Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | June 30 2023 | Very mixed reviews out of Cannes

[Mango]

On 5/22/2021 at 7:58 AM, George Parr said:

That's a really odd way to judge things...

 

James Mangold is both writer and director of this movie. If the story would include elements that you don't like, why on earth would you blame that on Disney or Lucasfilm and not the person who is actually creating the story?

Does anyone really believe that Mangold would write and direct a story that isn't to his liking?

 

Sounds rather like selective picking to me, e.g. "I like a director, he did something I didn't like, therefore someone else must have been the problem". That's little different from the nonsense about Kennedy, and how she is somehow personally responsible for anything "bad" in Star Wars, yet does not get one ounce of praise for the "good" things she had the exact same role in.

 

 

Because Disney (and anything under their roof) is prone to executive meddling to ensure that everything fits their blockbuster formula so it can get off of their blockbuster assembly line and make a lot of money in China, or I guess nowadays go on their streaming service to garner subs. They don't actually care about doing something creative and fun. Of course all studios meddle in various degrees depending on the project but Disney seems to be the company where everything screams "this feels corporate"

 

I'm not the only one to feel that way, there might be some bias against the studio I've conjured up at play but it is what it is. Hoping Indy 5 is fun, regardless.

 

As far as the Star Wars fanboys and Kennedy I think some (emphasis on some) have a point with the lack of organization surrounding the sequel trilogy and spin-off films but I agree specifically pinning everything on her is fairly dumb, though I doubt she's entirely free from whatever blame when it comes to SW. Truth be told I doubt a Star Wars movie will ever be universally considered "good" ever again just because it has a massive and extremely divisive fanbase as it is.

 

 

 

 

[Plain Old Tele]

The secret truth is that no Star Wars movie has ever been universally acclaimed on release. 

[Mango]

12 minutes ago, Plain Old Tele said:

The secret truth is that no Star Wars movie has ever been universally acclaimed on release. 

 

That's a great point. "Universal acclaim" is also kind of a slippery slope. The actual meaning of it seems to change depending on who you talk to or what you're reading. Rotten Tomatoes is the absolute worst for that kind of stuff. A lot of people see a movie that has 94% and thinks "holy shit that must be an amazing movie" when in actuality it just means 94% of RT's "critics" gave it a 6.5/10.

[Plain Old Tele]

1 hour ago, Mango said:

 

That's a great point. "Universal acclaim" is also kind of a slippery slope. The actual meaning of it seems to change depending on who you talk to or what you're reading. Rotten Tomatoes is the absolute worst for that kind of stuff. A lot of people see a movie that has 94% and thinks "holy shit that must be an amazing movie" when in actuality it just means 94% of RT's "critics" gave it a 6.5/10.

IIRC, someone tried to calculate what the RT for Star Wars would’ve been in 1977 and it was something like 78% fresh. (Which anecdotally seems about right from way back when, when I used to look up movie reviews on microfiche).

[WittyUsername]

3 hours ago, Plain Old Tele said:

The secret truth is that no Star Wars movie has ever been universally acclaimed on release. 

TFA was. 

[Mango]

21 hours ago, Plain Old Tele said:

IIRC, someone tried to calculate what the RT for Star Wars would’ve been in 1977 and it was something like 78% fresh. (Which anecdotally seems about right from way back when, when I used to look up movie reviews on microfiche).

 

I hardly ever use RT anymore. I don't dislike the idea of a review/score aggregator itself but people stick to that percentage like it's the word of god. When I do use it I generally narrow it down via "top critics", primarily because I've seen that some movies have 400+ reviews on there that they pulled from all sorts of places and I'm very questioning of the credibility. People seem to think the percentage is more important than the tastes of the critic (and how they line up with yours) and more important than the actual review itself. 

[Captain Craig]

On 5/22/2021 at 12:11 PM, Macleod said:

 Indeed, I think everyone is putting the cart ahead of the horse in terms of worrying about said possible plot point.  It would be nice if there weren't a "nuke the fridge" moment here...but we'll see.  

Comments like this are proof to me that being selective in ones "unbelievable" moments within the series are why KotCS is just fine. Fridge scene and all. 

 

Outracing a giant boulder whose weight & density would mean it moves fast enough to overtake you, but doesn't. Totally fine. 

Falling out of a plane and safely landing in an inflatable raft. Totally fine.

Mine carts jumping and landing back on track. Totally fine.

 

Granted I don't want Indy in space either, concerning the rumor, but come one...stop with the "nuke the fridge" moment being some line in the sand for this franchise. 

 

[Hatebox]

Mangold, with his usually pretty good quality-control, is the only reason I'm even slightly curious about this. Crystal Skull was a boring disaster.

[Macleod]

On 5/26/2021 at 10:37 AM, Captain Craig said:

Comments like this are proof to me that being selective in ones "unbelievable" moments within the series are why KotCS is just fine. Fridge scene and all. 

 

Outracing a giant boulder whose weight & density would mean it moves fast enough to overtake you, but doesn't. Totally fine. 

Falling out of a plane and safely landing in an inflatable raft. Totally fine.

Mine carts jumping and landing back on track. Totally fine.

 

Spoiler

Granted I don't want Indy in space either, concerning the rumor, but come one...stop with the "nuke the fridge" moment being some line in the sand for this franchise. 

 

Hey there...

 

I ain't necessarily talking about *my* reaction to it all... but audiences, critics, internet, the whole shebang that comes with it... the "cultural discussion" it encouraged.  No one involved in this production wants another one of "those" moments, I'm sure...

 

And all those other moments work because they worked in movies that were infinitely better.  It's as simple as that.  Anything's believable as long as the audience buys into it from the beginning.  It's when they don't that there's a problem...

Edited May 27, 2021 by Macleod

[Plain Old Tele]

I think the second half of CRYSTAL is mostly a mess, but the fridge was fun, I never had a problem with it. 

[Eric Atreides]

 

[Porthos]

Wow, it's finally happening, isn't it?

 

Ngl, low-key actually excited to see where this all ends up.

[Plain Old Tele]

[SnokesLegs]

Spoiler

I won’t link to them because the Daily Mail is trash, but on this occasion they seem to have got lucky and unearthed a genuine scoop. Looks like Nazi’s are confirmed based on the set photos of Nazi adorned vehicles that were taken in the North Yorkshire moors a few nights ago. Also, based on the colour of the wig that the stuntman was wearing, it seems we might be getting a de-aged Harrison Ford for at least one sequence.

Spoiler tagged just in case people want to go in completely blind. It’s related to set photos.

[Elessar]

I for one am excited for a new Indy. I don't hate Crystal Skull, it had its moments. While we are on the fridge subject, no, i didn't mind it either.

[Eric Atreides]

 

The swag emanating from this picture lmao

[junkshop36]

I’m always up for more Indy. I liked the opening sequence of Skull(yes, including the fridge lol). For me, the middle of the movie is kind of dull and the end was underwhelming. I enjoyed the jungle sequence and the fight in the middle of the “big damn ants!”

[Lucas]

Love many things in Crystal Skull, and pretty much all of them are Spielberg directorial choices (and most are in the first half of the film), so I remain quite sad that he's not doing this. But fuck it, I'll take what I can get.

[WittyUsername]

Are they going to digitally de-age Harrison Ford? 

[Darth Lehnsherr]

I feel this thread is the only place on the internet excited for an Indy 5. Not that I'm complaining I also didn't mind Crystal Skull too much and I have faith in Mangold and co to deliver something special.

 

At least we get an all new John Williams score.