What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

Good points about the root problems with Wakanda and Black Panther. The movie goes out of its way to emphasize that single combat is a terrible way to select a leader, but shrugs it off as tradition. It was always intrinsic to the concept of the Black Panther to represent contradictory elements. The Black Panther is a brooding philosopher king who resolves too many problems with personal violence. His society firmly embraces a heady mixture of ancient tradition and high-end technology. They enjoy wealth and prosperity while surrounded by a continent of poverty and misery. The comics had the breathing room to explore these contradictions, but the movie does the best it can without veering off the plot.

Much of the Black Panther movie is based on a great Black Panther story from the early '70s that was called Panther's Rage. Up to that point, Black Panther had been a reliable member of the Avengers for several years, while still supposedly King of Wakanda, though only a couple of Avengers issues showed him in Wakanda. New writer Don McGregor had the boldness to challenge that status quo, and showed a Wakanda moving towards a Civil War stirred up by new villain Erik Killmonger. The same Killmonger in this movie. Unusual for its time, Panther's Rage lasted for a dozen issues, and really explored Wakanda. This Wakanda was still almost entirely a poverty-stricken and traditional third world country, aside from a few high-tech facilities in the capital. The cyber-rhino scene in the movie was a nod to a scene from Panther's Rage where Black Panther wrestles a normal rhino to the ground in mid-charge. In comic book format, Panther's Rage had effectively an unlimited budget and was free to include giant gorillas, a zombie horde, and rampaging dinosaurs.

Ta-Nehisi Coates took on the monarchical aspect of Wakandan government in his recent Black Panther run. Not surprisingly it ended with a democratic Wakanda. Kind of disappointed in that. I know democracy isn’t perfect but still preferable to every other form of government yet attempted, but it’s a comic. Try something a little more radical.

Not a great run. Solid foundation, but the only parts that really sparked were political discussions between T’Challa’s mother and an old professor friend.

Ant-man and the Wasp was more enjoyable upon second viewing. Instead of straining to anticipate what would happen next, I could lean back and enjoy the flow if it. Paul Rudd's sunny personality makes everything agreeable, even when the tension ratchets up and the stakes are high. Michael Douglas is fun as genius jerk who manages to rein it in just enough to somehow be likeable at times. Evangeline Lilly is fine, and the casting of Michelle Pfeiffer was ideal. It was great to see tv folks like Walter Goggins and Hannah John-Kamen, and my new head canon has merged Lawrence Fishburne's Dr. Bill Foster with Lawrence Fishburne's Dr. Jack Crawford of Hannibal, at different points on the same timeline. The movie has plenty of action, but is also unusually warm and funny compared to every other MCU movie except Ant-man. The only disappointment was the final cliffhanger that doesn't get resolved until Endgame.

Captain Marvel was one of the few MCU movies that I didn't manage to see before going to Endgame. Although there were tie-ins to Nick Fury and a character from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Captain Marvel otherwise stands far apart from the rest of the MCU. It takes place almost entirely in the year 1998, although that is not established early on due to a bewildering and misleading first 20 minutes of the movie. Even then, the identity of our hero is somewhat confusing until around halfway through the movie.

Aside from those issues, Captain Marvel is fine. It follows the successful Marvel formula of action + some humor + a great cast, except this movie falls somewhat short in terms of star power. Jude Law and Annette Bening are fine, and casting Brie Larson as the star was surprising but appropriate. The music selections from the '90s were inspiring though not surprising. Ultimately, the story is a bit of a problem, because the original Ms. Marvel character lacked a compelling origin story.

I must have been a bit bored or restless, because I voluntarily watched Highlander II: The Quickening for the first time since 1991. It remains a terrible sequel to the excellent original Highlander movie, but this time I was able to appreciate the sets and locations and costumes. Fight choreography wasn't great but also wasn't terrible. If I ever watch this movie again, I will mute the volume and put on some suitable music.

I just watched all three John Wick movies. Man, I saw a lot of people get shot.

I think I like them because they take the absurdity of vintage HK movies (The Killer, A Better Tomorrow, etc.) and ratchet it up to comic book levels. And I really like the notion that there is this vast and omnipresent secret industry of assassins that normal people just don’t even notice at all. They even rope in the old secret society tropes.

What’s really interesting is that the films basically have no story. Yeah, wife/dog/car etc. but instead of a story it’s almost all -lore- that is gradually revealed. And the lore is likely more compelling than a story would have been.

I love that the movies get weird and brow-furrowingly goofy. I love that they hired Franco Nero, the original Django, for a role. I love the VIC-20s the switchboard operators use. I love Halle Berry’s dogs.

They kept me entertained if only because the action is so well choreographed and quite original, and also because of Keanu’s really kind of strange performance. I think the third one is definitely the best as it showcases the things I like the most about these movies.

Better than I expected, to be honest.

They're very good. Even though they get stupider, it's in a fun way of stupid world building that can't possibly be taken seriously.

I need to watch the third one again, but I think my favorite tiny scene in all of it is in the first film when he slides his car around and thunks a guy right into a support pillar.

I watched Surf Nazis Must Die. I knew it was going to be trash, but for some reason I was hoping for some good garage band quality surf rock or punk music. To my surprise, this was actually a sort of half-assed post-apocalyptic movie, so they went with lots of synthwave instead. Because synthwave is what '80s people thought we would listen to in the future. Anyway, it was dumb and violent and then it was over. I did get unreasonably excited at one point because the usual pervasive graffiti gave way to an awesome rendition of the album cover to In The Court of the Crimson King, which is this big terrified face with the mouth open so wide that you can see that little punching bag in the back of his throat.

Watched The Decline on Netflix. Canadian (french canadian) film about a survivalist getaway that goes horribly awry. First third is basically a "how to prepper guide" but it quickly devolves into a gritty no holds barred struggle for survival as (you might suspect) prepper types don't really get along well with each other when shit hits the fan.

jason10mm wrote: Watched The Decline on Netflix. Canadian (french canadian) film about a survivalist getaway that goes horribly awry. First third is basically a "how to prepper guide" but it quickly devolves into a gritty no holds barred struggle for survival as (you might suspect) prepper types don't really get along well with each other when shit hits the fan.

I watched this today. A decent B movie, and it's brief. Combines the predictable with the unpredictable. 3.5 / 5

I watched Hail Caesar! last night and finished it this morning. It was kind of amusing and I enjoyed it, but I didn't really emotionally connect with anyone. It sort of felt like I was reading Don DeLillo or something. I liked it. I felt like there was more movie that had been edited out.

Here is a good review [New Yorker]

I've seen Fargo and liked it. What Coen brothers movie should I see next?

CranBerries wrote: I've seen Fargo and liked it. What Cohen brothers movie should I see next?

O Brother, Where Art Thou?... and then No Country for Old Men

Follow those two up with Raising Arizona and either Miller's Crossing or Blood Simple.

So many of their films are fantastic. Blood Simple doesn't get mentioned much, glad to see it recommended here.

I also think Burn After Reading is incredibly underrated.

Miller's Crossing is great.

Barton Fink is pretty interesting.

The Cohen brothers

Miller's Crossing will probably always be my favorite. There are others among their work that are probably "better" films, but I just find the understated style of Crossing and almost everyone in it (Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden) to be just brilliant.

Charlie is right that Burn After Reading is underrated. It came out right after No Country For Old Men and fell into the shadow of that film. But McDormand, Pitt, Clooney, and Malkovich are all excellent in it; especially Pitt. Also, JK Simmons has what may be the funniest three minutes in their entire oeuvre at the end.

O, Brother, Where Art Thou? is probably their most innovative film (which is saying a lot), since it's functioning on like three different levels at the same time. I also wouldn't overlook The Man Who Wasn't There. Billy Bob Thornton does some remarkable work in it and, like Crossing, it carries a lot of very subtle action and humor that's really enjoyable.