OncomingStorm93

Jeez, what happened here this afternoon.... Can someone give me the lowdown on the thread "drama"? Were there fluctuating indicators over the past 7 hours about Shang-Chi's BO today, or people just continuing to doom-and-gloom irrationally?

Shang-Chi's 8.8m preview number is, IMO, more impressive than Black Widow's 13.2m. Even if we hypothetically adjust BW's Thursday to 15m if we pretend there was no Disney+ release. Black Widow was the first Marvel film in almost two years, with a character that had been on screen for a decade played by a bonafide superstar, at a general low-point for COVID in 2021. Shang-Chi comes along on a historically underutilized holiday weekend, with Delta peaking (I hope), introducing a new lead character with one of the actors from an obscure (a statement not reflective of the show's quality) Canadian sitcom. I'm on BoxOfficeMojo (or what's left of it) right now, looking at "Martial Arts" films. The top-6 Martial Arts movie opening weekends domestic are two Matrix films (48m and 91m openings), two Rush Hour films (50m and 67m), Mission Impossible 2 (57m) and The Karate Kid (55m). The Karate Kid is the only one of those I'd consider a true "Martial Arts" film instead of simply being influenced greatly by the genre. Shang-Chie is already going to be the only non-sequel and non-reboot "Martial Arts" film to open $50m+ in the three day window. If it passes Karate Kid's 55m, I would consider it the top domestic opening for a "Martial Arts" film (sorry Matrix 2/Rush Hour 2). I don't know how this OW be viewed as anything other than a resounding success. And the fantastic audience reaction (so far, which I expect to hold) combined with lack of competition in September should lead to some of the better legs we've seen for a Marvel film.

Gloom-and-Doomers have been waiting over a year and a half for something new blockbuster franchise they can gloom-and-doom about.

Just got out of the theater, this is going to have great word of mouth. This is the most excited I've been to see weekend numbers in a long long time.

I agree with those saying this had $2b WW potential pre-COVID.

Decent/Good trailer. Not as good as the initial trailers for Homecoming or FFH. This one was explicitly telling us the first act of the film. Coulda been half a minute shorter. I would have cut most of Strange. Didn't need any of Wong, didn't need to see the spell going wrong, just go from Peter making his request to "be careful what you wish for Parker", then into "This Christmas" and the remainder of the trailer. That said, I'm pumped. Molina's Doc Ock has always been my top comic book film villain, and I never in my wildest dreams thought II would see him in that role again.

Very much enjoyed this, mostly loved it, not as great of a complete package as the GOTG films (not that this warrants direct comparison aside from Gunn’s involvement). Less funny than I was expecting (though that’s by Gunn’s design) but more engaging on a story and character level than I was expecting. The second act was very sprawling and I think unfocused (though still entertaining). The setup was great, and the 3rd act spectacular. The middle felt very start-and-stop. John Cena was much better here than in Alt-F4. I’m a huge Peter Capaldi fan, and loved every moment of him here, even if it’s less than I would have liked. I knew going in that most of the cast would be killed off, and none of those decisions surprised me, though the how and when most people died kept catching me off guard. Went to the theater for this, first time since Rise of Skywalker. Had a good crowd. Hope this gets a somewhat respectable opening weekend (that $30m projection seems low to me, but maybe Delta really has made a big dent in the cinema-going apatite)

Saw it. Very underwhelming. I haven't seen any Twitter reaction yet but I'm not surprise that the scene being mentioned in the couple above posts is being heavily criticized. The special effects surrounding this moment were atrocious. The late 3rd act had some of the worst fire effects I've ever seen. Looked like stock assets thrown on top at the last minute at a couple points. Script felt like a first draft. Direction was entirely generic, a poor imitation of the Russo's (this is what I'll point to when people say the Russo's don't have their own style). Acting was great across the board, in the moments when the actors were given something to do. 4th best MCU product of the year. He felt off. He's not acting much anymore. Dating back to 2016, 4 of his 7 film appearences have been Marvel. His physical appearance stuck me as a little gaunty. I know he was walking around the Black Widow set with a cane, it was photographed. He's just getting old unfortunately.

This has to be the most anticipated film trailer of all time. I’m not sure what else would come close. Maybe the first trailer for Avatar, all the way back at Comic-Con 2009? First trailer for Infinity War?

Scarlett Johansson almost received an Oscar nomination for voicing a seductive AI. Just leaving that nugget there.

I was inspired to be productive today:

Streaming is dead. Long live movie theaters!

That was an okay teaser. I would have preferred if the entire trailer avoided getting too superhero-y, and it absolutely didn't need the shoehorned in Avengers name drops at the end. If the focus was kept just on the time-spanning aspect of the trailer, combined with Zhao's visuals, it would have been fantastic. This feels more like a Marvel film than a Zhao film. If the film is truly as unique and representative of Zhao's talents as some early reports have suggested, the trailer could and should have reflected that more.

They weren't given anything remotely funny to quip. In fact, I'm insulted that at a dramatic moment in the climax, the screenwriters choose to have Henry make alcoholism jokes.

Yesterday I watched (all for the first time) Kong Skull Island, Godzilla King of the Monsters, and finally Godzilla vs Kong. GvK was the weakest. Skull Island was an absolute blast.

I watched Kong Skull Island and Godzilla King of the Monsters, both for the first time, and then and Godzilla Vs Kong. Skull Island was the strongest of all three films, KotM had gorgeous visuals (I liked the rainy/snowy/flamey night effects. Added a gritty texture). GvK unfortunately was the weakest, with mostly uninspired visuals and the weakest human dialogue of all these Monsterverse films. Millie Bobby Brown was playing an entirely different character in GvK than she played in KotM. Also feels like GvK got the Josstice League edit treatment. It's an hour and 45 minutes before credits, and it's obvious that many scenes were cut out of the first half. It's a very lean edit. Lean in the sense they trimmed so much fat off the film, but also in the sense the editing is generic. Little of the ingeniuty that was seen in Kong Skull Island. It also feels like this had the smallest budget for practical shooting of all the monster films. I'm talking about the non-CGI production values. All seemed like a step back from KotM. It's only fair to acknowledge that any time both Kong and Godzilla shared the screen together, this was a 10/10 movie. Those sequences were worth the hypothetical price of admission. But every scene without Godzilla and Kong punching was a dud. Man this script was weak. Kong Skull Island --> Godzilla --> King of the Monsters --> Godzilla Vs Kong.

What I'm really hoping for is that a good chunk of the action is presented from ground level, not just the CGI aerial shots. One of my favorite aspects of Godzilla 2014 (which I consider far better than most give it credit for) was that the action was primarily presented through the eyes of the humans on the ground, until the end clash. It helped sell the scale of what we were witnessing. I have yet to see KOTM, but my impressions from the trailers were that the action would have very little human POV. That's the same impression I get from this trailer. I just re-watched the main trailer for the first Pacific Rim. Full of ground-level shots. That's what really sells the action. Also, the more I watch this trailer, the more I dislike it. As far as these MonsterVerse trailers go, it's the laziest in execution. Both trailers for Godzilla were masterclasses in building suspense and dread (credit goes to Alexandre Desplat's music and Bryan Cranston's acting). Kong's trailers had that rocking 70s war film vibe and a lot of charismatic actors having fun. KOTM leaned hard into the operatic vibe, and while the quality of the cinematography is up for debate, its nonetheless memorable. This trailer for GvK is just lazily edited, without any memorable acting, cinematography, or music. It's just bland.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is Kick-Ass. 'Nuff said. As for the GvK trailer, I got major Pacific Rim Uprising vibes from this. Emphasis on Uprising.

Man, I wonder what Patty Jenkins would do with a character like Thor. Wouldn't that be an interesting pairing.

I thought people loved V:LD. What happened?

You may not have noticed, but there has been nothing about this year that met "expectations". She might have to go back to making Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe winning content. The shame.

If you're at home and you feel unengaged, find something else to watch. You aren't beholden to keep watching a film you feel is wasting your time. It's actually quite easier to do than if you're in the theater.

I enjoyed WW84 a good amount more than I enjoyed WW, which took itself too seriously. This went (a bit too far) in the opposite direction with goofy fun, but honestly that’s exactly what I wanted on Christmas Day at the end of this miserable year.

I was called a death monger on here back in February for warning posters here about what was about to happen to America, the world, and this industry. Some users here wanted to insult me. I stand with Tom on this subject. Sure, he's no saint. He's got some crazy beliefs. Oprah's couch still hasn't recovered from his jumping. But as it pertains to COVID, Tom's 100% in the right. Either take the virus seriously, or GTFO. If 5 people quit because they don't want to take the necessary steps to keep the production running smoothly, then that's 5 less weights dragging down everyone else. 5 replaceable weights. If trying to enforce a healthy film set on the largest currently active film production in the middle of the worst medical crisis in a century is wrong, then I don't want to be right. Tom Cruise is the producer. This film, this franchise, is his baby. All Tom wants is the people he employs to follow health and safety protocols. I don't remember Tom launching into a tantrum, blaming everyone around him when production on Fallout shut down for 2 months because Tom injured himself during a stunt. I don't remember Tom yelling at people when production paused on Rogue Nation so that he and McQuarrie could rewrite the finale. If there are two sides to this story, the sides are people who are following health protocols, and people who aren't. IMO, there's only one side that deserves respect.

I'm with Tom. He's the producer. He's the star. He's the ONLY reason those people had this particular job. Without Tom, there are no M:I films. And I feel for Tom when he says he feels like the weight of the industry is on his shoulders. I understand where he's coming from. Tom's still got some Les f'n Grossman in him.