I don't think Whedon should get all of the blame for that one. That movie was already ill-conceived before he was brought on board. We've already been through this, but Zack Snyder just does not get these characters IMO. For example, he made Superman into basically another Batman -- a dark and brooding, "scary" character, when Supes should be an embodiment of hope and symbolize an ideal that humanity can strive toward.
I enjoyed "Man of Steel" pretty well (Michael Shannon was an inspired choice as General Zod), but was thoroughly disappointed in BvS. Wonder Woman (in her solo movie; don't get me started on how she was handled in BvS) was a far more heroic and likable (and humane) character than Superman was in Snyder's hands. I just don't care for his macho, self-consciously super grimdark "vision" for these characters.
IMO, of course.
I have the impression of a "dark" Superman is something that's been floating around since the 90's. There was recently a documentary done about the failed attempt to get a Superman movie off the ground, circa 1998. They were gonna get Tim Burton to direct, and Nicholas Cage was gonna star, and I gather from the way that it's described in this documentary, it was going to be a lot darker than the 80's era Superman pictures.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I tend to feel that "comic book" movies take the material too seriously. I feel what works on a comic book page or even a cartoon doesn't necessarily translate well to live action. That's why I prefer stuff like the 1980 Flash Gordon movie, and the second and third Superman movies over all of this "dark, brooding and depressing" nonsense. Look, you're not Ingmar Frelling Bergman, stop trying to be all artsy and just do something that's gonna be fun to watch (and by "fun to watch", it needs something more than Jessica Alba or Gal Gadot in the cast).
Granted, I'm getting the impression that not all comic book movies are overly "dark". I haven't seen them yet, but the ads I've seen for this Deadpool sequel (I didn't see the first one, didn't even know it existed until just the last few months) and this Antman deal leads me to believe that somebody in Hollywood has finally figured out it wouldn't kill them to have a sense of humor when making some of these pictures.
OH, btw, you know what really makes Gal Gadot hot? SHe used to be a soldier! I don't know why, but somehow the idea of a woman who could probably kill me with her bare hands starts me up (if I may be permitted to quote Mick Jagger).
... all this talk about the great portrayal of Scrooge by Alastair Sim ...
The scene when he has decided at last to accept nephew's yearly invitation.
Wordless. He and the maidservant in the foyer. She knows the significance of his visit. He knows she knows, as they look at one another. Wordlessly.
One of the most affecting scenes in cinema for this particular sentimental, old fool.
Perhaps finding the happy medium is harder than we know.
I didn't think anyone could top Julie Newmar until I saw Halle Berry in the role. Damn was she hot. The movie was a mess, tho.
Right? My favorite moment is the day after when Cratchit shows up late for work and Scrooge grills him about it but then tells him he's going to give him a raise. He starts laughing but then his face softens as he tells Bob that he hasn't lost his senses, he's come to them. Just brilliant.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson and Neve Campbell - Action movie about a family trapped in a massive skyscraper in Hong Kong with the main character, Dwayne Johnson, trying to save his family. The way they filmed the depiction of a massive skyscraper was impressive. It included some excellent action scenes of Dwayne rescuing his family. The plot requires that you suspend disbelief for a mindless action flick. The movie is great summer light entertainment, the movie passed by pretty quicky (a good thing).
John Deacon also had quite a bond with Freddie later in Queen. The eighties Queen became divided into two halves; Mercury/Deacon were all in for the pop/R&B stuff, while May/Taylor wanted to keep their rock roots (although Taylor was interested in New Wave as well). If you notice, more songs were written by Mercury/Deacon in the eighties ("Cool Cat," "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure") and they all had that pop feel to them. Deacon thus took it hardest when Mercury passed away. He actually left after "No One But You," the new song Brian wrote for "Queen Rocks." And yes, he's been in complete exile since then. There's some rather depressing YT footage of fans approaching Deacon at a performance of "We Will Rock You" in London, and he's crying his eyes out, begging to be left alone, while still signing people's merchandise. In the same way Brian and Roger want to respect Freddie's privacy by leaving out Freddie's AIDS decline in the new film, I think they want to leave John alone except when it's necessary to mention him in context with Queen history.
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
The Last Laugh.
A 2016 Netflix documentary about taboos in comedy.
Can jokes about the Holocaust ever be funny? Ever NOT be in terrible taste? Can ONLY be told by Jews?
Can jokes about 9/11 ever be funny?
Lots of comedians interviewed, from Mel Brooks to Gilbert Gottfried to Rob & Carl Reiner to Sarah Silverman. Archival footage of Joan Rivers and Lenny Bruce and Charlie Chaplin and even clips from Jerry Lewis's unreleased "The Day The Clown Cried." Footage of Sacha Baron Cohen parodying anti-Semitic songs in front of a cowboy audience -- who then laugh and sing along in agreement. Lots of critics and writers and Standards people, saying how comedy that doesn't attack taboo subjects, that isn't daring, that doesn't push the envelope won't be fresh. Lots of clips of routines that broke open new areas of discussion, that impinged on good taste to open dialog about things that polite people didn't talk about: homosexuality. Drugs. Religion.
9/11.
The Holocaust.
Thought provoking movie. Humor is a way of dealing with difficult subjects, humor can get people through impossible circumstances. Humor can be a way to talk about things we don't talk about. Taboos are made to be broken.
Censorship, because something is "too sensitive" or "in poor taste," doesn't disarm sensitive subjects, it makes them MORE sensitive.
Yet... at the same time, a percentage of people don't get the joke. To them, tasteless humor gives them permission to be vile.
Hmmm.... Much to think about.
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette.
2018 Netflix comedy special, equal parts comedy and anger. Hannah is a "non-gender conforming" lesbian, and her anger at being marginalized is vivid.
It's a moving and ultimately redemptive journey... but harrowing, if you're a straight white man.
I actually had to go back and watch it a second time. I think this is only the second time I've ever watched a "standup routine" twice (although Nanette is more than that). Second time through I can see how carefully written it is. How she sets up situations to pay off much later in the show. How she uses the narrative to build up tension, release the tension, build it up again, release it again, until you begin to think this will be her style.
Then wham. She hits you with the payoff, the real life facts, the truth about being a non-gender-conforming lesbian. It hits you like a sledge.
As she intended. Very clever it is.
The show has won Best Comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Best Comedy Performer at the Helpmann Awards, the Barry Award for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the award for Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. She's gotten quite a bit of publicity for this show, because it's revolutionary and incredibly powerful and incredibly well written and performed.
Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King
Another Netflix comedy special (2017), which like Hannah Gadsby, elevates stand-up into something much more. Storytelling with a social conscience. Hasan tells stories about growing up as an Indian immigrant in Davis California, about how being different from everyone else occasionally worked to his advantage but mostly went the other way. Some heartbreaking moments, some bittersweet comedy, and a very eye-opening journey. Again, incredibly well-written and performed.
Stand-up has entered a whole new plateau with these two.
All The Money In The World (2017)
True story about the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, and his mothers persistence in getting the ransom money from his cheapskate billionaire grandfather.
I liked it, great direction by Ridley Scott and Christopher Plummer was amazing as the asshole. 7/10
Apparently they filmed most of it with Kevin Spacey as Getty, but recast Plummer after Spacey faced many sexual misconduct allegations.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
Spacey doesn't seem like he'd have the same gravitas as Plummer. Even on HoC he seemed like he was a nice guy playing a cad.
I suppose it's not really a "joke about the Holocaust" so much as a "joke about obnoxious actors", but there's a bit near the beginning of To Be Or Not To Be, where Carole Lombard talks about wanting to wear a sexy nightgown during her concentration camp scene in the play that's being rehearsed. I always that was pretty funny.
And yes, sometimes humour is how you deal with difficult things. On paper, a man telling jokes about the time he set himself on fire, while freebasing cocaine, shouldn't be funny, but it was when Richard Pryor did it, as another example.
The best Batman, as Chris noted, was Adam West.
2nd best Batman was Will Arnett, in The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie.
3rd best Batman was Michael Keaton in Batman.
4th best Batman was Christian Bale in Batman Begins.
5th best Batman was Ben Affleck in Justice League (I never saw Batman vs Superman, because what a stupid idea).
6th best Batman was anyone else who might have played him after I lost interest.
All IMHO, of course.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
I'm one of the 212.
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