OncomingStorm93

Doc Ock on the surgery table.

Well with 3/4 reviews being good through 300, it would need to fall to 3/5 over the next 150 (for a total of 450, The Batman currently has 471) to get to 70%. I don't see the ratio changing that substantially this far into the review cycle.

Film title is very accurate. Doctor Strange is indeed in the film that is The Multiverse of Madness. He is a character in that movie, I guess the one with the most screentime. But it is merely a film that he is in; it's far from his film.

Just caught what I assume is the new trailer in IMAX ahead of Strange. That trailer slaps. Much more compelling than any of the marketing for Fallen Kingdom. And the audience in this theater I think agreed. That trailer got a massive reaction. I’m genuinely excited, which I can’t say I felt heading into either of the JW films so far.

Heading to my showing now, IMAX for the first time I think since the pandemic for me. Honestly, 75% was what I thought the plausible high-end of MoM’s RT % range was, due to Raimi’s not-for-everyone style, and how heavy this is leaning into fanservice and MCU connections. That said, that’s exactly what I was hoping for from this particular project, so I’m very pumped for this experience.

Sherlock is dead. Cumberbatch and Freeman didn't particularly care for each other, and their professional relationship deteriorated by season 4. Not to mention Freeman had to film season 4 with Amanda Abbington (John's wife Mary on Sherlock) with filming starting two weeks after they split romantically. On top of that, most fans would admit the writing stunk big time at the end. The actors aren't going to return, and I don't really feel like there is a clamoring for the show to return either.

Most casual audiences will move on from their immediate confusion pretty quickly if they are being solidly entertained by the content.

Meh. Was it better than CoG? The script was (by default), the direction wasn't. I actually thought David Yates' direction of CoG was impressive, considering the material he was given. However, the production of this reeked of laziness. Very little interesting shot selection, little imaginative originality to the use of magic or the effects themselves. Overwhelmingly dull color palate. COVID for sure threw a wrench into the plans, but that didn't stop other productions like The Batman from achieving their visions.

RIP that DCEU 2022 Sizzle that played in front of The Batman.

I'm shocked to see the discourse around this opening weekend. I figured anything over $100m was gravy for two main reasons: The dilution of the Batman IP over the past five years, and the film's marketing making it clear this isn't "family friendly". This bleak of a tone isn't for everyone, especially in today's world. I wouldn't have been surprised if this actually underperformed (80m-100m)... but I have concerns about it's legs. While it has many amazing moments, I wouldn't describe it as a "crowd pleaser" due to it's tone.

(Not yet having seen NWH,) Spider-Man 2 remains the greatest Spidey film, greatest comic book sequel, top-3 antagonist, and has a strong case still for best comic book film. It’s no surprise to me at all that the marketing for NWH has been leaning heavily into Doc Ock.

It's a good trailer. Nothing great or disappointing. Looks like this is the film that CoG wanted to be, with less brooding. More of a sense of adventure. Like Newt's updated look, and am excited for Jessica Williams, along with Mads of course. Even if this was utter trash, I'd see this just for Mads. Hell, I suffered through Chaos Walking.

Lol they didn’t bother giving Mads any kind of look at all. It’s literally just Mads partying it up. That could be a photo from Another Round.

I'm six hours removed from my showing of Eternals ending, and I've been letting it sink in. I really don't understand why the response has been so middling. Probably because it's the most un-MCU movie by a good margin, which is partially why I enjoyed it so much. Still enjoyed Shang-Chi more on a pure entertainment level, but Eternals will safely sit in the upper half of my MCU list.

I just got out of Eternals, and loved almost every minute of it. I’m not saying it’s consistently great, but I was intrigued and entertained throughout. Certainly a different flavor than every other MCU film, which I liked. I’m honestly shocked the reviews are so middling, whereas something as generic as Black Widow is sitting at around 80%.

The RT score has dropped 5% with the last 32 reviews (69 to 101)... don't like that trend in the long run. Could see this settling near 75%. The YouTuber Calvin Dyson (his entire channel is about James Bond, I've found him to be an informative, entertaining, and objective Bond fan) thinks this film will be very divisive among Bond fans.

Is there any project that Mads has been in where he himself wasn't great, regardless of the other elements of that project? The man doesn't know how to phone it in.

What a horrendous title. I can’t wait for them to work it into the first page of dialogue like “Grindlewald must answer for his crimes”. That said, my ticket was bought when Mads replaced Depp. Mads may very well be my favorite actor working today, and the description I saw of his Grindlewald being “wizard Hannibal” is everything I wanted. As for B.O. potential and audience enthusiasm for the series… well, I just rewatched the 3 trailers for CoG to try to understand how the film was sold. The marketing was pretty vague as to the film’s plot line, instead settling up the dynamic between Law’s Dumbledore and Persona-Non-Grata Depp. Now given how unfocused CoG was, it makes sense the marketing lacked focus. If DoS can hone in on Newt, give him an actual character arc, have a linear plot, slowly build up Mads, bring back a sense of magical fun instead of being dreary, and convey those points in the marketing, I can defiantly see this outperforming CoG. Also, the 3 and a half year wait certainly helps.

Mads Mikkelsen. That’s it. That’s the post.

The funniest thing about ERC is that ER stands for “Exhibitor Relations”. I wonder how the Exhibitor’s he’s spent his Twitter career “relating” feel about his newfound proclivity for PVOD revenue…

I'm not sure the dueling blue and yellow rings would have been as strong aesthetically (and I thought those were executed as well as they theoretically could have been) with a more colorful background. You needed a neutral tone to let the rings shine without visually overloading the screen. But I have the same criticism for the Endgame finale.

I've now seen Shang-Chi twice. I freaking love it. Top-tier MCU origin film (basically this, Iron Man, and Guardians) That said, it's not perfect. I've avoided reading critiques of Simu Liu so far, so I don't know what the overall impression of him has been, but here are my thoughts: Comedic timing, relatability, charisma: A Physical action chops: B+ Dramatic and emotional heft: D There were several moments between Simu Liu and Tony Leung where the difference in the dramatic acting talent was night and day. It's unfair to compare a sitcom supporting actor who has been acting for a decade with a global legend, but it is what it is. I never felt Shang-Chi's internal struggle and anguish as much as I would have liked. Especially during the final confrontation with Wenwu. Likewise, Wenwu's demise was too unceremonious, considering all the character work done in the preceding two-ish hours. Wenwu punches the wall again, Cthulhu flies out, attacks Shang-Chi and Wenwu, and Wenwu pushes them both out of the way before the beast grabs him and eats his soul. Here's what I would have loved to see: Cthulhu flies out, and Wenwu has a prolonged moment of realization that he was deceived, his mission was for naught, he was blinded by love, and that he was personally responsible for all the death and destruction being caused. After this moment of realization, as the Cthulhu beast flies toward him and Shang-Chi, he uses the rings to push just his son out of the way of the creature's path, intentionally sacrificing himself. And in his final moments, shares a sentence of regret with his son. It's because the film didn't emphasize how his quest to be reunited with his love truly blinded him to reality. The film should have played into that more.

Please let that happen so we can clown the ERC “bottom 5” tweet even more.

IMO, Chapek could be out the door in a couple years, especially if his new theme park annual pass structure doesn’t take off. I do have concern for Eternals. It’s not as easy of a “sell” as Shang-Chi (family centric martial arts). What’s the “hook” for Eternals outside of Chloe Zhao (who casual audiences won’t know or care about) and Angelina Jolie (who has been very downplayed so far). Having a large and diverse ensemble case is nice, but not a strong draw IMO.

IW is a fantastically paced blockbuster. 100% rollercoaster from start to finish, a couple moments to take a breath, but no down time. It's a lean machine. EG is great, but the pacing is frequently stop-and-start. That makes the difference for me.