OT: Capitals Cinema Club: TV and Movies

[Neil Racki]

I quite liked the movie. One of my favorites is the year.

Yeah it checked a lot of boxes. One of my fav 5 so far … the more I think about it the more I appreciate it … solid as f*** bit of slow pacing after first half but im an asshole

 

[usiel]

‘God of War’ Amazon TV Series Enlists Ronald D. Moore as New Showrunner

The "God of War" TV series adaptation at Amazon has found its new showrunner.

variety.com

For a genre writer/producer there is probably no sure thing for success than getting RM involved.

 

[Neil Racki]

Penguin ep 5 ... really f***ing good

 

[Hivemind]

Penguin ep 5 ... really f***ing good

Ep4 is my favorite of the series so far, but 5 was a solid follow up

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Penguin ep 5 ... really f***ing good

Waiting for all to come out to binge been hearing good things about penguin

 

[Hivemind]

Waiting for all to come out to binge been hearing good things about penguin

It's a good series that's definitely worth watching, btu also don't really expect it to be much of a Batman series. It's essentially a mafia/crime drama that happens to use family names from the Batman universe (and a couple deep cut easter eggs in the background), but has essentially no superhero elements.

 

[Jags]

I haven't started watching it yet. It's been sitting in the DVR till I got around to watching the new Batman movie, which I finally did yesterday.

I liked it, not as good as the hype, a few random observations...

* New Batman is kind of a p***y. I like that they grounded and humanized him a bit in this capacity, but overall it's due to some really seriously woeful fight choreography. Hopefully they chalk that up to it being early in his Bat career and hire a better fight coordinator next time. The fight sequences were very weak. Batfleck was terrible in every aspect except this one. That one Batman fight scene Snyder did in BvS was the best of any Batman film.

* New Catwoman was very good and fit the story well. Same with Gordon and Alfred. Emo Bruce Wayne was a little much, but Pattinson did a good job with it.

* I dig that the film had a noir vibe that focused on a mystery and accessible villains. The mystery itself was poorly written, but the overall story was really good. The way that there's a full, deep origin story in there without the movie feeling like one really worked. Some clumsy exposition here and there, but they were pretty clever about integrating his story into the plot.

* Finally a Gotham that just looks like a city and gets its seediness from what happens there, not what it looks like. The city is a character in the comics, and this is the first time I've felt that in any of the films. The rest just seemed like directors trying to put their own visual stamp on the concept of Gotham.

* Turturro and Dano are always great and didn't disappoint here. Keoghan has quietly become one of his generation's best actors, but that little hint we got of what his Joker might look like was pretty dodgy. I know the performance will be stellar whenever they get around to it, just hoping the writing and visuals match up. Leto's a pretty great actor, but they dropped the ball on all 3 aspects on that one.

* Farrell deserves special mention. The performance is terrific, though it does feel like an odd stunt, burying him under all that makeup instead of just hiring someone that looks the part. Oddly, I think what really makes it work is that Farrell is in there, with the charisma of a completely different type of man. There's a quirky dichotomy going on there that just works for some crazy reason, but I guess that's the magic of a brave casting choice from the director and a lights-out performance from an actor.

* I dig the new Batman suit except for the collar. I get that they have to solve the incessant "Batman can't turn his head in live action" problem somehow, but the collar was a little much for me. Batfleck just had a slightly weird, fat neck, but looked pretty cool and could turn his head. Maybe something a little more that-ish?

Despite the criticisms, it might be my favorite live action Batman movie, but I'm not sure that's saying much. The Nolan flicks were really good and Ledger's Joker might always be the one to beat, but they were a little too "Nolan does Batman" for me. I really appreciate what he did in making it his own (wasn't a fan of the Burton or Schumacher versions), but overall his trilogy still didn't feel like the Batman from the source material. And the Batman voice in those movies was a ridiculous choice. Whoever made that call was a little batty himself...

The "Year Two" choice in this one was really smart. Early enough in his career that you can make whatever changes you want to the character and his crusade and just call it a natural evolution. Keep the vibe, tighten up the writing, hire a new fight choreographer, and you're golden.