Eternals | Marvel Studios | Nov 5 2021 | Magnum-Opus by Oscar winner Chloe Zhao - Marvel's first rotten movie | Dips into the 40s on RT, B CinemaScore

[Darth Lehnsherr]

I mean I have no idea what it is so yeah would appreciate if it did continued to be treated as a Spoiler 

[SnokesLegs]

1 hour ago, Hatebox said:

So is this thread still treating the spoiler that's not really a spoiler and being reported freely on major news sites as a spoiler?

 

Good luck avoiding that now, all I did was open Twitter last night and it was the first thing I saw. To be honest, it’s not THAT bad of a “spoiler”, knowing it doesn’t ruin the film in any way. Don’t get me wrong, it’d still be better to see it in context, but people are acting like they just ruined Stan Lee coming back to life or something.

[fabiopazzo2]

@EmpireCity

hi, Sorry for The question, did you see Eternals yet?

[Krissykins]

In person promotional appearances scrapped due to Rona at the premiere

[ThomasNicole]

Now this is an interesting comparisson (i actually think there's a great movie inside of Prometheus, sadly there's a mess surrounding it).

 

 

 

 

[Gavin Feng]

I might understand it. Prometheus have great materials but those couldn't be a story a movie should own. When Zhao said she was inspired by films like Tree of Life, The Revenant, I was vaguely aware of what she had been done. The example of Prometheus remind me of the grandness of human evolution these filmmakers are trying to tell and how they might show it.

[Val357]

One thing I do know is that Marvel is developing a crack in their armour and that is they're hiring baaad writers. The writing on the shows and some of the latest films is one of the weaknesses. The quality is dropping but as I've said before, it doesn't really matter because people - including myself - have become so invested in the narrative. These films are hardly judged on their artistic merit anymore and almost solely on their place in the overall Marvel narrative.

 

All that to say, I'm not surprised in the least at the script critiques.

[Val357]

Oh, and I'm also irked that I got spoiled this morning via a suggested news item on my friggin' phone! It used to be I had to go out of my way on the internet to be spoiled.

[imbruglia]

6 minutes ago, Val357 said:

Oh, and I'm also irked that I got spoiled this morning via a suggested news item on my friggin' phone! It used to be I had to go out of my way on the internet to be spoiled.

 it's all over the places, I heard people got spoiled by google news alter and all that.. just everywhere. shame but expected considering name.

 

I don't know why Marvel show that on those screening and premiere. bad idea.

 

 

[Val357]

1 minute ago, imbruglia said:

 it's all over the places, I heard people got spoiled by google news alter and all that.. just everywhere. shame but expected considering name.

 

I don't know why Marvel show that on those screening and premiere. bad idea.

 

 

Yep, Google News is what got me. I was irritated. That has never happened. 

[exomassey]

7 minutes ago, Val357 said:

One thing I do know is that Marvel is developing a crack in their armour and that is they're hiring baaad writers. The writing on the shows and some of the latest films is one of the weaknesses. The quality is dropping but as I've said before, it doesn't really matter because people - including myself - have become so invested in the narrative. These films are hardly judged on their artistic merit anymore and almost solely on their place in the overall Marvel narrative.

 

All that to say, I'm not surprised in the least at the script critiques.

Yeah I agree with this. I think Marvel Studios is spreading itself too thin with the amount of content they are putting out.
 
With so many creatives, you’re going to get more varying results. It seems they tried to do something different with Eternals but it doesn’t seem to have worked as well as they thought.

[Val357]

2 minutes ago, exomassey said:

Yeah I agree with this. I think Marvel Studios is spreading itself too thin with the amount of content they are putting out.
 
With so many creatives, you’re going to get more varying results. It seems they tried to do something different with Eternals but it doesn’t seem to have worked as well as they thought.

I think they've done splendid with their casting choices and directors. Unfortunately bad writing can bring everything down and that's where their hires haven't been inspired. At all.

 

Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame worked because of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. The Russos get a lot of credit, as they should, but it feels like hardly anyone talks about the backbone: the writers. Without people who can write films well, you have nothing.

[imbruglia]

Chloé Zhao, Eternals
‘Eternals’: Chloe Zhao On Kevin Feige, Potential Sequels & Saying Yes To ‘Star Wars’ If Asked [Interview]

 

The Playlist: You get the breakdown for this project. You go in and see Kevin Feige. What is your pitch? What did you tell him that got you the gig?
Chloe Zhao: I think I started the pitch with a picture of a macro picture of sand. If you Google “macro picture of sand”, it’s pretty incredible. And then I started citing a poem by William Blake. I think that might be it, and that poem summed up my vision for the film, especially visually. And I think that really intrigued him.

 

I saw the press conference earlier today and you talked about how a lot of the characters and sort of the gender-switching had already sort of been decided by Marvel beforehand, but this film has a lot of firsts. It has Makkari, being the first deaf superhero. It has Phastos, having his husband on-screen. Can you just talk about whether any of that was decided when you came on board or after?
Well, I think the medium of film, from the conception of this idea of Phastos having a family to what you saw last night, there are many, many, many people got in the party and influenced the decision. I think that was in the script stage and the treatment stage, it was always there. And then casting Brian [Tyree Henry] was such a blessing to us because he really feels Phastos in his heart. He really gets it. So I have really relied on my cast to bring to the character a sense of who they are. I mean, Bryan showed up. Everything from his power he came up with. All the hand gestures and he came up with backstories and jokes and the way of talking he has with his son. He showed up to set with all these prepared, and they’re just wonderful to work with. So much for me to choose from and then you have these two actors on that day and you know there will be a moment where they become intimate and what I love about filmmaking, and you know this, is that only up until that moment we’re still unsure what is going to happen. And like that happened, and when it does, we’re just lucky enough to be there, to capture something very specific and unique and spontaneous. So yes, it’s planned, but it’s never locked in, you know, I have to feel it in the moment and it was perfect.

I know many people before they see this film would think, “O.K., I’ve seen Chloe’s films. I know there’s going to be shots at dusk. I know, I know some of her aesthetic,” but “Eternals” has an aesthetic that is so beyond that, totally different from other MCU movies. What was your inspiration for that?
Well, the way I like to put it is a National Geographic way of capturing things. Meaning, we do not let the camera be the hero. We’re not impressing you or telling you a story with the most impressive cut or where the camera moves. Camera often observes and drift the same way in “Nomadland.” What’s within the frame, has to be intriguing enough to hold the audience. And that way the audience gets to discover the frame themselves and they get to come to conclusions, what’s this relationship between this character and the worlds that existed, like Sersi in the Babylon village. Awe for humanity is discovered and felt by the audience not told to the audience. So we watched “Tree of Life” a lot at the beginning because what “Tree of Life” does is capture something so grand [and] tells stories so big within a small family in an intimate moment. It’s a film I’ll always aspire to, and, keeping that in mind all the time, with the whole creative team was the key.

 

did you, did all the actors have an idea of what their characters had been through before they reunite?
I think it varies. I just say [to the actors], “Make it up yourself. Whatever works for you, you are chosen for a reason.” I rely on my cast to help me craft the characters. Technically, I would guide them logistically where they’d be,

 

Would you be up for doing a second one or do you sort of feel like this is it?
What I loved about making this film is that it tied so close to the origin of the MCU is also going to have a big repercussion moving MCU forward. With those two as secured, we get to play and do whatever we want and make a stand strong standalone film and leave everything on the table. I would be back in a second working with the team at Marvel for sure. So we’ll see.

 

I know that Kevin is a big fan of yours and he is working on a “Star Wars” movie. Would you ever consider directing a “Star Wars” film?
I would, I’ll do anything Kevin asked me to do.[Laughs.]
 

https://theplaylist.net/eternals-chloe-zhao-interview-20211020/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

I took out some spoiler parts.

[exomassey]

9 minutes ago, Val357 said:

I think they've done splendid with their casting choices and directors. Unfortunately bad writing can bring everything down and that's where their hires haven't been inspired. At all.

 

Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame worked because of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. The Russos get a lot of credit, as they should, but it feels like hardly anyone talks about the backbone: the writers. Without people who can write films well, you have nothing.

Marvel always seem to look for up and coming talent when it comes to their writers.

 

Maybe they could try get some more experienced writers and see what happens. They can easily afford it lol.

[JWR]

Guess we'll have a better feel for reception when reviews officially come out.

[Menor the Destroyer]

While Phase 4 has had writing issues for sure, Eternals seems like it would be challenging for any writer. It's introducing so many characters (and apparently each of them gets some big moment and focus) I'd be surprised if there weren't some cracks in the script there. My hope is just that it doesn't detract too much from my viewing experience. 

[KJsooner]

33 minutes ago, Val357 said:

One thing I do know is that Marvel is developing a crack in their armour and that is they're hiring baaad writers. The writing on the shows and some of the latest films is one of the weaknesses. The quality is dropping but as I've said before, it doesn't really matter because people - including myself - have become so invested in the narrative. These films are hardly judged on their artistic merit anymore and almost solely on their place in the overall Marvel narrative.

 

All that to say, I'm not surprised in the least at the script critiques.

I agree with this. Last episode of Wandavision made me want to throat-punch a kitten. Very mediocre writing, only thing salvaging it was Elizabeth olsen’s mesmerizing performance. 

[ThomasNicole]

I'm curious what type of sequel she would do it.

 

I mean, everyone including who dislike it put emphasis in how this movie is different and almost completely isolanted from MCU. With a sequel i don't think it's possible to keep this new approach.

[AnotherDayAnotherDollar]

I thought Black Widow and Falcon and The Winter Soldier were really mediocre. TIH, Ironman 2, Thor 2 level.

 

Wandavision was enjoyable even though it could have stuck the landing better.

[Val357]

3 minutes ago, ThomasNicole said:

I'm curious what type of sequel she would do it.

 

I mean, everyone including who dislike it put emphasis in how this movie is different and almost completely isolanted from MCU. With a sequel i don't think it's possible to keep this new approach.

Given how one of the critiques of Eternals is that it packs a lot of story and exposition, I actually think sequels - if they happen - could be much better (I say "better" loosely because I still have no idea how good or not good this films is) with all the character work and world building over with.

 

Feige wanted the Eternals in the MCU, and the characters and world of the Eternals didn't have the benefit of being slowly introduced within other Marvel properties, so this film just needed to happen. The rough spade work has been done, so to speak. Perhaps it gets a lot easier, and better, from here.