[Streaming] Max (né HBO Max)

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:19 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 8:38 pm
Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 8:29 pm But Marvel has really stomped DC when it comes to film. In fact, DC has been chasing Marvel around for a while now, trying to catch up to their good ideas.

Although DC has generally done better on video games.
DC is still light years ahead of them in animated films and tv shows though. Another reason they should invite Bruce Timm into that world to give them ideas. Timm has built an amazing stable of talent that has produced fantastic films based off some truly iconic storylines from the comics. Why they don’t take that approach with the live action division is beyond me.

With the Disney behemoth putting out Wandavision and going beyond just cool fighting scenes with some great main character writing in episode one of Falcon and the Winter Soldier (really thought they did a great job with Bucky) along with Agents of SHIELD, I think DC is going to be left in the dust. (But please keep making more Doom Patrol!)

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:36 pm

These are all live action though. Young Justice and Harley Quinn alone are much better than anything animated that Marvel has ever done. Marvel just can’t compete when it comes to DC’s animated movies and tv shows.

As for competing with the marvel live action shows on Disney +, now that DC universe has basically sent its video portion to HBO Max, I’m curious to see what that will lead to. I’ve already read that they’re looking to make an Hourman series, in addition to a Green Lantern series.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:43 pm

AWS260 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 6:28 pm
AWS260 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:48 pm I'm in the last hour (I think/hope) of the Snyder Justice League.
I was not in the last hour.

It's the five endings that get you. It's like Motorhead's Overkill. I mean, it's literally overkill....

I will say that I find Cavill's villainous Superman to be captivating. Again, not new to this cut... but knowing we might have gone back there in the sequels is interesting to think about. What was it that shook him from his defensive rampage again? The power of love?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:45 pm

It is a curious thing.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:48 pm

They were setting up an attempt at the Flashpoint Paradox storyline, I believe. I HIGHLY recommend the animated movie of the same name. It’s fantastic and goes to some strange places with these characters.

Sudy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:43 pm What was it that shook him from his defensive rampage again? The power of love?

I don’t think he’s THAT big of a Huey Lewis fan.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:56 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:36 pm These are all live action though. Young Justice and Harley Quinn alone are much better than anything animated that Marvel has ever done. Marvel just can’t compete when it comes to DC’s animated movies and tv shows.

As for competing with the marvel live action shows on Disney +, now that DC universe has basically sent its video portion to HBO Max, I’m curious to see what that will lead to. I’ve already read that they’re looking to make an Hourman series, in addition to a Green Lantern series.

Ahh, I read “TV shows” as live action since that’s pretty much the bulk of the DC viewing that I’ve done. And I forgot about the brilliance that is Harley Quinn.

HBO Max doesn’t have to have Doom Patrol clones but if they can take artistic chances and have writing on par with Doom Patrol then that plus the Marvel stuff makes us all winners!

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:59 pm

Oh definitely. I’m hoping we get stuff like Doom Patrol and Legion that aren’t afraid to play with everything. And in doing so turn them into something that avoids the limitations of superhero stories.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:50 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 8:38 pm
Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 8:29 pm But Marvel has really stomped DC when it comes to film. In fact, DC has been chasing Marvel around for a while now, trying to catch up to their good ideas.

Although DC has generally done better on video games.
DC is still light years ahead of them in animated films and tv shows though. Another reason they should invite Bruce Timm into that world to give them ideas. Timm has built an amazing stable of talent that has produced fantastic films based off some truly iconic storylines from the comics. Why they don’t take that approach with the live action division is beyond me.

I agree 100% with this.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 9:48 am

Apparently what Snyder really wanted was to make Justice League as a black-and-white IMAX film. I wonder if that's why he went with the color palette he did - because he wasn't allowed to do it in B&W. Honestly, I can respect that Snyder has an artistic vision that he wants to follow, and it's not a terrible vision. That doesn't mean that his vision is appropriate for every setting, though. Most of the DC universe isn't film noire. Although it'd work well for Question film, I suppose.

Anyway, they're going to be releasing a B&W version of Justice League on HBO Max: Justice League: Justice is Gray.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:14 am

I'm gonna have to tap out and limit my third and final viewing to the Noooooope: The Darkest Knight Cut, in which the film is tinted pitch black and played at 10,000x speed.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:28 am

Sudy wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:14 am I'm gonna have to tap out and limit my third and final viewing to the Noooooope: The Darkest Knight Cut, in which the film is tinted pitch black and played at 0.0001% speed.

FTFY

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:38 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 9:48 am Anyway, they're going to be releasing a B&W version of Justice League on HBO Max: Justice League: Justice is Gray.

Clocking in at a brisk 6 hours, I assume.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:49 am

And in 9:16 aspect ratio as if it had all been filmed by someone holding a phone vertically. Oh, and all of the audio will be replaced with an angry violin.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:51 am

The aspect ratio didn't bother me, I have to say. The only difference was that instead of bars across the bottom, they were on the side.

JCC · Post by **JCC** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:56 pm

I look forward to the "Ultimate My Way or the Highway" Snyder Cut of Justice League where it's in 4:3, black and white, with monaural, static filled audio with fuzzy picture quality and bad vertical hold as if watching a show with rabbit ears and a bad signal. It will also have ads every 15 minutes and take about 6 hours to watch. But we all need to respect his "artistic vision".

If only George Lucas had thought of this! There wouldn't be the uproar over "Han shot first" since we wouldn't even be able to tell who shot first!

(Still plan to probably checkout the Synder cut at some point... didn't want to devote the 4 hours this past weekend.)

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:02 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:28 am
Sudy wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:14 am I'm gonna have to tap out and limit my third and final viewing to the Noooooope: The Darkest Knight Cut, in which the film is tinted pitch black and played at 0.0001% speed.
FTFY

Played to this on loop, I'm sure:

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:12 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:51 am The aspect ratio didn't bother me, I have to say. The only difference was that instead of bars across the bottom, they were on the side.

Yep, I got used to that pretty quickly.

Finding a version of the app that I owned that would play 5.1 sound was more difficult. Took me three tries, but I finally found one that would do it for me.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:37 pm

Next up: the release of the NC-17 version of Mrs. Doubtfire.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 12:08 am

I just got through watching the Snyder Cut of Justice League and was really surprised - I really liked it it. I was definitely not a fan of his prior two DC outings - IMO they were mediocre at best for any number of reasons. Some points about this cut:

1) It started off slow and sort of disjointed, having him looking for Aquaman early on, without any lead in or backdrop. But it quickly picked up once that was moved past.
2) Cyborg got his role expanded which I really liked.
3) I think (hard to remember all the details of the original) that Flash got some extended time with his early pre JL life.
4) I really loved the ending -

Spoiler:

5) I liked the epilogue (with the exception of the Batman dream as I have no idea how that fit in or was even relevant - maybe someone can explain that to me).
6) It was cool seeing the

Spoiler:

cameos
7) I'd like to see the sequel to this which will never be made, which makes me sad.

I was just really surprised how much I liked this.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 5:39 am

Ok, I found the explanation for that dream sequence - and what Snyder had planned for the final two films:

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/20 ... lained/amp

Man, I would have loved to have seen those two films. Fascinating story line.

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:05 pm

I'll say this about the Synder Cut and what I liked about the ending battle:

Spoiler:

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 3:12 pm

I'm surprised the Snyder cut doesn't have its own thread or at least in the original thread for the movie. Had to check in here which I normally don't do because it's not something I have.

Anyway, long story short, I didn't care much for it. I like that it took its time with backstory, but that's about it. The colours were muted, and the CGI looked cheap with lots of bloom (which looked like an early 90's effort at CGI, to be honest), and the fights weren't terribly exciting. It's the same thing I had noticed about Batman Vs Superman. Didn't like it then, didn't like it now, which leads me to not liking Snyder's style in general. There's a good movie in there somewhere, but it's buried under a bunch of what I feel are misguided decisions.

Oh how I would have wished for a Nolan/Bale era Justice League instead of this.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:52 pm

Rumpy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 3:12 pm I'm surprised the Snyder cut doesn't have its own thread or at least in the original thread for the movie. Had to check in here which I normally don't do because it's not something I have.

That's why I started posting over here. I was hoping others would follow.

JCC · Post by **JCC** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 5:25 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:52 pm That's why I started posting over here. I was hoping others would follow.

I followed!

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 6:22 pm

Yeah, I ended up seeing that thread only after I posted here.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:52 pm

Rumpy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 3:12 pm Oh how I would have wished for a Nolan/Bale era Justice League instead of this.

I'm trying to imagine a realistic version of most of the other Justice League members and... I can't. Is Aquaman an environmentalist vigilante who owns a line of sustainable frozen seafood?

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:57 pm

Sudy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:52 pm
Rumpy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 3:12 pm Oh how I would have wished for a Nolan/Bale era Justice League instead of this.
I'm trying to imagine a realistic version of most of the other Justice League members and... I can't. Is Aquaman an environmentalist vigilante who owns a line of sustainable frozen seafood?

I hear his line of AquaKelp Burgers are pretty tasty!

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:12 pm

Sudy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:52 pm
Rumpy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 3:12 pm Oh how I would have wished for a Nolan/Bale era Justice League instead of this.
I'm trying to imagine a realistic version of most of the other Justice League members and... I can't. Is Aquaman an environmentalist vigilante who owns a line of sustainable frozen seafood?

I'm not so much thinking realistic, but in terms of tone. The tone of Justice League is all over the place. For the most part, it's quite grim, which might work for Batman, but not much with Superman. That's the problem I have with most of the recent DC movies. Wonder Woman is the best of the new crop because of this.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:26 pm

Sudy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:52 pm
Rumpy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 3:12 pm Oh how I would have wished for a Nolan/Bale era Justice League instead of this.
I'm trying to imagine a realistic version of most of the other Justice League members and... I can't. Is Aquaman an environmentalist vigilante who owns a line of sustainable frozen seafood?

I’m not a fan of Warner’s/Mamoa’s dude bro Aquaman. Every time he flips his hair or makes some surf buddy comment, I just want Namor to show up and kick his ass.

...Marvel needs to get Namor into a film.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 9:23 pm

2018

Years ago, the rights to a Namor movie were sold to Universal, along with several other characters. The rights to most of these characters have since reverted back to Marvel, but the Sub-Mariner remains in limbo. Marvel Studios has addressed the Namor situation a number of times, and Joe Quesada once stated that he believed that Namor was finally back at Marvel Studios. However, despite various rumors, there have been no announcements of any plans to bring The Avenging Son into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In an interview with IGN, Feige was asked about the current status of Namor and if the situation was "complicated":

It is. I think there’s a way to probably figure it out but it does have — it’s not as a clean or clear as the majority of the other characters.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:57 am

The dudebro elements of Aquaman do get on my nerves (although Momoa's personality and charisma go a long way toward making it tolerable), but Hawaiian Aquaman is so much more believable than Aryan Aquaman.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 11:10 am

I'm not sure why race is a factor. In the comics, his father was a blonde (sometimes brown haired) gentlemen from New England. But I have no issue with making him a Pacific Islander (Note: I didn't even bring up race in my comments at any point). My complaint is purely based on the dude bro behavior....which is due to bad scripts primarily. I know Mamoa is capable of NOT being surfer Aquaman (see Game of Thrones and Frontier for examples), and I do generally think he's a very decent guy.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:13 pm

I really like Momoa's Aquaman. I kind of view his dude-bro mannerisms as a defense mechanism against his insecurities. He knows his powers are somewhat silly, and he knows as a half-human, half-Atlantean he doesn't really fit in neatly in either world. The cockiness/swagger is a wall he hides behind.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I've always thought Momoa brought a sly depth (no pun intended) to the character that is highly underrated.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:23 pm

I just felt like his character was pandering to teenagers. Which I guess in a way, they want.

I think we can all agree though that Pauly Shore should have been given the role.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:27 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 11:10 am I'm not sure why race is a factor. In the comics, his father was a blonde (sometimes brown haired) gentlemen from New England. But I have no issue with making him a Pacific Islander (Note: I didn't even bring up race in my comments at any point). My complaint is purely based on the dude bro behavior....which is due to bad scripts primarily. I know Mamoa is capable of NOT being surfer Aquaman (see Game of Thrones and Frontier for examples), and I do generally think he's a very decent guy.

Not at all what I meant. The first half was a response to you. The second half was my own angle. In the comics that fact that he's blonde is actually a significant plot point. But I thought that Momoa just felt better. It felt more natural. His tattoos felt right (and were built off of his real-life tattoos.) Momoa, to me, made a better Aquaman than the version in the comics did (disclaimer: I've read very little standalone Aquaman in the comics - maybe half a dozen issues total.)

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:38 pm

Ah, I'm a little gun shy about such things as it's easy to be seen as insensitive sometimes when you really do mean no harm.

Hrothgar · Post by **Hrothgar** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:49 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:23 pm I think we can all agree though that Pauly Shore should have been given the role.

Are you still pretending you won that argument? You know that Justin Hartley never got the shot he deserved.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:53 pm

Justin Hartley? I had to look that up. My god, could an actor be more bland? It's like he was designed by a focus group.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:59 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:38 pm Ah, I'm a little gun shy about such things as it's easy to be seen as insensitive sometimes when you really do mean no harm.

Nonetheless it resulted in me spending 45 minutes trying to determine if me like a Hawaiian as Aquaman was playing to stereotypes. I was born in an era when racism, misogyny, and stereotypes were just a normal part of popular culture. There's a lot of stress - and vigilance, and introspection, and research - involved in figuring out the real motivations behind my thoughts and reactions sometimes. There is good reason to be gun shy. FWIW, I found a couple of individuals complaining that casting a Hawaiian as the king of the ocean was playing off of stereotypes, but I found a lot of Polynesian writers who were delighted by it.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 2:07 pm

And I spent 45 minutes googling the least moist communities on the planet to be able to reply, "Yeah, but Aryan Aquaman is more believable than Alice Springs Aquaman..." before realizing it just wasn't funny.