…What is this? Well, yes, hundreds of beavers, obviously. But what is this?
Category: Movies
The LET’S PLAY: MERP / ROLEMASTER SECOND AGE HOMEBREW second season trailer.
And ohhhhhh but the new season of THE RINGS OF POWER is gonna make people’s eyes twitch, veins in foreheads throb, and possibly even get a mouth or two to froth. Honestly, I respect that. It means that people haven’t completely accepted the Doom that has come unto them, and I salute their bravery against the Shadow.
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE looks like it’ll be all right.
I saw some people freaking out about reviews for DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. I’m not entirely certain why:
A 80/97 split on Rotten Tomatoes is absolutely good news, going in. That translates to, “It’s a crowd-pleaser that the critics will begrudgingly admit is put together well.” That’s all I wanted! I want something fun that I can watch after I have a beer and some wings with my future sister-in-law-in-law (it’s complicated). I’ll be happy to get it, too.
The ‘tentatively awesome’ A COMPLETE UNKNON teaser trailer.
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN is directed by the same guy who did WALK THE LINE. If this means we’re just getting a folk version of that movie, that’s fine. WALK THE LINE was excellent. If he’s up for the challenge, I’ll happily listen to Timothee Chalamet channel Bob Dylan for a couple of hours*.
So, you know, this had better not suck.
*It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to fool my ear for the length of the film. Joachim Phoenix wasn’t quite Johnny Cash, but he was able to sustain it until the end credits. That’ll do.
#commissionearned
The second JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX trailer.
JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX is weirdly… weird. I didn’t actually watch the first one, because it didn’t sound like my cup of tea. But there’s just something about having somebody else in this mad universe of his that makes me take the concept of these movies more seriously. It reminds me of the observation from WATCHMEN: the heroes needed the villains to wear costumes, too. Otherwise it was just kind of embarrassing. Without Harley, this version of the Joker is just a fundamentally sad homicidal maniac who likes to wear clown makeup.
#commissionearned
Do I want to sit down and watch the Roger Corman FANTASTIC FOUR?
Roger Corman’s FANTASTIC FOUR is apparently available on YouTube (that’s not the link). On the one hand, it’s pirated. On the other hand, it’s not like I can buy it. This is important because one of my core objections to piracy is that it takes money out of the hands of the people who made the artistic work in the first place. If nobody’s getting paid anyway, well, I do have other objections, but the case is now much weaker.
And on the gripping hand, it’s supposed to be pretty bad. I’m not as in love with really bad movies as I used to be.
The final DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE trailer.
There is a nontrivial chance that DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE will be the last good MCU flick we get. There is also a nontrivial chance that it will crash and burn, but what the heck. The first two movies (not to mention, you know, LOGAN) exceeded expectations, hey? It’s worth the roll of the dice.
#commissionearned
The second DUNE: PROPHECY trailer.
I’m sorry, but I still think that DUNE: PROPHECY looks promising. I like the aesthetic. How they’re treating the proto-Bene Gesserit as kind of ambiguous, which is smart. I mean, we know that it all ends up dark and retrograde…
Marvel’s Hail Mary play: bringing back the Russo Brothers.
It’s not the worst idea in the world, but…
In a shocking turn of events, the Russo Brothers are in talks with Marvel Studios to return to the company and film the next two Avengers movies.
According to a report from THR, Joe and Anthony Russo are in early talks to direct the planned Avengers 5 and the follow-up to that as well. Talks are said to be in the “early stages,” but should the brothers return, they would be making their fifth and sixth films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
(THR link)
…but I hope they charged all that the traffic will bear. If only because Disney will absolutely blame them if this doesn’t work. I’m not confident that it will work, either. INFINITY WAR and ENDGAME benefited from having an actual plan for developing a complicated story over a decade of standalone and smaller-series films, coupled with characters with proven track records of generating interest, and a fanbase eager for the payoff. That… is not the current state of affairs.
Good luck, guys! You’re gonna need it.
#commissionearned
The GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE Honest Trailer.
I don’t think Honest Trailers was being entirely fair to GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, though. The movies are not there to be, well, GODZILLA MINUS ONE. They’re there to be big, sloppy fun, and they’re hitting their marks. There is virtue in picking an achievable goal, and striving your best to reach it. Not every film has to try to be the Greatest Movie Ever.
#commissionearned