What Movie Did You Just Watch

[Avaitor]

Part of why I wanted to give Gremlins 2 a watch is because of this great article, but it's not even the first time I've heard about how subversive the film is. I got it in a triple-pack with both films and The Goonies, and I think that I'm going to use that disc the most.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Part of why I wanted to give Gremlins 2 a watch is because of this great article, but it's not even the first time I've heard about how subversive the film is. I got it in a triple-pack with both films and The Goonies, and I think that I'm going to use that disc the most.

I own the exact same DVD set.

That's actually how I originally watched all three movies for the first time.

There is also this great video that goes into detail about the production of Gremlins 2 and why it's such a great film: http://youtu.be/33PSQjs3lrk

[Avaitor]

So that happened.

I'm not disappointed by La La Land having Best Picture taken away from it, since the film did just about nothing for me. Which is pretty disappointing, since I was completely on Damien Chazelle's side from Whiplash, and I love the same musicals he loves and emulates, but even as an aspiring artist, I found absolutely nothing to connect to or hold onto. I also thought that he was somehow much less confident of a director here than he was in Whiplash, which became a serious problem throughout.

Moonlight is far more deserving of the award, but I'm not really in love with it, either. Coming of age films are rarely my favorite, and the excessive hype kind of ruined it for me, but at the same time, it's as good of that kind of film that can be made. Additionally, it's fucking gorgeous, and it's a kind of story that is seldom told for the black community. It's an important film, but the real reason that I want it to stand out is so artists can learn and be inspired from this, and do something even better, because I know it can be done.

Still, I think everyone should get around to seeing both and decide for themselves. They've struck a nerve for a lot of people, for clear reasons.

[Avaitor]

On a spur of the moment, I ended up seeing Get Out with a friend. I really liked it, and I think that it deserves the hype. It's a unique enough horror experience, which plays on tropes a little but isn't committed to just playing with them like other modern horror films, and it's funny in the right moments without drowning you with comic relief.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just saw Logan. Honestly, it's going to be hard for any film this year to top it for me. It was a very personal story, and you don't find that too often in comic book movies of this nature.

This has really been a surprisingly good time for movies in general, considering that the first quarter of the year is ususally a pretty dead season for movies. However, in less than three months alone we've gotten an actual decent M. Night Shyamalan film with Split, a surprisingly good horror thriller with Get Out, a genuinely great action sequel with John Wick Chapter 2, and now arguably the best stand-alone X-Men film to date with Logan. That's pretty impressive. I'm just wondering if the rest of the year can actually live up to it, but we're off to a great start right now, all things considered.

[Peanutbutter]

Yeah, its been an odd start for this nearly everything the last two months have been surprise hits. My brother and I are planning on seeing Logan this Thursday, and I've been interested in Get Out for a while. It being a horror film though I'll likely wait until its on Netflix or Cinemax/HBO.

[Avaitor]

I'd recommend at least going to see Get Out if you have a discount ticket night. The audience participation was some of the best I've had for it, and made going to theaters worth it.

I'm seeing Logan on Sunday, and I'm excited. And I agree, this year is off to a pretty good start for film. I don't think last year was a slouch at this point either, though, since we got Kung-Fu Panda 3, The Witch, Deadpool, and Zootopia at this point, and I think also Green Room.

What I'm curious to see is how the MCU stuff will turn out. I'm doubting that Guardians Vol. 2 will live up to the first one, but the colors are popping off for it so much that I'm open. I don't really want another Spider-Man, but it's looking like an improvement over all the previous ones. And Thor can go either way, tbh.

[Avaitor]

Holy shit, yeah, Logan was fantastic. If they wanted to end this generation of X-Men films here, I'd be fine, but at the same time, I think Singer still has aspirations to do his take on Phoenix, and frankly I think we can get one more Stewart and McKellen appearance. I do think that it's fair to say goodbye to Jackman, though, but at least he had an excellent finish.

There's one thing that bothers me, though.

Spoiler

I did want to find out more about what happened to the last X-Men besides Xavier and Logan, and want to know who the last surviving members were before they died. At the same time, I didn't want them to spoil TOO much, but I wanted a little more information. But if there's anyone whose fate I wanted to know about, it was Magneto's. A big part of Xavier's arc is his guilt towards the path Erik chose, which is needless, but there is no doubt that he was on Charles' mind even up to his dying breath.

[close]

Besides that, I was really happy. I'm glad that James Mangold was given another shot at the character, since even though The Wolverine had some problems and didn't compare to Claremont and Miller's miniseries, I felt like it showed that he had a good grasp on the character and a strong talent for structure. This was a great one.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Spoiler

I read that Kitty Pryde was supposed to be taking care of the kids at Eden, but she was cut out for some reason. I do want to know what happened to Magneto though, considering the Transigen events in this movie mean that he was absolutely right.

[close]

Watching Logan's really bittersweet, because it's a great movie, but the whole "end of an era" feel is absolute. I know Jackman's been Wolverine for 9 movies, and most people were tired of him by the third, but it's still sad to realize we reached that endpoint. 17 years. 8 more years than RDJ. For superhero fans just preparing to get out of high school, he's been Wolverine forever.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I know what you mean. We've had some great X-Men movies, mediocre ones, and shitty ones. It's a real mixed-bag in terms of quality, but Jackman has consistently been in most of them (and Stewart in his fair share as well), and this was a film version of characters that were a big deal to me when I first saw them on screen as a ten-year-old and was instantly a fan of both. This being both Jackman and Stewart's swan song as these characters really does feel bittersweet to me, leaving me feeling both ecstatic to see them go out on a high note but also a little sad to know that we'll never see them reprise these roles again.

And for those doubting it, not only does this movie end with a definitive sense of finality, but I put a lot of trust in Jackman's integrity when he says that this will be his last time playing the character that made him famous.

[Avaitor]

The toughest scene for me in the movie is when we first see Xavier in his current state. It's clearly more than just dementia that is affecting him, but it's downright shocking to see this man I've known since I was a child, a force of good that has mattered a great deal to me, struggle so hard.

This is steering off from Logan, but I want to just say, RIP Robert Osborne. I don't think TCM is going to be the same without him.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I heard that the X-Men producers have plans to use Laura/X-23 in future films, but I'm wondering how. I'd rather they not recast her though, because the actress in Logan did a cool job.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Using the same actress for X23 in future films seems strange to me unless they're planning to set them post-Logan. Which they could do and might be pretty neat, but it's quite a gamble to make an X-men movie exclusively around her not featuring any other popular/known X-Men characters (since presumably everyone else is dead now?), and especially since she's still a pretty young actress and didn't have to really say a whole lot during the movie, whereas if she was the star of her own film she probably would need to be given more dialogue and have to do a wider range of acting.

Oh, and yeah, I saw Logan last weekend. Loved it, thought it was an amazing sendoff for Jackman and potentially Stewart. Personally think it might be the best X-Men film but I'd have to watch it and others again to compare and make sure. It definitely had me the most emotionally engaged and connected with the characters without a doubt.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Maybe Deadpool 2 will have Cable kidnapping X23 and send her to McAvoy-Charles.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if they actually did that.