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And then we tried to watch Pacific Rim...
It was in ITV2 last night. And we got half way through.
I had this notion that it was a Good Thing; not quite sure why, but that was the fannish vibe I had gotten. (I also got Good Thing vibe re. Guardians of the Galaxy, and found *that* unwatchable, although for different reasons.) Anyway, I should backtrack a little...
When we went to see Black Panther one of the trailers was puzzling. It looked vaguely Transformer-y, had a young & nicely diverse cast - and seemed to be about giant robots punching monsters in the face. It wasn't until the final titles flashed up that I discovered it was for Pacific Rim 2.
Somehow no one had ever mentioned that Pacific Rim was about giant robots punching monsters in the face... Generally if a movie is dumb, but awesome, I pick up on it and set my expectations accordingly. Ah well. I don't know that it would have made a difference.
Anyhoo, it was on telly, Darcy said 'fancy watching it?' and so we did. Except this one didn't have a diverse cast (except for Idris Elba and the Japanese girl), instead it had a plethora of Riley clones, minus the charm & personality. (Seriously, I cannot remember the main character's name. Did he HAVE a name? I'm serious, did anyone ever mention it?) And Darcy commented that they all looked like 'human wallpaper, completely featureless'. I swear they could have swapped them round and I wouldn't have noticed.
Which might have been manageable if there had been a coherent story or the characters hadn't ALL BEEN SO VERY STUPID or the writing had been OK or... something. IDK. Basically the Honest Trailer is PERFECT, it's simply a film 'starring things your inner 9 year-old will love':
Giant robots!
Giant monsters!
Giant robots punching giant monsters!
Using shipping crates as brass knuckles!
Using a freighter as a baseball bat!
Bo staff fighting!
Colors!
A doggy!
Aw, that's got three arms!
Pew pew pew!
Whoa!
And that one part...
Where he's all like 'Ugh'
And the Kaiju's all 'Rarr'
Although on the plus side,Smurfette the female character wasn't sexualised (at all), again confirming the 'made for 9 year olds' theory.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing WRONG with giant robots, especially since Darcy then discovered a movie called Robot Jox from 1989, from which Pacific Rim clearly has taken most of it's cues/ideas (just adding Godzilla). The film's plot follows Achilles, one of the "robot jox" who pilot giant machines that fight international battles to settle territorial disputes in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world.
JUST LOOK AT THIS SEQUENCE (and see how the Pacific Rim robots are literally lifted wholesale). Bonus, this movie's hero has a memorable name, and I already care about his world:
(WHY DOES EVERYONE STILL LIVE IN THOSE CITIES IN PACIFIC RIM??!??? WHY DO THEY ALL RUN AROUND PANICKING, WHY ARE THERE NOT PROCEDURES IN PLACE??? WHY- ok, I'll stop. There are no answers beyond 'robots punching monsters in the face'.)
I had this notion that it was a Good Thing; not quite sure why, but that was the fannish vibe I had gotten. (I also got Good Thing vibe re. Guardians of the Galaxy, and found *that* unwatchable, although for different reasons.) Anyway, I should backtrack a little...
When we went to see Black Panther one of the trailers was puzzling. It looked vaguely Transformer-y, had a young & nicely diverse cast - and seemed to be about giant robots punching monsters in the face. It wasn't until the final titles flashed up that I discovered it was for Pacific Rim 2.
Somehow no one had ever mentioned that Pacific Rim was about giant robots punching monsters in the face... Generally if a movie is dumb, but awesome, I pick up on it and set my expectations accordingly. Ah well. I don't know that it would have made a difference.
Anyhoo, it was on telly, Darcy said 'fancy watching it?' and so we did. Except this one didn't have a diverse cast (except for Idris Elba and the Japanese girl), instead it had a plethora of Riley clones, minus the charm & personality. (Seriously, I cannot remember the main character's name. Did he HAVE a name? I'm serious, did anyone ever mention it?) And Darcy commented that they all looked like 'human wallpaper, completely featureless'. I swear they could have swapped them round and I wouldn't have noticed.
Which might have been manageable if there had been a coherent story or the characters hadn't ALL BEEN SO VERY STUPID or the writing had been OK or... something. IDK. Basically the Honest Trailer is PERFECT, it's simply a film 'starring things your inner 9 year-old will love':
Giant robots!
Giant monsters!
Giant robots punching giant monsters!
Using shipping crates as brass knuckles!
Using a freighter as a baseball bat!
Bo staff fighting!
Colors!
A doggy!
Aw, that's got three arms!
Pew pew pew!
Whoa!
And that one part...
Where he's all like 'Ugh'
And the Kaiju's all 'Rarr'
Although on the plus side,
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing WRONG with giant robots, especially since Darcy then discovered a movie called Robot Jox from 1989, from which Pacific Rim clearly has taken most of it's cues/ideas (just adding Godzilla). The film's plot follows Achilles, one of the "robot jox" who pilot giant machines that fight international battles to settle territorial disputes in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world.
JUST LOOK AT THIS SEQUENCE (and see how the Pacific Rim robots are literally lifted wholesale). Bonus, this movie's hero has a memorable name, and I already care about his world:
(WHY DOES EVERYONE STILL LIVE IN THOSE CITIES IN PACIFIC RIM??!??? WHY DO THEY ALL RUN AROUND PANICKING, WHY ARE THERE NOT PROCEDURES IN PLACE??? WHY- ok, I'll stop. There are no answers beyond 'robots punching monsters in the face'.)
Re: Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
If I ever get back to it, that's what I'll try. :)
I may even try to do the same next time Deadpool is on TV.
Also no dubbing! I... can't imagine what it'd be like without his voice and his particular turn of phrase. Like, that's half the film just gone. You'd be better off muting it.
I was channel-hopping and came into it just when Hugh Jackman awoke naked next to a lady and somehow I stayed ;)
LOL
And I don't know, the whole tone of this movie was different, here were nice character scenes that I so often miss when it is only about the action.
Mmmm, I hear ya. And I know what you mean. Tone can be very important.
funnily, this was also the reason why I started to watch Torchwood, to understand someone's action figure stories better
Ha! And look where you are now... Re. all the Marvel stuff, then I think some are always going to work better than others, and that can be very subjective. F.ex. I liked Antman immensely - it's just a sweet movie, and of course Paul Rudd is always watchable.
RE: Re: Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
Still haven't come to Deadpool yet but have been told now that I HAVE to watch "The Princess Bride". Ever heard of it? Apparently it has a huge following, and they even make 1:6 figures of it now and people are happy to buy it, but I have never heard of it. Wonder if it will hold up to the hype for me. Tomorrow I am getting the DVD from the library.
The last movie that really impressed me so I could not form any coherent reaction than a simple WOW was "The Prestige". I equally never had heard about it either but a co-worker mentioned and lent me the DVD. Of course you cannot really go wrong with Hugh Jackman AND Christian Bale AND Michael Caine AND Christopher Nolan. Literally blew me away. That's the kind of movies I like. I am afraid comic / Marvel stuff will never have the same reaction with me.
Re: Re: Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
HOW HAVE YOU NEVER HEARD OF IT??!!?!? Also, do NOT get it dubbed. I don't care if you have to wait ten years, get one with subtitles.
The last movie that really impressed me so I could not form any coherent reaction than a simple WOW was "The Prestige".
Sounds fab, I will look out for it!
Re: Re: Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
Well, when it came out in 1987 I lived in East Germany behind a big wall, you know... I bet there is a lot of stuff I have never heard about, and there is also a lot of stuff I HAVE heard about but feel it's too late to catch up with now as it is a child of its time. Which is why I was for so long so reluctant to try out the original Star Trek, I thought it worked only with those that have fond childhood memories. How wrong I was.
For example I've never seen the original Dallas from the Eighties, nor do I care for any Astrid Lindgreen movies or children books, or recently I shocked my (West German) friends with admitting that I don't really know much about the Winnie Poo figures. They were laughing about a joke with the kid's name and see, I already have forgotten it again. When the wall finally came down I already was too old to catch up with children stuff like that. My little brother did so he is more versed in Tom & Jerry, Bugs Bunny and the like.
Simply because I grew up with other things that I equally loved but nobody nowadays knows and, what is worse, it's gone from nowadays TV too. West German young parents now can share with their kids what they enjoyed as a child - I can't. All those children TV shows - gone. Some old books get reprinted at least once people realized that not everything was bad and needed to be thrown away. You should have seen our rubbish dumps shortly after 1989 - new books fresh from the publisher been thrown away, and not all of them were political. A pastor could not stand it and rescued them and filled a whole barn and to this day people come looking for stuff they remember and buy it. It's wrong to throw away books. And it was not only books, it was as if people could not get rid of their past quick enough. Our musicians and bands suffered a few years where they did not know how to survive, until there was a revival and again people realized that we had some good things too. As you can see, this is quite a touchy subject with me.
Sometimes it does indeed feel like coming from an alien planet :(
But yes, when I get the DVD I do watch in English of course, and all the British series like Downton Abbey or Victoria or The Crown or Call the Midwive as well, it's just those movies that I record from TV and don't really care about that I watch in German as I am lazy sometimes. But I once caught one with Robert Downey Jr. (my friend is a huge fan of him and tries to make me fall for him ;) ) and I liked it so much that I went and got the DVD and watched it again in English. It was bout him working as a lawyer, having trouble with his father and then ending up being his attorney, it was quite emotional, exactly the kind of movie I like. About real people.
Sounds fab, I will look out for it!
Yes, please definitely do and let me know what you think! It's the kind of movie that you want to watch immediately again after the end. Don't spoiler yourself though!
Re: Re: Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
Sorry, didn't mean to be insensitive. More that it's such a foundation of fandom, I figured you had come across it in a hundred memes. I never thought it was well-known in Germany (either side of the wall).
Which is why I was for so long so reluctant to try out the original Star Trek, I thought it worked only with those that have fond childhood memories. How wrong I was.
See I sort of relate to this, in that there's a ton of stuff I never saw as a child (like Star Wars, or Doctor Who), but have had fun catching up. (Grew up in the Faroes, without even a TV! /not really as deprived as it sounds, my parents just didn't have one on principle.)
For example I've never seen the original Dallas from the Eighties, nor do I care for any Astrid Lindgreen movies or children books, or recently I shocked my (West German) friends with admitting that I don't really know much about the Winnie Poo figures.
Never watched (or cared to watch) Dallas, Astrid Lindgren... depends on the book (Ronia is an amazing story, but it IS a children's book, have no idea how I'd feel about it if I was reading it as an adult), and I adore Winnie the Pooh to absolute pieces, but STRICTLY the books, not anything Disney-fied. (The books are wonderful and delightful and I love them with all my heart.)
Simply because I grew up with other things that I equally loved but nobody nowadays knows and, what is worse, it's gone from nowadays TV too. West German young parents now can share with their kids what they enjoyed as a child - I can't. All those children TV shows - gone. Some old books get reprinted at least once people realized that not everything was bad and needed to be thrown away.
This is all very sad. I agree, books should never be thrown away (well, certain hate-filled tomes could go, but on principal - never destroy a book).
As you can see, this is quite a touchy subject with me.
I very much hear you. I guess (to go all meta for a moment) it is mistaking the symbol for the thing itself. I am very glad that priest saved so many books and that people are realising they may have been wrong. ♥
Sometimes it does indeed feel like coming from an alien planet :(
Well it is good that people like you are reminding the rest of Western culture that they aren't universal.
it's just those movies that I record from TV and don't really care about that I watch in German as I am lazy sometimes.
I still don't understand the dubbing. In Denmark everything has subtitles (except children's stuff). It just seems so weird.
But I once caught one with Robert Downey Jr. (my friend is a huge fan of him and tries to make me fall for him ;) )
All the best with that, he's wonderful. And Iron Man is by far the best/most interesting Avenger. <3
Yes, please definitely do and let me know what you think! It's the kind of movie that you want to watch immediately again after the end. Don't spoiler yourself though!
I am a confirmed spoiler-phobe.
Re: Re: Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
No worries, I am not offended, but as you say, not many people might even see things from this angle, simply because everyone of course is coming from their own perspective, and so I like to get the point over once in a while when I am in the mood.
The truth is that for West Germans not much changed at all (and some of them still have not set foot over here in all the years since), while we had our world and everything we had known so far tumbled upside down so it was a big adjustment, and a lot of people also paid for it with losing their jobs.
They even tried to take away our little green and red men for the traffic lights for crying out loud, wanting to exchange them all to the West German ones. But people protested and fought and we were allowed to keep this one little thing, and now both co-exist in a peaceful way. I have even seen little women here and there ;) I mean, why would there be a need to change it, and all the costs for nothing? Stupid. Now there's even all kind of merchandise with ours, as they have become kult.
Here's what I'm talking about - East Germany on top, West Germany on bottom. Don't you agree that ours are much cuter?
http://media.news.de/resources/images/45/c9/16c7266a1f28054f9c7c8cdc8c55.jpg
But to come back to the movie, if it is indeed as big as you all make it then yes I wonder, how nobody ever mentioned anything. I have to take a survey with my friends. The first time I heard about it was when QMX was announcing the figures two years ago (they are the ones that did my Kirk and Spock who look so great).
It's even possible it WAS in our cinemas at the time. Non-political movies were shown. I remember seeing Dirty Dancing and also Legal Eagles in the cinema. But I was very young and would not go on my own, only if someone took me along.
Grew up in the Faroes, without even a TV! /not really as deprived as it sounds, my parents just didn't have one on principle.
Right, I forgot! Guess we are in the same boat then! So I take it you were one of those kids that rather spent their childhood outside, running around? Like Sean, at least when they were half the year in Ibiza, I read an interview that they did not even have electricity there. Me, I was more the sit at home, reading a book type ;) I spent my whole childhood with other people's lives and rarely surfaced.
I guess, even as a child, I would have found Astrid Lindgren stuff weird. From what little that I know about it, she likes to make her children strong, independent, giving them super powers even... I am not fond of stuff that is not real. I don't like all children books having to have magic since Harry Potter. Where is the normal stuff? The books I read were about normal kids with normal problems, in real life, and you still could learn something about it. Or they were about children in the past, like one hiding a jewish friend. I prefer stuff like this over magic or superheroes any time.
I have recently watched the first Paddington movie, where the guy from Downton Abbey plays the father (and Peter Capaldi was in it too), and I adored it. It was very well made, just the right amount of silliness and pulling the heart strings and definitely did not feel childish at all. So, at least I now know more about Paddington that I knew before, and look forward to part 2. I also made my mother watch it.
I hear there are not just one but two movies about how Winnie the Poo was invented by a father for his son, and I may watch those to educate myself. I always love biographies, especially when they are true to life. I also loved the one about how Mary Poppins was made into a movie, with Tom Hanks playing Walt Disney. Did you know that they are cousins?
To be continued in part 2/2
RE: Re: Re: Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
I still don't understand the dubbing. In Denmark everything has subtitles (except children's stuff). It just seems so weird.
I wonder if it comes from a time (before the war) where movies sometimes were filmed in several languages at once? So first they would film the German scene and then the English scene?
The actors doing the dubbing try their best to do it the same (not like in Poland where it is only one guy speaking all characters) but once you have watched in English you never return, that is true. There are also more and more movies in original language in the cinema. I still preferred to watch the latest Star Trek movie in German, as the English would have not had subtitles and I was afraid of missing too much from the plot. Plus if you are reading subtitles all the time you are missing all the awesome special effects on screen, and with some movies you just want to dive in.
All the best with that, he's wonderful. And Iron Man is by far the best/most interesting Avenger. <3
When he's allowed to act and not just do funny wise-cracks, that is! Took me three times to finally get through the first Iron Man movie, but I liked the second one better - especially the scenes where he was alone, sad and thought he would die soon. It's not too much to ask for a few character scenes in between all the action?
I still can't get into his Sherlock Holmes, and believe me, I have tried. Not for me.
Afraid it hasn't completely gone to butterflies in the belly yet, but I'm willing and it's only because I all of a sudden added not only Hugh Jackman but also Ioan Gruffudd to my list... He kinda came out of nowhere for me as well. And there is still Tom Hiddleston to watch out for with a wary eye as I can see myself slipping... how is this supposed to end? LOL
Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
I did not know that! Although in France they dub everything because they think French is superior. ;)
The actors doing the dubbing try their best to do it the same (not like in Poland where it is only one guy speaking all characters)
!!! Oh the horror.
but I liked the second one better - especially the scenes where he was alone, sad and thought he would die soon. It's not too much to ask for a few character scenes in between all the action?
The third one is (as far as I remember) very good on the character stuff - he is dealing with PTSD after the events of Avengers [I forget the title], and is generally introspective and not doing well. Of course there are also many big explosions, but it's the character stuff I remember.
I still can't get into his Sherlock Holmes, and believe me, I have tried. Not for me.
Never watched any of them, it's Benedict Cumberbatch for me. ;)
how is this supposed to end? LOL
Hmmm. Well, it's possible to like many all at the same time. ;)
Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
I've definitely heard the first one more than once, but the second only as commentary to the figures.
Well, I have watched it now, I am in the know! Took me a while to get into it at the beginning, the little guy was annoying and not funny, but once The Dread Pirate Roberts turned up it got good and in the end the charm of the characters had won me over. Plus when watching the interviews 25 years later I realized that I knew Mandy Patinkin from Homeland. Never would have recognized him.
The third one is (as far as I remember) very good on the character stuff - he is dealing with PTSD after the events of Avengers [I forget the title], and is generally introspective and not doing well. Of course there are also many big explosions, but it's the character stuff I remember.
Sounds interesting! Maybe I go and check it out. Before it arrives in my TV two years later, I mean.
I just finished watching Ant-Man (the first one). Liked it much more than Deadpool. If you haven't seen it yet, it's recommended. The guy was very likeable, with how he tried to better himself and wanted to be good for his little daughter (and she was cute how she adored her daddy) and of course I liked especially all the miniature stuff. It was very entertaining and not boring at all.
Never watched any of them, it's Benedict Cumberbatch for me. ;)
You know, I was very much firm in the "Sherlock is better than Elementary" camp, not even wanting to poke the latter with a stick, outright refusing to watch it as a simple copy (apparently they wanted to re-make Sherlock but Moffat did not allow it?) and making Watson female, I mean really... Then I had to watch two episodes in which Sean plays Lestrade (three actually but I need to hunt it down yet) and I had to reluctantly admit that I felt very entertained. I could see myself liking the show if I started properly at the beginning. At the same time Sherlock has becoming very un-entertaining for me lately sadly.
Hmmm. Well, it's possible to like many all at the same time. ;)
While that is true, I would have to quit much job and watch TV all day long to do everyone justice! I was catching up with all the things William Shatner had done (and he was a busy man!) in his life and doing well with that when suddenly Sean Pertwee came around the corner, so poor Bill got dropped like a hot cake and I started to make my way through all things Sean. I have much ahead of me yet, need to buy all his movies yet. So there simply is no time for yet more guys, but I have sneaked some Hugh Jackman in here and there (I mean, too much of the same guy makes you tired, right? Need a bit of variety), but haven't started properly catching up on him yet, and that's why I don't even dare to look at Tom Hiddleston too closely. And I don't want to completely forget about Matt Bomer as well. And Karl Urban! I only have seen two or three things with him. So much to do, so little time...
And then it's actually nice to once in a while just watch a movie because the plot sounds interesting, not because someone is in it for 5 minutes and then dies (looking at you, Sean!). And I am not even particular into horror or sci-fi stuff. The things I do for my guys ;)
So I ended up watching Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks, as I was promised many German scenes. Positively I have to say that these all seemed to be original language actors, nothing odd there. Positively also that Tom spoke a fair bit of actually good German. But then I also see the "how Hollywood sees Germany" and feel weird ;) I probably should write proper meta about it.
Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
There is of course also the fact that if you aren't familiar, you don't realise where quotes are from...
but once The Dread Pirate Roberts turned up it got good and in the end the charm of the characters had won me over.
[insert nice gif of Westley] ;)
Sounds interesting! Maybe I go and check it out.
Beware it's a few years since I watched it...
I just finished watching Ant-Man (the first one).
I adore Ant-Man! The origin story is by numbers, but everyone is so charming/the big-small thing is so well done that I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't like it. <3
I could see myself liking the show if I started properly at the beginning.
I have never watched it, but it seems to hook people. It's just such a different format to the British one, a proper long season American show.
At the same time Sherlock has becoming very un-entertaining for me lately sadly.
Well I doubt there will ever be any more, so... not to worry. :)
While that is true, I would have to quit much job and watch TV all day long to do everyone justice!
And so say all of us... Sounds like you have a ton of stuff to go through, good luck with it all!!
And then it's actually nice to once in a while just watch a movie because the plot sounds interesting, not because someone is in it for 5 minutes and then dies (looking at you, Sean!).
This. Very very true.
But then I also see the "how Hollywood sees Germany" and feel weird ;) I probably should write proper meta about it.
I'd read it.
Re: Hasn't seen this, has no plans to do so, grabs popcorn anyway
Sorry (not sorry). <3
and so I like to get the point over once in a while when I am in the mood.
Thank you! It's not a perspective often seen, so I am very grateful to get an insight.
The truth is that for West Germans not much changed at all (and some of them still have not set foot over here in all the years since), while we had our world and everything we had known so far tumbled upside down so it was a big adjustment, and a lot of people also paid for it with losing their jobs.
:(
Here's what I'm talking about - East Germany on top, West Germany on bottom. Don't you agree that ours are much cuter?
Definitely!!
But to come back to the movie, if it is indeed as big as you all make it then yes I wonder, how nobody ever mentioned anything. I have to take a survey with my friends.
I'm more thinking of memes and turns of phrase. You may suddenly realise where lines come from that you have seen around. (F.ex. 'That word you keep using. I don't think it means what you think it means'. Or 'Inconceivable!') I don't know if it was a big event at the time, just that it's a solid part of the fabric of fandom.
So I take it you were one of those kids that rather spent their childhood outside, running around?
HA! No, always reading. Could have lived in the Library (and mostly did). But always preferred sci-fi/fantasy. (Not that I disliked 'normal' stories, I read almost everything. But one of my favourite authors is Diana Wynne Jones, so fi I had to choose...)
I have recently watched the first Paddington movie
I watched Paddington 2 at Christmas. Utterly adorable. <3
I hear there are not just one but two movies about how Winnie the Poo was invented by a father for his son
Winnie the Pooh (the original books) are utterly wonderful. Obviously children's books, yet they have a charm that find hard to describe. Recommended, if you ever come across them.