What Movie Did You Just Watch

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Aladdin was also pretty bad, IMO. Cinderella and Jungle Book kind of have the benefit of not being quite as widely beloved as the Disney Renaissance movies so people tend to go a bit easier on those, but even then I'd hesitate to call them good. They aren't as awful as the other Disney live-action remakes, but that's a pretty low bar. I'd still say that they suffer from a lot of the same problems as many modern Hollywood blockbusters do, though.

[Dr. Insomniac]

They need that spark that turned Pirates of the Caribbean from a theme park ride into a bunch of seafaring adventure movies. And that's crazy to think about because I used to think all the movies after the first one were dumb, but compared to the live-action remakes, at least the first two sequels have more depth and experimentation to them.

[Foggle]

I wouldn't drop a penny on another live-action Disney remake let alone $30 of my money.

Wait what

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It's what they're charging to watch the movie on demand.

[Avaitor]

They're charging $30 to watch the movie on a streaming service, and it'll be available to the general public in December. It's pretty fucking bullshit.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Thinking about it, Marvel aside (and let's be honest, that's Kevin Feige running the show there), I'm hard-pressed to think of any major Disney projects that I've even found above passable for the last half-decade or so. Pixar has had a couple of alright movies and a few pretty bad ones, and overall is kind of a hollow shell of their 90's and 2000's output from Toy Story to Up. I thought Wreck-It Ralph was alright (still haven't bothered to watch the sequel) but personally couldn't stand Frozen and found Big Hero 6 to be incredibly mediocre. And of course, their live-action remakes have ranged from inoffensive but inferior alternatives to their animated counterparts at best to absolute dumpster-fires more often than not. And I'm not one of the people that detests The Last Jedi but overall, Disney's Star Wars has failed to really ignite any excitement in ke for that franchise.

Despite clearly being the most profitable movie company in the business, their output really doesn't reflect that from a quality standpoint. Of course, their movies make up less than 20% of their overall profit since they make far more from their amusement parks, hotels, and cruises, as well as their merchandise, so it's not like they have any incentive to do better, but it's still rather sad to see how much they've degraded in terms of quality on the movie side of things.

[Avaitor]

I honestly really liked Zootopia, Moana, and Inside Out, but I'll agree that qualitywise, the latter half of the 2010's wasn't great for Disney. I already didn't care about the remakes or Star Wars, but I haven't had the same level of enuthisasm for either of their animation studio's films in a while, and even Marvel's upcoming slate isn't leaving me stoked. They've been doing better with their animated series, but even those are starting to show a tired formula.

It doesn't really matter how we feel about their recent output, because Disney has been doing quite well for a while. But that may not last, since they've notably gone through cycle of profitability. They were on top of the animation game in the late 20's and 30's, but were struggling to find profits throughout most of the 40's. Cinderella and an increased focus on live-action helped to make the brand bigger than ever, especially fueled by the opening of Disneyland and ventures into television, then they couldn't figure out how to follow Walt's path in the 70's and 80's. Eisner and Katzenberg push the animation studio into creative highs, then follow one of the most iconic run of films ever made with samey musicals and ill-advised experiments to increasingly diminished results. After years of mostly staying afloat thanks to Pixar and POTC, the animation studio comes up with some of their most popular films in years, while Marvel and Star Wars continue to dominate the market, and they find high levels of success by remaking some of their most beloved animated films.

They may be heading towards another low, especially after having such a record high gross income from last year. They must have reached the ceiling by now, and the trashfire reception to Rise of Skywalker and mixed at best reaction to Mulan suggest that they could be falling soon. If the next couple of Marvel movies end up sucking, that could further push towards a down period for Disney.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I don't necessarily expect Marvel to suck all of a sudden even though that seems to be a prevailing opinion after their momentum has been reset to ground zero with the conclusion of the Infinity Saga. My main worry is more that they will creatively stagnate with safe and formulaic movies. I wouldn't mind at all if we had a few stinkers were they to go a more experimental route if that also produced some truly unique and great movies as well. I mean, after reading the entire 102-issue + 5 annuals Lee/Kirby run, I'd at the very least like to see them nail a new FF movie.

I know we're in that phase where it's cool to hate on Marvel because it's a product of evil corporate Disney, but Disney only owns it. At the end of the day it's still made by actual people, some of who do give a shit about making something that respects the comics and is good, so I'd still personally be happy if Marvel could remain fresh going forward. We'll just have to wait and see, though.

[Dr. Insomniac]

This article I read's been making me think about SPECTRE lately. How it has all the ingredients for a great Bond movie, but it just landed flat for me and I couldn't think of how to word it for ages. The essay's helped me see some things in a new light, like how the film's subversions of the Craig formula is meant to melt Bond's heart and guide him to a role outside of killing. Doubt No Time to Die will stick to that message, but I hope so. I just wish they had a better villain to glue it all together. SPECTRE was a waste of both Christoph Waltz and a legendary Bond villain. You finally get the rights back to Blofeld after decades of legal tangling, and all you do is make him an evil stepbrother who wanted to Reverse-Flash Bond because his dad liked him more?

[Avaitor]

I'll have to check that article out later.

Spectre wasn't really more than fine, but I've mostly accepted that there aren't that many Bond movies as good as Skyfall or Casino Royale were. The franchise has always been pretty uneven, including the Connery days. For every Goldfinger high, you'd have a Thunderball-level mediocrity or two to sit through.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Speaking of Bond, No Time to Die's been delayed yet again, which everyone sort of expected, but still a pity. It did get me to thinking though, No Time to Die's the only 007 swan song film that was produced from the beginning under the idea it'll be the lead actor's finale. Connery was on the fence with leaving when filming You Only Live Twice, Moore announced his departure after his displeasure from filming View to a Kill, and both Dalton and Brosnan were planning to do more films before EON pushed for a new take on Bond. Craig's the first actor whose last film will actually feel like a last film.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Been watching my fair share of horror this Halloween. Among those has been the action-horror hybrid Kim Jee-woon film "I Saw the Devil" which is pretty fucking amazing, IMO. Definitely not for the squeamish, but it's one of the most unique and disturbing revenge films that I've ever seen.

I also watched John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness which is among the few of his films I hadn't seen before. While it's one of his more critically panned films, I personally enjoyed it for the most part. I do think it gets hammed up a bit too much at times, even by John Carpenter's standards, but the hoakie nature of the story is also part of it's charm, much like other Carpenter films from that era. I think what makes it work for me, though, are the core cast of characters who are fairly likeable and easy to get behind even if they lack in any real depth (again, playing to Carpenter's strengths).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a really good horror comedy in my book. It manages to have a strong emotional core with it's central character's depression and alcoholism while being morbidly amusing at times with it's dark humor and over-the-top moments. Not quite as good as something like An American Werewolf in London for me, but about on par with Ready or Not and Us from last year, both of which I also really enjoyed.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Watching Blackkklansman. For all of Spike Lee's well-documented antipathy toward Tarantino, the film feels like a less stylized version of something QT would've done.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just watched Wolfwalkers. It's definitely worth most of the praise that it got. Despite being a fairly predictable story, it's execution is so top notch that it still works despite the conventional set-up. Kind of reminds ke of what animated Disney movies used to feel like.