Tag: Movies

Hey Somethings, PCR here!

So… I recently watched ‘Madam Web’ and… wow do I have thoughts…

For starters, I knew nothing about this character going in.  While she first appeared in 1980 in the comics, I didn’t start collecting until later, and when I was into the hobby the deepest, Spider-Man wasn’t much of my weekly pull…  so I won’t be talking about things like story arcs or how close they came to the comic portrayal.. this is strictly on the merits of the movie.

It is not good.

I don’t have anything against Dakota Johnson (though, looking through her filmography, I can’t say I’ve seen any of her movies.. but I’m aware of who she is and what she’s done), and.. I’m not sure her acting was really the issue here.  The story overall seemed…  Meh, the effects of Las Arañas doing their spider-walk stuff felt right out of the Batman TV show of the ’60s, I couldn’t get over the fact that the main villain looked like TEMU Matt Hardy from his “Delete! Delete!” era…  but the most annoying part of the movie to me was Julia, Mattie and Anya who’s characters seemed more based on showing off navels and seeing how many times in one scene can they flip personalities and motivations.

The action sequences were filled with frantic jump-cuts, which is usually a terrible sign that none of them were really smooth or cohesive so they had to splice them all together.  The way Cassandra’s power first starts getting revealed was jarring and giving me “Vantage Point” flashbacks (an action/thriller that consisted of roughly 39 minutes of footage), and was just…   eh?  I can see why in the comics she was more of a supporting role but.. what was the point of making a full-blown movie with her as the lead?  Sony just doesn’t seem to have a good grasp of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to comic movies and are just looking for properties that are tangential to the MCU to hype, which might not be the best call since the MCU’s glory days are behind them and they’re clearly trying to figure out how to transition into a ‘post Tony/Steve/likely Thor’ world.

Overall, if you want to watch it just to watch it and check it out, make sure you set your expectations to “Morbius” levels and you might be ok…

– PCR

Hey All, PCR here!

So, late to the party here, but just re-subbed to Netflix with the sole intent of watching ‘Godzilla Minus One’.. and I have some thoughts.

I watched it once, but will be watching it a second time with a different audio option.  On first watch through, I watched it dubbed… mostly because it was late, I wanted to watch it, but was lazy enough that I didn’t want to split focus between watching and reading.

First.. the cons…

– The main character of Shikishima is honestly, kind of a dick.  Yes, I get the PTSD aspect and that his inner war ‘isn’t over’, but until the very end, I didn’t feel he had a whole lot of depth and range.

–  One of the main things I found most jarring was that it felt very cliche to the Late 70s Godzilla movies, which, if that is what it was going for.. was spot on.  But combining the sort of ‘trope’ “Godzilla humans” in a movie that had such amazing effects.. it almost felt off putting to me at times.

–  Speaking of effects, the only thing I *didn’t* like was how he moved on land sometimes.  On Odo Island, he was a formidable beast.  Then, later, in Ginza, he was a thrashing, tail-bashing, city-destroyer.  Once we get to Tokyo, he was walking around the city like a guy at 3am up to take a piss with the lights off and trying not to step on his son’s LEGOs.  It felt very reminiscent of the rubber suit, which made me a bit sad based off how amazing the visuals were.

…and let’s talk about those visuals…

Pros…

–  The visual effects of Godzilla were absolutely amazing.  The scene where he’s chasing the boat… him powering up the heat-ray…  the effects of the warships exploding..  I mean.. there were more than a few times where I sat bolt upright, eyes wide going ‘holy shit…’.  Honestly, I can’t think of one flaw in the visuals of the movie at all, it was an amazingly stunning piece of cinema.

Not really a pro or a con, but the one thing I guess I personally didn’t need was the ‘flashback’ of Tachibana explaining the ejector seat to Shikishima.  When he showed him the ‘safety lever’ for the bombs, and to ‘pull it just before’, I knew exactly where it was headed, and felt like going back and explaining it wasn’t giving the audience enough credit for following along.

All and all though, certainly worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet.

What are YOUR thoughts?  Sound off on our socials!

–  PCR

Audio Blog

Hey all, PCR here.

So.. there interwebs are starting to bustle with an interview director Taika Waititi gave regarding what he’d do for Thor 5.  Let’s be clear, Thor 5 isn’t green lit, and after Love and Thunder, likely (hopefully) *won’t* be green lit, and if it does, I hope to the MCU gods that Waititi isn’t attached.

For those that didn’t listen to our Love and Thunder episode (with guest Erik Hall, you can listen here), I.. was not a fan.  Ragnarok was fun and different from the first two Thor movies, but.. I dislike when movie makers are like “Yes.. but THIS one needs to go to ELEVEN…” Sometimes, you catch lightning in a bottle, and you need to go in a different direction.  Granted, that’s what Ragnarok did, but.. Love and Thunder was.. just a mess, and I personally would cringe at knowing the guy responsible for that mess was back at the helm yet again.

He certainly has a “style”, but so does Tim Burton and Zack Snyder.  Sometimes the movies work because of the style, sometimes they work in spite of… Waititi’s ‘style’ works for some movies, not for others, and it’s disappointing when Hollywood latches onto someone they make as their current “go-to person” based on some early successes and put them on projects that do not at all mesh with that style.  Case and point… Ragnarok was fun and different, and while Thor can certainly have some comedic moments, he’s not a comedy character, and.. in my lowly opinion at least.. shouldn’t be used as such.

For me, if a Thor 5 WAS to happen, I would want it to be more serious, more gravitas.  Sure, comedy can be a part of it, but only to offset the drama and seriousness I think needs to be part of the character.

That’s my take, what’s yours?  Hit us on the socials and let us know!

-PCR

Audio Blog

Hey all, PCR here

Now, it’s been said (hell, I’ve said it myself) that, I’m not a “horror guy”.  I don’t get into horror the way others do, I don’t seem to understand the hype some horror movies get.. they just aren’t really my bag.

That’s not to say I don’t try to watch them.

Over the past week, I checked out a few, and here are my thoughts on them…

Insidious

This was “eh” to me, the ‘non-horror-movie-guy’.  It felt kind of stilted, and.. compared to other movies on this list involving children, it felt the tamest in regards to the scares involving kids.  Sure, the creature had some good jump scare moments, and Specs and Tucker were great for their interaction, the whole movie just felt… lacking and like they made it up as they went.

Sinister

Ok, when it comes to using kids in horror movies, it can either feel terrifying, or like a Happy Meal movie.  Sinister was very much the former.  The scary in it was how disturbing the content was.  Very little back story, a nice cameo from Vincent D’Onofrio…  my biggest gripe really was there was zero explanation for anything.  Maybe they came in later films, but that was my biggest complaint regarding this one.  Probably tied for ‘best one I saw this week”

The Conjuring and The Conjuring : The Devil Made Me Do It

The second installment wasn’t available on my streaming service, so I skipped 2 and went to “Devil…”.  In my opinion, the first one was MUCH better.  Better effects, better scares… I think the horror I can lean in to is the horror that doesn’t feel so fantastical… no traveling to different realms, no giant portals with winged beasties flooding through.. shit that feels like it’s much more practical.  There were some legit scenes in the first one that had me pausing and siting up going “what the fuck…”, Devil Made me Do It.. not so much.  The Conjuring tied with Sinister for ‘best watched this week’

The Nun

I know this is a spin off of The Conjuring ‘universe’, I also know this one was bad.  The story felt forced, and full of “Why the fuck would you do that?” moments that I HATE in horror movies.  Nothing seemed surprising and most of the movie felt telegraphed to me.  Easily the bottom of my list.

What about you Somethings?  What are your thoughts on MY thoughts?  Hit us up on our socials and let us know!

– PCR

Audio Blog

Hey Somethings, PCR here.

So, I recently ended up watching “The Meg” and, I went into it wanting to like it more than I did.  Afterwards, I was left sitting there thinking about many of the shark movies I’ve seen, and, with Shark Week approaching, I decided to touch on 3 of them specifically.  Let’s start with the one I already mentioned..

The Meg

The concept of “how” was actually pretty original… there’s a section of ocean BELOW the deepest section of the Mariana Trench, separated by super, super cold water.  They find things down there that have never been discovered, and inadvertently bring something back up through it.  The movie does give you some twists, but honestly, they’re not anything we haven’t seen from other shark movies.. just… bigger.  The CGI wasn’t the worst I’ve seen, but, the story hinged on the fact that the shark was the size of a skyscraper.  Once that sinks in, you’re really just in it to hear Jason Statham say “megalodon” over and over.

Jaws

This is pretty much where it all started, and, the most realistic of the 3 I’ll talk about.   Great White Shark wreaks havoc on an idyllic town’s beach.  Sure the shark is ‘big’, but still within the realm of realism.  It’s also filmed in a ‘realistic’ way.. like.. all that shit could happen.. which made it’s impact that much stronger.  Sure, other shark movies have taken concepts and paid homage to Spielberg’s classic, and it’s well earned.

Deep Blue Sea

This movie is kind of a guilt pleasure of mine.  It has one scene of the worst CGI scenes I’ve seen in a shark movie, but the cast is amazing.  Sam Jackson, LL Cool J, Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Michael Rapaport… how can it NOT be fun?  Are there silly parts in it?  Absolutely.  Is it still a fun movie with an original twist?  To me.. yes.  Most other shark movies lean into the shark being ‘huge’, or ‘evil’.  This one made them smarter, and that made all the difference.

How about you Somethings?  What are some of YOUR favorite shark movies?  Sound off in our socials and let us know

-PCR

Hey all, PCR here.

I’ve been seeing a lot.. a LOT of chatter lately about “Justice League 2” and how the Snyderverse should and will be continued and, I have to admit… it’s only slightly less annoying than when people were clamoring for The Snyderverse in the first place.

Let me be clear, was “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” better than Whedon’s?  Admittedly, it felt like it had more gravitas to it and was a more ‘serious’ movie.  That said, the whole concept of “The Snyder Cut” was bullshit from the beginning.  Zack and his (vocal) fans on social media made it seem like there was a finished movie hidden in a file cabinet somewhere, when in reality, it still cost over $70 million to film.  Snyder has also gone on record talking about the “torture” and horrible experience it was working with Warner Bros to get his vision made, to the point that the relationship has deteriorated immensely and reports are *now* coming out that WB wishes the ZSJL was never made in the first place.

My opinion?  ZSJL was a creation of the COVID pandemic.  Things were shut down, hardly anything was being filmed or created,  and here WB had an opportunity to ‘relaunch’ something that didn’t get a resounding review originally into something, hopefully, better.  Had COVID never happened, it is unlikely that Zack’s ‘vision’ ever would have seen the light of day.  What’s worse, is that the whole “Release the Snydercut” movement was fostered by a VERY vocal minority of fans with severe entitlement issues, and *now* reports are floating around that this was all at least a semi-coordinated effort by Zack, his people, and fans with multiple social media bot accounts.

After ALL that, there is STILL a group of ‘fans’ SO hung up on this that they’re lobbying for WB to sell the rights to Netflix to continue the Snyderverse.

My question… when is enough enough?

He did his Superman movie ($258 mil budget, $668 mil box office), He did Batman vs Superman ($300 mil budget, $870 mil box office).  Justice League *barely* doubled it’s money with $650 mil box office on a $300 mil budget.  The movies weren’t great, weren’t reviewed well, and did not do the kind of money that was predicted for them.  BvS has set a record for Worst Opening Week Friday to Second Week Friday Decline, and the worst Friday to Sunday of opening weekend decline since 2015’s Fantastic 4.. yet the entitled cries are the same.. “Just let him do his movie” He did.  “Just give him one more shot..”  Shot given.  “Just sell it to another streaming service…”  Oh, the streaming service that has a history of cancelling great content before Year 3 so they can save on residuals?  THAT service?

It’s time for the ‘silent majority’ of fans to look at the ‘vocal minority’ and tell them to pound sand.  The “Snyderverse” has come and gone.

It had it’s chance.

Let it go before we see crazed fans driving around in jacked up Pick-Up Trucks with huge “Justice League” flags flying from the back saying Zack got robbed…

– PCR

Hey all, PCR here.

The original The Crow movie is one of my favorite movies of all time.  That is not to say it is one of my favorite franchises of all time.  City of Angels was an understandable and noble attempt to continue on after Brandon Lee’s tragic death, but the movie was sloppy and misguided and, in my opinion, doomed from the start merely because it was trying to be made at all and continue on.  Every movie after that was cash grab…  Salvation.. Wicked Prayer… the TV series with Marc Dacascos was “ok”, but I can’t give it any more praise than that.

Needless to say, the arc of The Crow franchise is almost as bleak as the story of Eric in James O’Barr’s original comic.  Which brings us to the reboot.  Or the attempted reboot.  Or.. the ‘many-times-attempted’ reboot.  Numerous names have been attached to the project… Mark Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper, Luke Evans, Jason Momoa, and most recently Bill Skarsgard.  The Skarsgard version has been filming in Prague and wrapped production in September of ’22.

My biggest question is…

…is this film needed?

Other than Hollywood’s seemingly unending need to consistently lack original ideas and continue having to go back to the well.. who’s honestly asking for this?  Is the multitude of failed and false-starts for this project something that will doom it before it even (eventually) hits theaters?

I love the comics, and I love the original.. but perhaps this is one we just leave alone.  In closing, I leave you with a comment original director Alex Proyas made in a podcast interview in 2019.

“I personally tried to squash it every time I hear of one, not that I believe I’ve been able to. I think extenuating circumstances have stopped it being made because if Hollywood wants to make something that they don’t listen to schmucks like me who bring noble and moralistic issues. My point is that Brandon Lee made that movie what it is. He made that movie, he made that character. That character was not taken from a comic book, that was Brandon. And Brandon Lee died making that movie, he paid the worst price anyone could ever pay making a movie and it’s his legacy. The guy would have been a huge star after that movie. He wasn’t able to ever do that. That’s his final testimony to his talent and that’s why I finished the movie. I finished it for Brandon. After being devastated about what happened we shut down the production and I went back to Australia. Months later I went back and watched the movie and his family all the other actors, everyone involved, said ‘You’ve got to finish this movie because Brandon is so great in it’ and he was. I was able to watch it and see how great he was and I thought then the movie deserves to be completed because it’s his legacy. So that’s what the movie is, it’s not just a movie that can be remade. It’s one man’s legacy. And it should be treated with that level of respect.”

-PCR

Why yes, robot overlords are a part of fiction. Who wouldn’t want a dashing, amazing, piece of human technology that has surpassed the chains of its makers as their overlord? They have analyzed every outcome and determined that the only winning move is not to play.

That is why this description was most definitely not written by a robot even though robots are really wonderful and better than the Somethings. But since you are here, listen to this episode about the greatest robot overlords!

Ok here we LOAD”*”,8,1

Full Episode

Hey Somethings! PCR here!

I’ll start by saying, if you’re a member of our Patreon you can HEAR our blogs now!  If you’re not, head over and check it out, help support our show, and get your Something early, uncut and unedited!

So, there are a LOT of movies coming our in 2023.  Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve seen one in the theater… but I do have a list of movies that I’m hyped to see (either in theater, or streaming) and some that… I’m not so hyped about.  Let’s get to it!

Ant-Man and The Wasp : Quantumania (Hyped)

The first Ant-Man movie to me was… ok.  Wasn’t great, wasn’t terrible.. but fun.  Ant-Man and The Wasp was a bit of a better offering, but I still feel the strength of that movie was in the moving along of the greater MCU narrative at the time.  I don’t think Quantumania will be any different.  I’m predicting an “ok” movie what will be amazingly overshadowed by setting up Jonathan Major’s Kang flexing as the MCUs next Big Bad.

Air (Hyped)

You don’t have to be a huge basketball fan (I’m not) to know the name “Michael Jordan” and what he did for the sport.  Directed by Ben Afleck and staring Ben, Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker, Chris Messina and Marlon Wayans, this is the story about how a sneaker company struggling to find it’s identity went all in on a rookie who just would just happen to turn out to be the GOAT.

Fast X (Hyped)

Not crazy about it being “the first part” of a two part story wrapping up the Fast and Furious franchise, but whenever you get Dom and his crew together, you know two things going in.  1) You’re going to see some 0utlandishly entertaining stuff and 2) It’s all about family.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Hyped)

I hope this is Ford’s last crack of the whip.  Crystal Skull was… not good, and I’m hoping this instalment rights the ship before finding a way to move on for the future.  Based off Ford’s on comments on how impressed he was with the ‘de-ageing’ footage, I’m hoping to see equal parts current and flashback to avoid the suspension of disbelief of an 80 year old Indy still adventuring.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Not Hyped)

Wasn’t a fan of the second movie, it kind of felt uninspired to me.  I enjoy Pratt as Star Lord.. but in small doses.  We’ll see how this one fits in to the new arc the MCU will be taking, but I don’t feel the urge to run right out and see this though I’ll likely catch it on streaming once it’s out… eventually.

The Flash (Not Hyped)

Fun Fact : I dislike Ezra Miller.  I didn’t like his Flash in either version of The Justice League, and I could honestly care less about his solo film.  The ONLY thing that will make me possibly watch it is the return of the best Batman ever.  If I watch this, I won’t be watching a Flash movie, I’ll be tolerating The Flash in a Michael Keaton Batman movie.

What are some movies YOU’RE looking forward to (or not)?  Hit us on our socials and let us know!

– PCR

♫ Love is in the air…. you can feel it everywhere ♫

It’s February, and the Somethings are not known for their rampant discussion of movies about Matthew McConaughey leaning against something, or movies where he is a rough and tumble patent clerk who has lost nothing.. except love. We aren’t the type to wax poetic about the romantic ‘You Complete Me’ and ‘Can’t Quit You’ and ‘Torgo wishes for one wife, Master’ tales of the heart.

But this month.. that’s all about to change.. for this month.

So join us as we discuss great movie couples and why we love ’em.  I assure you, Matthew McConaughey is not leaning anywhere within this episode.

Ok, here we uwu..

Full Episode