fine as a background element and didn't need to be more than it was. Caliban’s (Stephen Merchant) inclusion as a helper to Logan and Xavier felt random (though there are plot reasons for his powers later), and I didn’t feel a connection to him; I preferred the much more memorable and distinctive way the character was portrayed in X-men Apocalypse. Logan’s action is brutal and intense, but I didn't need to see this level of violence; the fights in The Wolverine were enough to show his fury. That's not a knock against the film, just me saying I wasn't ever begging to see more beheadings. It's what would really happen with mutants whose primary weapons are claws, so I get it and wasn’t grossed out by it. The touches of a sci-fi future worked well and felt like organic components of the world. The directing is on point, moving the pacing along at a good clip. The plot points are repetitive, but the writing is good on the whole. Logan has heart and hope, so it never felt overly depressing, except the mostly unspoken backstory and one scene with very unlucky bystanders. I was worried when several reviews called out how somber this was that it would be dark for no reason but the belief that grimness is somehow inherently better than light, and I didn’t come away thinking that was the case. I liked the callbacks to previous films (noting that despite Days of Future Past, at least the first two X-films and The Wolverine still happened in some form), but I really hope this is relegated to its own universe as the franchise continues. (Light spoilers for the rest of this paragraph) The world is in shambles just 3-6 years after DOFP’s happy ending? What purpose does that serve? What purpose did the X-Men serve? I liked the in-world comics, but the team should have accomplished more than just inspiring fiction (particularly given their being a metaphor for minorities—what kind of message is it that none of their heroes can save the day?). Speaking of the comics, I wish Logan took the time to deal with Logan and the team’s apparent fame—only two characters recognize him as famous and he never comments on being famous (or more specifically on being a mutant in the spotlight), except to say life wasn’t like the comics. Even Laura, an X-fan, doesn’t seem to take his comic book portrayal into account at all when dealing with him. It seems like a big missed opportunity to explore a new facet to his existence, and perhaps a more meta take on Jackman’s time in the role. Ultimately I enjoyed this and was very satisfied with the performances, but felt the material the actors were working with could’ve been more original. Had this been the first solo adventure for Logan, it would’ve been fantastic…but after seven movies where he was a major focus, I wish Jackman's last adventure could've had him in a totally different place emotionally. Still, just because it’s not exactly the movie I wanted to see doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie by any means. Logan's a well-crafted film with great performances from its three leads and definitely worth seeing!

4/5

I'm going to miss Jackman and his Wolverine a lot, even if he did overshadow other favorite characters of mine from time to time. He always felt like he truly loved the character and gave 150% to each film. I've been a fan since the first X-film and can't imagine anyone else in the role…I just hope they leave Logan out of future films and not recast, exploring the other X-men instead and not lessening the impact of Jackman and Stewart’s exits. We already have James McAvoy doing a great version of young Xavier, but Stewart will be missed all the same. His Xavier (along with his Captain Picard) are iconic bits of my youth that can’t be replicated or replaced. As much as I think Logan’s swan song could've been improved in some ways script-wise, Jackman and Stewart’s excellent performances definitely made an impact on me, as they have for almost two decades now.

So, thank you to both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart for bringing these iconic characters to life for 17 years. I’ll miss you in this franchise, but I can’t wait to see what you do next!

Major Spoilers... -X-23 not being a clone was a change I totally understand for the purposes of the film and it didn’t bother me.

-I'm glad Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant) wasn't Mr. Sinister (like Apocalypse’s post-credit scene seemed to indicate), so they can use him in X-men 7 instead; he’d have been wasted here. Hey, maybe a way to bring Laura into the “present” of the X-films would be to say that Logan isn’t the first time they’ve tried to make her.

-Was Xavier’s first psychic seizure, wherein he killed seven people—presumably the X-men at the mansion at the time—the film’s version of Onslaught?

-Xavier's death was so heartbreakingly tragic! I’m sorry to see him go, but what a finale for Stewart! He was the perfect Xavier.

-The biggest disappointment for me (after Logan’s repetitive arc) was that we didn’t get closure and/or reappearances by Wolverine-centric characters like Mariko, Yukio, and Sabretooth (and even Anna Paquin’s Rogue, though she was in the comic book). Creed at least could've swapped in for Caliban and accomplished the tracking he did; it would’ve been interesting to see Jackman and Liev Schreiber continue to develop the Logan/Creed relationship (by far the best part of Origins), adding to the film’s examination of families.

-I'm not sure how I feel about X-24 (who looked freakishly like Liev Schreiber at times!), but he was effective as a brawler. I guess I was expecting the Reavers to be more effective with their enhancements. I like the idea of Logan fighting the animal inside himself, but I feel like that was a fight for a movie or two ago (when Sabretooth would've filled that role). 

-Even if the backstory was needlessly nihilistic (not only Logan but Xavier too is fated to destroy everything he’s built? Really?), I'm glad there was a happy ending of sorts…at least a sense that not all hope is lost.

-I feel like they could've done more with Logan's death...this made perfect sense, but it also felt like par for the course for where his life was (and had always been). He never really grew out of his life being constant pain, loss, and fighting; never improved his prospects, or even his outlook (in fact it only got worse up until the end) for very long. I don't feel like he grew very much at all over these movies, since the time between this and previous films worked to erase the family he'd forged with the X-men in 1-DOFP and the peace he'd found in The Wolverine. I suppose this is paralleled with the Shane quotes about man not changing, but I wasn't fully satisfied with what this film did to his journey over the franchise. I’m much more emotionally affected by his and Xavier’s deaths than by the events that led to them. Of all the X-men, Logan has the most potential to change for the better (given he has arguably the darkest backstory), and that was squandered by making him go over the same lessons again…how many times can you break him down and watch him build himself up again?

-I teared up when Laura called Logan "daddy." That was heartbreaking.

-I knew they were going to make the cross an X and loved that they did.

-I would definitely be down for continuing the Wolverine series with Laura as the all-new lead!