Obligatory:

https://youtu.be/e2PyeXRwhCE#t=33s

2 people + snacks, I’m lucky if it’s ONLY $50.

Now, when it comes to “Marvel regurgitation”, yeah, they could, and should, be doing better. They essentially re-use the same basic plot over and over again and will keep doing it until they hit one that doesn’t make a billion dollars.

I’m a lifelong comic book fan and I love that nerd culture is finally taking over, but I swear to god, I don’t need another superhero movie where the hero and villain have a joined origin story and the villain is just a bigger, badder version of the hero.

Seriously.

Iron Man - Iron Monger
Incredible Hulk - Abomination
Iron Man 2 - Whiplash
Thor - Loki (both sons of Odin)
Captain America - Red Skull
Avengers - Loki + Alien Invasion

Iron Man 3 - Extremis
Thor: Dark World - Dark Elf invasion
Captain America: Winter Soldier - Bucky
Guardians of the Galaxy - Ronan - First one to break formula.
Avengers: Age of Ultron - Ultron joined origin with Vision.
Ant-Man - Yellow Jacket

Captain America: Civil War - Avengers vs. Avengers
Doctor Strange - Kaecilius
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 - Pete’s Dad
Spider-Man: Homecoming - Vulture, Pete’s girlfriend’s dad.
Thor: Ragnarok - Hela, evil firstborn sister.
Black Panther - Killmonger
Avengers: Infinity War - Tying it all together.
Ant-Man and the Wasp - Ghost, a victim of Pym tech.
Captain Marvel - Yon-Rogg
Avengers: Endgame - Tying it all together.
Spider-Man: Far From Home - Mysterio (Stark Tech villain vs. Stark Tech hero)

I recognize that Christie isn’t exactly Shakespeare, but why adapt a book and change literally everything about it?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallowe’en_Party

It’s not in Venice, the house is not haunted, there’s no seance… I guess some of the names are the same?

He’s forgetting movie history…

Back when television got big, cinema had to evolve to survive. The aspect ratio went wide.

This Is Cinerama was more of a tech demo than anything else in 1952, but it was followed by widescreen movie, movies in 1953 with “The Robe” being shot and shown in Cinemascope.

Technicolor too gave a more vibrant color scheme even than previous color film processing that actually came a generation prior, in 1932.

But the widescreen/Technicolor combination provided a must see experience that were the event films of the era and they couldn’t be duplicated at home.

Roll forward 50 years… home theater technology has evolved to a point where theater has to compete with 65" 4K television displays and 7.1 Dolby Atmos surround sound. People need a reason to leave their homes and deal with noisy, disease infected, crowds, high concession prices, expensive tickets, and annoyances like having to pre-pick your own seats instead of just walking in and sitting down.

Streaming is keeping people at home, being able to binge long form content, pausing when necessary. Cinema can’t provide that experirnce.

So it’s going the other way, the “theme park ride experience”. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that the first Pirates of the Carribean movie hit in 2003, pre-dating the wave of comic book movies by, what? 5 or 6 years? 50 years after the first Cinerama movies?

But even that has roots going back to Jurassic Park (1993), Star Wars (1977), and Jaws (1975).

Now, don’t get me wrong, I dearly love “small” films like Scorsese’s After Hours, or even modern stuff like Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, but there is ZERO compelling reason to see them in a theater. I can get the same experience viewing them on my home theater setup without, you know, blowing $50 to sit in a noisy, uncomfortable theater.

To do THAT, I NEED a spectacle. I need to see something that demands I see it right away, in a theatrical environment. It needs to be a theme park ride.

If your end goal is to make a tight knit drama full of people in rooms talking to each other, well, Downton Abbey and Bridgerton are over there ->

Calm Rick sounds spot on, angry Rick not so much.

Morty sounds pretty good generally but there was one line that sounded off…

Still, given the circumstances, I don’t know what else they were supposed to do…

“Hey, it’s us, Rick and Morty! From a dimension where our voice actor wasn’t caught grooming children!”

How To Beat The High Cost of Living:
https://youtu.be/9-77VpXSygs

I have 3 major games to juggle right now, Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield and the Cyberpunk update. :( Plus my wife is in the hospital sooo… yeah, not so much gaming.

Set up the Cyberpunk 2077 update to download last night, but have been too busy with family stuff to play. :(

Will likely nuke my OG save and start over, I hear it’s a totally different game now.

I really didn’t like how they disrespected Walter most of the time. If you weren’t interested in his opinions, why do you ask him?

It just got super tiresome super quickly. I never finished the first season.

Hard disagree. The first season was just awful.

Every fucking episode:

(Something weird happens)
“Walter! Could this be related to your research?”
(Walter acts twitchy)
“WE HAVE TO GET THIS BACK TO MY LAB!!!”
(More weirdness)
Walter: “This is just like when x in the y in 19-dickety.”
“Oh Walter! You so crazy!”
(Walter was right)
(Alien eating hot sauce)

As a cat owner, this doesn’t even look like a real print. It’s too deep. Most likely a manufactured print done as a gag by whoever made the bricks.

Doesn’t really get into the features or why I would want one. :(

It would be interesting measuring field of view.

I have a 65" 8K television in my living room with 7.1 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X and in general, I prefer that to the movie going experience.

If you knew the waterfall was safe, why not deliver the baby behind the waterfall?

Really easy questions that the script fails to answer.

I blame the dumbass little kid for getting himself killed, but you’re right, she set it up.

But here’s the thing… she’s REALLY hateable in the sequel. Not sure what they were going for there.

Probably what it is. Someone on a student Visa or some such.

You’d want a 2nd chart I’d think with the #1 “from” country for each European country.

That’s only 1/2 the stat though…

What countries are the international students coming FROM?

Saying her actions will extend the strike attributes to her more power than she actually has.

I don’t see this having much of an impact at all.