AST Loves Movies

[littlegirltree]

Has anyone else been watching The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current? It's really great. Great with snideness.

[pissedpissedofferson]

You weren't the only one:

And the special effects! Oh lord, the godawful VFX. Somehow this $150 million dollar movie scrimped so badly that Wolverine's claws are a laughable eye-sore, and even basic scenes of driving in the woods and arriving from a helicopter telegraph their horrid CGI-ness from miles and miles away (How in baby jesus' name do you get the claw VFX right for three X-Men pictures, but then utterly destroy and fumble them for a 4th film> Regression effects? Wow)

The weirdest part with the claws is the bathroom scene. They literally looked like they were rotoscoped back in the 70s and time-tunneled to the present.

What gives? Did they loan out the actual claws that day?

[Alex Mac]

What gives? Did they loan out the actual claws that day?

I was wondering that too. Why not just do most of that practically? I mean, didn't that work for the other X-Men movies?

[aenemaTron]

I think the problem is that Wolverine's claws are no fuckin' joke. Hugh Jackman be stabbin' some niggas.

[pissedpissedofferson]

I think the problem is that Wolverine's claws are no fuckin' joke. Hugh Jackman be stabbin' some niggas.

Yo dawg I heard you like claws so I put paws on yo' claws so you can be adorable while you be stabbin'.

I am seriously stunned by how bad Wolverine was. Really, Mr. Director? Not one, but two crane shots of a character yelling NOOOOOO!!! in the first half?

[suavepebble]

I think Wolverine is ripe for one of those "what is it all about and why am I doing this?" type of moments. I want to write a wolverine series where weapon X goes through a belated midlife crisis and struggles with unsheathing his claws or something like that. Put a human face on that wolfguy, you know?

[Fentmore]

Not one, but two crane shots of a character yelling NOOOOOO!!! in the first half?

You would think that shot has been parodied enough times that it's been rendered useless in any dramatic situation forever more.

Sorry movies, there are just some things you can't do anymore. Maybe they can reintroduce the "Noooooo" in 2036 when everyone's forgotten.

I can't think of any other film conventions that have gone the way of the Dodo because they have become jokes unto themselves. There has to be some other ones.

[Jawa]

You would think that shot has been parodied enough times that it's been rendered useless in any dramatic situation forever more.

Sorry movies, there are just some things you can't do anymore. Maybe they can reintroduce the "Noooooo" in 2036 when everyone's forgotten.

I can't think of any other film conventions that have gone the way of the Dodo because they have become jokes unto themselves. There has to be some other ones.

The classic slo-mo-run-and-jump-at-the-camera-while-something-is exploding-in-the-background shot.

It might still be used, though.

[JayRunner]

There has to be some other ones.

Or cross cutting action scenes with a hospital-bed-bound-character's EKG machine to show the race against time to save their life.

[man124]

Or cross cutting action scenes with a hospital-bed-bound-character's EKG machine to show the race against time to save their life.

EKG machines in general are really overused at this point. I understand that they are always in a hospital, but when one starts going crazy, it is no longer dramatic. One of two things is more or less always going to happen. Either the patient is going to flatline and die or the patient is going to flatline and then get a heart beat back (which is another really cliche thing Wolverine does).

That heartbeat scene from wolverine sucked. No one is watching that movie is ever going to find that scene dramatic, because there is absolutely no chance that he will die. It was 45 minutes into the movie, the guy without the heartbeat is the title character and we all know that the character is alive for the x-men movies. Why was that even if the movie? I said before that I was undecided about how I felt about the movie, but I have decided. It was really awful.

[Berliner]

Oh man, I don't think there's a comic book character I hate as much as Wolverine. If I had a blog, that's all I'd write about. I'm glad his stupid movie was stupid.

[Fentmore]

The classic slo-mo-run-and-jump-at-the-camera-while-something-is exploding-in-the-background shot.
It might still be used, though.

It actually was (almost)! I forgot that quintessential shot in the soon-to-be classic X-Men Origins: Wolverine when he walks away in slo-mo after lighting up that helicopter.

This movie's hittin' three for three on the contrived cliches (Nooo, EKG, slo-mo from boom).

[pollymaepry]

Oh man, I don't think there's a comic book character I hate as much as Wolverine. If I had a blog, that's all I'd write about. I'm glad his stupid movie was stupid.

hey everything about this is the nerdiest thing I've ever heard. awesome.

[Cameron]

I just watched Anvil: The Story of Anvil.

Really good, even for someone who doesn't like metal.

[ASR]

I didn't know if you were talking about a band or an actual anvil. I assumed it was a band because I'm not retarded. But I still had to Google it. So yeah.

[P-Dub]

Another vote for Anvil. It's funny and sweet and a real crowd-pleaser.

[Umlaut]

I can't think of any other film conventions that have gone the way of the Dodo because they have become jokes unto themselves. There has to be some other ones.

Thinking you see your love in a crowd, chasing him/her through a public place (mall), only to catch up with him/her, see his/her face, and it's some rando with similar hair.

[scamboogah]

Thinking you see your love in a crowd, chasing him/her through a public place (mall), only to catch up with him/her, see his/her face, and it's some rando with similar hair.

Rajan Rando?

[angryrobot]

I just watched 60 Spins Around the Sun after hearing Gaffigan mention the comedian Randy Credico on a podcast interview. I looked him up on Google and found that Laura Kightlinger actually made a documentary about him in 2003. It's available on Netflix Watch Instantly and I recommend it.

[Cameron]

My (spoiler free) Star Trek review:

I was extremely skeptical going in to the new Star Trek film. I loved a lot of the original films and simply didn't think a) a reboot was necessary and b) that JJ Abrams was the right person at the helm. The old films still stand up, and I felt that any new incarnation would only tarnish the series (I'm looking at you Star Wars). And I've never liked anything J.J. Abrams has done (in fact, I despise most of it). Lost and Alias both seemed silly to me, MI3 was the absolute worst of the Mission Impossible series (and had the lamest villain death I can think of from any film), and Cloverfield was one of the most shallow, mindless, and flat-out boring films I saw last year. My reluctance continued after seeing the new film's trailers, which made the film out to be a mindless CGI-fest set to betray everything I love about the franchise.

But I am happy to report that absolutely loved Star Trek. Right from the very beginning it took me back to when I was little and would endlessly rewatch my dad's VHS box set of the first six films. I never onced questioned Pine and Quinto as Kirk and Spock, and the time travel storyline was the perfect way to restart the franchise without abandoning everything the previous films and television had setup. I had assumed that having Leonard Nimoy in the film was simply a desperate attempt to please fanboys, but (while it still may have been that), he was worked in perfectly.

That's not to say the entire film was perfect. The action sequences were lame, a bit too over-the-top, over-long, and far too reliant on computer effects (but that's just as much a complaint about modern action films as it is about this specific movie). The cast also didn't entirely work, I never fully bought Saldana and Urban as Uhura and Bones, and was constantly comparing them to the originals. Eric Bana was also a bit underused and under developed, and never once felt like a real threat. But these minor quibbles did little to prevent my enjoyment of the overall picture.

I went into the theater tonight expecting to hate the film, but came out completely loving it. I would be shocked if any other big summer blockbuster bests it.

8/10