The Movie News Thread - new Trek rules, Man of Steel in June

[Rorschach]

I agree about George Lucas - he was never a good director. His strength has always been coming up with settings and concepts and then relying on competent directors to take it to the next level. Stars Wars was a bit of a fluke - the prequels weren't particularly good but still more fun than the current movies. I think they should have fleshed out his outline for the sequel trilogy with a writer's bullpen and said to any director given the job "Here's what you got to work with."

[Vince]

I agree about George Lucas - he was never a good director. His strength has always been coming up with settings and concepts and then relying on competent directors to take it to the next level. Stars Wars was a bit of a fluke - the prequels weren't particularly good but still more fun than the current movies. I think they should have fleshed out his outline for the sequel trilogy with a writer's bullpen and said to any director given the job "Here's what you got to work with."

Why does everyone say he's not a good director? That he "fluked" the orginal film? He directed a brilliant film called American Graffiti. He then directed the game changer- Star Wars. These weren't flukes! He's admitted himself he's no good with screenplays. He is a quiet man in general. But some of the stuff he's done as a director is phenomenal. He also had more than a little hand in helping directing episodes 5 and 6.

[Rorschach]

They kind of were though. American Graffiti wasn't particularly ground breaking in any way, just had the benefit of good casting and an inoffensive story. Stars Wars was ground breaking but moreso for its effects. The story itself was just serial pulp. He didn't direct anything again until the Star Wars prequels which were poorly directed. Lucas is a good ideas man but he was always at his best handing directing duties to some one more capable i.e. Spielberg with the Indiana Jones movies and Kershner with Empire Strikes Back.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Marcia Lucas deserves a lot of credit for the OT too. She won an Oscar for editing A New Hope.

Lucas can world build with the best of them. Can't direct his way out of a paper bag. Or write dialogue, a lot of that was ad-libbed by the cast (especially Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher).

[Vince]

They kind of were though. American Graffiti wasn't particularly ground breaking in any way, just had the benefit of good casting and an inoffensive story. Stars Wars was ground breaking but moreso for its effects. The story itself was just serial pulp. He didn't direct anything again until the Star Wars prequels which were poorly directed. Lucas is a good ideas man but he was always at his best handing directing duties to some one more capable i.e. Spielberg with the Indiana Jones movies and Kershner with Empire Strikes Back.

American Graffiti wasn't ground breaking? Are you joking man!?! His use of soundtrack in that film is legendary, and inspired MANY others to use music in the exact same way. And many people think fondly of the prequels. They introduced fully CG characters and Revenge of the Sith being shot all on digital was a 1st I believe. Lucas is an inovator and a legend in the film industry. Don't downplay his signifigance just because a few internet channels don't like the prequels therefore shit on his HUGE legacy. Guy is a genius.

[Rorschach]

No, not joking. I've watched American Graffiti - a couple of times. It's well made for it's budget but ground breaking? Afraid not, just my opinion though. I've also watched THX 1138 as well because I sought these movies out after watching the prequels way back in the day just to see what Lucas was like at his rawest. THX was boring - straight up, like watching paint dry boring. American Graffiti was just okay, nothing special though - it's kids in a car driving around listening to music with Wolfman Jack providing colour in the background.

Maybe if I'd watched it in 1973 when it was first released I'd have a different opinion but I watched it in the 90s and it didn't make a strong impression on me. 1973 was a great year for films incidentally and there are plenty from that year that were a lot better and more influential (and IMO) - Mean Streets, The Exorcist, Serpico, The Sting, Enter the Dragon, Papillon, Soylent Green, High Plains Drifter, Westworld and one of my favourites of all time, The Day of The Jackal.

Many people may think fondly of the prequels, that's good. Doesn't change the fact that they were poor-to average in direction. That said, I honestly didn't mind them, particularly in light of the current films. However I remember being extremely disappointed in them at the time. They all had some decent set-pieces but his use of CGI was amateurish, to the point a lot of the large set pieces looked like video game CGI and you could see the actors were responding to green/blue screen and not real things on screen. Compare Lucas to Cameron and their respective use of CGI. One had absolute control over the technology (T2, Abyss) and the other didn't for that era.

I don't watch Youtube channels to form an opinion about what I like, I do fine on my own I've always loved films from every era, all the way back to 40s. There are some classics I can't get into (Hitchcock movies for example, never been a huge fan but loved Iron Curtain). And others I've come around to liking over time - Blade Runner is one and the Kurosawa films.

To clarify, George Lucas IMO is not a very good director but good at coming up with ideas and the legacy will be remembered for are the worlds he created, not the way he directed them.

[K.T.Shoe[BMs]]

I am not sure about George Lucas fluking Star Wars, and not convince that he is not good - he is at least half decent and very creative. Even still, it is his story to tell, so let him finish it.

I felt Disney should have let Ep.6 be the end of the whole thing, and should have created something before or well after the event to the original Skywalker saga, much like KOTOR... i.e. something totally brand new.

Personally I felt Rogue One was very good, but Solo was a terrible, as it doesn't seem to belong or fit into the Star Wars universe.

At the moment, I am about to start watching the Mandalorians… crossing my fingers that it will be good.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Snyder Cut actually real, out next year

I know he has his critics, but I love Zack Snyder movies. 300, Watchmen, even Sucker Punch.

I thought the theatrical cut of Batman vs Superman was a bit of a mess, but the Ultimate Edition with an extra 30 min was much, much better.

Keen to see how his original vision for Justice League would have played out before they decided to go Marvel-lite mid-production.

[Peppermint Lounge]

300 is great, Watchmen is a masterpiece, Sucker Punch is horrible.

I like Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, while a hot mess, has some of the best superhero action ever. I also dug Batman v Superman's darkness. I wanted more Batfleck.

I haven't even bothered with Justice League because it looks shithouse but am keen to see the Snyder cut.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Batfleck was awesome. His fight scenes were the best Batman fight scenes ever.

[Ambrose Burnside]

"It isn't as easy as going into the vault and there's a Snyder Cut sitting there to put out," Greenblatt explained. "Zack is actually building it and it's complex, including - and I don't wanna get into too much detail that we haven't already talked about yet - but, new effects shots."

Greenblatt described the Snyder Cut as "a radical rethinking of that movie" and "complicated and wildly expensive. Which is, of course, a number I won't quote... I'll just say I wish it was $30 million and stop there."

Source

[Peppermint Lounge]

I hope it's great and I'm glad it's happening. Has produciton started for the new Robert Pattinson Batman movie? I imagine there are company people looking ahead to the new Batman who'd rather a line be drawn under Batfleck.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Snyder Cut

Wonder Woman 1984

[t0mby]

I watched Man of Steel a few weeks ago for the first time. It was good until the fight at the end with General Zod then it just felt like a hot mess. Haven't seen BvS yet but probably will.

[Ambrose Burnside]

BvS is the textbook definition of hot mess. So long as you understand that, and watch the director's cut version which fleshes things out more, then you should have fun.

Maaaaaaaaaartha!!!

I saw Justice League once and that was more than enough. But keen to watch Man of Steel, BvS Director's Cut, then the Snyder Cut when I can.

[Peppermint Lounge]

I wanted more Batfleck but he doesn't want to do it, so...

I was down with the Robert Pattison casting when I heard about it. I like how he looks though he's never been a physical guy. Nothing a Hollywood training and supplements program can't fix. Trailer looks great.

[Rorschach]

Apparently it's only 30% complete, they had to stop filming due to COVID. Looks good, hoping there is some consistency to the universe like the Nolan films and Patterson is willing to age with the role. I'm more interested in the Flashpoint movie and the mixing of universes - DC has a really good opportunity to jumpstart their movie/TV shared universe with a decent Crisis. It could possibly undo all the missteps Snyder made with Man of Steel and BvS and make the upcoming Justice League soft boot relevant. Also, the fact that Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck are coming back to their Batman roles gets my inner DC fanboy churning.

Edit - Just read above. I'm not the biggest fan of Snyder, and still think he was always the wrong choice to be given the keys to the DC universe, but I appreciate his movies have a certain sense of style and energy to them. I think his best work is still Dawn of the Dead. I wanted to like Watchmen but the changes from the source material really soured me on it. Not that it's a bad movie but have to agree with Terry Gilliam, Watchmen was just one of those graphic novels that is impossible to translate accurately to the big screen (and should have been a TV limited series with all the sub-plots included).

[unfnknblvbl]

I can't believe nobody's posted this yet

[t0mby]

Lol@Buff Bill and Ted in Prison. Looks ok I guess, can't be worse than the Bogus Journey.

[unfnknblvbl]

I'm getting good vibes from this. We're in a bit of a golden age of fan service at the moment, so I think we're kinda safe.

[Candy Arse]

I loved Bogus Journey. So bad it's good.

[guttermouth]

Can't wait for this. Most places are getting this streaming, not here though, cause apparently movie cinemas are still open here

[unfnknblvbl]

Naturally, we're getting it in cinemas after it's streamed in the USA, so I imagine it'll be well pirated.

[stanard]

Shit, Chadwick Boseman has died after a 4 year battle with colon cancer

RIP Black Panther

[unfnknblvbl]

Yeah, that's shit news. Amazing that he pulled off those films while fighting cancer. I'd be a fucking wreck.

Naturally, we're getting it in cinemas after it's streamed in the USA, so I imagine it'll be well pirated.

Not saying I called it, but...

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