Macleod

Yeah, well...the events they're referring to in the trailer are Venom 1/2, right? So they happened, whether or not that thing in the post-credits does or not... 🤣 But yes, the mish-mash of everything else is SONY's way of throwing their proverbial continuity darts against the wall and waiting to see what sticks...

I know this is not quite your point, but... it seems as if it's *not* that big of a budget on this one -- it was estimated early on to be only half -- possibly even just a third -- of what they spent on the last one... Let them get the nostalgia out of the way and get the franchise "back on track," and if this thing's successful...they'll go hog wild with the next one, you can be SONY-sure...

Yeah, Iron Man was fun and all, but I miss this guy... One hopes that, consciously clear that RDJ is probably taking this role for much less than his typical blockbuster lately, that he might be induced to deliver something a little more interesting...

Amazing things can be done in post-production...😁 But yeah, would be hilarious if Keaton's role amounted to the two sentences he's been seen saying in these two trailers... I think it's pretty clear that there's believability to the notion that SONY likes to SHOW more than tell these days, and MARVEL clearly wants to preserve more for the first-viewing experience. And yeah, if the movie doesn't work out, they can just say "That wasn't the same Toomes from the same Earth." Way better trailer than the first one. I don't know... I kinda dig what Leto seems to be doing here; it's subtle, interesting, and he's clearly letting the effects speak for themselves -- which do look fairly interesting. Will take seeing the entire movie to interpret, but already looks way better to me than Venom...but Venom has Tom Hardy. So the push-pull...

"Spoiled Rotten" comes to mind... If fans keep eating and eating, eventually they will spoil-gorge themselves, and have nothing left to enjoy. Maybe this movie is the tipping point.

The reason the sequel failed is simple: it was an inferior movie, and everyone involved ultimately knew that. The original is a classic, don't let your post-post-post modern brain tell you otherwise. 😁 The reason the new one is leaning so heavily into nostalgia for the original film should be obvious to everyone here: they are clearly attempting to steer audiences clear of any perception that this movie has anything to do with the last one.

Master PR is encouraging your audience *not* to have high expectations...then blowing them out of the water with the results. Feige has already learned from the Eternals pushback... 😁 Here's how I would do it. You don't need them shown fully in the trailer... just show Holland beaten up badly in a corner...and another Spider-hand (or both) reaches into the frame. That's all you need to make everyone buy in opening weekend.

Bad vibes, you say??? I know someone who can help:

My objection is more to the idea that VARIETY is the oldest trade in the business...and they should be better than this. But they aren't anymore, because yeah, they have to survive like anyone else...and they, Deadline, THR are all essentially now owned by the same people (look it up). ::throws hands up::

Chu needs to get back to those CRAZY RICH ASIANS sequels. That's where the money is.... but if they wait too long on that, too, any anticipation will die... It already has been too long.

Exactly. VARIETY piling on for clicks. Not really cool or legit in industry terms.

Feige talks glowingly about every single MCU film he makes...that's his job. Yes, he seemed high on Eternals, but that could also just be PR-speak in giving respect to a critically more highly-regarded filmmaker than the usual MCU director... I thought No Way Home was the end of the current deal between Sony/Marvel? What are the real facts, here? Do you mean Marvel themselves have one more "option" to use Spidey in one of their films? But yes... if Maguire shows up in NWH...and then doesn't in Raimi's film, it's equivalent for me to the Star Wars' franchise not reuniting Luke, Leia, Han all together for at least one scene. Bizarre!

I don't know why anything of the very small amount I just said would somehow be construed as me being a "fanboy" of Baldwin. In fact, I'm no fan whatsoever, but he's a human being who's caught in the middle of all of this -- and I have no idea what kind of role his Producer credit entailed here, and neither do you. Don't hate me for talking about reality. All I said was that based on what we know so far (which can always change) it's unlikely that Baldwin will be found legally liable in this matter. But none of us knows until it's settled, sure. That doesn't mean he can't or won't do something to support the grieving family here -- I'm sure he will. It's a horrible situation all around -- let's not needlessly throw stones at each other.

No he didn't! Where's that social media post? [Shhhhh] 🤫

Was SLATE's review posted here? Read it this morning... Ouch... https://slate.com/culture/2021/10/eternals-marvel-movie-review-angelina-jolie-gemma-chan.html

If the book is important to you, that's fine. But anyone who takes any piece of cinema as beholden to any piece of literature that it might be based on is not taking the art of filmmaking seriously on its own accords. It's a complete art on its own, yet involves all other arts in its creation. There are people who spend time on "adaptation studies," but I choose to analyze the values of the visual medium itself and what it can do, regardless of where its source material derives from. In that sense, for me Lynch's DUNE is a wild fever dream of fascination...

It made almost exactly the same amount at the box office as its Ang Lee-directed predecessor, that's what's fascinating! But I've argued before that those receptions are proof that audiences have as many "issues" with a "serious" Hulk as the filmmakers might have... For me, "The Incredible Hulk" is still a better movie than about 90% of the rest of what the MCU produced in the years since. I watch it every couple of years. A monster-metaphor drama with real adult stakes, real adult sex, two great villains, excellent effects that fit into an aesthetic of the film that doesn't date, a beautiful and talented leading actress, William Motherfuckin' Hurt, a wonderfully wacky Tim Blake Nelson, a fabulous score from Craig Armstrong, great atmosphere and real emotions, an intriguing final shot that promised much more interesting things with Edward Norton's version that we never saw, copious deleted scenes which tell even more of the story, including a daring 'attempted suicide' opening... I could go on... What did the MCU do to him? Basically turned him into side-humor. By Endgame, he's literally the butt of jokes about impotency. People may love that...but not really know why. I'm not a fan of "Smart-Hulk." I like the ID with my ED. If the Hulk never rages, it teaches us to keep bottling things up...

Ever notice how Marvel seems to have organized these into A-tier and B-tier years? You're right -- next year is clearly an A-tier year, all highest-profile entries spawned off of extremely successful previous entries (or in Strange's case, it's more of a Marvel-mash-up with Strange at the center). 2023 will be the oddballs B-tier -- Ant-Man, Guardians, The Marvels... This year was clearly a B-tier... but Shang-Chi turned out to be the unexpected success, and might end up making more at the box office than either Widow or Eternals...

There are many different kinds of Producers. From what we know so far, Baldwin will not be found liable whatsoever in this case. As Gandalf said, "Do not be so quick to deal out death and judgment..."

No, it's not. There are multiple reasons why...

From my understanding, the quotes within Empire merely refer to these rumors of villains and the likely casting of them, which director Jon Watts then denies...

Yeah...but that's what's so AWESOME about it! 😁 Like spice, I will love this movie until I die.

Looooooooooove this director's two films with Gosling. This will be interesting.

There are no delays, according to Kevin Feige's philosophy, only "moving slots forward." 😁

There ain't any time, if they're committing to having Part 2 out in October 2023. He'll be sinking right back into the sands...