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[DireWolfSpirit]

Time for a thread renewal.

[SpaceChampion]

Anybody see Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 3 Part 1??  I forgot it was dropping 2 days ago.  It does feel like things are wrapping up but apparently the manga is 7 more issues to base Part 2 on, so if it's not at least 3 hours long I'd be surprised.  And yet this part was only an hour to cover 2 issues of the manga.

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by SpaceChampion

[IFR]

5 minutes ago, SpaceChampion said:

Anybody see Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 3 Part 1??  I forgot it was dropping 2 days ago.  It does feel like things are wrapping up but apparently the manga is 7 more issues to base Part 2 on, so if it's not at least 3 hours long I'd be surprised.  And yet this part was only an hour to cover 2 issues of the manga.

 

I watched it and enjoyed it quite a bit. 

Spoiler

I've never experienced a protagnist that has redeemed themselves so much in respect to being an interesting character. Erin was so obnoxious and annoying for much of the show, but his willingness to commit widespread genocide has made him a much more interesting as a protagonist. Yet at the same time, this doesn't seem like a change at all to his fundamental personality, but rather a natural evolution of his earlier character. I'm very much a fan of Erin. I haven't read the end of the manga, but I do hope he manages to realize his goal - that would be a refreshing change for this type of anime.

The action is over the top and characters are always hyper dramatic, and there's never anything remotely subtle in their interactions, but it is a great story.

I look forward to the end. Hopefully it is the end this time, and not Attack on Titan Final Season Final Part of the Final Part Part One.

[Zorral]

Watched the first two episodes of Daisy Jones and the Six on Prime.  I was underwhelmed.  Probably won't pick it up after getting back home.  Particularly because there will be at least three episodes of Perry Mason, season 2, on tap by then!

 

[Veltigar]

I went to see Creed III in IMAX earlier today. I still have trouble believing this franchise is real. If you would have told me before the release of the first one that these films would not only be good, but actually surpass the Rocky franchise from which it spawned (and of which I am a tremendous fan), I would not have believed you. 

And yet they do. Pound-for-pound or even in a direct line up (Creed 1 v. Rocky; Creed II v. Rocky II, etc.) the Creed franchise takes home the gold. This third instalment is no exception. In fact it is a magnificent film and it might even be my favourite film in the entire franchise.

It contains all the classic elements I have come to adore about a Rocky film, but it manages to make the story feel even more personal by daring to delve into darker territory. The story of two friends/brothers struggling with past trauma and not being able to manage it in a constructive way is heart-wrenching. 

The excellent story is furthered by complex performances from all the main cast members. Michael B. Jordan has always been terrific as Creed, but this film actually manages to flesh out Tessa Thompson's character. The same goes for Phylicia Rashad's Mary-Anne Creed, who gets some beautiful scenes with her son.

Stealing the show however is Jonathan Majors. i have said before that the man is a star in the making and I stick to that. So far, he's been good in all the atrocious stuff I have seen him in, but here, in this film I feel we finally get to see what the man can accomplish when he's not fighting against a mediocre story. He might be the best antagonist this franchise ever had. More intimidating than Clubber Lang, more openly hostile than Apollo in the beginning and much more of an active player than Drago was. 

On top of the performances and the story, I also have to shower praise on the director. This film has some superbly interesting shots in it and I know I now really want to see Michael B. Jordan helm more films. It's such an accomplished feature that it really pops out visually. He's done an excellent job. The fights also hit hard and if you watch it in IMAX, it feels like you are right there with the actors in the ring. Great experience in sort of the same way that Top Gun: Maverick was. I might even go again if it plays in IMAX long enough.

One final thing I really liked was the score. Great musical scores throughout and the only thing I was really missing was

Spoiler

the classic Rocky theme. Just like Rocky himself actually, whom I do believe should have had a part to play in this. That's probably my only real criticism of the film.

 

[Rippounet]

The end of Mayfair Witches was rather underwhelming. Perhaps it's because most of the episodes were too slow, but I feel like the themes and atmospheres ended up overshadowing the story.

In hindsight I think the main problem was the atmosphere itself. They went to great length to build a dark, oppressive, almost sinister ambiance throughout the show. While this gave us elaborate aesthetics, I believe it was not used to properly establish the story itself. What I mean by that is that if almost all scenes have this same dark feel to them, you no longer distinguish between moments that are meant to be deeply disturbing for the main character and the viewer and others which are more benign, or even supposed to be uplifting. While the constant sense of gloom could be deemed appropriate at first because the main character is faced with grief and death, variations in the atmosphere through lighting and music could have built the sense of mystery, the sensuality, and -eventually- the release that comes with embracing one's destiny as a witch - the very embodiment of the strong, independent woman.
In a nutshell, it was literally too dark when darkness should have been reserved for key moments and/or light and color could have been used to build the story through contrast. They could do it too, because one of the brightest scenes takes place in a church... which was a very odd choice in retrospect.
What I'm suggesting isn't easy (not all movies and shows pull it off), but failure to do so makes it difficult for the viewer to empathize with the main character - in a show where her emotions are in fact central to the plot. It doesn't help that the casting of Huston as Lasher is, in fact, terrible ; after keirparavel pointed this out, I kept imagining how much better the show would have been with someone like Tom Ellis developing true alchemy with Alexandra Daddario.
Another problem - but which I suspect comes from Rice's writing - is the lack of worldbuilding. It kinda feels like this isn't quite our world, but we have no way of knowing for sure. The issue here is that when this arc concludes, there is no obvious way to propel the story forward anew. Rowan's powers end up being impressive (quite predictably so, even if the way she gets them is a bit of a surprise), but I fail to be interested in how she uses them on the world, since her world has seemed so small throughout the show. It's probably a terrible comparison, but I can't help think of the end of the first season of Lockwood & co, which also had dark aesthetics, but left me eager to see how the main character's powers would impact her world. The genres, of course, are very different, but I find it difficult to see why I would watch a second season of this over-gloomy show. Perhaps, for once, it might have been interesting to stray from the source material to introduce some later characters early (I'm sure they'll be interesting) to hint at what the second season has to offer.

 

[Zorral]

Mayfair Witches so underwhelmed, but so did the books.  I gave up about ep. 3.

Time to drop AMC for sure -- they are all Walking Dead horror and this is stuff I recoil from at the best of times.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Cocaine Bear was OK. 'Could have been better.

[RumHam]

44 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Cocaine Bear was OK. 'Could have been better.

What kind of weed were you using? 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Totally sober. It just should have been more fun than it was. 

-

We Have a Ghost

Actually pretty good. Yeah. I was entertained. 

[RumHam]

13 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Totally sober. It just should have been more fun than it was. 

I'm sure you're not wrong, but somehow I suspect I'll enjoy it more than you did. when it hits on demand. 

Also is it possible someone stepped on that shit before it got to you? Were there random cutaways to baby powder? 

[Isis]

19 hours ago, Zorral said:

Watched the first two episodes of Daisy Jones and the Six on Prime.  I was underwhelmed.  Probably won't pick it up after getting back home.  Particularly because there will be at least three episodes of Perry Mason, season 2, on tap by then!

 

I was semi excited about this being made after I read the book. But then as with many other adaptations I have lost interest even before it airs (Altered Carbon is another one, I think I only managed one episode of that). I have downloaded the first episode of this and I will probably watch it at some point but I can easily imagine it not being much good and losing interest after one or two episodes.

[BigFatCoward]

The headteacher in Abbott Elementary is a fucking riot.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

History of the World, Part II is off to a slow start. 

[dbunting]

17 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Cocaine Bear was OK. 'Could have been better.

Maybe instead of handing out 3d glasses to this audience they should give everyone a bump?

[Consigliere]

 

[TheLastWolf]

Just finished the 8 shorts BMW anthology, The Hire ft Clive Owens. Ensemble cast and crew. But only Innaritu, WKW and Ritchie's segments were nice imo.

Nolan’s debut Following revisit. Not as good but still fantastic debut.

[RumHam]

Damn Scream VI is getting some good reviews for the sixth entry in a slasher franchise. 

[Nictarion]

4 hours ago, RumHam said:

Damn Scream VI is getting some good reviews for the sixth entry in a slasher franchise. 

I still maintain it’s one of the better horror franchises. The only true miss (imo) is the 3rd one. 

We’re seeing it Friday night. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

25 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

I still maintain it’s one of the better horror franchises. The only true miss (imo) is the 3rd one. 

We’re seeing it Friday night. 

Is there a ton of competition? The franchises that first come to mind at this point were almost all in their "so bad it's good" phases. I'm not sure how good any of the sequels were, but none of them were terrible. The new one looks like it could jump to #2 in the series though.

Regarding Scream 3, it's a shame literally everything that could go wrong did go wrong on that shoot. The core idea wasn't bad, but everything about the execution was a failure.