As a lifelong Mario fan, everything about this movie annoys the shit out of me. But as much as I hope it has zero cultural footprint and doesn't go on to taint the rest of Nintendo's output I have a feeling it will make eleventy billion dollars and Pratt will become the iconic voice of Mario for a generation.
Me feel especially bad for guy who has done voice of Mario for decades and got shoved aside by studio that put no more thought into decision than, "what other animated movie make money? Get guy from that movie."
Man, the existence of Air just frustrates me. I LIKE going to see, as Scott calls it, a "supremely confident and witty piece of studio entertainment." We need more of those! But man do I find it off-putting to go see something where I am expected to cheer for a successful marketing campaign from a giant corporation. It sounds like the film version of the endless parade of motivational business books that get trotted out by CEOs and Sales Directors everywhere for motivational reading for their teams.
In perhaps no so shocking news, the entire sales division at my company is going to see this movie this week as a "team activity."
There nothing wrong with movie about talented people putting together successful venture — Right Stuff and Muppet Movie come to mind — but me do take issue with marketing campaign for overpriced kicks being treated with same level of importance as moon landing or Muppet Show, two greatest achivements of postwar America.
Great point. Having now seen the movie, my only real sticking point is when they leaned too hard into the importance of what they were doing and the immortality of the legacy of Jordan. Other than that I was pretty much won over by how well it represented one of my favorite types of film: People being really good at what they do.
Also? Damon, Affleck, Tucker and Bateman are some of the great talkers in movies and it is just a pleasure to listen to them.
My son, after seeing Sonic in 4DX, now wants to see every movie that way. I nearly always refuse. Having said that . . . if you only see one movie in your entire life in 4DX (and I exhort you to keep that number at one or zero), this should be the one.
Genuinely felt like we were in a Mario Kart race, almost justifying the development of this typically abominable way to see a film.
Also: nice work keeping the movie at 90 minutes. Very few filmmakers have that kind of discipline and there’s no way in hell anyone above the age of 12 could tolerate 2 hours of this.
If the new Mario doesn't float your boat don't forget "The Morton Jankel Cut" of the 1993 live-action film still exists online at your local archive of Internet. Just be aware all the links from coverage in June 2021 are dead. But if you search for it there you'll find it.
Stitched together re-edit/additional material version based on a workprint that the directors, Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, made for the studio thinking they wanted another Max Headroom. Assembled by nerds on the Internet and intentionally glitching from VHS to DVD/BR footage. But the main reason to watch it is Fisher Stevens and Richard Edson' improvised rap about Bowser being a shitty leader.
I caught Air last week at an Alamo Drafthouse screener and really enjoyed it. I did find it funny that the movie felt the need to shoehorn in a very incongruous line about "sharing wealth with poor communities" towards the end, seemingly to head off concerns about rooting for a corporation. Maybe I'm a soulless capitalist but I really didn't have a problem with an underdog story focused on Nike. It was well written, the characters were good, it was funny and well paced.
At base, I like stories that focus on teams of people spotting an under-recognized opportunity and working together to succeed against the odds. What, is Moneyball bad because the Oakland A's are a billion dollar MLB franchise?
I saw “Air” yesterday for no good reason and found it pretty enjoyable for the simple reason that it felt like a throwback to the movies from a prior generation in that the impetus was very obviously “cast good people and let them cook”.
Damon has that affable charm in spades, Affleck plays insecure semi-douchebag like a champ, Chris Tucker was literally Chris Tucker from “Money Talks” but in a suit, Bateman was full on 2000s Bateman, and Viola Davis was gravitas and dignity in human form like always.
I suspect this movie will be hella rewatchable for that reason.
I really adored Affleck in The Last Duel -- when he keeps telling Driver to take off his pants, I lost it!
It's nice to see the two boys have matured into solid actors (and director, too, for Affleck, of course) and have been entertaining us audiences for three decades...that's a lot of years.
Affleck was GREAT! I love this new trend (with The Last Duel) of Affleck clearly having a ball playing semi-douchebags. Maybe it's a corrective to all those years playing Dirtbag Batman: the dark gritty version of Batman who is less a haunted idealist and more a billionaire who spends his evenings beating up homeless people.
Everyone was firing on all cylinders. Chris Messina shouting "Of course I have herpes! EVERYONE HAS HERPES!" in what I really hope was an improvised line.
Chiming in as another Mario fan (bought a Switch specifically for Odyssey) who nonetheless cringes every time that trailer comes on in the theater. I have just never understood the want or need for this type of thing. Zelda i could sort of understand because that kind of has a plot but Mario games are so notoriously opposed to the very idea. At a certain point just cramming it with references feels like trying too hard.
The vast majority of reviews of Air have been positive (96% on the Tomato Meter), but not even the ones I've read have given me any reason to want to see the film. While I generally live by the Ebert maxim that in reviewing a film, it's not what it's about, it's how it is about it, I don't have the slightest interest in the story being told. At least this review doesn't complement Affleck and co. for their bold choice not have Jordan in the movie in any form, as I'm pretty sure that wasn't their choice to make.
Given the well-documented corporate crappy-ness of Nike, I just can’t bring myself to spend money on “Air,” even though by all accounts it’s a good time at the movies. Nike’s latest bankrolling of right-wing candidates in Oregon and Phil Knight’s clumsy attempts to manipulate the political process in the state being the latest example. Add the fact that the Oregon Ducks are the arch rivals my own beloved University of Washington - well, that’s a bridge too far.
Phil is presented here as an eccentric, Eastern-influenced lovable weirdo with a conspicuously fancy car. The only real friction is his worries about board approval. Sonny had to put him back in touch with his audacious side. Anyway, fun movie, but not much to think about.
after seeing Air, i was expecting more comparisons (not just here) to Ford v Ferrari, another movie in the same vein: a plucky young upstart giant corporation going up against an even giant-er corporation.
I, for one, really enjoyed the Mario movie. My expections were pretty low, and they were thoroughly surpassed. I thought it was better than Detective Pikachu (which I admit did earn some distain from me via employing my possibly least-favourite villain trope), and both more specific and more cohesive than Sonic. The score was gorgeous in IMAX (though I would have happily done without the pop tracks), and I appreciate that Mario was rescuing Luigi rather than Peach.
As a lifelong Mario fan, everything about this movie annoys the shit out of me. But as much as I hope it has zero cultural footprint and doesn't go on to taint the rest of Nintendo's output I have a feeling it will make eleventy billion dollars and Pratt will become the iconic voice of Mario for a generation.
Me feel especially bad for guy who has done voice of Mario for decades and got shoved aside by studio that put no more thought into decision than, "what other animated movie make money? Get guy from that movie."
At least he got a cameo.
Man, the existence of Air just frustrates me. I LIKE going to see, as Scott calls it, a "supremely confident and witty piece of studio entertainment." We need more of those! But man do I find it off-putting to go see something where I am expected to cheer for a successful marketing campaign from a giant corporation. It sounds like the film version of the endless parade of motivational business books that get trotted out by CEOs and Sales Directors everywhere for motivational reading for their teams.
In perhaps no so shocking news, the entire sales division at my company is going to see this movie this week as a "team activity."
There nothing wrong with movie about talented people putting together successful venture — Right Stuff and Muppet Movie come to mind — but me do take issue with marketing campaign for overpriced kicks being treated with same level of importance as moon landing or Muppet Show, two greatest achivements of postwar America.
Great point. Having now seen the movie, my only real sticking point is when they leaned too hard into the importance of what they were doing and the immortality of the legacy of Jordan. Other than that I was pretty much won over by how well it represented one of my favorite types of film: People being really good at what they do.
Also? Damon, Affleck, Tucker and Bateman are some of the great talkers in movies and it is just a pleasure to listen to them.
My son, after seeing Sonic in 4DX, now wants to see every movie that way. I nearly always refuse. Having said that . . . if you only see one movie in your entire life in 4DX (and I exhort you to keep that number at one or zero), this should be the one.
Genuinely felt like we were in a Mario Kart race, almost justifying the development of this typically abominable way to see a film.
Also: nice work keeping the movie at 90 minutes. Very few filmmakers have that kind of discipline and there’s no way in hell anyone above the age of 12 could tolerate 2 hours of this.
"a slick, empty, but breathtakingly competent animated film"
perfect
I'm very clearly not the target audience for this, but boy do the trailers I've seen look bad. like, none of the voices seem to match the characters?
If the new Mario doesn't float your boat don't forget "The Morton Jankel Cut" of the 1993 live-action film still exists online at your local archive of Internet. Just be aware all the links from coverage in June 2021 are dead. But if you search for it there you'll find it.
Please give me the pitch for the "Morton Jankel" cut
Stitched together re-edit/additional material version based on a workprint that the directors, Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, made for the studio thinking they wanted another Max Headroom. Assembled by nerds on the Internet and intentionally glitching from VHS to DVD/BR footage. But the main reason to watch it is Fisher Stevens and Richard Edson' improvised rap about Bowser being a shitty leader.
I caught Air last week at an Alamo Drafthouse screener and really enjoyed it. I did find it funny that the movie felt the need to shoehorn in a very incongruous line about "sharing wealth with poor communities" towards the end, seemingly to head off concerns about rooting for a corporation. Maybe I'm a soulless capitalist but I really didn't have a problem with an underdog story focused on Nike. It was well written, the characters were good, it was funny and well paced.
At base, I like stories that focus on teams of people spotting an under-recognized opportunity and working together to succeed against the odds. What, is Moneyball bad because the Oakland A's are a billion dollar MLB franchise?
I saw “Air” yesterday for no good reason and found it pretty enjoyable for the simple reason that it felt like a throwback to the movies from a prior generation in that the impetus was very obviously “cast good people and let them cook”.
Damon has that affable charm in spades, Affleck plays insecure semi-douchebag like a champ, Chris Tucker was literally Chris Tucker from “Money Talks” but in a suit, Bateman was full on 2000s Bateman, and Viola Davis was gravitas and dignity in human form like always.
I suspect this movie will be hella rewatchable for that reason.
I really adored Affleck in The Last Duel -- when he keeps telling Driver to take off his pants, I lost it!
It's nice to see the two boys have matured into solid actors (and director, too, for Affleck, of course) and have been entertaining us audiences for three decades...that's a lot of years.
Affleck was GREAT! I love this new trend (with The Last Duel) of Affleck clearly having a ball playing semi-douchebags. Maybe it's a corrective to all those years playing Dirtbag Batman: the dark gritty version of Batman who is less a haunted idealist and more a billionaire who spends his evenings beating up homeless people.
Everyone was firing on all cylinders. Chris Messina shouting "Of course I have herpes! EVERYONE HAS HERPES!" in what I really hope was an improvised line.
Chiming in as another Mario fan (bought a Switch specifically for Odyssey) who nonetheless cringes every time that trailer comes on in the theater. I have just never understood the want or need for this type of thing. Zelda i could sort of understand because that kind of has a plot but Mario games are so notoriously opposed to the very idea. At a certain point just cramming it with references feels like trying too hard.
The vast majority of reviews of Air have been positive (96% on the Tomato Meter), but not even the ones I've read have given me any reason to want to see the film. While I generally live by the Ebert maxim that in reviewing a film, it's not what it's about, it's how it is about it, I don't have the slightest interest in the story being told. At least this review doesn't complement Affleck and co. for their bold choice not have Jordan in the movie in any form, as I'm pretty sure that wasn't their choice to make.
Given the well-documented corporate crappy-ness of Nike, I just can’t bring myself to spend money on “Air,” even though by all accounts it’s a good time at the movies. Nike’s latest bankrolling of right-wing candidates in Oregon and Phil Knight’s clumsy attempts to manipulate the political process in the state being the latest example. Add the fact that the Oregon Ducks are the arch rivals my own beloved University of Washington - well, that’s a bridge too far.
Phil is presented here as an eccentric, Eastern-influenced lovable weirdo with a conspicuously fancy car. The only real friction is his worries about board approval. Sonny had to put him back in touch with his audacious side. Anyway, fun movie, but not much to think about.
after seeing Air, i was expecting more comparisons (not just here) to Ford v Ferrari, another movie in the same vein: a plucky young upstart giant corporation going up against an even giant-er corporation.
I, for one, really enjoyed the Mario movie. My expections were pretty low, and they were thoroughly surpassed. I thought it was better than Detective Pikachu (which I admit did earn some distain from me via employing my possibly least-favourite villain trope), and both more specific and more cohesive than Sonic. The score was gorgeous in IMAX (though I would have happily done without the pop tracks), and I appreciate that Mario was rescuing Luigi rather than Peach.