Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2021)

[thecolorsblend]

Collateral

Very enjoyable movie. I had low expectations but it was some of his best work ever.

I rate his War of the Worlds movie quite highly to be honest.

Same. I went through a phase at one point where I wanted to watch an alien invasion movie and WOTW was available. Went in, again, with low expectations but it was a blast. At some point, I got the idea that WOTW had been adapted several times (a la A Christmas Carol) but it hasn't been, oddly enough. The Cruise version is great tho.

[The Dark Knight]

Very enjoyable movie. I had low expectations but it was some of his best work ever.

It's a career highlight. Vincent was necessary evil to wake Max up to chase his dreams and stop making excuses in his life. Collateral is an example of plot conveniences being an asset as they build interesting character byplay and a strange rapport between the two. Any action scene is secondary to that relationship. Imagine Cruise in Vincent mode playing a version of Tony Stark. In command, oozing competency and with enough warmth to feel a connection.

Same. I went through a phase at one point where I wanted to watch an alien invasion movie and WOTW was available. Went in, again, with low expectations but it was a blast. At some point, I got the idea that WOTW had been adapted several times (a la A Christmas Carol) but it hasn't been, oddly enough. The Cruise version is great tho.

Getting off track a bit, but I've been through a phase of collecting Penguin Modern Classics, mostly books from the 1800s. One such author who was essential to that was HG Wells. War of the Worlds is to me the definitive alien invasion concept. I think it's how things would play out. If aliens arrive, they're going to dominate and humanity would try and fight back, but ultimately we'd resort to merely surviving. Wells has the first portrayal of time travel in The Time Machine, and one of my favorites The Invisible Man shows science's power to corrupt. The Island of Dr Moreau relates to the ethics of science. And I don't mind The Sleeper Awakes. What a mind Wells had. I respect these books as the bedrock of our fictional entertainment.

[The Joker]

One major spoiler I've mentioned before is confirmed.

Yeah, this trailer clinches Fox's X-Men appearing.

Since it's apparent that Patrick Stewart's Xavier is likely to have his final bow, I can't help but wonder exactly which version of Professor X are we getting with this?

There's the Xavier from X-Men 1-3, then there's the one from "Wolverine Origins" which has continuity that really doesn't abide by later films, then there's the one that appeared with Ian McKellen at the end of "The Wolverine" (where it appeared as if the Sentinels were going to appear for the first time in 'present day' by that Trask Industries advertisement at the airport, only for "Days of Future Past" to reveal that Sentinels existed back in the 1970s!), and of course you have the one that appeared in "LOGAN". Course Disney can just hint that the Stewart Prof X that appears in this movie is simply a variant, that's not strictly tied to any previous Fox timelines. Which will probably be the case.

Being that Stewart's Xavier is assuredly not going to be the MCU Xavier to be, the notion of him dying yet again is getting quite repetitive at this stage. I mean, it's like South Park Kenny levels even!

[Silver Nemesis]

Getting off track a bit, but I've been through a phase of collecting Penguin Modern Classics, mostly books from the 1800s. One such author who was essential to that was HG Wells. War of the Worlds is to me the definitive alien invasion concept. I think it's how things would play out. If aliens arrive, they're going to dominate and humanity would try and fight back, but ultimately we'd resort to merely surviving. Wells has the first portrayal of time travel in The Time Machine, and one of my favorites The Invisible Man shows science's power to corrupt. The Island of Dr Moreau relates to the ethics of science. And I don't mind The Sleeper Awakes. What a mind Wells had. I respect these books as the bedrock of our fictional entertainment.

Back when I was a schoolboy I always carried one of Wells' novels in my blazer pocket. He was one of the most influential science fiction authors of all time, second perhaps only to Jules Verne. I never actually got around to reading The Island of Doctor Moreau, so I might have to check that out later this year.

My favourite Wells novel is The First Men in the Moon. It contains a very dated and inaccurate depiction of the moon, but that portrayal is itself interesting inasmuch as it was considered scientifically accurate at the time of publication. It's also just a great adventure story with some nice touches of humour. It influenced C S Lewis' Space Trilogy and was heavily referenced by Alan Moore in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It's worth reading if you haven't already. There was also a solid film adaption made in 1964 with stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen.

As for The War of the Worlds, I enjoyed the book and both the 1953 and 2005 film adaptations, the latter of which I saw on the big screen when it first came out, but my favourite version of that story has to be the 1938 Orson Welles' radio adaptation.

But now I'm really getting off topic.

[Gotham Knight]

Okay, apparently the reshoots were for two things.

#1. They scrubbed demonic possession so that Wanda would be more definitively heel. They're still going for sympathy, but she at least gets comeuppance now instead of a pat on the back.

#2. They removed cameos as appose to adding them. Aside from some variant Stranges and the Illuminati members, there aren't any.

In related news, the Marvel world is prepping for a fan war between pro and anti Wanda stans. The 'Wanda is a good guy crowd' are expected to crap a brick over the movie. As I mentioned before, the current cut understands that no matter what her reasons, Wanda is the bad guy. They have corrected the mistake of Wandavision which didn't seem to understand that she was the bad guy.

[The Laughing Fish]

A couple of friends of mine dragged me to see MOM over the weekend, which makes my first MCU film at the cinema in four years.

I'll say this, Sam Raimi's distinctive horror-style direction makes this film. The second and third acts, for the most part, are definitely dark and imaginative, and offers something a little different than your usual MCU fluff. Benedict Cumberbatch is solid, and the girl who plays America Chavez is fine, but Elizabeth Olsen gives the real MVP performance in this movie. It definitely continues from WandaVision and the film doesn't shy away from the Scarlet Witch becoming a completely possessed villain. It's about time Wanda Maximoff got some spotlight, I've felt she was short-changed in the MCU, till now.

I won't spoil anything, but I'll say that despite my initial skepticism, MOM turned out fine for MCU standards. And it's watchable thanks to Sam Raimi.

[Travesty]

I didn't really like it. This is on the lower end of the MCU for me. There were some cool elements to it, especially the horror stuff, but for a Doctor Strange story, I thought it was lacking. 

[The Dark Knight]

I'm tired of the onslaught of not just these movies, but pretty much everything the modern world has to offer. There is a non stop strobe light of content flashing in our faces that drips with agenda. I don't care if Sam Raimi directed this. He's still operating within a formula that makes woke references such as having two mothers. I have no time for it. Back when Raimi made his Spider-Man trilogy, superhero films were still a novelty. But now, the only way to regain sensetivity and excitement is to abstain. More or less, I'm happy with my music and books.

[thecolorsblend]

I'm tired of the onslaught of not just these movies, but pretty much everything the modern world has to offer. There is a non stop strobe light of content flashing in our faces that drips with agenda. I don't care if Sam Raimi directed this. He's still operating within a formula that makes woke references such as having two mothers. I have no time for it. Back when Raimi made his Spider-Man trilogy, superhero films were still a novelty. But now, the only way to regain sensetivity and excitement is to abstain. More or less, I'm happy with my music and books.

I haven't seen the movie. And I'm in no position to promise you that I ever will.

But I hear things. And from the sounds of it, between Moon Knight and MOM, MCU stans officially have no more right to complain about Snyder's DCEU movies being too dark.

Aside from that... yeah, I'm with you. But to avoid derailing the discussion here, I might give you a shout out in the Recommend A Movie thread where we pick this discussion back up.

[Gotham Knight]

One of the cameos was Michael Fassbender, apparently. He played Universe 838's Magneto who lobotomized 838's Wanda under orders of that universe's Dr. Strange, who became aware of the Witch prophecy when he encountered the darkhold. The original cut was much darker and the Illuminati's questionable status as heroes was more than implied like it is in the theatrical version.