SD on 15/5/2017 at 16:56
Quote Posted by Starker
The Predator sequel wasn't that bad, was it? I have to confess, I never understood why it gets such a bad rap.
Danny Glover beating a Yautja in a fist-fight probably has something to do with it.
Starker on 15/5/2017 at 18:05
That's not how it happened though:
[video=youtube;hbij-fsrR3A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbij-fsrR3A[/video]
heywood on 15/5/2017 at 18:47
Quote Posted by Sulphur
I think you're over-reacting.
To address the first point: if you don't want the cycle to perpetuate, then people need to stop paying to see them. If you want the cycle to stop, vote with your wallet, etc.
I keep voting with my wallet but they keep coming and coming :)
A few things I've learned from TTLG movie threads:
1. When summer blockbuster season comes around, people here will watch practically anything, even Michael Bay
2. TTLG seems
particularly interested in comic book movies and sci-fi sequels and remakes
3. We tend to be pickier and more critical of films with a new story and more forgiving with retreads
So as a group we're pretty much the same as the broader market. We claim we want original material, but when we get it we're kinda lukewarm about it.
Sulphur on 16/5/2017 at 07:04
Well, I haven't run an analysis on TTLG's moviegoing tastes, but broadly speaking I think it's safe to assume we've got people of all stripes here, so would it really be surprising there's a % of the population who'd be fans of the random popcorn flick? Not that that's a bad thing, really.
When it comes to sci-fi sequels and comic book movies, that's also not very surprising considering we're essentially a buncha nerds (sorry, nerds!) and there just aren't that many original sci-fi concept movies being made, and when there are, they tend to be not great.
I can't comment on everyone else's tastes, so speaking only for myself: it's irritating that new movies jump the shark when they had potential - Interstellar and Arrival come to mind as particularly valiant efforts that do boneheaded things in service of plot - but they're decent movie experiences all the same, so I can't throw them under the bus. Retreads are boring to me unless they're done well, but then I guess we need to qualify what makes for a retread: is Arrival a retread of Contact, and Prometheus a retread of Alien?
Starker on 16/5/2017 at 08:15
Moon was alright and that was just... wait... in 2009? Do we really get so little sci-fi?
Sulphur on 16/5/2017 at 08:24
Yep. The last original sci-fi/semi sci-fi movie I liked without multiple major reservations (I only had, like, two) was Looper, and that was 2012.
Of course there's the Divergent series, but I haven't seen those given they seem pretty bad from the outset.
Sulphur on 16/5/2017 at 08:33
I guess there's been a raft of movies that have possible sci-fi elements that we're ignoring like The Lobster and Midnight Special, though.
There's also relatively under the radar stuff like High-Rise which means there probably is more sci-fi if we look for it, just not much of it makes as big a splash as the likes of your average Nolan movie or Tom Cruise vehicle.
Starker on 16/5/2017 at 09:29
Of course, all the comic book movies like Guardians of the Galaxy have quite a bit of an overlap as well.
heywood on 16/5/2017 at 13:18
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Well, I haven't run an analysis on TTLG's moviegoing tastes, but broadly speaking I think it's safe to assume we've got people of all stripes here, so would it really be surprising there's a % of the population who'd be fans of the random popcorn flick? Not that that's a bad thing, really.
When it comes to sci-fi sequels and comic book movies, that's also not very surprising considering we're essentially a buncha nerds (sorry, nerds!) and there just aren't that many original sci-fi concept movies being made, and when there are, they tend to be not great.
I can't comment on everyone else's tastes, so speaking only for myself: it's irritating that new movies jump the shark when they had potential - Interstellar and Arrival come to mind as particularly valiant efforts that do boneheaded things in service of plot - but they're decent movie experiences all the same, so I can't throw them under the bus. Retreads are boring to me unless they're done well, but then I guess we need to qualify what makes for a retread: is Arrival a retread of Contact, and Prometheus a retread of Alien?
We could argue all day about what is original vs. a retread since a critic can take just about any sci-fi flick and complain that this or that has been done before. So for purposes of discussion, let's define an original story as something that is not part of an established plot-line from another film (no sequels or prequels), doesn't re-use any characters from another film, and doesn't exist within the fictional universe created by another film.
Since you brought up Interstellar, let me use Nolan as an example of my point. His Batman flicks got a lot of love here, and the last two grossed over $1B. But his original stories, Inception and Interstellar, failed to get the same level of attention and admiration and didn't do as well at the box office. Inception has to be one of the most original sci-fi films I've seen in a long time, and it was extremely well made, but aside from Scots Taffer I don't recall it having many fans here. Interstellar was an overly ambitious effort which suffered from trying to cram too much plot into a single film, but it was different and interesting and enjoyable to watch. The Dark Knight and TDKR were enjoyable to watch too, but in the end they're just Batman flicks and will soon be forgotten. Inception and Interstellar are far more notable in the genre.
I'll use Joseph Kosinski as another example. Tron: Legacy had a discussion thread here that went on for like 10 pages. It wasn't a bad movie. It had some great visual effects, a good soundtrack, and Jeff Bridges had good screen presence. Worth a movie ticket, but not so interesting or original that it warrants pages and pages of discussion. Oblivion was (by any standard I can imagine) a much better movie. But it was comparatively ignored and if I remember correctly, the few comments about it here were somewhat meh or negative.
I don't understand how we can spend pages and pages fan wanking away about engineers and whatnot after the awful Prometheus, or talking Star Wars or Star Trek for the Nth time, or getting excited about yet another Marvel movie, and then complain about the lack of original sci-fi. Some of the recent "original" sci-fi I've enjoyed are the aforementioned Looper, Moon, the Nolan films, Oblivion. Also Ex Machina, District 9, Upstream Color, Edge of Tomorrow, Contagion, Melancholia, Source Code, Never Let Me Go. And some of the cutesier and funnier stuff too: The World’s End, Super 8, WALL-E. The Martian and Coherence weren't too bad either. I haven't seen Arrival yet.
Most of the bad sci-fi I've seen in recent years has come from established franchises: Prometheus, Star Trek, Force Awakens, Transformers, X-Men, and Avengers sequels. Although I've also watched some original stinkers e.g. Europa Report, Sunshine, Elysium.
SubJeff on 16/5/2017 at 14:08
Europa Report was okay.
Arrival was great.
Upstream Color?
