Me have had piece in back of head for while now about this nascent genre of recycled IP that, for better or worse (worse!), Hollywood probably going to stick with for while now. Because me think there important distinction to make between absolute bottom-of-barrel that feel like "here is thing you recognize!" (Ready Player One, Space Jam), movies that seem to make genuine effort to do something new and then backslide into rehashing old stuff (Ghostbusters, Star Wars, JJ Abrams' two Star Trek movies), and movies that are aware of long history and affection we have with these characters and try to use that to tell interesting stories (Bond, MCU, current Trek TV shows).
That last group all have success and failure at various times, but Daniel Craig Bond films invested in playing with Bond mythos and iconography while telling new stories, as opposed to "somehow, Goldfinger has returned." And Star Trek: Discovery certainly uneven, but me respect that when show brought Spock in, it attempt to show us different side of character, rather than Abrams' Chris-Farley-like "remember in Wrath of Khan? When he shouted 'Khan'? That was awesome."
Me also curious to see how Matrix fall on this scale of nothing-to-offer-but-nostalgia to merely-mostly-nostalgia. But it worth remembering that most of these beloved IPs came about because someone had new idea, or new take on idea. George Lucas made Star Wars because he not could get rights to Flash Gordon, and Spielberg made Indiana Jones because they not would let him direct Bond movie. Me wish more people said no to modern directors and they gave us iconic new movies out of spite.
I really like Tom Holland and Zendaya in these roles, but I also really don't like the direction they've taken in these movies. making SM essentially a version of iron man? having the world know his identity? bleh. it's not the SM stories I want to see.
you know what I think I *would* like? 90 min SM animated films that can continue as a series without relying on the actors being available or looking the same.
I really enjoyed the new Spider-man, but for a while I was having this weird cognitive dissonance in my head where I was fully aware that it was mostly fan service, which I usually don't like, but somehow it was working for me! Then I relaxed and remembered that like anything else, fan service is one of those things that is bad when it's done badly, and good when it's done well. In this case, having watched all the Spider-man movies just recently, I was the perfect audience and it hooked me in completely. A certain moment where a certain character saved another character brought actual tears--such an amazing moment of catharsis. I don't know what to say. It definitely relies on the past films for its pathos, but that's how the MCU has always worked and there's really nothing wrong with it. After all, it's how TV shows work, it's how comic books work, it's how any serialized storytelling works.
I picked a terrible time, as a nerd, to get breakthrough COVID (I'm recovering, I'll be fine). I hope I'll be able to get to Nightmare Alley before it quickly disappears from theaters, I think I'm going to be too late for WSS at this rate. At least Spider-Man will hang in!
Me have had piece in back of head for while now about this nascent genre of recycled IP that, for better or worse (worse!), Hollywood probably going to stick with for while now. Because me think there important distinction to make between absolute bottom-of-barrel that feel like "here is thing you recognize!" (Ready Player One, Space Jam), movies that seem to make genuine effort to do something new and then backslide into rehashing old stuff (Ghostbusters, Star Wars, JJ Abrams' two Star Trek movies), and movies that are aware of long history and affection we have with these characters and try to use that to tell interesting stories (Bond, MCU, current Trek TV shows).
That last group all have success and failure at various times, but Daniel Craig Bond films invested in playing with Bond mythos and iconography while telling new stories, as opposed to "somehow, Goldfinger has returned." And Star Trek: Discovery certainly uneven, but me respect that when show brought Spock in, it attempt to show us different side of character, rather than Abrams' Chris-Farley-like "remember in Wrath of Khan? When he shouted 'Khan'? That was awesome."
Me also curious to see how Matrix fall on this scale of nothing-to-offer-but-nostalgia to merely-mostly-nostalgia. But it worth remembering that most of these beloved IPs came about because someone had new idea, or new take on idea. George Lucas made Star Wars because he not could get rights to Flash Gordon, and Spielberg made Indiana Jones because they not would let him direct Bond movie. Me wish more people said no to modern directors and they gave us iconic new movies out of spite.
I really like Tom Holland and Zendaya in these roles, but I also really don't like the direction they've taken in these movies. making SM essentially a version of iron man? having the world know his identity? bleh. it's not the SM stories I want to see.
you know what I think I *would* like? 90 min SM animated films that can continue as a series without relying on the actors being available or looking the same.
Keith, you wrote a 4 star review for Nightmare Alley, but didn't give it 4 stars!
I really enjoyed the new Spider-man, but for a while I was having this weird cognitive dissonance in my head where I was fully aware that it was mostly fan service, which I usually don't like, but somehow it was working for me! Then I relaxed and remembered that like anything else, fan service is one of those things that is bad when it's done badly, and good when it's done well. In this case, having watched all the Spider-man movies just recently, I was the perfect audience and it hooked me in completely. A certain moment where a certain character saved another character brought actual tears--such an amazing moment of catharsis. I don't know what to say. It definitely relies on the past films for its pathos, but that's how the MCU has always worked and there's really nothing wrong with it. After all, it's how TV shows work, it's how comic books work, it's how any serialized storytelling works.
I picked a terrible time, as a nerd, to get breakthrough COVID (I'm recovering, I'll be fine). I hope I'll be able to get to Nightmare Alley before it quickly disappears from theaters, I think I'm going to be too late for WSS at this rate. At least Spider-Man will hang in!