[worry]

R.I.P. to the best actor in Darkman, Larry Drake.

http://www.people.co...rake-dead-at-66

[amphibian]

Zootopia is a strange experience. For a certain segment of the population, it's a great, fun movie. For another segment, it's a movie that entertains until it gets into saying "All Lives Matter" type stuff for a while.

My enjoyment of the movie came to a jarring halt. I began to think about how tone deaf that segment of the movie was and how it could get by that many smart people into the final product.

Short version: Zootopia is kinda racist in the same way Crash (2005) was, without being THAT bad.

[Macros]

Nitpick
Isn't Gleeson Irish? I think he's a dub
/nitpick

[amphibian]

Gleeson is a Dubliner for sure.

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 18 March 2016 - 03:15 PM, said:

Nitpick
Isn't Gleeson Irish? I think he's a dub
/nitpick

Apologies, you're correct.

[Mezla PigDog]

I caught up on Ant Man. I had no clue about the character going into it so was pleasantly surprised. I like Paul Rudd when he isn't working with Apatow et al. I didn't realise Ant Man used actual ants. I thought he was just called that because he was small. I spent a lot of the film trying to work out what made Edgar Wright jump ship.

[QuickTidal]

Mezla PigDog, on 21 March 2016 - 01:46 PM, said:

I caught up on Ant Man. I had no clue about the character going into it so was pleasantly surprised. I like Paul Rudd when he isn't working with Apatow et al. I didn't realise Ant Man used actual ants. I thought he was just called that because he was small. I spent a lot of the film trying to work out what made Edgar Wright jump ship.

From what I understand, Wright had intended it to be more in his own story mode that didn't service the overall MCU as a movie franchise. He was into ANT-MAN basically just being a standalone superhero, and he could add any quirks and bits and bobs that he felt he wanted to. Marvel was intent that any standalone MCU projects served the greater whole, and Wright's vision didn't. And I THINK he walked after they asked him to change things he didn't want to change. I would love to hear one day the difference between the final version and what Wright worked on, to see how different it ended up being.

I always come back to the FANT4STIC disaster as an example of a director and writer team that decided it was better to do their own thing, in their own style than follow the studio urging for the theme.

[Primateus]

Mezla PigDog, on 21 March 2016 - 01:46 PM, said:

I caught up on Ant Man. I had no clue about the character going into it so was pleasantly surprised. I like Paul Rudd when he isn't working with Apatow et al. I didn't realise Ant Man used actual ants. I thought he was just called that because he was small. I spent a lot of the film trying to work out what made Edgar Wright jump ship.

Ant-Man is my nr. 1 favourite superhero movie. Coincidentally it's also my favourite spy movie.

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 25 March 2016 - 03:17 AM, said:

Not sure if anyone knows this yet but Ford is doing Indy 5 coming in 2019. I found out yesterday.

Damn. I knew there were going to be more Indy movies, but.... isn't he a bit too old? Are they going to kill him off or something?

[Tsundoku]

Andorion, on 25 March 2016 - 03:34 AM, said:

Briar King, on 25 March 2016 - 03:17 AM, said:

Not sure if anyone knows this yet but Ford is doing Indy 5 coming in 2019. I found out yesterday.

Damn. I knew there were going to be more Indy movies, but.... isn't he a bit too old? Are they going to kill him off or something?

He will be killed by Shia LaBeouf. You read it here first.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 25 March 2016 - 04:00 AM

[worry]

They might actually kill off Ford before they kill Indy.

[Aptorian]

Just watched "He Never Died" on Netflix. What a strange and cool film.

It's basically a low budget supernatural horror/comedy story but sort of odd. It stars Henry Rollins as some kind supernatural being that is basically just existing from one day to the next, trying to make time pass. Then something of course happens and things start changing rapidly.

The premise is nothing new and the execution is sub par but there's something very charming about Rollins depiction of the character and I like how minimalist the story is.

I wouldn't mind watching a sequel or a TV-series based on the premise.

[amphibian]

So yeah, Zootopia is racist/fails to deal well with the issues of racism it tries to tackle: http://consequenceof...s-racism-wrong/

[Aptorian]

Not having followed Zootopias buzz I can't quite tell if you're being sarcastic, Amphibian. That article is the typical "Nice try but I am still going to be upset" opinion-piece from "what ever concerned group".

I haven't seen the film but this author is comparing an animated for-the-whole-family comedy with Crash of all films and some how thinks comparing the two films goals and methods is clever?

What does the author expect? Dogs raping cats and a camel being beaten to a pulp in a back alley because it looked at a Pumas girl friend the wrong way? Yeah, that's going to go over well at the box office.

[amphibian]

If you look back one page, I make the Crash comparison and that was before I read the article above.

The comparison with Crash works because these are two high profile movies that attempt to tackle head on racism and end up with a horrible pablum of awful "solutions" and failures to actually engage with what racism is - prejudice + power over the social, legal, financial, and judicial institutions, which slowly and surely disadvantage one or more groups over time.

As the article says, the movies present a theory of just getting the people who directly try to kill or hurt minorities out of authority positions and then racism will be solved. That's not an actual solution, ignores a ton of other things, and even contradicts several parts of the movie's own general thesis.

To tackle racism in a kid's movie is a bold move.
Zootopia did not do it well and even goes far enough in its incompetence as to quasi bolster a racist's viewpoint at times. That's how badly it failed in its efforts.

[Tsundoku]

Briar King, on 26 March 2016 - 12:13 AM, said:

Anyone watch that trailer I linked yet?

Hardcore Henry?

Looks interesting, but I don't think I'll see it at the cinemas because I'm not much of an FPS player. I'd probably feel a bit giddy after 20 minutes. Probably watch it in installments at home on my "piddly" 40 inch screen.

Reminds me of that FPS sequence they did in the Doom movie.

94% on Rotten Tomatoes.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 26 March 2016 - 01:06 AM

[Aptorian]

amphibian, on 25 March 2016 - 09:03 PM, said:

If you look back one page, I make the Crash comparison and that was before I read the article above.

The comparison with Crash works because these are two high profile movies that attempt to tackle head on racism and end up with a horrible pablum of awful "solutions" and failures to actually engage with what racism is - prejudice + power over the social, legal, financial, and judicial institutions, which slowly and surely disadvantage one or more groups over time.

As the article says, the movies present a theory of just getting the people who directly try to kill or hurt minorities out of authority positions and then racism will be solved. That's not an actual solution, ignores a ton of other things, and even contradicts several parts of the movie's own general thesis.

To tackle racism in a kid's movie is a bold move.
Zootopia did not do it well and even goes far enough in its incompetence as to quasi bolster a racist's viewpoint at times. That's how badly it failed in its efforts.

I get your point but I think going so far as calling Zootopia racist is ridiculous.

You could call it trite or generic or compromising, etc. and I would call it understandable. Saying it fails in some of its attempts to portray racism I understand. But the depth and nuance and layers this author is looking for seems unrealistic, especially for the type of movie we're discussing here. At some point the discussion of racism becomes so academic and esoteric that your average movie watcher will have no hope of or interest in following the theme.

Big popular popcorn films resort to telling simpler individual stories because it's more relatable. It's smaller problems that can be overcome. Creating some kind of dystopian vision of an animal kingdom that reflects America would be hard to sell to the audience.

I my opinion Zootopia tries to serve the problem of racism on a smaller plater that is more digestible. Criticizing it for not being aware enough of racism, to me smacks of the typical "nothing is good enough" mentality of the disenfranchised. You could have written the exact same article but concluded that at least it tried, at least it dares to include these elements in a family film. It shows kids and adolescents, through the characters of the film, why racism is bad. Not by deconstructing the American social sphere but by showing how individual, likeable characters, are affected by prejudice.

Zootopia is a stepping stone, certainly not an insult.

[amphibian]

Lilo & Stitch dealt with loneliness, anger, loss, not fitting in, and putting together a family that isn't the usual nuclear portrayal. And it did so superbly - in 85 minutes to Zootopia's 108.

So when I see a lesser budget movie like Lilo & Stitch do so well with the issues it tackles, it makes the occasions when a bigger movie fails in its efforts grate all the more.

[Morgoth]

I saw Hail Caesar yesterday and I really enjoyed it. My friend, who's more of a straight up action movie guy thought it was alright.

This movie is more a collection of little stories rather than one big one. You have an overarching plot, the kidnappin of a major movie star, but it serves as a vehicle for presenting the smaller stories rather than being the focus of the movie. Which I liked. The acting, as one expects from a Coen movie, was top notch. I especially enjoyed Scarlett Johanssons role, though Josh Brolin also did a very good role.

[Mezla PigDog]

I can't decide if I want to see Batman v Superman because I fear it is shite and don't want to waste my time. Yet I also can't check threads to see what people think as don't want to be spoilered if it is alright. What's the general consensus? Appalling, average, good? Bad but worth the effort?