Marvel Films

[luka]

which is why dc is better

wonder woman was good. not so keen on the batman ones.

 

[sufi]

i have to say the lego batman movie is awesome
i will now leave dissensus never to return

 

[Corpsey]

Lego Batman IS awesome

Captain America 3: Civil War
Avengers Assemble
Iron Man
Spider Man: Homecoming
Thor: Ragnarok
Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Ant Man
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man 3
Dr Strange
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Thor 1
Thor 2

 

[craner]

Now rank your favorite Shakespeares for balance.

 

[Corpsey]

Henry IV pt. 2: Civil War
Othello: The First Avenger
Much Ado About Ant Man

 

[Corpsey]

A Midsummer Night's Iron Man 2

 

[luka]

i feel like a diletente cos i havent actualy seen that many but from worst to best




Captain America: Civil War (2016) (didnt really rate this one.)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Thor: The Dark World (2013) (i like this cos the climax takes place in Greenwich)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Black Panther (2018)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

 

[Corpsey]

Hah polar opposite to me OF COURSE

Just waiting for my list so you could invert it

I'm onto your game

 

[luka]

 

[craner]

This is the start of a great word game.

 

[Corpsey]

Is Infinity War an attempt at grappling with overpopulation?

Yeah, although as far as I remember the Avengers don't actually mount much of a counterargument to Thanos.

OTOH Thanos's plan is a bit dumb since once half the lifeforms have died in the universe isn't it fair to expect the remaining half to start multiplying again?

 

[Corpsey]

Going to see Cap. Marvel tonight, teeing me up for Endgame in a few weeks time.

Truly an exciting time to be a manchild.

 

[CrowleyHead]

Incredible how Aquaman was better than any experience I've had with a Marvel film.

 

[Corpsey]

Captain Marvel - mid-tier Marvel, and the first twenty-thirty minutes in particular are pretty ropey.

For me the most striking thing about it was that it leans heavily on 90s nostalgia. I felt my age, being winked at with all the other parents (without the children) - 'remember Blockbuster video'? 'remember floppy discs'? etc.

Also I wondered what Kurt Cobain would have made of his choon being used in a Disney movie, albeit a 'woke' one.

 

[CrowleyHead]

I mean that's the case with so much of these films. The OG Captain America being v. much about going back to that notion of THE GREATEST GENERATION, or GOTG having a heavy 70s aesthetic underlying constantly. So much of these films are beholden to an audience not only desiring escapism but they desire regression and reversion to idealized forms of the past.

Forms of proper escapism in the last few years such as say, Jupiter Ascending, have not done as well because there isn't a sense of American Tapestry; the dual-wield of comics as a sort of pop pantheon, (Steve Rodgers is Odin and Tony Stark is Loki (yes I know that ignores actual Loki, work with me)) AND the intoxicating notion that things were Classier or Cooler or More Loving back then and if We Could Only Get Closer To That

 

[IdleRich]

I don't watch these films as a rule. It's not cos I don't like comics or whatever but it's the sheer unstoppable volume of them that depresses me. It seems that every other film out of Hollywood is a super hero one and I am the only one resisting this inevitable juggernaut with my non-watching protest. I'm not sure it's working though.
Anyway, I did see Black Panther on a plane, it was only later that I found that Killmonger (which is a great name) is the same guy who played Wallace in the Wire. How is that possible? They don't even look like they are the same species.

 

[Corpsey]

Yeah, I agree, there's a propagandist bent to these films despite their gestures towards anti-imperialism/anti-surveillance. I mean, what that amounts to usually is 'isn't imperialism bad? still, we need it - let's just make sure the 'good' guys are good'.

It's particularly queasy when they bring this superhero stuff into contact with real history/politics - as they did in Captain America 1 and Wonder Woman. In Captain America 1 they sorta got away with it because everyone "knows" the Nazis were evil but I was astounded that they were doing the same thing in 'Wonder Woman', which is set in World War 1. My knowledge of history is paltry but I'm pretty sure the blame was more evenly divided in World War 1.

And having the cartoonish villains using gas... I dunno, it somehow seems distasteful to turn this stuff into comic book fun for all the family.

 

[IdleRich]

That's kinda what Tarantino does though aint it? Wouldn't it have been great if there was a black (virtual) super hero resisting slavery? What about if a crack team of super-Jews had fought back against the holocaust and killed Hitler?

 

[yyaldrin]

all that marvel stuff is written by the cia. pure propaganda.

only one that was remotely enjoyable was the latest thor.

 

[Corpsey]

That's kinda what Tarantino does though aint it? Wouldn't it have been great if there was a black (virtual) super hero resisting slavery? What about if a crack team of super-Jews had fought back against the holocaust and killed Hitler?

The last Tarantino movie I saw was Kill Bill which put me off Tarantino. But I keep hearing about these recent Tarantinos, are they worth a watch?

Re: Marvel as propoganda - I can buy that, although I also think they're a bit too muddled to be propaganda (but maybe that's the point? confuse the sheep). And not to propose an equivalence in artistry, but Henry IV is propaganda too.

Idea for a thread (maybe not a good one though) - can propoganda be art?