General Movies Thread

[SpoonyViking]

Recently watched Pride, a movie about a political-minded group of gays and lesbians supporting the struggle of striking miners against Thatcher. In spite of the subject matter, it's basically a fluff movie, but the actors are good enough to make it charming and engaging.

[RoydGolden]

^

Spoiler warning...

Uncle Ben dies.

I mean, obviously I get what you're saying. There's some twists and plot-points that have become so universally known in pop culture there's no point trying to hide them in subsequent remakes/adaptations. But the movie did clearly present Mysterio's real identity as a big twist. The whole first half of the movie relied on the viewers being emotionally invested in that storyline, and even the actor himself said he wanted to make it as plausible as possible before the reveal. That doesn't jibe with it being a token "twist" that everyone is supposed to already know, like Uncle Ben's death. And personally I think the movie would've stood a lot better if they had been more coy with Mysterio's identity, even if I can see why they didn't do that for promotional reasons. (A big name villain from the comic books showing up in the movie is good for driving up hype, a seemingly original character nobody's heard of before obviously less so).

[Skull]

I mean, obviously I get what you're saying.

It doesn't look like you did.

[RoydGolden]

It doesn't look like you did.

Well, do you disagree that this

There's some twists and plot-points that have become so universally known in pop culture there's no point trying to hide them in subsequent remakes/adaptations.

is a fair summation of your views? Because I explained why I didn't think that applied in this case, as opposed to Uncle Ben's death. If you had some other point you're welcome to clarify it.

[Skull]

Well, do you disagree that this is a fair summation of your views?

Yes, because I said no such thing. Let's start at the beginning...

You asked:

It was a fun movie but did anyone else think it kind of sabotaged its own twist by billing Gyllenhaal's character as Mysterio from the get-go? Given Mysterio was the name of a villain in the comics it kind of gives away that his stint as a superhero is just a ruse. If not for that it could've been a quite cool and unexpected twist, but as is I was pretty much waiting for the other shoe to drop through the whole first half of the movie.

Now, obviously you are going to have two types of people watching the movie - those with prior knowledge of Mysterio being a villain, and those that do not. For the latter they will naturally be inclined to feel the drama of the betrayal - however that is largely irrelevant to your question so we can disregard it. For someone who doesn't live under a rock and knows who Mysterio is..."can they still feel drama from a twist they already know is coming?" Is the root of the dilemma you raised. It was to this that my comment about Uncle Ben's death comes into play as you can extend the logic of "I know this twist therefore I'm waiting for the shoe to drop" to that and virtually any twist in a Spider-Man film. At that point, am I enjoying a film because it has twists and turns or is it because there's something more to storytelling, acting and cinematography?

TL;DR "No" I do not agree that announcing Gyllenhaal plays Mysterio in the film hurt my experience of the film in the end.

[RoydGolden]

Yes, because I said no such thing. Let's start at the beginning...

You asked:

Now, obviously you are going to have two types of people watching the movie - those with prior knowledge of Mysterio being a villain, and those that do not. For the latter they will naturally be inclined to feel the drama of the betrayal - however that is largely irrelevant to your question so we can disregard it. For someone who doesn't live under a rock and knows who Mysterio is..."can they still feel drama from a twist they already know is coming?" Is the root of the dilemma you raised. It was to this that my comment about Uncle Ben's death comes into play as you can extend the logic of "I know this twist therefore I'm waiting for the shoe to drop" to that and virtually any twist in a Spider-Man film. At that point, am I enjoying a film because it has twists and turns or is it because there's something more to storytelling, acting and cinematography?

TL;DR "No" I do not agree that announcing Gyllenhaal plays Mysterio in the film hurt my experience of the film in the end.

I'm not denying you can appreciate the movie while still expecting the twist ahead of time. I still had fun watching it after all. I'm just saying that strictly as a twist it would've worked better if Mysterio's name hadn't been revealed until afterwards. Your point about Uncle Ben's death is fair enough, but I think at this point even the filmmakers themselves recognize that storyline beat has been overplayed to the extent where it's much more difficult to have a genuine emotional reaction to it. That's why MCU Spider-Man skips over the Uncle Ben plotline entirely. So a twist being expected doesn't mean you can't still enjoy it when it happens, but it can definitely lessen the impact.

At least IMO. Obviously your own view on the movie can differ, and I won't begrudge you for saying your experience wasn't hurt by the twist. These are just my personal feelings.

[weeblord]

Finally watched Spider-Man: Far From Home tonight.

It was a fun movie but did anyone else think it kind of sabotaged its own twist by billing Gyllenhaal's character as Mysterio from the get-go? Given Mysterio was the name of a villain in the comics it kind of gives away that his stint as a superhero is just a ruse. If not for that it could've been a quite cool and unexpected twist, but as is I was pretty much waiting for the other shoe to drop through the whole first half of the movie.

I dont think it was supposed to be a surprising twist. Maybe to MCU onlies.

i think the actual twist was the way the fanbase were speculating about the multiverse from trailers, only for musterio to laugh it off as utter bullshit.

[Asunder]

The real twist wasn't Mysterio being a bad guy.

Spoiler:

It's that 'Mysterio' was a team of special effects guys made up of references to Tony's past. Which fit in with Homecoming being a Coda to the MCU's past which had Tony as the closest thing to the main character.

[SpoonyViking]

Yeah, I'm about ready for Spider-Man to matter in his own movies again.

[Wandering Swordwoman]

Any good movies that I can watch on cinema for October-December?

[Toa of Gallifrey]

The Lighthouse

[Mattias]

Any good movies that I can watch on cinema for October-December?

Any preferred genres?

[Skull]

Terminator: Damp Fart was as abysmal as expected.

Probably tied with Genisys for worse film in this dead horse of a franchise.

[SpoonyViking]

Terminator: Damp Fart was as abysmal as expected.

Probably tied with Genisys for worse film in this dead horse of a franchise.

You think Genisys was worse than Salvation?!

[Skull]

You think Genisys was worse than Salvation?!

Y-yes?

I would have thought that would be obvious.

[SpoonyViking]

Wow.
I mean, I'm far from a fan of Genisys, but at least it was watchable.

[Skull]

Wow.
I mean, I'm far from a fan of Genisys, but at least it was watchable.

Huh, you are the first person to disagree with me on that.

Granted I'm not saying that Salvation was good but all the Terminator fans I know IRL at least agree it was leagues better than the disgrace that was Genisys.

[SpoonyViking]

I mean, it's kind of like arguing which smells better, horse droppings or buffalo droppings, so we're all losing anyway...

[Deathhappens]

Saw Detective Pikachu, belatedly. It didn't make me want to claw my eyes out but the most charitable impression I can muster is "Zootopia knockoff", and considering the setting involved that's just a darn shame.

Toss it in the bin with New Lion King, new Aladdin and every western adaptation of an anime franchise in "movies that should not have been made".

[Mattias]

Edge of Tomorrow was legitimately good though. Forgoes the downer ending of the original work for a more Hollywood ending, sure, but still really fun and well made.