Rolling Marvel Cinematic Universe thread (+ a poll: Classic or Dud?)

I worry all this discourse may prevent Martin Scorsese from being cast as Doctor Doom.

— Peter LabuzAAAHH! (@labuzamovies) October 22, 2019

i see him as more of a rhino tbh

the most Almodovar criticism I can think of is superhero movies are bad because the characters don't fuck enough. God bless u Pedro https://t.co/rVNtZDxNeT

— nuanced opinion guy (@charles_kinbote) October 23, 2019

They were so mean (especially Brisn DePalma) they literally made Lucas cry when he was showing them rough cuts of Star Wars. https://t.co/tABxjZzge2

— PETER kupLOEWsky - "AM A VAMPIRE!" (@PeterKapow) October 21, 2019

Did we miss Ken Loach? There's almost enough for a poll pretty soon:

Loach said of superhero films: “I find them boring. They’re made as commodities … like hamburgers … It’s about making a commodity which will make profit for a big corporation – they’re a cynical exercise. They’re a market exercise and it has nothing to do with the art of cinema.”

I'm really enjoying how these director's are using themes and ideas in their own movies to construct their Marvel takedowns. Next up, 'The severe lack of symmetry in Marvel Movies is appalling'- Wes Anderson https://t.co/jyLAtQWYJk

— Nia Childs (@nia_loves_films) October 23, 2019

Lucrecia Martel said it best:

“Companies are interested in female filmmakers but they still think action scenes are for male directors,” Martel said. “The first thing I asked them was maybe if they could change the special effects because there’s so many laser lights. I find them horrible. Also the soundtrack of Marvel films is quite horrendous. Maybe we disagree on this but it’s really hard to watch a Marvel film. It’s painful to the ears to watch Marvel films.”

As soon as the argument strays away from the legitimate concern of megastudios dominating theaters and narrowing opportunities for filmmakers, these complaints seem to very rapidly lose focus in their scramble to document the narcissism of small cinematic differences.

lol narcissism

martel otm about the experience of watching them but aren't the actions scenes in all of these films done by one team?

It's just kinda sad to me that people who are no longer in like their teens or early twenties feel so compelled to stridently stake out a side wrt 'high' vs. 'low' culture, as if it's impossible to appreciate (and critique) the broader spectrum.

I don't know that there's ever been clarity on who directs what.

More like it's impossible for there to even be a broader spectrum in this environment, but point taken on me not being in my 20s anymore.

i mean in all these cases the directors have been asked their opinion. also these films, the monopolisation of disney and obsession with ip development across studios are crushing out the rest of the spectrum while their fans demand we all acquiesce to their worthiness

(Re-poll this question btw)

The directors don’t have to give these opinions, it’s possible to dodge a question! Or they could make the economic argument that ppl here want them to be making, but which they aren’t — they’re dissing their fellow filmmakers on aesthetic grounds, which is why it’s interesting that they’re “going there.”

guess what losers it's been an aesthetic game all along, culture plays the long game!!!!!

Almodovar has just released a "superheros don't fuck" opinion

guess these nerds should have been reading kracauer instead of editing wikipedia pages on inter-media appearances of fifth-tier stan lee characters!

xp from april i believe, so not jumping on the bandwagon

the glove is a football

teamwork is cooperation

self-sacrifice is the ultimate virtue! a true message for the ages

(Re-poll this question btw)

― Pauline Male (Eric H.), Wednesday, October 23, 2019 9:24 AM

I've been thinking this, new thread for Phase 4 & beyond, repoll, etc.

xp from april i believe, so not jumping on the bandwagon

― devvvine, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 bookmarkflaglink

A timely revive as I've been watching a few films by A

And you just go cool posting as he always does

martel otm about the experience of watching them but aren't the actions scenes in all of these films done by one team?

many xps but Martel has every right to talk about superhero films as she was interviewed to direct a marvel movie and opted out early
https://www.indiewire.com/2018/12/lucrecia-martel-marvel-offer-black-widow-sexist-dont-worry-action-scenes-1202027524/

oh, never mind; wins beat me to it.

The directors don’t have to give these opinions, it’s possible to dodge a question!

what a weird thing to want them to do.

"You want my opinion on the series of films that have completely reshaped the industry I work in and redefined the forseeable future of how movies are made, shown, and seen? Welllll, what's one person's opinion in the grand scheme of things, the important thing we can all agree on is that watching movies is fun and all movies are movies! I like my popcorn with extra butter!"

Asking Martin Scorsese a question about movies and him dodging the question or simply saying no comment is something that would never happen btw.

Where did I say I “wanted” them to do that? I said it was interesting that they didn’t (which is why we’re talking about it)

Considering how much the personal style of the filmmakers involved is mostly subsumed and made invisible by the demand for consistency in the films I don’t even know how any of them can take it very personally. Scorsese et al are basically being a little agnostic about a corporation not an individual.

Much like the marvel films themselves, I looking forward to this whole thing never running its course

xxp apologies if i misread how you meant your post morrisp - like a marvel movie, this thread is busy and long and i dont always keep track of the characters well

the forseeable future of how movies are made, shown, and seen?

for the love of fucking christ

“Kore-eda san, thank you for coming to talk with us. My first and only question is what did you think of the scarlet witch?”

“Well, I—“

“WHY WONT YOU LET PEOPLE ENJOY THINGS”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CFc7s4aDlM

It seems like half of what Disney & co. are taking offense at is in feeling erased as individuals and being treated like a corporation.

"When Francis uses the words, 'those films are despicable', to whom is he talking?" he quizzed, reeling off a list of names, including Kevin Feige, Marvel's newly-promoted Chief Creative Officer, directors Taika Watiti and Ryan Coogler, as well as MCU stars Scarlett Johansson, Chadwick Boseman, and Robert Downey Jr, as examples.

https://ca.ign.com/articles/2019/10/23/disney-ceo-bob-iger-defends-marvel-movies-after-disrespectful-attacks-from-scorsese-and-coppola

corporations are people iirc

MODOK IS GENIUS!

Honestly, most of these complaints probably should be leveled at Kevin Feige. He's too good at what he does, and I maintain that when he moves on from shepherding the MCU, we will see a marked decline in the fortunes of the superhero film. I mean, see pretty much every superhero film he doesn't handle, some of which do quite well at the BO but which generally don't have the guiding hand to make continued success (via sequels, bumbling attempts at universe-building, etc.) sustainable.

editing wikipedia pages on inter-media appearances of fifth-tier stan lee characters!

Literally the only Stan Lee character I can think of is Stripperella (unless you count Funky Flashman), imagine even one tier below that having a wikipedia

There is a cross-media section though, right enough:

Originally there was to have been a promotional Stripperella comic published by Les Humanoïdes Associés (publishers of Métal Hurlant magazine) alongside the animated series, but creative differences between Spike TV and Pamela Anderson saw it canceled before publication.

for the love of fucking christ

I saw a technicolor print of Leave Her To Heaven about this time last year. When do you think anyone is going to be able to do that again?

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/09/disney-classic-fox-library-repertory-bookings-1202170485/

Next Tuesday.

I mean apart from anything else, 'last year' is the middle of Phase 3, so the iron gates that means that superhero films have blocked all other movies should be even more in effect then than now.

(unless you're talking about what devvvine linked, which is indeed shithousery, but nothing related to what I was responding to)

Disney reshaping exhibition in a whole variety of ways is what you were responding to, though.

this stuff is not changing back anytime soon

So your contention is that, in the context of the Scorcese argument, One Eye Open said "the series of films" when he meant "Disney's rep and small new releases policy"?

The weight of this series of films is a significant contributor to Disney’s closing off of lesser profit streams, yes. They would rather spend person-hours on $300MM films that they expect to make $1B than to keep employing people who rent out films for $1000 a shot. It’s the hegemonic nature of these films that allows them to demand a higher percentage of receipts, even though (as linked) this is actually driving exhibitors out of business. Their demands on exhibitors for their series-sized films specifically do stop smaller films from being seen, even when “smaller” means big expensive colourful action-filled family-friendly adventures, as with Paddington 2 and Black Panther.