Recent Viewing Part IV

I really enjoyed that film and score. I just can't imagine why they didn't want Kraemer back.

Black Panther

I imagine the same people who bashed Avatar for its story will also not like this movie. Everyone else will get what an amazing achievement it is, on every level.

Why would that be?

I mean, the story of Avatar was maybe a bit cliche, but it was effective. It was the writing that was at times dodgy at best and in one case actually betrayed the tone of the film (what is a 1980s action film villain doing in Dances with Wolves?!)

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

I laughed a lot, and it had the same cool scenes of the first. But where on earth did this penis humor came from? I loved the first film so much because it avoided being sexually funny and yet be incredibly hilarious. This rude humor doesn't suit the film, nor does the Superman ending where he suddenly flies around thrashing everything. Anyway, baby Groot was cute as hell and it had a lot of funny moments. But this one fails in both the story as its rude humor

6 out of 10

Yeah, I didn't notice much of a change in the level of rude humor from 1 to 2. There's a bit in both of them, but not very much.

I try not to think about it. I'm worried they're going to bring in one of the RC guys.

The Shape Of Water

It's okay, but a little Oscar-baity. I'll have forgotten it by the end of the week.

Desplat's score is annoyingly quirky.

Someone said that it had some sort of an Anti-Trump agenda? If it did, it hid it well...

Black Panther

another mediocre marvel movie

Mediocre? Hardly! I think its their best in ages, possibly of the entire MCU.

hmmm. it's the worst paced of the MCU (and that's saying something...), with an interminable first hour of filler and a second hour unbelievably rushed. Even the best actors (and there was excellent acting here), can't salvage such a dire script entirely. It was really the terrific score and the strong performance by Chadwick Boseman that kept it above terrible for me. By the time the movie had devolved into awful CGI rhinos tromping around as people punched each other in the face on a big field, I had stopped caring entirely.

You mean a wonderful first hour of the best and most unique world-building I've seen in the movies in a very, very long time?

"World-building" always feels like the go to excuse for pointless side-quests and non-starter scenes. Anything could be justified as "deepening the culture". Good storytelling is about revealing the culture while furthering the narrative, and Black Panther took an hour to get started and then gave the villain about fifteen minutes of screentime. So, essentially, your average, passable, marvel movie, with just enough "social commentary" to make the critics happy, and just enough people punching other people in the face to keep the children entertained.

I don't mean to sound too cynical, but it seems people have grown awfully forgiving to these films. So long as they're watchable and introduce some type of theme, it's "one of the best overall". Maybe there's just a low bar.

EDIT: This came out way more negative than I had intended. Apologies about that. Just a movie.

I don't understand this point of view. A well told narrative can, at its best, make one a better person, provide insight into the perspectives of others, and explore interesting and important ideas. What can learning the excruciating details of a fictional country's police force do other than provide empty escapism?

Well it's not like I don't enjoy being immersed in a story. I just find that comes from the characters and events, not the details of the setting.

Well I know as someone who likes to write that it is really easy to continually layer on more detail about the setting and "world", to write the "seven names of the ancient waterfall" and sketch out the lineage and economic system of Gothmagistan or such. It is much harder to craft a - in your words - cohererent, pre-planned storyline, and find the balance between simplicity and nuance. Moreover, while one might indeed become immersed in a well-told story, that is not all a well-told story might offer, whereas immersion is the sole point of world-building, how else are the seven names of the ancient waterfall applicable, useful, or even emotionally potent?

So if all we're aiming for in a story is immersion, I suppose I'd agree with you, but can't a good movie or book do a lot more than just make you forget about your problems for a few hours? At their best, they can even provide a solution for those problems.

Well, my favourite science fiction novel, Frank Herbert's Dune, consists of highly detailed word building, dialogue and rather few action. So, there you go.

Volker