shallowness

I realise I haven't posted about much else recently, but I'm not watching much TV at the moment – if Supergirl were on Freeview, I would watch that and, for contrast, maybe The Last Panthers. Everybody having watched Jessica Jones makes me feel left out – I haven’t even seen Agent Carter, yet. I was also going to have a moan about not being able to see The Man in the High Castle either, but then realised I do have that counter-history book that I could read. I might give Tripped a try (the alternate universe bit interests me more than the slacker/stoner/bromance bit) if the Christmas run-upping calms down.

Speaking of, Christmas TV will also involve that Agatha Christie adaptation with Aidan Turner looking angsty and Douglas Booth turning up so I can make Jupiter Ascending references. Spiffing.

Moviewise, I haven’t seen the Captain America: Civil War trailer, or clicked on the spoilers for the no doubt weighty discussions, but I am relieved by what I've seen Natasha’s hair.

Also, regarding ancient Marvel suff (the casting spoiler about Thor 3), ( Read more... )

Meanwhile, as I’m not going to see Star Wars, it’s fairly slim pickings at the cinema – although Sisters is getting good reviews. The last film I went to see was Bridge of Spies (excellent) and the trailers seemed to promise that the Gleesons (father and son) and Ben Wishaw were in all the movies. The only trailer that left me thinking ‘I have to see that!’ was The Revenant.

As for the Golden Globes, did the Foreign Press Association watch a different version of The Martian to me, one where Mark Watney sang to make the potatoes grow, or something? Surely it's in the wrong category. I know it was a beaker half full of H2O film, but it was in no way a comedy.

I saw Inside Out this weekend (first visit to the cinema in a while) and it was a delight. I suspect there’ll be a generation of kids who saw it at the cinema and thought it was a fun, colourful romp about Joy, Sadness and Riley and then, a few years later on, will watch it again and be blindsided. Not that it’s the same thing, but every time I rewatch Batman Returns I realise how much of it went over my head when I saw it in the cinema. Amid the trailers for ‘not for me’ films, Bill (the Horrible Histories lot tackle Shakespeare) looks really funny.

Here’s a multifandom dance vid worth watching if you need a pick me up.
Shut up and Dance: mstabularasa (there were a few clips I was less enthused about, but the choices for 'this woman is my destiny' were spot on, and it'll make you smile).

I watched Partners in Crime, N or M? Part one live.

( Read more... )

Over the last couple of days, I've been to see Lucy and Into the Storm and been disappointed by both, although I had adjusted my expectations having glanced over reviews. Still, I think they both prove that their leads (Scarlett Johanson and Richard Armitage) deserve better (like Black Widow solo movie better, to keep banging that drum.)

Lucy is ( spoilers )

The pros for Into the Storm has Richard Armitage (and his voice) and ( spoilers? )

And the trailers before both films were mostly dispiriting.

To prove that I don’t just talk about TV, the films I’ve seen so far this year are:

American Hustle, which was entertaining, but too long, and as with The Silver Linings Playbook, I’m a bit unconvinced about ALL the award nominations it’s getting/might get, though the music supervisor should get a pat on the back. Of course it was hard to stop my brain from thinking ‘That’s Bruce Wayne with Lois Lane’ and ‘Are Katniss and Clint discussing archery?’ Just a little. In my defence, I have long wanted the crossover fic where Katniss, Hawkeye, Legolas and Meridia, plus Robin Hood too, turn up at an archery contest.

Since watching the film, I’m trying to think of a list of actors who could keep up with JLaw when she tears through the screen as a character in a David O. Russell film. It’s basically a list of actors who I think can go big.

One of whom might be Rinko Kikuchi, who vamps it up in 47 Ronin. Yes, I went to see that too, because it had Keanu Reeves, swordplay and Rinko Kikuchi. It’s a fantasy adventure set in a feudal Japan where monsters and magic are real, so at least it had some novelty value, but I’m not going to pretend it was good, although there was lots that was interesting about it. I found quite a lot of it entertaining but probably not for the right reasons. Oh, and I hope it gets festividded next year.

Trailers: I don’t think I can make myself go see I, Frankenstein, because I’m just going to spend the whole film enraged about the waste of Yvonne Strahovsky and Miranda Otto.

I really, really want to see The Lego Movie, because I giggled all the way through the trailer. Please don’t let it be one of those movies where all the good ideas and jokes are in the trailer.

2014 looks like it’s going to be Chris Pratt’s year. I am in no way opposed to that.

( The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug )

I couldn’t see it until yesterday, but I managed not to get spoiled beyond that fandom seemed to be enjoy it. As did I.

Going in, I was sure that a Guillermo Del Toro film about giant robots versus giant alien beasts would avoid many of the pitfalls of, say, a Michael Bay film about alien giant robots versus alien giant robots. I was wildly excited to see Rinko Kikuchi, who first impressed in Babel and then was Bang Bang in The Brothers Bloom.

( spoilers )

Trailers of films that I want to see: The Wolverine ‘s reminded me that I am probably never going to shake off my movieverse Rogue/Wolverine feelings and that I need to rewatch Wolverine. I mean, I don’t know if I really NEED to to get the new film, but in my head, I do.

Gravity showed off a bravura scene. I wanted to see it anyway because of the people involved.

RED 2 may be the best action film this summer in terms of having several female characters do meaty stuff on it. I’m pretty excited about it.

I’m disgruntled to find out out that Much Ado... is not showing anywhere near me this week (cinema weeks start on Friday). I would have gone to see that before Man of Steel. Now I’m thrown into my usual dilemma about big films that I want to see but am not desperate to see, whereas with the latter it’s just a matter of getting there as quickly as possible. I want to avoid long queues/sold out showings, which means not going to see it immediately, but I don’t want to get spoiled by other people who have been to see it – in that part of the world where people don’t use spoiler tags. Or, indeed, lower their voices.

All I know about this film is what I’ve seen of the trailers, really, ( no spoilers, just spec. Cut for length as I talk about Superman and me. )

I went to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking records part 400 the other night. (I don’t know if it was because it’s been out so long, but there were subtitles.)

But before I discuss that, there were trailers. I don’t know if I can express how much I am looking forward to Pitch Perfect. It looks like Bring it On meets Glee. That might send others off running, but not me. I’ve wanted to see Anna Kendrick in a musical since I realised after her break out that she’d been in Camp (and, moreover, the character she played.

I also FINALLY saw a theatrical trailer for The Hobbit. I must be the last person to do so even though I go to the cinema pretty regularly (regularly enough to be delighted they’ve dropped the Top Cat audio description and subtitles advert for a Puss in Boots one). I was worried about fancying dwarves going in, but after the trailer, two things strike me ( Read more... ) Also, Martin Freeman's FACE.

Anyway, Breaking Dawn part 2. The usual disclaimers, I’ve never read the books, have gone into the last three movies spoiled – this one not so much. This was not quite as intense and cracktastic as the first film (but what could be?), but neither was it as dull as some of the other instalments. ( Read more... )