Movie News, Reviews, & Reactions 2011

[Mister Andersen]

The fail that King suffered from though was really a stylistic one, rather than narrative (or arguably, structural)

[Wolverine]

...and that King had far, far too many endings, but at least I got through them at the cinema.

At least they didn't go through most of the endings only to have the Hobbits return to the Shire and go through the 'joy' of The Scouring. People would have walked out at that point.

[Gentry]

I'm from America so I realise your English isn't the same as my English but if your reply only means to say that Jackson's Hobbit won't be more fucked up than Jackson's Towers and King, I'll be skipping these.

I loved Towers and King. I can't wait for the Alan Dean Foster novelizations.

[Eärendle]

My disappointment with Jackson's King centers almost entirely around the narrative and the context in which events are presented. I squelched the urge to leave the theater at least three times during King, all of them long before the Scouring would have occurred and at one point while much of the opening night audience was cheering the onscreen action.

I was thrilled by a comment del Toro made after becoming attached to the project where he said he adored The Hobbit but preferred The Silmarillion to Lord of the Rings. That said, people like what they like and often for widely diverse reasons. I might ultimately have been just as unhappy with del Toro's presentation but his participation was the only thing thus far that would have convinced me to buy a ticket.

[Mister Andersen]

This past week I've been to see both Megamind & Tron

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I found this to be a quite charming film, and free of a need to physically perform Will Farrel put in a likeable and charasmatic performance as the titular character. His relationship with David Cross's adorable Minion really made the film for me, as did MM's... earnest... relationship with Metroman (Brad Pitt putting in a voice performance I felt very reminiscent of his turn as Tyler Durden).

I don't know if it was the fact that it was because she was played by Tina Fey, but I felt it was a bit of a let down that Roxanne wasn't gay. It seemed to defeat the purpose of the movies' theme that your destiny is what you make of it for her simply to go from the presumtive romantic partner of one MM to being the actual romantic partner of the other because that there is totally about having Destiny choose your role for you.

Also, epic legal system that seemingly allows you to commute 86 consecutive life sentances to superheroic community service.

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Interesting note: while I sort of liked Daft Punk's score for the film when it was -- ironically? -- pre-emptively released into the wild, I wasn't bowled over by it the way some were. However, once it was mated with a visual context I found myself positively re-evaluating my response to it.

They were a lot more blatant about Tron's resurrection as Rinzler than I thought they would be, and as a result I was disappointed that Rinzler's story was underplayed to the extent that it was. There needed to be some expression of pride in Rinzler on Clu's part, some claiming of him as Clu's creature to Sam -- either by Clu or Quorra -- to make him remembering his true function as being to fight for the Users more than the deus ex machina it really felt like. Still, his final scene where instead of fading to black he shifts colours from red to white makes it clear that he'll be back for a third outing should there be one (helped by the fact that Boxleitner really has aged quite well compared to the clearly written-out-of-the-series Bridges, and what a trip to the Uncanny Valley that was).

My only other complaint was that it took until our heroes were on the command carrier to realize what the guard had been saying in the scene where the recognizer brings the prisoners to Arena, which is just poor sound design.

But beyond that, it was a reasonably enjoyable film with a really very pretty visual aesthetic -- I'm glad that they didn't try to ape the look of the original too closely, but went with a next-gen vibe. Plus, of course, Olivia Wilde in tight black rubber.

I have also made the resolution that I must procure or create Kevin Flynn's hooded black coat, complete with electroluminsecent panelling.

[Crafty_Pat]

Captain America will feature the Cosmic Cube (though anyone at Comic-Con last year already knew that). More importantly, the following are believed to be concept sketches for the Red Skull...

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Yup, I can see that working on Hugo Weaving.

[Desertpuma]

Yes, that definitely works...

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According to Branagh, Odin actually controls the Marvel Universe. He proves it by hiding the Cosmic Cube in his treasure room right next to the Infinity Gauntlet, which is rumored to be part of the plot for the Avengers.

[Crafty_Pat]

Yes, that definitely works...

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According to Branagh, Odin actually controls the Marvel Universe. He proves it by hiding the Cosmic Cube in his treasure room right next to the Infinity Gauntlet, which is rumored to be part of the plot for the Avengers.

That... would be pretty slick.

[Crafty_Pat]

Oh, did I mention that Steve and I are in Tron: Legacy?

[Mister Andersen]

Yeah, I saw that in the final few seconds of the credits and figured they must have tapped the crowd for something.

[Crafty_Pat]

Yeah, I saw that in the final few seconds of the credits and figured they must have tapped the crowd for something.

That was an awesome moment, and even though I was only 1 of 7,500 I'm a tiny bit proud to have been involved.

It's similar to my work on the first Spider-Man movie. I didn't do much - I was a PA responsible for a few brief seconds of crowd work in the background of one scene (and like most PAs, uncredited) - but it's still pretty cool.

[Crafty_Pat]

The French Thor poster...

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[Mister Andersen]

The French Thor poster...

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Brooderific

[ThunderMonkey]

Sucker Punch banner...

[Wolverine]

Ian McKellen confirms his casting in The Hobbit (as well as when he starts working)

EDIT: Serkis is back, too