Cool News
Might Bryan Singer Return For X-MEN ORIGINS: MAGNETO?? Should He??
Merrick here...
The current issue of Total Film has an interview with Bryan Singer, in which he mentions wishing he'd returned to direct X-MEN: THE LAST STAND & states an interest in "possibly" taking a crack at X-MEN ORIGINS: MAGNETO.
I'm eternally intertwined with X-Men now. What takes an audience four hours to watch - the first two movies - took six years of my life. So, to not be part of it....It's a shame."
Asked whether he wished he had directed X-Men: The Last Stand, he admitted he had that feeling "before I was watching it, during watching it, after watching it."
Singer added: "It's weird for me to watch it, because I'm so close to the universe. And also Brett is a good friend of mine. But, of course, I would love to return to that universe."
And on the question of whether he might be interested in X-Men Origins: Magneto, he said: "Possibly. The only thing that concerns me about Magneto is that if the prequel were to follow the track I used in X-Men, which is Magneto's history in the concentration camp, then I've lived in that world.
...said Singer in a Total Film article cribbed by Coventry Telegraph.
What do you folks think? Other than "Fox should stop making movies of any kind until The Powers That Be there have been shown the door"...
Asked whether he wished he had directed X-Men: The Last Stand, he admitted he had that feeling "before I was watching it, during watching it, after watching it."
Singer added: "It's weird for me to watch it, because I'm so close to the universe. And also Brett is a good friend of mine. But, of course, I would love to return to that universe."
And on the question of whether he might be interested in X-Men Origins: Magneto, he said: "Possibly. The only thing that concerns me about Magneto is that if the prequel were to follow the track I used in X-Men, which is Magneto's history in the concentration camp, then I've lived in that world.
-
+ Expand All
-
like McDonald's Grimace
-
singer should pass.
-
A: If you want to touch Magneto's purple helmet!
-
Jun 01, 2009 11:52:11 AM CDT
Coked Out Queen Throws Star Fit, Kills 2 Movie Franchises
by laserpants
Fuck you Bryan Singer. You threw a star fit, probably in the depths of a coke binge, and walked off X3. THEN you go ahead and ruin Superman as well. Its like you were bending over backwards to make sure that it sucked. In short: you're a self-obsessed queen and an asshole. Goodnight.
-
Singer, you're a nice guy. you're a nice guy. just make Superman films from now on please.
-
I see the studio heads going "Needs more mutants!" and "More explosions!" Needs to be more like Wolverine! Etc, etc. I see a Magneto prequel being a bit more intimate than Wolverine, while also working as a Professor X prequel. It should be a film about best friends torn apart by differing ideals, by anger and resentment. Fox will try to make it a huge summer blockbuster about a good-looking 20-something Magneto that beds hot chicks and knows every other mutant in the X-Men universe before deciding he hates humans. And the only reason he'll hate humans is that some of them blew up his adopted parents in their barn.
-
This guy ruined X-men and Superman imo.
-
that goes without saying. Singer probably didnt want to make the absurd compromises that Fox wanted and bolted. SR was good, waaay better than your Future War "film"
-
I immediately don't care.
-
Is he referring to the 2 minute scene from the beginning of X-Men, or just because of recently doing Valkyrie or something else? I don't really understand that statement.
-
forgot about that, I guess he has sort of done a lot of "nazi" themed films. Still, nothing that really pertains to concentration camps. Valkyrie certainly didn't show them.
-
We don't need to see anything before the prologue of X-Men 1. Show us Erik Lennsher realizing the full extent of his power and developing his world view in the wake of losing everything to the Nazis. Make it sort of like Forrest Gump where we see Magneto moving through history while mutant kind becomes known in the background, in headlines, news footage, etc. right along with the civil rights movement.
Obviously you show Erik becoming friends with Charles Xavier, and show them working together early on to recruit the original X-Men (which in the movies is Jean, Storm, Cyclops, and I think that's it for movie X-Men until they pick up Rogue and Wolverine). I don't know how you do the third act. -
Or not.
-
Seriously, why the hatred for Superman Returns? What didn't you all like about it? And when you say he screwed up the franchise, do you mean to tell me that Superman III and Superman IV were good?
-
If Warner is dumb enough not to give him Superman 2, then get him back on X-Men. He is one of the greatest directors of our time...plus having rewatched Apt Pupil just this weekend I'd love to see him reteamed with Ian.
-
I want an XMEN flick not a FOX XMEN flick...
I want my MARVEL not STUDIO MARVEL!!!
There are only 2 MARVEL films alive at this point....
"THE INCREDIBLE HULK"
&
"IRON MAN"
Otherwise, it's all dead to me, SPIDERMAN was my boyhood hero....And he's dead :(
By the way, I sent this tidbit in to AICN about half a year ago....But it wasn't GROUND BREAKING enough....But I was working on this commercial in Santa Monica when I stumbled across a very small test shoot for a "BLUE BEETLE" film that Alex Winter is directing....The Production Manager who had the script came from working on it the previous week....Who knows if it'll come about, but still kind of interesting.... -
Would love to see Singer tackle this as long as Fox gave him the rope he needs to make it what it needs to be; a deep introspective character piece.
-
He shouldn't have left the franchise in the first place and since he seems to know it, we're all agreed. He should get started on Magneto ASAP.
-
I don't hate The Last Stand as much as other people do and haven't seen Wolverine yet, so I got no idea if it'S really as bad as the fanboys say, but X2 was maybe the greatest comic book movie ever (Fuck you, TDK) and that Superman Returns was boring as shit proves only one thing: Singer was born to make X-Men movies! So yes, bring it on, Bryan!
-
Three ways:
1.) Making Superman into an irrational jerkoff.
2.) Making a Superman movie that repeats the Luthor plot of the first movie, and makes it less exciting.
3.) Beating the audience over the head with Christ imagery. I once wrote a very "trenchant" essay about how Superman is the new Jesus, but please man, dial it down a notch. -
for a magneto movie, and then for a 4th X-men film..solve (or retcon) any deaths/depoweing from the third movie in the first 20mins and give us a fouth x-men movie that just blows us all out of the water like x2 did (and still does)
-
Maybe the next Superman he can twirl around the earth and create a whole new timeline and have Gene Hackman sitting on some Island waiting to wave-off a sea creature that would chase Kent ashore. Haven't figured out why Kent would be swimming . . . I'm just one man!
-
For Fuck's Sake Bring back Singer! Expunge EVERY wanker who now holds sway over the X-Verse and bring in Singer to get the damn thing started again. Who cares if he's GAY; he"s the only director to "Understand" the material!!
-
Not becasue of anything you said in this talkback, but based simply on your thoughts regarding T2 alone.
You have sacrificed your right to have you opinion considered on anything ever again.
Good day. -
Caught some of T3 last night on TV. My friend, who hadn't seen it before, summed it up when he walked in and said "Is this a parody?"
-
Who cares? Did we see ANYTHING in the new "Wolverine" movie that the flashbacks in "X-Men 2" didn't cover just fine? Who wants a depressing Holocaust concentration camp movie about the villian which will undboubtedly make him so sympathetic that he'll lose power to ever be seen as villianous again. Yeah, somehow people are desperate enough for comic book Summer movies that "Wolverine" made bank, but I still don't believe that the audience would rather sit through a numbers of "x-Men: Origins" movies and "X-Men: First Class" movies rather than actually see NEW continuing adventures of the X-Men or any other established characters. Stop destroying all the mystery surrounding the characters! Leave some things to the audiences' imagination. Stop watering down classic villians, and just let them be villians. We don't need to always know the Devil was abused as a child, or at the very least, we don't need to see every last detail. Prequels, by their very nature, are less exciting than new stories because we all know how the story ends.
-
The guy is way overdue for the movies already!
-
Just stop making X-Men movies for a while. Please.
-
they were so pissed when he left to do superman returns and delayed x3..they imediatly hired a new witer and diretor and ended the production deal with singer's "bad hat harry" company...if fact the only thing FOx still does singer related is House and thats only because its one of their few hits and they aren't dumb enough to cancel it yetFOX may even want him back, but i don't think they will ever swallow their pride and invite him back
-
What Nolan and Co. did with the Joker was great. No one knew where he came from and we didn't have to waste film on his ORIGINS. Used to be watch a movie and then go do your own research about it, if you were intrigued, including origins. Maybe . . . maybe if all origin stories were musicals. Especially the origins of man.
-
Was busy writing my reply and didn't see yours. But yeah, exactly.
-
oh the irony
-
seriously besides a bookend and some pubicity, Ian McKellon won't be in a magneto prequel..they should get Zach Effron, he's just as gay as Mckellon..but not in the same way of courseplus effron is hot of the heels of a best actor MTV movie award..those hold a lot of clout in hollywood so he could probabaly get a higher salarie
-
If Singer comes back, cool. I liked X2, didn't care for the first one. I'd be more than happy to wait another 10 or so years and have someone reboot the whole fucking thing.
-
Set in the last 60's, with Erik and Charlie as buddies with powers, slowly ripped apart over time and their views. Maybe end it with Magneto impaling Charlie and paralyzing him... Singer's only bad movie ever was the last hour and fifteen minutes of SR.
-
meant "late" 60s
-
You don't need to associate with Rothman unless it's a redo of X3. Or a film correcting the mistakes of that film. Fans don't particularly want a Magneto film. We want a good X-men film. One that doesn't focus on Wolverine...and now that he's got his own series, it wouldn't have to. If you want to come back, and I wouldn't if I was you, you need to demand X4. Bring back Xavier. Cyclops. Jean (or introduce Madelyne). Give Marsden more to do, and finally show Cyclops as the leader he was meant to be, not just some prick. Something I know you wanted to do in X3-4 when you were still attached. Also, recast Storm. Gina Torres, or Aisha Tyler would be swell...something you'd probably want to do anyway given the bad blood between you and Berry. It's a shame though Ororo's knife fight is forever ruined thanks to Callisto stupidly being forced into the last. Bring back Cumming's Nightcrawler. Redesign Beast. Frasier wasn't all that bad as Hank. I didn't really care for the wire-fu fighting, but he was one of the bright spots of the film despite the Cats-like makeup. Give Collossus more of a role and give us the beginnings of his pairing with Kitty. And for god sakes make Kitty, the semi-brat she was. Kill Bobby. I know that might be a controversial move, but kill 'em off. Or ship him off to Muir Island indefinitely. Gambit is now in the franchise, and even though I'm not a huge fan of his, casting him for 4 would be a great move in regards to getting Rogue to where we need her. And boy do we need her. Paquin is hot as hell now, and I'm not talking looks, ever since X2 (or the bench scene in X1), she's been eyecandy. But now she'd be perfect for the Rogue/Gambit pairing. I'd even forget what she went through with Iceboy so the relationship can be as difficult as possible. And given Wolverine was set in '79, casting an older man trying to take advantage of Paquin's Rogue would make things all that much better, seeing how we'd avoid any of the Twilight-ish bullshit this storyline, at one time, could've taken. Those foundations on top of a introduction of Sinister, Apocalypse, and/or the introduction of the Sentinels, which might seem a retcon due to the Danger Room sequence in the last film, but you could simply say the plans for those bad boys were recovered in Stryker's files, would be the right step to move this series forward and becoiming something else. Something else that isn't weighed down by the preachy bullshit of the first three. X-men is more than just that, and we've covered that. At the expense of characters. That's why X-men was so popular. It had engaging characters and relationships. And if the series is allowed to continue, those most be the focus. And if Rothman doesn't agree to injecting the more fantastic element of the property into the films, like big purple robots, just mention the popularity of Bayformers, and change the color if need be. Really though, this is such a mess right now, you'd have your work cut out for ya, that and trying o redeem yourself in the eyes of the fans after Supermen Returns. In a perfect world, you would've remained with X3-4, Superman would've got something new and not a re-hash of the Donner flicks, and you would've been the guy behind Trek, not Abrams. But what's done, is done. Just don't settle for something that isn't needed. Demand your franchise back. And without Jackman, Berry, McKellan, and possibly Stewart, it would no longer be expensive to continue on. Please don't do Magneto Bryan. Not unless it will guarantee X4 and beyond.
-
In comics you can jump around all over the timeline from one issue to the next.
-
Do you get the freakin' picture?
-
The demand is there! DO IT!
-
And no more every-movie-has-to-be-set-up-for-a-sequel either! How about three acts of just good script to start with?
-
...and make a fucking X-Men movie? Fuck all this "Origins" ass-hattery. By all means let Singer do it (nice to have an actual director again) but quit dickin around with this prequel/Origins BS and just do another X-Men.
-
Please just let it go.
-
Singer is rather beside the point here; Magneto's origin was covered well enough in X-Men 1, so other than sheer greed there's no reason to make a Magneto origin flick. Plus it would depressing as hell!
-
I think people would be more inclined to see a Kitty Pryde movie rather than fucking Magneto.
-
It seems I'm one of the vocal few who like Wolverine (although it still has a decent rating on RT from the huddled masses) - it was a decent action film, most of the acting was decent (striker was badly cast imho) and the CGI was variable (claws and xavior was unforgivably bad but 3 mile island effects were good on the whole) - so I thought it wasn't a bad way to spend a few hours. In fact, I like all the X-men movies so welcome all the origin stories they can create but X-men 1 & 2 were much more character focused and less action focused (and obviously superior) from my point of view so I think Singer would be a good choice for Magneto.
I think it has to be a character piece - focusing on Magnetos turmoil with his power and growing distain for the human race and less about the action. I think Ian McKellan has delivered the best performance from the whole franchise so I think this needs to be bookmarked in similar proportions to something like Flashbacks of a Fool to give him a decent role; the ending of X3 would set this up perfectly for a parallel storyline as he strives to get his powers back. -
If Singer goes back to the X-movies, I hope he just makes X-Men 4, minus Wolverine, rather than an Origins movie. Another prequel? Blech.
-
singer wants to do another x-men movie? he should of never left to begin with.
Now that the audience and fans have been betrayed he wants to come back? now that all interest has been beat to a pulp
he wants to come back? after he got that turd of a superman movie out of his system?
they should just let it die. wait 20 years. like batman. then maybe reboot it
its the same old shit over and over again. i say unless marvel has full control... they shouldn't do it -
...you're dead-on right with everything you had to say. Good on ya! Oh, and Leila Arcieri for Storm!
-
Instead of having to use a KOA campground like Rothman probably dictated for X, then sure.
-
He should do the Magneto movie. Then rewrite it and cast a few actors and end up turning it into X-4.
-
No one expected that the Robot would make the Best Daddy Evar! Who knew? Such grandiose "irony"! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh man, you rule.
-
The fact that it was instantly forgettable. Loved Usual Suspects and X & X2, but Superman was a misstep.
-
Jun 01, 2009 1:12:06 PM CDT
Ok, I lied - I'd actually pay to see X-men Origins:Dazzler
by gruntybear
But it would need the following elements: ELO featured prominently on the soundtrack, high-heeled roller-skates, and a plot that involved the roller-skate dancers to "put on a show" to save the local rink. I wouldn't be able to spend my $8 fast enough.
-
they gsve singer 250 million for superman and he couldn't do anybetter then a fucking love story? the movie looked great ad effects where awsome, but we didnt need to see lex luther again.
-
they gsve singer 250 million for superman and he couldn't do anybetter then a fucking love story? the movie looked great ad effects where awsome, but we didnt need to see lex luther again.
-
So... the median age here is, what? 8? 9 years old? NEWS FLASH! ALL CRITICAL OPINION IS SUBJECTIVE. Just because you disagree with me it doesn't mean all of my opinions are invalid.
-
Jun 01, 2009 1:16:25 PM CDT
Wolverine was a surprisingly fun movie, the only X-Men one worth
by jackpumpkinhead
Nice and entertaining, just what a comic book movie should be. No moronic "we're tho mithunderthtood" angst, no pathetic "look, I'm grim and serious, will you NOW please believe that it's not a shame to read comic books as an adult?" idiocy, just fun. No singers, more Hoods.
-
on Wolverine 5 - sorry, I meant "X-Men 4" or "X4" or "X4D9 you sunk my battleship" or whatever the fuck those fox wankers want to call it.
PS - Ryan Reynolds can go smoke a pole if he's really doing Deadpool after the Wolverine fuck up. Fanboy my arse. -
because they have a track record of childhood rape, and diminishing past great works with present mediocre and shitty works. Big time.
-
Cause I'm thinking its probably extremely skewed.
-
Is that his usual cocaine rambling, or is he once again trying to say that he's a "perthecuted" Hollywood queen and therefore he knows what it was like in concentration camps? Either way, try switching from coke to heroin, Singer.
-
I think we saw enough of Magneto's "origin" in the beginning of the very first 'X-Men' film! They should drop this 'X-Men Origins' shit before it even goes any further. Put together an X-Factor film or something instead...help expand the X-universe on film by making films from other X-related comic books instead of trying to focus on ONE character only to LOSE that one character in a cesspool of too many other and unrelated characters! *cough*wolverine*cough*. And when I say do an X-Factor film, I mean old school X-Factor with Havoc and Polaris and Guido and Mulitple Man and Wolfsbane when they worked for the government...not the current noir-ish/detective agency one (nothing against that one though, I do enjoy that one quite a bit as well).
-
They've got thirty or so years to get Wade somewhat back to his normal self.
-
Jun 01, 2009 1:21:46 PM CDT
The question isn't so much "should Singer return"
by fa_tass_dinomolester
so much as "Shouldn't Fox stop making movies of any kind until The Powers That Be there have been shown the door". So fuck off!
-
Ditto every damn thing you said. Ditto and amen.
-
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
-
An example of irony, TRUE IRONY, can be found in something as simple as the Myth of Oedipus. For example -- Oedipus, terrified that the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother will come true, goes to great lengths to avoid it... only to make the prophecy come true through his actions. That is classic, and Classical Irony. We expect that his actions will save him, but instead they damn him.
Robot = Daddy isn't "irony," its a plot contrivance to market an idea to middle class families. Class dismissed.
-
Let that shit marinate for a decade and then reboot. Let Iron Man 2, Thor and the Avengers step up to the plate.
-
Any kid can tell you that expecting a robot assassin, who comes from a future where robot assassins kill humans, has been sent back to kill our protagonist only to discover its really been sent to protect instead *IS* irony. Don't be such a dope, its not good for your reputation around here.
-
It's no surprise to me that his sweeping, gorgeous-yet-leaden vistas (from Superman Returns, as X-Men had no good visual flair) and overused "outsider" tropes can't find work.
-
Leave it to talkbackers to start with the gay bashing almost immediately. You people are worse than an East Texas flea market.
-
How is a robot being programmed to be a father figure irony? Sorry, its not. Its a plot contrivance.
-
...but I know if they did that, we'd probably be stuck with shit from the last decade or so of the funny books and not the classic stories and relationships that made the franchise popular to begin with. I don't how good so and so's run may have been, nothing should be infused into the makeup of any reboot past the Age of Apocalypse or Onslaught. No Ultimate universe crap, no Scott and Emma, no cat lookin' Beast. None of that shit.
-
or X-MEN ORIGINS: JOSHUA SWANEY
-
I am Irony! The fact that I know no one gives a shit what I might say but still put it out there thinking it is clevah! Anyone see the Holmes trailer? Looks like Sommers directed it. When will Hollywood learn moderation? Camp is fine in moderation (Raiders). Man it looks to suck.
-
Many things but all having to do with a narrative we expect from a Superman film.
Singer is a quality director and SR is well crafted but it fails to deliver any kind of thrill or excitement. Even with the use of John Williams score the film falls flat. The premise was weak from the get go.
Routh was okay but was never given a chance to make us stand up and cheer for him...much like the people of Earth never had that moment of of "YES! He's back and just in time!". There was no tension, no threat...no thrilling moment of him reclaiming his mantle.
He lifted something very heavy.
He got his ass kicked by by Kumar and his buddies.
We had him being checked into a hospital and then coming to terms with his feelings as he looked longingly at his sleeping child.
I at least expected some palpable thrills which I still experience when watching the first two. -
Hmmm, not sure I worded my irony right. Well, anyway . . .
-
Didn't realize it at the time but those movies only prepared me for the coming greatness of the first two Spiderman films and the new Batman. Plus, Superman made me rethink Bryan Singer as a comic book movie director. I'm not saying he doesn't get it....but its one thing to rethink a character and another thing to massacre him. God forbid you should actually identify an American superhero as something distinctly American. No lets water that aspect down and make him creepy and weird instead.
-
"Yeah Wolverines movie was all fun no point in having a good character arc or dialogue it's just good fun" that defense is bullshit. Wolverine sucked massive balls. And you can hide behind RT ratings if you want but look at the numbers it had a HUGE opening weekend and then dropped like a rock. With those numbers it opened with it should have made like 250 million, but it sucked so it won't. I say Singer skip the Magneto movie for all the reasons others have stated and he should make the second Wolverine movie set in Japan. He is the only one who did Wolverine right. The first one wasn't amazing but Wolverine was done right and his bad ass continued into X2. Then in X3 and this new piece of shit Origin movie they made him into a serious pussy. It's like they went "We need him to be a nice guy so idiots in the audience won't get upset". So you're telling me Wolverine who got that name for being a brutal crazy asshole, when he went to war all those years he was telling guys to stop killing? Hell no he was the one doing the killing! Singer needs to fix this thing and him doing a smaller more personal and violent Wolverine movie would be great.
-
STORM: Angela Bassett (she'll never be "too old") or Naomie Harris WOLVERINE: Hugh Jackman HAVOK: Ryan Gosling (the new audience identifier, following in Scott's footsteps) PSYLOCKE: Rebecca Hall or Charlotte Gainsbourg (yes, I know some nameless extra died in X-3, but the franchise has wasted so many characters in nameless cameos, let's ignore that) NIGHTCRAWLER: Either Alan Cumming again or the great David Tennant COLOSSUS: Daniel Cudmore again POLARIS: Michelle Williams, as the wigged-out crazy version of the character. Also starring a bunch of the New Mutants/New X-Men kids as the proteges. Villain: The Hellfire Club and Nimrod, as a strange, unstoppable badass villain to really push the film into third gear. Make it dark, gritty, weird, uncomfortable, like the "Mutant Massacre"/"Fall of the Mutants" era; have them underground in the subway system, maybe let them go to San Francisco as they have now. DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
-
...that invalidates your opinions on everything else... it's the fact that you gratingly troll through the talkbacks screaming and hyperventilating your ridiculous "WE WUV YOO" opinion at the drop of a hat, that makes it extremely difficult to take anything you say on any other topic remotely seriously. What happened, man? I remember when you were actually pretty sane and insightful in regards to movies and stuff.
-
So he could do Superman? But Fox said no (as Supes would obviously be big tent pole competition for them) or maybe went to bat on the contract or something? I don't believe he "walked off the set" did he? IIRC, he never got to production much less signed anything contractual?I would love to see Singer get back into the X-men universe as, of all people to bring it to the screen, he seemed to have the essence of what I know (which isn't everything about Xmen obviously) down, brought a fluid seriousness to the characters and franchise, made the context timely (even more so now) and who can watch the first 10 minutes of X-men 2 and not think that scene is not one of the best 'inspired by comic book scenes' set piece to ever hit the silver screen ever? Dies Irae? Perfect! I still get chills watching that scene...no shaky cam...no manic quick cuts (he even uses pre-Snyderized slow motion!) and yet it's utterly kick ass in practically every way.You guys who hate him seem to forget this scene...plus the Magneto breakout scene...plus the attack on the mansion...and yet the whole time it's anchored by story and not effects. Seriously, the guy makes mistakes but he's clearly demonstrated skill in this genre and something even more important, "true" dedication to the characters. If he could bring his X-men2 game in to this anemic franchise, perhaps we should be so lucky! Yeah! I said it! (and what's so bad about a Magneto origins movie? I find the character fascinating...but you guys are right..we need Xmen 4, not another origins movie, and we also need to not be anchored to the hip of Wolverine. In fact, I'd like to not even see Wolvie in the next one)...but bringing Singer back is absolutely moving in the right direction.
-
It's not all Rothman.
-
To reword one of your quotes on irony: "We expect that this robot will kill him, but instead it saves him." Case closed. Move on from this "irony" topic and use this time to build a better argument.
-
Unfortunately, It would be a probably 90% Claremont with 5% current stuff and 5% Ultimate anytime.
-
Ian McKellen looked like a mauve dildo. I didn't buy it. At all. With the X-Men franchise on film, you either go crazy and all-out with bombast, color and ideas, or you go home. Singer made a movie embarrassed by the X-Men. And while I am a gay film geek, I hate seeing someone reuse the same "outsider" trope OVER AND OVER.
-
People here bag out the likes of Ratner and praise our good boy singer.... i only ask 'WHY?' Singer made a good first Xmen film. but you know what, the action at the end was trashy. the whole of X2 was trashy. it was!! and superman returns was NOT A GOOD FILM!! i think there's a strange vibe going on in that film that people seem to like. but the fact is, it's a cheap rip of a great film which was based on an even better comic book. it's nonsense!! Now the man has no dignity, living out his life now regretting.... No more singer praise.
-
Scott and Emma are infinitely more interesting than Scott and Jean. Stuff like Weapon Plus, Sublime, Cassandra Nova or the riot at Xavier's is actually interesting.
-
Singer wanted to do Superman, Fox said "Fuck you, we'll do X3 without you," and that was that. Singer never walked off the project. He just wanted to make Supes as well and Fox took offense.
-
interesting enough to have his own prequel. Since that movie turned out to be shit, I can't imagine why I'm expected to care about this one. No thanks, Fox.
-
That story from the Claremont/Byrne era or even the Ultimate book is balls-out action from beginning to end. That would be a good reboot.
-
In the first movie, as well as expanding on what happened to him and his eventual turn (Professor X's telling of his history to Logan and the flashback in X3) X-Men Origins:Wolverine showed that explaining EVERYTHING makes for dry watching as it does for reading. If they want to go ahead with the Orgins series, focus on charecters whose back stories weren't touched on (Storm, Mystique, etc)
-
...on DVD. Singer did a great job of recreating WWII Nazi and all their ilk. I'm not so sure how well it would do to make it a backdrop for a Superhero movie tho. I know Magneto's concentration camp background has been X-Men canon forever but putting it in a comic book is one thing but in this post-Schindler's List era, the holocaust isn't really something I want to see lent to superhero fantasy in a big budget film. I remember feeling uneasy about it in the first X-Men movie but I give Singer credit he handled it well and if anyone could figure a way to toe the line, I think it would be him. I wonder how modern Germans would feel about it though, they're verrry understandably sensitive about such things.
-
Losers.
-
I loved the first 2 movies, but Rothman is a piece of work and I think people should just refuse to work with Fox on mutant movies until he's gone.
-
...that there's nothing wrong with Singer's Superman. Granted, my views aren't as informed as they should be, since I've never seen Donner's original Superman films. But I enjoyed SR, and thought it was much more well-done than, say, Superman: Doomsday.
-
I think Singer should stick to directing episodes of 'House.'
-
The guy is so overrated.
-
Jun 01, 2009 2:03:09 PM CDT
Prequels= KFC before being killed & fried it was a chicken.
by damien chowder
-
How old are you? I ask because maybe you're young enough to have missed Donner's films over the years. Good God brother get out and rent them and let me know what you think.
If you are on the younger side they may come off a bit dated and granted many of us here see them them with great nostalgia...but I bet you will see their greatness. Dim the lights and get lost in them! -
'Nuff said.
-
during the abyss screening..there--that's an example of IRONY that you will understand....maybeyour opinion is invalid and irrelevant not because you dont like T2, but the dumb fucking reasons that you give for your hatred for it. and that you claimed for the last two months that T4 WOULD OWN T2. still waiting on that one, BTW. class is NOW dismissed.
-
its a lost cause though im afraid.
-
Bryan Singer is the only one who can save X-Men at Fox. At least the Magneto Origin would be done right.
-
laser just like to toss shit out there without any FACTS to back them up..there was no walking off the set.he was never on the set to begin with. LAser is a fucking douche idiot.
-
You want to know what trashy is...Rush Hour 2. That, my friends, is true garbage.
-
they fucked him once and literallly destroyed the franchise he cinematically created so i can see him saying no.
-
I don't care if you don't like T2 but your flacid, illogical reasons for TRASHING it are stupid and you therefore undermine any other 'critique' you may offer.
As I said on a previous TB... the issues you have with T2 sound like personal ones involving your daddy. The fact that the only affection he ever showed you was when he showered your face with his spunk may require some therapy.
Don't take it out on Cameron. -
He has that sadistic look about also. However, can he act? I've never watched one of his movies, but he does have the look.
-
i win.
-
Jun 01, 2009 2:17:50 PM CDT
I think all Marvel franchises are destined to be crap or become
by continentalop
I really do. The reason why is not because they don’t follow the comics 100% faithfully, but because they don’t things take time to develop or progress like the comics did. They feel like the have to throw in the best moments, characters and storylines right away, making a horrible stew of incompatible parts. And all this does is have the unforeseen consequences of fucking up the series later on.
Look at Spider-Man 1 – their insistence to have Green Goblin in the first one led to them giving us a watered down version of the Death of Gwen Stacy story – this time with MJ falling of the bridge and her living – and destroyed any chance of them ever doing probably THE most significant Spider-Man story ever told. And why did they do this? Because they felt this urge to have Norman Osborn be the major villain in the first one instead of feeling comfortable and confident that the series would be a success and bring him back later. Doc Oct could have been in the first one; hell the Vulture could have been in the first one and the movie probably still would have been a success. Now they can’t bring in Gwen Stacy as a true love interest for Parker and we are stuck with a horrible MJ/Peter Parker relationship that has been forced on us for three movies, and will probably be with us for one more.
The same thing with Venom; now, I hate Venom, but if you are going to use him it should take at least two movies to do the character – first movie to establish the symbiote and Eddie Brock, and the second movie to introduce them as Venom. Most of the Marvel characters don’t work if they are played like James Bond with stand-alone adventures. They work better if they are multi-movie sagas like Star Wars or LOTR.
I hate to say this, but Marvel should really look at the Harry Potter and Twilight series as a guideline on how to do their movies. Marvel has got to realize that these movie franchises have to be mapped out in advance instead of just guessing what it popular at the moment or what storyline the new hip screenwriter of the day can think off. Plus they have to use the movie they are on to set up the next movie and use it to build up the next movie, just like the Harry Potter series does. The Death of Gwen Stacy and the Death of Phoenix should have been looked as chapters in the ongoing saga of those heroes, just like the deaths of Sirius Black and Dumbledore are for Potter.
At least this what I think.
.
-
on most of his points, especially bringing back Scott. But don't do the whole Madelyne Pryor thing. Introduce Emma Frost. The REAL one, not that skinny emo girl from Wolverine. Bring Rogue back to the fore - give her powers back, make her go nuts and absorb somebody. Develop Kitty Pryde more. More Beast. No Wolverine! or at least just a cameo.
Look, despite its flaws, Singer's X-Men film are masterpieces compared to X3 and Wolverine. Give Singer a chance to get back to the franchise in the way he intended. Get Joss Whedon to write the script. Only put Singer on the Magneto thing if it leads to more proper X-Men films. -
Magnetos involvement in Project Valkyrie. He was the reason Hitler survived the explosion.
-
Means... X-3 was fucking terrible but I'm too nice to say anything about it.
-
The airplane sequence rocked. The one and only time in the whole movie that I was like "Fuck yeah, THIS is fucking Superman!" Rest of the movie was a bore and disgracful. Still I would watch it any day over Wolverine or some stupid shit like that.
-
as far away as possible.
-
Jun 01, 2009 2:27:30 PM CDT
um, CTop, you've heard of this whole Avengers thing, right?
by oisin5199
Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, all these movies leading into Avengers. Isn't this exactly what you're talking about?
-
that guy, too. Ant-Man?
-
so he can stay the fuck away from major comic book franchises. There should be a you-get-to-fuck-up-only-one-comic-book-movie rule. That way Singer, Raimi, and MSJ would be banned from touching comic book heroes ever again.
-
Jun 01, 2009 2:30:31 PM CDT
Oh no, Conti, don't look to Harry Potter for how to do a series
by d.vader
The Harry Potter series is absolutely TERRIBLE when it comes to foreshadowing future events or referencing previous movies. They leave so much detail out of each film in some numbskull attempt to make each film "fresh" for a new viewer it seems, as if anyone would just go see the 6th Potter film without seeing the rest first. Look to LOTR for how to do a film series correctly. That had many excellent bits of foreshadowing and past references that made the Tolkien Universe feel large and real. Whereas the Potter universe feels increasingly smaller and smaller when they neglect to give attention to anything/anyone other than the core characters.
-
... complaints about Singer's Superman descend into blatant homophobia so often? Is it really hard to just say the film was kinda dull and overlong? As for a Magneto prequel, does anyone think it'll turn out any good given the studio bankrolling it? They managed to botch a Wolverine solo movie; that shouldn't be possible!
-
Seems like Singer has some Nazi Fetish going on... Apt Pupil, Concentration camps, Valkerie etc...
-
X2 was overrated, but still pretty good. I actually like the first one better, but that probably IS just me.
-
BUT let us see if they deliver. I am hoping that do - I only hope they don't rush it just so they can have everyone ready for the Avengers (i.e., Captain America's story taking place most nowadays instead of WWII so he is ready to go as an Avenger).
However, I will say I have more faith in Marvel Studios having everything connected than I do the past studios (FOX, SONY). Marvel has a vested interest to keep the sagas going as long as possible and as good as possible while keeping people interested - the other ones only seemed to care about how much they would make that year without worry about future films (FF anyone?). -
...though not by much. This completely arbitrary statement will not be backed up by any facts, as it's been a helluva long time since I watched either, and they were both pretty forgettable, but that's the impression I was left with. And X2 was pretty damn good, if a little too Wolverine-heavy to be a proper X-Men movie. So, what all this means is, Singer should come back to X-Men, but not on a lame McKellen-less Origins prequel. It's too bad that they won't just toss X3 and let Singer re-do it his way.
-
just in different ways.
-
But I have read the books, and I just assumed they referenced the other movies like how the books referenced back to previous ones.
So Marvel should be imitating what the Harry Potter movies SHOULD be doing. -
... Razorback: The Movie about the truckdriver with the Arkasas Razorback team mascot costume and "the mutant ability to drive anything." There's a movie I'd like to see!
-
... But still don't understand why it isn't pronounced ahr-kan-zuss!
-
After so many people paid to see Wolverine, FOX has earned the right to keep ass raping this franchise. I was done after the first X-men film. Truly embarrassing after the first twenty minutes. Singer fucked himself with Superman and it clearly proves that he CANNOT direct action. His writers are poo and his costume choices are atrocious. The X-men have been ruined for ten years now and its painful seeing these characters on screen each time with no respect.
-
They'll give him a huge budget and the ending will have us (well those of us who liked his X-films) wishing for a better film than X1 was. I loved Superman Returns. It fits with Donner's universe and I only felt it lacked a really physically threatening villain to balance out the love/son story. When I watched it I couldn't help but wonder what Singer could have done with that budget on X3. Let's just leave Zak Penn out of it, k?
-
I realize now that prequels are just a product of the same cowardice that's producing all of the remakes in recent years. Hollywood seems too scared to move forward and tell a new story. It's so much easier (and so much free publicity) to just "re-imagine" something beloved. And prequels are more of the same, really--let's tell a story with a predetermined outcome that shoehorns in many of the familar and also-beloved elements we already know.It's pathetic, and yet somehow inevitable. If Hollywood is ultimately going to be all about the bottom line, then why wouldn't they sit down with a balance sheet and compare the returns on ST:TNG sequels and the current Muppet Babies ST prequel and say, "one approach makes us more money than the other. Do the one that makes more money. Repeatedly."We've entrusted our imaginations to accountants. Has film as a commercial enterprise gone past a point of no return artistically?
-
I have a very hard time imagining the general, movie-going audience giving a crap about this one. Heck, even I don't care, and I enjoyed and own all of the X-Men movies. This has "turd" stamped all over it.
-
The books do a terrific job of referencing the other books and events. The movies, not so much. Just a quick example that popped in my head: In the 5th book (and movie) Hagrid tells the kids he was sent by Dumbledore on a mission of peace to the giants. In the book, he was sent with the other human/giant hyrbid introduced to the Potterverse in Book 4, the headmaster of that all-girls school we saw in "Goblet of Fire". You know, the one that he had an almost romantic relationship with. However in the movie, they chose not to mention her at all. And why? Would it kill them to have Hagrid say "I went with the headmaster of Beauxbatons, you remember her from last year,"? Would that really take up so much time? No, they didn't include it because they don't seem to care about details. I imagine their excuse would be "Casual viewers would be confused." And my retort to them was to look to the LOTR films and how often they referenced people and places that were never even seen or heard from in the films, and tell me how well those movies were received. Bleh. The films are just made by careless people, plain and simple.
-
Singers X-Men were damn good, but no doubt he grafted his sexuality onto some of the main characters and used homosexuality as a metaphor for mutants.He also turned Supermans costume into a gay pride day uniform. He has a right to live his own life, but don't throw it in the faces of everyone else by trying to subvert characters and storylines. That is why all the homosexual references appear when Singer is mentioned, because he made it part of the story. Other gay directors do not try to impose their lifestyle on well established characters, and neither should singers, regardless of where he sticks his dick.
-
Fox has a formula for printing money with these X-Men films...X3 and Wolverine were both shit but made hundreds of millions of dollars. Why should they change that formula if you retards keep giving them money?
-
While D. Vader is right that the films fail the books when it comes to connecting the stories (and fail more with each subsequent film, which is frustrating because of how many individual elements they get right), the films haven't been compromised in the way you accurately point out that the Spider-Man films have.The HP films may leave out a lot of things that would make the stories richer and deeper, but they haven't done anything to fold up the storyline like Spider-Man did, because they know exactly what story they're telling and how many films in which they have to tell it.Mashing up things like Spider-Man and X-Men storylines probably seemed like a good idea at the time, when it was new and unproven, but looking back it's hard to not see those films and think, "why did they ever take all the trouble to mix thing sup this much when they could have just stuck with the internal logic of the comics?"back to HP for a moment--Vader's spot-on about how well LOTR connects the dots, and I wish we could get director's cuts of all the HP films that are an hour longer and which give the subtler aspects of the books their due. Sadly, I doubt most of what's been cut from the book versions was ever filmed. Thank goodness they're doing the final book as two films, anyway.
-
LOTR movies were long, slow and dragged out with the damn foreshadowing shit and unnecessary extraneous detail that only the people who read and loved The Similarion book, or however the fuk it is spelled, without falling asleep after the fifth page, would enjoy. Fellowship rocked, the others became progressively worse and longer and longer.
-
Jun 01, 2009 3:05:03 PM CDT
Superman was good...but we've had this conversation before
by six demon bag
i liked it for the action sequences but mostly for the intimate parts..the quiet parts. i think this film wouldve been blasted either way..had it been just a big loud dumb action film, they wouldve been crucified. too much "talking" and its boring....i think they did a pretty good job.
-
Except for "Back to back!!!" on the cooling tower but that's only because I enjoy spinning camera shots. They jotted down some "cool" characters, a basic outline of a Wolverine revenge story, and shot as is. Wolverine was not always vengeful, but they felt that was the only way to justify his ferocity which begs the question...what ferocity? "You were an animal then, you're an animal now." WTF was Brian Cox on about? Hey, remember when Jimmy/Logan/Wolverine said "I can't be a part of this anymore because this suddenly reminds me of Platoon!" and then just walked away? And then he got a bunch of lumberjack buddies and a hot girlfriend to cuddle with on a mountain? My god what a fucking brutal animal Wolverine was. They hit point A-B-C, etc fine. But there was no time for me to give a shit about the death of some guy who said ONE funny thing in the entire movie and I'm referring to MOST of the characters. There wasn't even a hint of the roots of mutant prejudice. I mean, Wolverine and Sabretooth (Victor ftw) openly dice up some Nazis and their Army buddies don't give a shit? See what happened without Singer? I thought you were the moon, Brian Singer...but you were the trickster.
-
X2 was a crowd pleaser like Star Trek...it sure had its flaws but it did some things right in a big way. I loved watching it at the theater...now it doesn't seem that great but can't dismiss that first reaction totally. Singer has some talent, but he gave birth to Superman Returns and can not be forgiven for that.
-
What? You don't like people walking?
-
They COULD have a studio-sustaining long-term franchise if they plan things ahead. Do a "Batman Begins" with Prof X recruiting kids to fight Magneto (with no wolverine), then do a sequel that introduces wolverine with much fanfare. Then do Hellfire club, 2-movie Phoenix saga, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, the cure, and so on. It has the potential for Bond-like longevity if they do the right stories in the right order. The most important thing is to NOT CRAM EVERYTHING INTO ONE MOVIE.
-
Bryan Singer is a very slow director, in the way that M. Night is--they are both not very good with film pacing, not at all. Their films often plod along relentlessly as if without a compass for story arcs? The first X-Men was a very flawed film...and the second film...a marked improvement, but very slow, like the original, and strangely lacking any real excitement--both films are guilty of that. Next, Superman Returns, just a very poor, slow, and disturbing film, when you really stop to analyze it.
-
I am not sure what some people wanted from Superman. I thought is was a very good film. Luthor had to be the villain since the character was away from the mainstream for so long.
Singer needs to come back to the X-Men universe. However, Fox will probably find some way to fuck it up. -
D.Vader, I share your frustration about how Hollywood approaches these films, and how well a different approach worked with LOTR. And it makes me think back to The Empire Strikes Back--there's a film that drops you right into the middle of things, in some bizarre world completely unlike anything in the first film, with characters looking different, dressed differently, and in different roles than where we left them at the end of Star Wars. No apologies, no compromise, just BAM--welcome to the next chapter, and if you haven't seen the first movie, you're lost.Looking back, it only gets more amazing with time the amount of integrity ESB was made with, and how apologetic it feels when films of today don't take their own worth--and the expectation for the viewer to know a thing or two--for granted.
-
I'm actually having a hard time thinking up any at the moment myself.
-
Concerning Potter - the movies, I agree completely. Just like Nolan can still use the Joker by reference and it would work wonders, if he wanted. I am happy that Potter 6 has Steve Kloves back. To have this T.V. director come in and a new writer for Potter 5 movie, when Book 5 to me was always going to be the hardest was a risk that didn't pay off. I didn't hate it, but it didn't stand the test of time as much as the others. For me, I hope the Potter 5 director will do better with Kloves who has a good record with these scripts. Oh Potter 5, that horrible edit of the Umbridge montage and then immediately the sacking of Trewalny (sp?) always stuck in my goofy craw.
But don't worry, the headmaster of Beauxbatons will have her own movie soon after the Potter movies are done!
And by the way Spielberg "returned" for Crystal Skull . . . if the idea for the story sucks . . . -
action sequences?? what sequences are you referring to?
-
Jun 01, 2009 3:13:46 PM CDT
Who cares!! X-men movie franchise is"ONLY" financially viable
by picardsucks
Not creatively so. Who gives a shit I'd rather see The Man of Steel made anyway
-
Jun 01, 2009 3:13:59 PM CDT
Hire Joss Whedon...And Give Him The X-Men: X-Men Origins Is Dead
by media messiah
Wolverine killed X-Men: Origins. Hire Joss Whedon. What he did with Serenity, dramatically speaking, was truly somethng special. If he could capture that kind of magic with an X-Men film, wow???!!!!!
-
Jun 01, 2009 3:15:09 PM CDT
No, I don't like shots of people walking for an hour and half
by liberal_warrior
Must be a personal thing
-
They could've been a lot better. I don't want Singer back. Hell, I don't even care about Magneto's story. Ian McKellen shouldn't have ever been cast as Magneto. He looks like he's 100 years old! Not bad ass at all. That geriatric fuck!
-
What with Han saying he needs to pay off Jabba the Hutt, a character we had never met before, and Yoda telling Obi-Wan that "There is another." When you watch the film for the first time, you have no idea what those references mean, and you get no payoff in the movie. The payoff comes in the next chapter. THAT's how you make a continuing series. Make them feel organically interconnected, not just loosely related due to the same characters, the way the Potter films feel. Going back to my point above, using the other human/giant hybrid Olympe from Goblet of Fire. Just referencing her name in the 5th movie would have fulfilled the idea put forth at the end of the the 4th movie, that everyone has to work together to survive the future. It works because, ta-da, you now have people of different countries working together to prevent the onslaught of Voldemort. Removing this quick and easy reference to a previous film and character robs the series of that interconnected feeling, and it pretty much undercuts that idea of cooperation that the 4th film was all about. Warner Bros. approached the Potter series from the wrong angle: bottom dollar instead of proper storytelling. I can't tell you how much I wish they had taken a page out of PJ and LOTR's playbook. I mean, no Extended Editions? Those would sell like hotcakes to the Potter faithful! Its staggeringly stupid and shortsighted to think they never considered this.
-
Wolverine has made $170 mil so far, but Wolverine is one of the most popular X-men ever.
-
Teary eyed people holding back from crying every time they talk.
Philistine. -
At least give me a hot chick running around fighting half naked Fox sure as hell can't make a decent or even mediocre movie...just give something to fantasy about...... I would love a half naked fine ass Wonder Woman movie given the The Dark Knight treatment.FUCK SAKES MAN! THIS SUPER GAY HERO MOVIE SHIT LEAVES ME LIMP WITH LINGERING HOMOSEXUAL TENDENCIES!
-
making origin movies for Lando and Yoda and an AT-AT! Just imagine how awesome Empire will be then. Fucking Boba origin Episode 2 bullshit. Fucking disguised mercenary useing his real name, again I say, "What are you?!" "I'm Bruce Wayne!'
-
I do think he is probably tired of the Nazis though. It would nice to have him on for X-Men 4 and erase the crap that was X-3.
-
X-Men was pretty good...but I think that the fanboys inflated the overall value of X2. Superman Returns was just far too slow and poorly plotted. It had some good moments (like the airplane scene); however, the rest of the film was just flat boring (and I am a fan of Superman). Singer might think that he is a "deep" director...but even his best films are too slowly paced for the intelligent film-goer.
-
"Philistine!" Was that a Crow T Robot reference? Nice! (Even if it wasn't.)
-
PHANTOM MENACE FTW!!!1!
-
The Warrior aint no damn rewind button on DVD player, look it up yourself.
-
Jun 01, 2009 3:32:54 PM CDT
Superman returns sucked. Yet his vision for X3 And x4...
by hallmitchell
Were brilliant. it would have been mind blowing to see the dark pheonix saga shot over two films. Yet fox didn't have the balls to do it.
If I was Bryan just sit it out until you are invited.
Fox has to get their front office right before good films start coming out and that won't happen for a while.
If their is going to be a Magneto film I want Bryan on it.
I am against prequels though. Yet open minded. -
Hence, I would only find examples that back up my point and refute yours!
-
X2 was the only good one. The rest blow. Magneto will suck. Who wants to see that?
-
"Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch!". Not starring Vinny Jones though.
-
he practically invented the modern super hero movie, more grounded in realism than yellow spandex.
loved both X-Men & 2, and i thought Ratner did great job on 3 though i would have loved to see Singer's take.
there are moments of Superman Returns that are pretty sublime. it's a heavy movie, really.
also, Singer gay jokes are completely dumb. -
prequels are kind of getting boring somehow. b/c it's got to fit into the established timeline/chronology which takes out some of the element of danger, doesn't it?
-
The thing with me is that I do look at the Marvel characters as having chapters in their life stories that have to be told properly. Each Marvel character has at least one defining moment that has to be told in the movies – it just isn’t necessary that it be the first movie. But these defining moments have so much weight and importance that you can use to build up to them and you can use afterwards for motivation in the next movies.
For me, Spider-Man’s biggest moment is the Death of Gwen Stacy. If you saved it for, say, Spider-Man 3 you could have had him fall in love with Gwen Stacy, have a love triangle between those Peter, Gwen & MJ, had the death of Captain Stacy causing Gwen to hate Spider-Man (a reverse of the “Lois Lane loves Superman but doesn’t like Kent” scenario), had Harry Osborn heart broken by either MJ or Gwen, had Harry become addicted to drugs, had Norman blame Peter Parker/Spider-Man for this, and than had the death of Gwen Stacy. Following that you could have a movie showing Peter dealing with the grief, J.J. Jamison hiring some villain to go after Spider-Man for murdering Gwen, had Peter succumb to the symbiote in his anger and bitterness, have Peter Parker falling in love again, and than bring in the Hobgoblin as a horrible ghost of the worst thing that has ever happened to him. Now you have material for at least 5 or 6 movies – and we haven’t even brought up really what villains he could fight and what their plots would be.
The same thing with the X-Men; I look at the Death of Phoenix as the central X-Men story, and if they had a better buildup to it they could of milked 2 or 3 stories dealing with the aftermath (my personal opinion is that they should of saved “God Loves, Man Kills” until after Jean Grey’s death). But they didn’t do any foreshadowing, and her death didn’t have any real resonance. Had they had the Hellfire Club (or something similar0 and showed her corruption from Phoenix into Dark Phoenix, maybe I would have cared a little more than I did.
Now oisin was right on calling me out on the Avengers movie, but the thing is that Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America are more straightforward adventure characters than the X-Men, FF or Spider-Man. They all have arcs and complex personal issues, but those issues can be handled at whatever time you want, or are basically part of their origin story (Cap’s big thing is the death of Buck – that probably be handled in the first movie; Iron Man’s alcoholism is basically a sub-plot that can be handled in one movie, but than you get to see them refer back to it by bringing up he is an alcoholic from than on).
-
I say let JJ Abrams reboot everything starting with Superman.
-
But can't say anything because Ratner is his buddy.
-
Fired from Marvel related projects because he made a DC comics movie? That's not the same as walking away. The hater ass monkies should get some midol for their aching pussies and quit whining about movies they don't want to see. No one put a gun in your mouth and forces you to go to any of them. The biggest fucktards out there are those homophobes and brain-deads that pan a movie that hasn't been made yet.
-
I think Gavin Hood did as best as he could, given the micro managing that went on. Let Hood move on to better things, as he deserves better then to have to deal with Rothman's idiocy anymore. Singer's dealt with him before, and knows how to handle him. Plus, being that they're going to Japan, I think Singer could do some great things with that, and maybe also give us the Wolverine that WE deserve. You know..Rothman's "fucking paying fans", as he sort of put it.
I don't know about a Magneto film. I love the character, but I don't think he'd sustain a film that's only about him. -
That depends on what you mean by good. overall, it wasn't
-
That is all.
-
while you're talking about franchises to follow. i think PIRATES was ok in the dept of evoking mythology. they might not have executed it well, but they followed the STAR WARS, EMPIRE, JEDI plot to a tee. where CHEST set up all these questions and "paid off" in the END. MAtrix failed miserably though, but i'll give credit to PIRATES on enthusiasm alone. you really dont know the motivations of the characters until the true end, and then you're not real sure. or am i reading too much into these films?
-
Brian gave us two GREAT X-Men Movies...and the only reason he left is that ASSHOLE Tom Rothman dicked him around for a year in negotiations...so he got sick of it and went to WB. FIRE Rothman...and get Singer Back!! Or don't make anymone CRAPPY X-Men Movies until the rights revert back to Marvel! Oh...and did I mention Tom Rothman is a FUCK-TARD!!!
-
Its just a shallow action movie without him. It's time to return Bryan. It's time to return home.
-
one reason i dont like all these films is that they are literally cannabalizing the classics and their franchises. in an attempt to make a quick cash grab, they will package a known classic reboot, origin, spin off together--which only marrs the originals...oh, and if it doesnt make money the first time and is critically bashed, we'll just try again in 3 years. FILMS SHOULD NOT BE SHITTY COVERS SONGS!!!it reminds me of seeing those shitty establishments that avow--UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!!!! yay? step away as fast as you can
-
What the hell?
-
well the plane sequence for one. and uh...uh...dammit.
-
1st things 1st - May the wings of liberty never lose a feather. Okay, now I think you're reading too much into Pirates. I mean they could have easily gone the way of another aventure story, they're pirates for god's sake. but they had to go with this back-to-back Star Wars, Matrix, everything is related B.S. I mean they really just took what people seemed to like about the first one and go overboard. Matrix - ridiculously long fight scenes. Star Wars - Jango fucking Fett amongst other shit. Pirates - "Where's the rum?" Woman slaps jack "Where's the rum?" The first movie Depp had room to be crazy,then they had to screw it up by giving every action of his a reason. Why, Hollywood! Why!
-
Here we go again. You want a list?
1) (and foremost) SUPERMAN RETURNS is a badly updated rehash of SUPERMAN 1. How many years and how may millions of dollars were spent on this? Virtually every beat from the first film is repeated here, except BIGGER and LOUDER, and without any of the IMPACT of the original. All this time and the best they can scrape together is Lex Luthor and another one of his not-so-brainy real estate scams?
2) Pre-teen cast? It's been said a million times before, but the cast of "Smallville" had more depth and maturity than either Routh or What's-Her-Name. Jimmy Olsen was cast well ... but he actually comes off as around the same age as Lois Lane. What was so wrong about putting Parker Posey in as Lois? She was the same age as Margot Kidder circa SUPERMAN II, looks eerily similar and is far and away a better actress. And Spacey, while doing an excellent job, ain't Hackman. Could they not afford the maestro, or did he wisely decide THE QUEST FOR PEACE was "the line".
3) The Super Kid. If this is meant to be (and Singer has admitted as much) "The Real SUPERMAN III", then how in the hell did Superman father a son? When he was human during those five minutes in SUPERMAN II? Then the KID would be human, yes? I thought about it, why didn't the writers?
4) Please explain how the Kryptonite Island pretty much turned Superman into a wussy, then, moments later, he was able to LIFT IT UP AND THROW IT INTO SPACE?
5) SUPERMAN RETURNS suffers from what I'm now gonna refer to as "Abrams-itis", in which, rather than have the balls to throw the past aside and start over, we get a "maybe it's a sequel, maybe it's a remake" type film. Everybody else in the cast is a new actor ... EXCEPT the creepy Marlon Brando cameo, which only furthers the confusion, since Lois Lane is now fifteen and Superman de-aged to maybe legal drinking age. For that matter, since the last five years or however long he was supposed to be gone didn't appear to go so well, how come he didn't just spin the goddamn Earth back in time to like the day after he left for Krypton? In other words, you got a new cast, you have what is apparently the script for SUPERMAN 1 with the word "helicopter" replaced with "space shuttle" (and "American" with "all that stuff"), why not just call it what it is: a fucking REMAKE?
6) ... and for a movie called SUPERMAN RETURNS, I usually expect to see some dude flying around doing, you know, SUPER-STUFF. Routh's character spends ninety percent of the film either stalking Lois, being prison-shanked by Lex Luthor, getting his ribs kicked in by Kumar, being saved by Normal Small Prop Plane Pilot Dude (or, if you will, "Cyclops"), wincing because he just can't deal with the pressure of being Superman ... and he ends the movie LAYING IN A GODDAMN HOSPITAL BED. I don't need a Superman that does nothing but kick ass for ninety minutes, but SUPERMAN 1 managed to balance out the heroics, the character and the dilemmas without putting a goddamn Virginia Slim in his mouth Seriously! There were a few scenes in the movie where I was waiting for Routh to pop out a fucking rape whistle. -
Spot on.
-
Do The New Mutants movie. Technically, Doug, Xian, Warlock, Illyana, Sam, Roberto, Amara, Dani and Rahne aren't part of the X-Men franchise whose rights you sold to Fox. Beat Fox at their game, show them how it's done, once more (not only Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk also earns extra points with repeated viewings, lol).
-
Trashed the franchaise, which had already faltered at 'Last Stand'; Origins is truly one of the biggest screen writing abominations ever committed to film. What a waste of a Marvel tent-pole character, should have got Singer on board as an executive producer capacity to maintain the standard he established the first two movies and gone with Miller's Japanese Wolverine graph.
A Magneto film would be pretty boring tbh, deffo not a leading character for me and certainly not much of a box office draw. Best let the series RIP, and reboot once the stink has abated (a la Batman). -
I re-read your post on Pirates and yeah, I agree with your point, I just had to rant about Hollywood to make myself feel better. But your point in of itself is fine. (Heh, I'm sure you feel better now.)
-
i agree with your PIRATES take, i just get swept up in it. it reminded me of a GIANT farcical play. everything happening at once and you really dont know why. it could have been a lot worse. say that reminds me---OSCAR---stallone---VERY UNDERRATED FILM.
-
Let Patrick Stewart grow his hair out again.
-
let singer direct it.
-
I agree, everyone should step back and just take a looooong breath. Come back to it later. Hollywood runs on desperation. Just let it go! It's over. It's not you, it's me. Look, it just didn't work out. I confused infatuation with love . . . I'm sorry. We can still be friends. (But no lunches for a while.)
-
they set up some shit in the first two (mainly the second) that got fulfilled in the final chapter. i think the key ingredient is filming the films together. BTTF 2 and 3 were done together. as were PIRATES 2 and 3. thats it. in all i think the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy as the greatest payoff with everything be answered and wrapped up nicely, (star wars 4-6 not included)
-
Jun 01, 2009 4:33:19 PM CDT
Singer's X-men were good "films" but stupid compared to the sour
by damien chowder
-
This sounds like more from the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" camp. Sorry, but some mistakes simply can't be undone.
-
Oscar - indeed. No, I appreciate anyone liking/disliking a movie as long as they are open to real critism. I mean, I get that Tron was never meant to win Pic of the Year, but damn we'll never see another like it. (Especially T-2on, or 2RON, or Ron-T-2? How many lumps - but seriously, I kid.)
-
Chris Pine would make a great Cyclops, no?
-
I think that's a problem. Take Matrix, the first was fine, but then they got greedy. Save money and make it a real cliffhanger to get them back for the final installment of the trilogy (no, really, it was always planned as one! Really!)
Back to the Future I give kudos for Zemeckis trying something new. Unfortuantely, Hollywood sensed the money they cold save . . . I mean if not done B2B then at least they can figure out what went wrong and fix some issues. Thank God Spidey 3 wasn't filmed with 4. It can be done, it's just tricky. LOTR had the whole story already done. There was no "fairweather-fan-influence" if you will. -
Do whatever you want with them. They're dead to me.
-
c'mon it'd be great.
-
Rothman and Berry however...
-
is this true??
-
That is something that should be in every movie - a surprise that happens but in hindsight you realize that it makes perfect sense and has been hinted at all along (basically every murder mystery relies on this).
The reason I bring this up is that comic book movies should be doing this over a long term, like set things up over 2 or 3 movies. ESB has been referred her already, and that does an awesome job of setting up an inevitable surprise: Vader is Luke's father. After that little piece of info your mind races back to the last two movies to see if it all fits, and sure enough it does. They also set up the next twist with "There is another" which unfortunately they didn't pay off as well.
LOTR fits as well, when in the first movie (and book) Gandalf says that Gollum may have yet a part to play in this, and sure enough, he is the one actually responsible for the rings destruction. -
it's a shame, because he is a very talented filmmaker. The Usual Suspects is a great example of his ability to match the emotions of a script, without telegraphing an ending. But to be honest, I've hated him ever since he cast Bosworth as Lane, when Parker Posey was RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. The movie would have been much more entertaining with Parkey Posey as Lois. This is why I don't trust gay men with women leads
-
Why didn't Gandalf just send an army of eagles into Mordor and drop the ring in? What is Titbag's position on this glaring plothole?
-
I have one name for you that will change your opinion about gay men and women leads: George Cukor.
-
not perfect, but great anyway. The introduction of Wolverine in the shadows of a pit-fight were well done, as was the introduction of Xavier's school. X2 had a kick ass opening sequence. I've forgiven x3 since Wolverine came out. Its kind of like having 2 retarded brothers.. I can't hate them anymore.
-
It can only be WALKED to Modor (notice how the hobbits never really get any ponies? They are always walking...walking...walking...)
-
Jun 01, 2009 4:56:56 PM CDT
Continentaloupe - different era, but I dig your meaning
by joker gordon levitt
There's not many Kate Hepburns to be found
anymore. -
Lots of it.
-
Nonononononononononono...
-
A solid, versatile director not afraid to tackle different genres.
-
I was just messing with you anyways. But the funny thing is that Singer goes against a long tradition of gay directors being good with actresses. In fact, he is terrible with actresses - has he ever had an interesting female character? Storm an Jean Grey were pointless in his X-Men movies, and Rogue was pretty much good for one film and then become the beard for Pyro and Ice Man.
-
You know he wants to.
-
Jun 01, 2009 5:02:08 PM CDT
Proyas! I will scream until I'm blue in the face!
by joker gordon levitt
X-4: The Search for Cyclops. - Starring Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Aisha Tyler as Storm, Sawyer as older Gambit, and Josh Duhamel as Cyclops. Chris Walken as Mr Sinister.
-
Haha, I'm kidding. I've seen what he wears.
-
Marsden is fine.
-
gay-camoflague.
-
when you make the first one, make it good.when you make the first one good, make sure the second one will be betterwhen you begin the first one, have an outline of what you will be doing in the next two films, and not haphazardly picking stories and villians (and letting your children name characters--IM LOOKING AT YOU GEORGIE BOY!!)make sure the final film wraps up nicely so some dipshit CEO or grifter director( ahem-MCG-ahem) doesnt hijack your art. no winona ryder--sorry contino plot holes...make an airtight outline so you can get blasted. focus groups be damned. film them all at the same time so studios cant give you notes after the first makes a shitload and they get greedy. do. not. dumb. it. down.for. mass.audiences.ever.become James Cameron (just kidding)DID I LEAVE ANYTHING OUT???
-
but I would love to see Singer tackle stuff other than superheroes. Except for Tom Cruise's "serious face" throughout the film, Valkryie was a well crafted piece of history.
-
Um, Patrick Stewart doesn't have any hair. We really is that bald...
-
I couldn't tell by how little they used him in the movies.. Marsden has never really played a tough leader like Cyclops should be. I guess I'm down to see him try. As long as Proyas directs!!!
-
Fucker's gonna blow up like Clooney after Lost.
-
Have them no more than two years a part. Nothing robs a franchises momentum than than having the next one appear 3 or 4 years later (or even 5).
-
It had it's moments but it seemed to just not to be About anything much. A rehash of the land-grab crap from the first one, ya know? Singer just wasn't the right guy for it. Mikey_Bay had a brief in on this franchise, whether you like him or not, you KNOW you'd get yer shit blowing up and then some there w/ Supes. Not impressed really. Singer can go back to Xmen and be right back at home, sure. He never shoulda left the franchise in the first place.
-
except for: Sign the actors to 3 picture deals so you don't get Terrence Howarded.
-
So much so, Singer should've casted him as Supes.
-
I don't want to see some 20-something playing Mags, I wanna see goddamn Ian McKellen who gave the role the weight that made it memorable. Bringing back Singer would probably be good, but he has to do better than that craptacular Superman movie. But this movie needs McKellen as Mag for at least, like, 80 percent of the movie to not suck.
-
Someone asked once why not jsut tie it to Shadowfax and then "Ride Shadowfax, Ride! Never stop!" Seriously, the Eagles, like the Ents, didn't care about the problems of the three races. And by the time the ring was found I'm sure the skies were watched and arrows ready. Not to mention how boring. But give Jackson credit, he took "they walked up and threw the ring in" sequence and made it work for the screen. I mean damn!
-
. . . at least Georgie-Boy (said EXACTLY like Malcolm McDowell) decided to NOT include IN-Sink because his daughter wanted them in a cameo. Then again, would it really have mattered?
I think you're right about Spidey 4 and 5 as far as the last report. -
His under hair.
-
People dont get that the main reason Singer grounded his X-men movies in reality is because he didnt have a budget. Which is why all of the mutants powers were so tamed in these movies and why pretty much nobody except Xavier and Logan looked like their counter parts. NO BUDGET. The Mansion invasion and Nightcrawlers scene were the only entertaining action scenes in any of the movies and thats terrible. Singer starts his movies off with incredible strength to keep you in your seats and then walks away from the camera. However, I could see where he wanted to go with X2 but his writers are terrbile. He clearly wasnt to blame for X1 because of shitty studio decisions. The movie was gonna be big but fell short to Rothmans involvement. Cutting six months of production to make a summer release instead of Christmas. Look it up. Its one of the main reasons why the X-men costumes were so generic and gay and why beast, angel, Blob, and Juggernaught were cut out of the script. Nothing is gonna change if he comes back. They will give him an even less budget to work with and no back up. Bottom line as long as FOX is involved, X-men is dead
-
The great foreshadowing that was done in the last shot of Spider-man 2 was wasted, in my opinion, when they didn't kill Mary Jane in part 3.
-
...cutscenes in X-men Legends 2 and Ultimate Alliance to do a direct to dvd series/flick/series of flicks, people would eat it up.
-
no contest
-
He's the only Villain that we mostly agree with. Besides his carefree attitude towards civilian casualties you can't argue with his philosophy. I will definitely pay to see Eric exact his revenge against those who've committed crimes against humanity. I can't think of a better story-line to showcase his mastery of magnetism.
-
no more. no less.
-
With all this discussion, no one's given any thought to what would go into an actual Magneto film. Bryan Singer could possibly elevate this material. Here's the thing. Magneto is not a superhero. So there's no need to make this a superhero film in the formulaic way that superhero films have become. Why not make it an honest-to-goodness drama, that just happens to involve mutant superpowers? In the same way that Battlestar Galactica (the recent one) was a serious drama that just happened to take place in space. If you've read the recent Magneto Testament comic, there's some really interesting stuff that could be worked into a story, especially with the WWII setting. The central story of Magneto is the loss of his family and his cruel treatment of his second family (Wanda and Pietro), in favor of an adopted mutant family (the first Brotherhood). So maybe you work in Mystique (but I'd say recast with different makeup effects - make her more of a shrewd, intelligent assassin than the first two films), and definitely have Xavier and Moira McTaggert as characters. Perhaps a few minor mutants to round things out, but by all means, avoid the TOO MANY MUTANTS issue. Concentrate on strongly developing the central characters, and leave the rest for window dressing. This shouldn't be a "kickass" brainless exercise like X3, but a serious and sober drama that asks pertinent questions about the human condition. It shouldn't be a prequel just to lead up to the X films. It should be a decent movie in its own right. So I guess I disagree with those of you who have this strong need to tie it into the other films' continuity. I hope it does do that, but I want that to happen subtly, almost as a side effect. I don't want it to look like the filmmakers contorted themselves to make things fit - just as much as I don't want things to contradict continuity without a damn good reason. I just want that stuff settled in the background, while the foreground just tells a damn good story.
-
You ruined DC's flagship charcter.And since you left the xmen franchise, who needs your overrated ass anymore?
-
people who don't like and/or understand them. No more dreary black leather/pleather costumes. Let Marvel have their IP's back.
-
They pissed all over the X-Men franchise with Last Stand and Wolverine. The franchise is fucking dead to me - UNLESS they bring Singer back for the REAL third X-Men movie, pretending that Last Stand never happened - except for the casting of Fraiser as Beast, because that was every bit as perfect as Patrick Stewart for Professor X - and either do the Phoenix Saga the right way or just go with the whole Trask/Sentinels story, with a few crumbs of what's to come in the Phoenix Saga, which would be the next two or three movies. If Fox has the balls to do that, and to lock Singer with the rest of the cast into a 3-picture deal, then my faith in the franchise would be restored and I'd have just the biggest geekgasm ever. But we know that won't happen. So Singer might as well move on to something else.
-
The only way Transformers 2 will rawk will be if they use "green-to-white-technology" You gotta want it!
-
Unless they send Harry to a free pre-advance screening of whatever X-Men that Singer directs, then we know in advance - and if we do not know it, Harry will tell us - that the movie will be horrible and that we should avoid seeing it, but should buy an extra copy of Fanboys.
-
You should have been more specific! ;)
-
Was the bast part in the x-men movie.
-
he brought intellect to the table and respect for the character and those who established first (in Supes case). he was maybe a little too reverent with Donner's version, which is fine by me. i like how he took those two films and RETURNed to them 5 years later. it wasnt a drastic reboot or dramatic overhaul. nice. and i stick to it. i didnt want balls to the wall action or dumbed down for the audience, which is why people take offense to it. Superman is never going to be dark like Batman, its just not his character arc. this is probably the most "realistic" as its gonna get.
-
Because its established, early on, that he's been programmed to be a Good Guy Terminator. Again: NOT IRONY. Not all plot contrivances, gimmick's, and/or "twists" are *ironic*. Sorry, just accept it. Love the movie all you want, but Good Guy Daddy Terminator IS NOT IRONY. Sorry.
-
Jun 01, 2009 6:55:02 PM CDT
I actually hated seeing the Magneto/Concentration scene
by continentalop
I always thought stuff like that is so much more powerful when implied - just a shot of him looking down at this wrist and seeing the numbers tattooed there is enough motivation and back story for me.
-
The only good decision on 'Superman Returns' was the casting of Brandon Routh, the rest of the film was, on a conceptual level, a total mess, especially for a reboot. He had an outdated vision of Luthor, a beligerent and cold Lois Lane and a story that went absolutely nowhere. WB should have went the 'Batman Begins' route and started from the beginning (IMO this should still do this, they can retain Routh but that should be 'SR' only legacy). 'X-men' and 'X2' succeed better, but if i was an Xmen fan i would be furious at the changes he made to the characters.
-
Jun 01, 2009 6:58:58 PM CDT
X Men Origins - The popcorn kernal I found under my seat
by lockesbrokenleg
starring Hugh Jackman
-
Your defense of Superman Returns is like caruso_stalkers defense of Alien³ - I just don't understand how you can like them. BUT I do respect your reasons for maybe liking them and your passion in defending that opinion.
-
ONE OLD QUEEN AND ONE OLD QUEEN IN TRAINING. OH MY. THE FUN. THE COLOUR OF THOSE DRAPES!
-
Jun 01, 2009 7:23:41 PM CDT
Superman is deeper and darker than even his so calleddefenders
by malkovichmalkovich
I don't understand that whenever people talk about the Superman character , it's always, "Superman wouldn't do that, Supermans not dark, Batmans the dark one". Has any of these people read a Superman comic in the last decade? Start with 'For Tomorrow', 'Red Son', 'Kingdom Come', 'Justice', 'Birthright'. Supermans methods differ from Batmans because their abilities are different (which in fact is discussed in both 'for Tomorrow' and 'Justice') but he is just as tortured a soul. All these people who comment on how outdated he is, or more flatteringly, how sunny he is, use the donner version of the character as their only example and it's not what Superman is anymore. Mark Millar has a great concept for what a Superman film trilogy could be, if only WB would listen.
-
saw Alien 3 when i was a teen and it just blew my mind that Ripley sacrificed herself. a departure from Aliens which i relentlessly loved (still do). a downer for sure, but rewarding. SR--i had a child a little before that was out and long story short the mom really didnt want me in his life, so i related to it in that sense. took her to court a few times. him wanting to be in his life and guide him, what more does a father wish? dont worry--it ended well, i got custody of my son.
-
IN LOS ANGELES ON STAGE
-
It's not a universally loathed film like Alien 3 is. Superman Returns wasn't the greatest comic book movie ever, but it's far from awful. I'm not gonna defend it to my death, but it's a well made, solid film that rehashes too many of the old themes and characters without trying anything bold or new. Alien 3, however, shit on the entire franchise by killing everyone and removing any characters that we give a shit about.
-
Jun 01, 2009 7:31:45 PM CDT
I'm tweeting from the theater right now. This movie sucks.
by snake foreskin
Cameron is a tweeting twat of a hack. Or hack of a twat. I haven't decided. Okay, THAT was pretty cool. More later.
-
Twitter 3D!
-
Although I'm watching Valkyrie right now and that's not bad. Everything else is pretty much boring trash by that bloke.
-
Jun 01, 2009 7:33:52 PM CDT
I don't like the character designs. Just like Transformers!
by snake foreskin
This is lame.
-
Wow. Jimmy has really lost his touch. This is Dark Angel bad.
-
I think overall the story is a mess and... cheese it, the cops!
-
Yeah, Usual Suspects was so boring. Especially that boring ending which makes you view the entire movie differently, and filmmakers have been trying to copy for years... because it's so boring.
-
Seriously.
-
Screw it. This franchise needs a reboot - there's so much more potential than the original films delivered on, and no, Hugh Jackman is not a satisfactory Wolverine.
Things that I could get excited about in a reboot -
Better Casting (exceptions - Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen)
Better Costumes - we've seen it pulled off in Spiderman and Iron Man best I think - there's nothing wrong with Superheroes in costumes! And can we at least TRY putting wolverine in a mask??
SENTINELS.
-
Proving again how a half-assed script can be well-made. I mean the movie has a nice look, but it's hard to get passed the betrayel of what we journeyed through the first two movies. (Not to mention going from Aliens plural to ONE much smaller alien, even without weapons.) These days we seem to get both more and more, half-assed scripts AND directors worried more about, "Hey the first 100 times the people laughed at the comedian being mauled by an animal after getting close to it and talking baby-talk" so put it in! Give Magneto a fucking lemur that he can coo with and have the lemur attack him. And fuck, why not, Eddie Murphy can play all the roles in fat-suits, cause people seem to laugh at that. AHHHHHHHHH! (and breathe)
-
Jun 01, 2009 7:47:22 PM CDT
Make Magneto only if you can use the awesome de-aging cgi the en
by falafalguy
Also, follow it up with a Rogue prequel. Not the cool one from the comics, but the boring one from the movie.
-
No one cuts off Falafalguy! I have kids to feed!
-
Millars idea for a superman "trilogy" is....to put it mildly,crap.Its full of overly used concepts and rehashed ideas.His ideas are too much for this character.The best part about superman is what no one seems to get right.He is first and foremost an alien,yet "we" just accept him.Theres alot of baggage he carries around because he isnt a human.No one has fleshed that out in the movies so far and millar is no exception.And millar isnt good with trying to juxtapose reality with obvious fiction.
-
Anyone see Cameron give that speech at E3? Eyeball fuckage confirmed. Also Drag Me to Hell isn't all that good. Carry on.
-
Stupid shit.
-
No need to defend your taste - I understand. All art is subjective, and everyone has there own viewpoint and experience that might make them enjoy or relate to a film. I mean, I love GI JOE because of sentimental reasons, so I can't talk.
I also think The Last American Virgin has one of the greatest endings ever. So who am I to talk? -
Alien 3 wasn't really a half-assed script, it just wasn't the one I hoped for. (I have to admit when I'm wrong!) move along . . . move along . . .
-
every reason why i was upset with T4 is tenfold (sofar) with GI JOE, if thats possible.
-
It is a blog where they look at superheroes and economics. It is pretty cool. Here is a sample that is fitting:
"Tragically, most mutants use their powers to either save the world or terrorize it. At least this is the popular depiction in Marvel Comics. Imagine what Magneto could do if he worked in construction. For one thing, all of those New York City public works project would have their completion dates moved up from 2018 to roughly five minutes from now. But instead, he spends his time sinking Russian submarines and making asteroid bases to live in. For the love of God, the man has the power to build himself a high-tech home in space. He could repair the Hubbell telescope with no trouble whatsoever."
-
He could make every roller-coaster ride exclusive! James Cameron could be his nemesis! "Trying to raise the Titatnic again, Magneto? Oh I don't think so!"
-
Where reverence to the source material is concerned.Comics Wolverine is a 5-foot, ugly, 60-something. Movie Wolverine is a 6-foot, 30-something, chick magnet.Comics Rogue is a saucy, independant woman. Movie Rogue is a timid, needy, screaming little girl.Comics Nightcrawler is an extroverted, self-respecting orthodox Catholic. Movie Nightcrawler is an introverted, self-mutilating Pagan.Comics Storm was raised to believe she was a god. Movie Storm says, "Oh, my god!" and her accent changes from film to film.Comics Wolverine is Wolverine wearing a mask. Movie Wolverine is Cyclops wearing no mask.Movie Cyclops is irreversibly reduced to a cookie cutter third leg in a love triangle.Movie Mystique has screen time with -- yet does not recognize -- her own son.And you people want this guy to come back to the franchise?
-
There are millions of different stories to tell... and stop fucking making it for kids. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
-
I always think of Jack Nicholson as Wolverine when I watch Wolf. Or at least the first two acts of Wolf before it becomes goofy. Not saying it would/should work. But Hollywood has its ways. Er . . .um . .what did you expect - Hamlet? Lol - damn I hate that bit.
-
The biggest criticism I have of Millars treatment (or concept, because that's all i've read) is that it might be too bleak and it's limited to three films, but I don't agree with you at all that the ideas are "too much" for the character. 'Red Son' was excellent and it showed he has a real grasp of Superman, even if like most writers, he assumes Superman has little capacity for strategic thought. It also wouldn't fit into the Justice League concept if WB are still considering that but it's by far the most interesting Superman film idea I've heard out of the many legitimate ones flying around, certainly better than the story arc Singer had going.
-
he was ripped in the film, just give him some chops and its LOGAN
-
i can see the comics now...this week the exciting adventures of Magneto as he builds an extension on his mansion. *panel 2, page 1* extension is done and mags is sipping lemonade in a hammock.
-
"But those guys are old!"This is what I always hear in response to my personal fancasting of the character... Harvey Keitel.
-
Go with the chops, but let him keep his Taxi Driver hair on top. I like it! Call it Logan's Run, too. (I can't imagine that title has been used.)
-
how does that translate to Bay's opus? or are we just trashing?
-
X-Men & X2 were great. Last Stand and Wolverine were a fucking joke, except no one was laughing.
-
You know, I can see that. Hell, everyone embraced fucking Dooku! No offense to Mr. Lee.
-
There's an ensemble-hero piece!
-
www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20194933_2,00.html
-
otherwise mindless themes like "I don't want giant robots in my film" will rule the day.
-
Granted, I do agree with you, yet you have to consider... How many of the stories you mention are considered canon as opposed to elseworld one-offs? Red Son and Kingdom Come are fantastic, but they aren't established canon. And it's the canon that counts. Even then you have to ride the wave of bad writer runs and their equally bad decisions that should be summarily dismissed.In the end, you have to go with the general populace's perception of the character. Even then, you must consider that Supes was diagnosed with an acute case of naivety only after Byrne's run roughly two decades ago.Ultimately, SR was the product of a director working out his adopted child issues not unlike this same director working out his homosexuality issues on X-Men. Personally, I'd prefer to see these characters adapted from their respective source material *faithfully* without so much directorial baggage. Singer has committed worse atrocities than Tim Story or Mark Steven Johnson. As a result, I wouldn't piss in Singer's mouth if he were dying of thirst.
-
Anyone remember that Spiderman vs. Wolverine story in the comics? Was that as cool as I think it was? Man, so many good stories out there, why are they wasting money on these half-assed (truly) scripts? Just reach into a bin and start shooting.
-
I hate that you're right, but you are right. But hey, I'm not greedy. I can give people their "Legolas what do your ELF-eyes see?" so the general populace gets it, but that should be the exception, not the script. Even if you hated TDK at least it showed that a true-crime Batman movie CAN be made.
-
Exactly(in regards to setting up his possible X4). No one ever gives Singer any slack for that budget of Superman Returns. As I recall, pay or play deals ate up a considerable portion of the budget before he was even on board. Returns was not perfect nor were his X-Men films, but Singer is a talented filmmaker and when he's on, he's on.
-
The answer is in the first sentence: "Where reverence to the source material is concerned." Meaning, each director holds equal affection for the material they have adapted. Each has altered the characters to the point where they are no longer a worthy representation of their roots.Yeah, perhaps "I'm just trashing." Or perhaps I'm spot on. Let's kick some facts around. You read what I wrote. Please tell me where you think I've gone rawng.
-
We need a time machine or cloning:
http://tinyurl.com/ms5r6k
http://tinyurl.com/nv9zrx
http://tinyurl.com/l5mlw7
http://tinyurl.com/nwel2g
-
Well, until people are allowed to understand there have been tragedies just as bad, if not worse. I mean, what about the Holodomor in the Ukraine? Ever notice how people roll their eyes when you suggest Hitler wasn't alone in being evil? Lots of bad shit in human history. One doesn't negate the other and vice-versa.
-
Jun 01, 2009 9:06:48 PM CDT
I also think Rutger Hauer could have been a good Magneto
by continentalop
Especially him post-Hitchhiker.
-
We go back in time, kidnap Eastwood, and somehow shrink the man. Remember when Tex would draw Logan as Eastwood during his run on Wolverine? Bad ass.
-
Hit the search box and plug in "knifey boy and his mostly mundane friends" -- be sure to include the quotes. You'll see that I've been at this for quite some time.Every time I read someone post how "Singer has been faithful to the source material" a piece of my heart hardens while a kitten slowly dies.
-
But McKellan was amazing in the role. In X2, at least.
-
He could make the Xmen films classy again instead of the shit storm they have become since he left.
-
Jun 01, 2009 9:16:51 PM CDT
FOX shouldn't make anymore films until the whole crew.....
by the founder
at Fox movies is changed.
-
...that Singer FUCKING destroyed the new Superman (returns) movie? And also, did anyone say that the X-Men movies he did were not all that great either?
Well.....someone should. -
He's Frank Castle. Or Batman.
-
Damn on the money, I seen it! I seen the truth! I'm with you. The populace should be the least common denominator. (sigh) But it isn't. I mean, Gary Oldman, if you will, got Dracula. Hell, Oldman would be a better Wolverine than Jackman because he would go for it. (Like Clark Griswald!) But as I said earlier, I have Keitel in my head now, next to Nicholson in Wolf.
-
How was he NOT cast in this role?
-
Just cast Eastwood in The Dark Tower. Just do it!
-
Bats, Logan, Punisher, Snake Plissken, Solid Snake/Big Boss, etc. He is the blueprint for the modern hero.
-
first screenshots of the game!
http://avatargame.us.ubi.com/ -
And Clint can probably play a pretty good Clint Eastwood.
-
can make a tough movie and all those politically-correct folk be damned. He's going to make a movie that has some balls. Man's got sand, that one!
-
Yeah, I don't think it would have been easy for the Eagles to just fly into Mordor as the land was heavily guarded. As it turns out, the smallest of things (Hobbits) were the only things that could sneak in. Plus, it just ruins the whole damn story.
-
Jim Brown & Chuck Norris are Power Man and Iron Fist!
-
The 70's shouldn't have been in the 70'. I guess there's nothing we can do about that now. ** i suppose **
-
..it's part of the deal...as long as they make one every few years they keep the rights, and X4 made a shit ton of money. And no kiddies Bryan won't be back, although it would be fine with me.
-
Damn straight. Thank you for a response to that. Man, I rawk! (kidding, kidding) Now if I can just get some folks to understand that Gandalf is all about fighting the shadow-realm, not the orcs. Meaning "why doesn't Gandalf just use his magic?" question. I try to put it like this, he is like a vampire hunter, man-made weapons,so to speak, no good, it's all about higher-power stuff. He's like a watcher, not to fight man's battles in that regard. Try holind a cross up to a man, doesn't work. Score!
-
You tell me exactly where in the movie its established that he has been sent back to protect John Connor. Good lord, its like talking to a child.
-
ain't it shit news can't get any exclusives these days - the talkbackers are doing all the work. Cameron talked about Avatar quite extensively at E3, and now there are screenshots from the game online - there may be more news tomorrow. Looks and sounds great - Cameron may just fuck those eyeballs after all (for any who doubted)
-
Starring Robert DeNiro as Frank Castle/The Punisher, James Caan as Billy "The Beaut" Russo/Jigsaw, Stacy Keach as Burt Kenyon/The Hitman, and Marlon Brando as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin of Crime.
-
I'm slowly but surely catching up in this TB. As for Gandalf not using his "magic"... well, I mean, what magic do these critics want? We haven't really seen him do any real "magic" so to speak, other than some awesome fireworks and some Force powers against Saruman. I think you've got a good idea, its a magic vs magic sort of thing, weapon of man against weapon of man. The magic he can use in a fight would only be a type of deception, like in the animated version of "The Hobbit" where Gandalf is able to sneak into the Goblin's den and save all the dwarves without any Goblins realizing he's entered their chamber.
-
Good lord, with all the talk about Harry Potter, Terminator, and LOTR, I've gotten a bit confused where I am...
-
Even with the out crop of some new super hero movies coming to theaters in the next few years, I do think that comic movies have just about run their course. Hollywood is doing as it always has and is running a genre of films in to the ground until the next money breaking genre comes along. Whether that be a new batch of sci-fi's, fantasy, etc.... It's really hard to tell at this point what the next type of movie will be that takes over HW. **hmm**
-
Why in God's name wouldn't you want him to come back??!!
-
What the fuck are you talking about with that one? He's got a friggin' crucifix around his neck!
-
It had it's moments, some amazing moments even, but overall, it wasn't all that good. But I blame that mostly on Rothman and Hayter.
-
Don't the songs in the cartoon just give you chills? Anywho, yeah, I mean, again, where's the fun in Gandalf doing everything? And real quick, I thought Grond lacked the BOOM in the movie and that Shelob should have been bigger. Her scale to a man, but not a hobbit. She's the size I think of for The Hobbit, Shelob was mother to all of those and should have been more towering, but that's just me. I don't think the movies could have been better. Different sure, but better? I don't see it. God bless Jackson and Co. Come on Del Toro! Don't fail us!
-
The main theme is HORRIBLE.
-
You're such a coward, zfisk.
-
Yes, I think I'll go with the stop making movies until the powers that be crash their plane into a mountain option.
-
you're outta your mind if you think Singer has commited worse sins than the directors of FF and Daredevil (who also did SIMON fuckin BIRCH!) come on!
-
GO back and watch the two and see if I'm lyin'. In 26 years you'll look back at X-Men and say to yourself, "shit."
-
iremember backs in the early 90s when WIZARD used to do "casting calls" for comic book films.. they had JCVD as gambit, arnold as cable or colossus, biehn as cyclops, rutger as magneto. think deniro was wolverine. IMAN wouldve been a good storm.
-
'The Dark Knight Returns' was elseworlds as well and it's still probably the most influential Batman comic written. Don't forget that it wasn't until Tim Burtons 'Batman' film which was inspired by the likes of 'The Killing joke' and 'the Dark Knight Returns' that the general publics perception of the Batman character changed from the Adam West TV show version. A filmmaker needs to do the same thing with Superman. And in terms of "canon", i would argue that DC doesn't prescribe to that theory anymore. They team an artist with a writer and they do twelve issues with no established history.
-
oops i didnt see the FIRST sentence...jsut the list. mybad
-
Dark Knight Returns and Killing Joke stick close to the main plot though. def Killing Joke. its not like some stories that say what if superman fought for the russians or such. i see your point, but basically the CORe of Supes is boy scout. he has no arc. batman on the other hand would kill out of revenge and have such flaws. not so with superman
-
marketsaw; what is wrong with you people - we're finally getting our first look at this thing - a game yes, but fuck it looks awesome!!!!
-
this is the all inclusive TB to all that is good
-
If taken seriously could be a great (fun) adventure. And where the hell is Conan already?!!
-
As a kid, I loved watching those animated movies, Hobbit and ROTK. I never knew what LOTR was really, aside from those two movies. And since having bought them on DVD, I really love a few of the songs, particularly the Dwarves song in the beginning of The Hobbit and the Goblin song. And from ROTK, the song about the Ring, the Bearer of the Ring, is fantastic, especially as it plays over Sam wrestling with its power before ultimately rejecting it. As for Grond, I thought it was handled well. You really saw the fear in Gandalf's face when he saw it from the ramparts. As far as Shelob goes, yeah she could always be bigger, but there's a few long shots during her fight with Sam where she looks pretty damn massive. The Mirkwood spiders in the Hobbit cartoon weren't that big, so I never imagined them to be movie-Shelob-size.
-
I thought that was the Twitch TB =).
-
also one of the BEST STAR WARS clips I've seen since loosing faith after EP1. Bioware's OLD REPUBLIC MMO vid here:
http://www.mtv.com/videos/movie-trailers/396933/exclusive-star-wars-the-old-republic-game-trailer.jhtml -
Winona Ryder: who here would sleep with her? Show of hands.
-
Methinks it's time for the mind-fuckery of:::: THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE!
-
I sure someone else has said this (way up at the top I assume) but is Magneto really that rich and recognizable character that you would want to make a film based on him?
-
Going back to the thread we had earlier 6DB and D. Vader, a perfect example of how to not properly pace a super hero movie: Daredevil.
Just as soon as you introduce the hero and do his origin, you throw him into the most important story line of his entire 40-some-year history. I can't believe no one said "Maybe we should do the death of Elekra next movie." -
Why can't they make an entire movie just like that? No wonder the gaming industry is kicking Hollywoods ass both creatively and monetarily.
-
But only if I get to go first. There's no telling what kind of VD is floating around these talkbacks.
-
What we have here is a failure to communicate. Laserpants is talking about dramatic irony, DemonBag/Vader is talking about just plain 'ol irony. Check it out. Dramatic irony: "in literature, a plot device in which the audience's or reader's knowledge of events or individuals surpasses that of the characters. The words and actions of the characters therefore take on a different meaning for the audience or reader than they have for the play's characters. This may happen when, for example, a character reacts in an inappropriate or foolish way or when a character lacks self-awareness and thus acts under false assumptions" Just plain ol' irony: "an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected." What occurs is Terminator 2 vis a vis discovering that Arnold has been sent to protect John is simply a "reversal", and in general terms, could be considered 'plain ol ironic' as it was an unexpected twist given the audience's understanding of Ahnuld's terminator in the first film. But in dramatic terms, it is not ironic because both the audience and John Connor are unaware of who the bad terminator is until the mall shootout, although a smart audience member may be able to guess this information beforehand, it is not confirmed until this scene, from my remembrance of the film. Where the confusion comes in is that *I think* the scene that both LaserPants, Demon Bag, and Vader have in mind in this debate is the scene where Sarah Conner meets Ahnuld for the first time in the hospital. In THIS case, we ARE talking about dramatic irony because the audience knows Ahnuld is good, but Sarah does not, and she reacts with fear at a critical moment, running away with terror at the entity sent to save her! This IS dramatic irony. In conclusion, T2 has both 'plain ol irony' and 'dramatic irony'. So everybody's wrong and everybody's right and I am officially a loser.
-
...smirking, extends a bejewed finger and uses his powers to slowly unzip the fly of the tight leather pants worn by the young slab of beefcake standing before him. Cock-rings orbit around him like planetoids. Aaand - cut! yells Singer, let's hit the disco floor!
Too gay? -
Line starts here.
And yes, I do have syphilis. -
Oh, no doubt Grond was excellent. I just noticed that the scene where Gandalf is talking to Pippin about "A Far Green Country" (damn that scene is awesome - what a moment) and the orc slams on the door, that is louder than Grond: Hammer of the Underworld. The design is incredible, just that split second, but I know it's slowed down in the scene, so I guess it wouldn't be so loud.
-
I still think that is one of the better comic book movies. I mean it never lets the lighter side take over the script and is pretty solid. I mean, for the budget they had I think they did pretty well. Granted, I never read the comic and so can't really compare. But the tone of that movie works for me. (JUST the first one!)
-
About the sound? Yes, after having just seen "Drag Me to Hell" this evening, I can imagine how a greater sound design would have increased Grond's "presence" so to speak.
-
(please someone post so I don't have four in a row!) Krull, for some reason, has some magic. The biggest problem is the waste of the Glave. What a great weapon only to use it once and then they have a smurf-a-long and talk about love to defeat the enemy. Bah! Kudos to South Park for bringing it back! But yeah, like Beastmaster, it has its "coziness".
-
I was never a huge fan of his, only coming across him while reading Spider-Man or collecting Marvel baseball cards, so his movie never really affected me much. But what you say is spot on, at least, if you're trying to set up a series of films. Honestly, where would Daredevil go from here, having lost the woman he loves while also busting his two biggest foes?
-
Get out of here with your well-reasoned arguments!
-
Hell, I was expecting that. She was in Beetlejuice, after all.
-
fuck you you cuntwhit yer just wrong putamadre ass piss shit cum!!
-
Beastmaster was the cool. Damn I watched the shit out of that when it finally came on cable.
-
May flaming assholes rain down upon you!
-
All of the X-Men movies are first time entertainment at best(with the exception of X3 which was absolutely stupid to the point of sheer boredom) Wolverine was my favorite but again only one time viewing before I start to tear the movie apart. This movie will definitely suck big time. I don't care at magneto at all.
-
I brought this up in a previous post... So where do you see the next genre of films going for Hollywood? What do think the public will be drawn too? Comic movies have been domination the box office as the "it" genre now for a good spell. What's next? Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Cop movies(oh god help us), etc....
-
lol - like we had a choice. I think Beastmaster still comes on at least three times a night. James Horner had a great score for Krull too, by the way.
-
I always thought of that as the first *good* comic book movie. And it was only as good as it was because they DIDN'T slavishly adapt the comics, they just kept what worked (half-breed daywalker with swords and gruff, gadget-heavy sidekick vs. vampire aristocracy) and filled in the rest with cleverly tweaked badass action movie staples. And I submit that there hasn't been a better introduction of a comic book character since Snipes showed up at that blood-sprinkler rave. That was an example of taking the seed of a good idea from a comic book and making it into a kickass action movie, rather than trying to fit an action movie into the confines of an existing comic book world. Plus, it doesn't hurt that they WEREN'T trying to make a tentpole blockbuster, but rather just assembled a great cast (Kristofferson, Dorff, Logue, that hot black chick whose name I can never remember, even Udo Kier!) around the main character and shot an R-rated action/horror movie that was allowed to take itself just seriously enough to be cool. I would even go so far as to say we would never have gotten The Matrix without Blade as a stepping stone to get there. Man, it's crazy that Norrington went on to ruin LOEG so badly after doing such a great job with setting the tone for the modern age of comic book movies with Blade.
-
I think movies from games will still try to find its niche. And games will continue to fill the gaps when those movies fail. lol! Boo-yah!
-
I really do. I also wouldn't mind some policiers if they are done right.
-
Yeah, and to your point I have to say that Blade Runner beats the shit out of the source material, nothing against the book. There's a world they could go back to. You don't need Decker, just the world. NOT that it is needed, but what a cool world. Perfect example of art that suffers at the B.O. but who cares, look what we get for our library.
-
Resident Evil 1 was fun. I think it caught everyone off guard and was "not as bad" as we all expected. Someone would have to really cleverly adapt a game (the right game) script to make it accessible to butt fuck joe. Although i was not a fan of the Spiderman Movies, Raimi was able to make it appealing enough to help kick start Comic Movies into the mainstream.
-
What if . . . what if GREAT movies made a true comeback! Holy shit! No more walking out having to glean together (from what did work) an apology for all the things that didn't work . . . Yeah. Fuck yeah!
-
She could be in a wheelchair and I'd still pop a boner.
-
I like film noir. "The Man Who Wasn't There" was a great flick that captured that essence.
-
Reboots are the name of the game now. Reboots and prequel/reboot mixtures. EVERYONE is getting into the game. Along with horror remakes (which have been a trend longer than the reboots). And it fucking makes me sick.
-
May they spray you with chocolatey goodness!
-
It does suck.Fuck a boot! Give these talented writers a fucking chance to peddle their creative works that have never seen (and may never see) opportunity at being a great film.
-
though I think having him have an illegitimate child with Lois Lane was a really dumb plot twist and I agree that Luthor is getting boring. The next Superman should go to Singer but he should get a new villain (one that is actually a threat) and the super kid should be killed off.
-
Who cares what the studio films will be in the future? Great films are being made independently all the time. Every once in a while, the studios will get lucky and make an accidentally wonderful movie based on a video game, and we will all go watch it and be gay and merry.
-
Special (Michael Rappaport) was good. One of those "where does this end-up?" type story. Low budget and "low" and behold, good.
-
Good films will always be made independently. The same is true for music. You have mainstream and Indy. But in this case (just for discussion purposes) there is always a front runner amongst genres. In this case Rap (crap) and R&B have been dominating the main charts for years now. It's a shame but they have been the top sellers. You know? What's next?
-
Now, would she be in that form-fitting cement dress from Star Trek? (My apologies to Winona, I had a crush on her in Beetlejuice.)
-
...I just read everything y'all wrote. Pricks.
-
Singer didn't walk away from the X-Men franchise. Fox dicked him around by not making a deal for X3 so he pitched SUPERMAN RETURNS to Warner Bros. After he made his deal with WB Fox wanted to make a deal for X3. Too late. Singer did say if they waited a year or so he'd do it, but Fox didn't want to wait. So we got Ratner's crappy X3 intead.
-
Jun 01, 2009 11:47:26 PM CDT
If I was a polygamous Mormon, I'd make Winona my main squeeze
by yackbacker
Don't get me wrong, I'd still marry 5 more ladies, but Winona would be my #1 wife. Hey baby, if you're reading this, you know this is the most romantic shit you've ever read.
-
Once again, Ratner didn't write that flick, nor did he have much input on it that far into production. It wasn't his "crappy" X3.
-
What do you think? McG on X4 would be a dream come true. I say give Ratner Magneto and Wolverine 2 to Uwe Boll
-
like Raimi fucked up SM3. Always a possibility, especially considering Superman Returns.
-
His Beast wouldn't have been crowbarred in and look so shit if he had done it.
-
You can't get much worse than Cats makeup.
-
Singer has no intention to return to X-men. What do you tell MTV when you want all the tweens to like you? Something safe, that's what. Rothman wouldn't hire him back in a million years.
Besides, fans everywhere need to stand up and make their voice heard: "The world doesn't need an origin story for every DAMN comic book character!" A Magneto movie would turn out just like Wolverine. Lame.
Lauren Shuler Donner...I hope you're reading this. -
Just what the fuck am I doing reading my old posts...
-
Jun 02, 2009 12:55:20 AM CDT
Yackbacker, that might be the most romantic thing she has ever h
by continentalop
But I know exactly what to say to get her back to my place:
"Wanna do some lines? I've got blow back at my place..."
-
I just read that she and Christian Slater are going to do Heathers 2.
-
Just so I can read Harry's 10,000 word hate-and-invective-filled review
-
But I don't think he's a great director for the superhero genre. Among other criticims, I think key scenes in his films lack significant energy, emotion and heroism so the payoff isn't nearly as momentous as it should be. Not that these elements are totally absent. They're just lukewarm, lackluster. Neither is he utilizing his actors to their maximum potential and he doesn't ever really build anything to a crescendo.
Singer clearly has skills behind the camera but I don't think he's ever going to create a great, epic, kick-ass superhero movie. It just may not be a right fit for his style. Though this might have something to do with his (questionable) writing/story crafting skills too... If they gave him a new X film, it'd likely be at least on par with the other two (ie ok, but not great). Maybe if they kept him away from the writing team it'll be better. I'd really like to see where a new (proven) director takes the franchise though.
And of course it goes without saying that films under Fox/Rothman have been really, truly embarassingly bad. A shame since they could/should be making much, much more without Fox/Rothman. -
That clip in the first X-men, where he bent the Auschwitz fence. That is ENOUGH and ALL we will EVER NEED. HOLLYWOOD BACK-STORIES SUCK! I had a dream last night... someone greenlighted an original script with characters doing cool things... in a new story set in the present.... THEN I WOKE UP
-
Yes. I think Singer should try to do other things instead. His mise-en-scene is lacking and that’s why X3 was the best of the trilogy (there-I said it). Paul Anderson said something about the lack about benchmarks movies and I think a major part of the problem is that directors like Singer and Nolan waste their time on kids stuff such as Batman. Think about the 70’s. What if Coppola or Scorsese made Superman? Would it have been more memorable? No, but we wouldn’t have had Taxi Driver or Apocalypse Now. I think superhero movies should be handled by lesser gods such as Ratner or Donner. These guys are perfectly capable of making an enjoyable super hero movie. Talents such as Nolan and Singer should try to exceed the success of Memento or The Usual Suspects, which were much more satisfying movie experiences.
-
Rothman has already run this franchise into the ground.
-
Which is the reason Singer didn't go ahead and just stick him in. Wasn't he planned to appear in the first movie until they realised it would look like shit?
-
but you don't have much control over that i'm afraid. You can have an opinion on what you like and don't, but If these guys want to do these movies then who are you to tell them what directing career path they should follow? I mean come on! Who of us here wouldn't want to make a big hollywood movie?
-
The characters in these comic movies are just as iconic, in fact even more so than Travis Bickle and Willard. That has to be a juicy challenge to any director.
-
The sad fact is that Hollywood really doesn't make "great" movies anymore. Or if they do you are not nearly as rewarded as you were in the 70s. While we like to think artist should only be in it for the art, even great filmmakers want to be compensated for their labor and want to reach the widest audience (the New Hollywood generation was notorious for their appetites and their excess, and money was one of those excesses). During the 70s it seemed the films the studios wanted to make were both the most artistic and also had the biggest audiences. French Connection, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Picture Show, Godfather (I & II), Chinatown, Exorcist, Apocalypse Now, Bonnie & Clyde, Star Wars - all of these were great movies and money makers. Some of them mega-hits. It would be hard to imagine nowadays that audiences would be so willing to see a movie about a young man who loves Beethoven who goes out with his droogs for rape and a bit of ultra-violence, or see a movie about a gay bank robber trying to get money for his lovers sex change operation who is now in a hostage situation, but in the 70s those where both commercial and critical successes. I mean Carnal Knowledge and The Last Picture show were both in the top 10 for box office of the year of 1971 - can you imagine those films doing that good financially nowadays? And back in those days you could do a "big" film like The Deer Hunter and still have it be artistically challenging.
So I understand the desire of filmmakers to want to work on the biggest canvas, and unfortunately the blockbuster and the comic book movies are currently the biggest canvases you can work on right now. -
Well that’s easy. I can see movies that I think will be good in the cinema and movies that I think will be crap not. I supported the gutsy decision of Aronofsky to make ‘The Wrestler’ by seeing it. And maybe Batman and Superman are more iconic. But what the hell does that mean? That’s like saying Britney Spears is better than The Drive-By Truckers because she sells more albums. BTW looks like I'm not alone in my opinion but I was too lazy to read all the posts above me.
-
Jun 02, 2009 4:05:47 AM CDT
I also don't think Nolan and Singer have it in them to make a "g
by continentalop
In the same way that the 70s filmmakers did. I think their sensibilities are all wrong - neither one is interested in shaking up the system, whether it be the studios, the government or just society and its mores. They are more like the old filmmakers of the 40s & 50s - storytellers first who like to work in specific genres. And while Ford or Hawks never really made anything "shocking" like Clockwork Orange or Taxi Driver, they did make some great movies.
-
I've been here long enough, you'd think I would have learned how many characters you can put in a subject line.
-
Haha that's nothing like saying "Britney Spears is better than The Drive-By Truckers" but does make her more iconic and I agree with you on everything you have said about 70's cinema and the like. My point was that you seem to think they are taking these big movies as an easy option. I'd argue it's more of a challenge than you are giving them and the properties credit for.
-
To put exactly what I mean in nicer and more elaborate wording. But I want to be a bit more positive. You can still make movies that are artistically satisfying and generate money. The Departed, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood.
-
But unfortunately none of them were in the Top 10 of the box office for that year (There Will Be Blood was 71st, No Country for Old Men was 33rd, and The Departed was the best at #14).
But have you seen the Box Office results for the 70s? In 1970 -M*A*S*H was 3rd; 1971 - Clockwork Orange was 7th, Carnal Knowledge was 8th (Carnal Knowledge!), and Last Picture Show was 9th; 1972 - Godfather was 1st, Deliverance was 4th, Cabaret was 6th; 1973 - Exorcist was 1st; American Graffiti was 3rd, Last Tango in Paris was 8th, Paper Moon was 9th; and I will stop there so I don't bore you (plus, in all honesty comedies, sci-fi and action movies started dominating after this period).
But still, WTF? Imagine if the Wrestler was the number 3 film of the year, or There Will Be Blood was the second biggest film, or if The Proposition was a big hit? Hell, imagine that every year you got a dozen films equal to No Country for No Men or The Queen or Brokeback Mountain instead of just two or three. That was what they 70s were like. -
Fine. Let’s not bitch on each other, there’s enough of that going on in these talkbacks anyway. But than nobody should complain when Spielberg makes TinTin, a truly iconic character I DO care about.
-
What I mean is instead of making one giant big-budget movie why not make 5 smaller movies that are still profitable?
-
Jun 02, 2009 5:28:02 AM CDT
Apocalypse + Sinister = Changed Timeline = Soft Reboot
by dailysportspages
X4 should make us believe that X1, X2, and X3 were an alternate timeline perpetrated by Apocalypse. (in his more humanoid looking incarnation, that of En Sabah Nur)
Have an older grizzled Wolverine arrive from the future to stop the horrors that have happened as a result of Apocalypse being awakened when he felt the power of Phoenix.
Enter flashbacks (or are they flashforwards?) of a "Days of Futures Past" scenario.
Wolverine must stop certain things from happening in X1 in order to preserve what he has found to be the correct timeline.
Remember this timeline is different from that of our previous movieverse. That was a fake timeline constructed by Apocalypse in order to foster his master plan of awakening the Phoenix. In charge of things for Apocalypse is Dr Nathaniel Essex.
Part of the plan to bring forth the Phoenix is to pair up the Sommers and Grey genetic lines. Without even Xavier realizing it, Essex has been pulling the strings of those involved from the very beginning.
So this new team of Xaviers students is a bit different than the one from the first movie.
The ages of the characters are also vastly changed.
The students: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel, and Iceman. Magneto is around to also lend a hand... Wolverine of course objects to that, but Magneto quickly puts him in his place.
This older Wolverine with Magneto, Xavier and his young students go on to find the not yet completely fully powered (he is in stasis) Apocalypse inside a volcano in some secret deserted island. (Krakoa)
They are able to best him in battle because he is still in a weakened state.
Wolverine sacrifices his life by throwing himself and Apocalypse into the burning volcano.
Causing a huge explosion that blinds everyone for a split second.
At this moment the two timelines have converged and everything is right with the world.
And because of that the existence of Wolverine is wiped from everyones mind. (or Xavier could just mind-wipe everyone)
Magneto and Xavier have one of their moments where Xavier asks Magneto to join him at his school... but Magneto has other plans and takes off.
Cyclops has emerged as the true leader of the group and is credited with being the hero of the fight with Apocalypse.
Essex is captured and put in a newly formed Mutant only prison. And the last scene of the movie has him write on his cell wall with blood; LORD APOCALYPSE LIVES!
This in essence reboots the entire property and gives the first movie in this new trilogy a powerful enemy to fight against... keeping from the usual lameness found in these types of "set up" movies.
It also uses a lot of the established mythology of the property, while condensing things a bit.
-
For the next movie you can have it be about a demented Essex blithering his prophetic visions that have been sent by Apocalypse himself.
Have a guy like Gambit introduced as the shadowy loner type that Wolverine was in X-1 .. but in actuality he is only there to break out Essex who is his employer.
Magneto and his Brotherhood are the main attraction/villains in this movie. The Brotherhood consisting of Quicksilver, Scarlett Witch, Toad, and Mastermind... as well as Magneto of course.
Throw the Morlock Massacre in there to flesh out Gambit's arc a bit. That would bring in a couple new mutants. Specially Sabretooth as well as the rest of Sinisters Marauders.
This mass killing of mutants completes the prophecy that Sinister foretold and begins the process that would be the beginning of the Age of Apocalypse.
While the events of the Morlock Massacre are taking place, the volcano on Krakoa starts to activate again after a few years of dormancy. The eruption is violent and its resulting Tsunami endangers the nearby coastal cities.
Xavier senses a powerful mutant mind within the Island and dispatches the X-Men who are still fighting the Marauders in the Morlock tunnels.
The X-Men leave to check things out, but they never return.
Their story ends as being MIA, presumed dead as Xavier fails at melding his mind with that of his team. They are either all dead, or something is blocking him. Xavier is at a loss as to what to do next.
Feeling his job done, Essex culminates his devotion to Apocalypse by hanging himself.
Except Apocalypse has further plans for him... he comes back to life at the very end of the movie as Sinister... with his new fully metallic body.
-
This movie takes place soon after the events of X5.
Gambit turned against the Marauders during the Morlock Massacre once he realized what he was doing was pretty messed up.
Xavier finds his heart to be good while reading his mind during the events of the Morlock Massacre.
Gambit tells him all of Sinisters plans that he was able to get out of the other Marauders during the Morlock Massacre.
Xavier then reaches out with his mind in order to search for other useful mutants who can rescue his X-Men and help defeat this very powerful new enemy. The island Krakoa. Along with his new team leader by default Gambit, he goes and "recruits" a series of international mutants that he feels can help find his X-Men.
Enter Banshee, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Sunfire, Thunderbird... and of course, Wolverine. The New X-Men team.
They must fight Krakoa who is actually the mental projection of Apocalypse taking control of the island in order to use its mass and natural resources to his advantage while he recuperates from his "death".
The island seems to be sentient and has used its resources to battle and entrap the X-Men. The X-Men end up being taken underground into caves by the islands vegetation.
The entrance to the caves was sealed by molten rock that even Cyclops optic blasts werent able to pry open.
Once they find the original team deep within the cave structure of the island, they find Sinister has been using them in some sort of experiment. (probably DNA sampling at the very least, specially of Summers and Grey)
Suddenly the earth shakes and the volcano has a massive eruption.
And out of the mouth of the volcano comes APOCALYPSE.
Now he comes fully equipped with the powers of ALL the X-Men combined, including a new look thanks to the metallic armor power of Colossus.
His ability to absorb the genetic material of mutants near him was the reason for this whole event to take place. He wanted all of their abilities as a battery to power him back to complete life.
In truth the combined power of all of those mutants is exactly what Apocalypse needed in order to regain his full strength and abilities.
He is finally defeated by the combination of the X-Men and the late arriving Brotherhood of Mutants.
They throw his body into the cosmos.
The body floats lifeless in the zero gravity of space... and in the last frame we see his red eyes start to glow ever so slightly.
-
And release the first one in mid May and the other on at the end of July.
This is important since X5 ends with a cliffhanger and the story of X6 revolves around events that happen towards the end of X5.
Then just wait for the money to roll in while you ready the next X trilogy :)
-
Alien 3 PWNS Superman Returns (one of the worst comic films ever), regarding the 70's thing, I think the first difference is that the studios weren't afraid to put out challenging R-rated movies. Almost all of the films you mention that made money (especially the 1973 list) would be impossible to make now, as they simply wouldn't get the promotion that the PG13 summer fare gets. There's no way in fuck that a studio would back Last Tango in Paris- instead it would be marketed as an "art film" about relationships. Therefore to get the backing, the director would compromise it down to PG-13, and as soon as you start compromising with these types of films then you lessen them. It's the boneheaded short-term thinking that dominates now. It's all about the quick pay-off and eventually will land Hollywood in as much shit as the music industry landed itself in through exactly this thinking.
-
More seeing things thru rosetta-shade glasses I think. Yes you had great movies ala the Godfather, American Graffiti and Rocky. You also had Love Story, the Towering Inferno and Grease. I wouldn't argue that today's movie output has as high a ratio of 'Grown up' movies in it as in, say, '75, but if you just go back and scan newspapers or magazines etc about the perception of what Hollywood was cranking out 35 years ago-trust me-words like 'empty wilderness', 'wasteland', 'lowest common denominator' and etc were used often and wide and w/ good reason. Jarv-Jarv does have it right-everything now is geared towards the quick payoff/big bang opening weekend scenario, unlike back in say '74 where stuff like the Sting or Exorcist or American Graffiti from '73 would still be playing around the country months and months lator. It's just not the same world unfortunately.
-
by seeing all movies that do take a risk and by skipping a blockbuster now and again. Sometimes people on this site amaze me. ‘I saw Fantastic Four and it wasn’t good!’ Really Einstein, you needed 8 dollars (or 7 Euros if you will) to figure that out?!
-
Interesting back and forth you guys have going on there. If you'll allow me, let me just add that it's folly trying to compare one decade of cinema with another.
Yes, some movies are better than others, but the filmmakers of the 1970's had their sensibilities shaped by the 1940's, 50's and '60's and the French New Wave. Today's filmmakers grew up on Lucas, Spielberg, Zemeckis, and Ridley Scott. For many, Star Wars, Superman The Movie and Alien helped form their own storytelling styles more than 400 Blows, Seven Samurai or His Girl Friday. Today's filmmakers are a product of their times, good or bad.
Finally, at the end of the day, don't forget that movies are a business first and an art second (or third, depending on the filmmaker). Particular genres today (big action sci-fi, superhero movies or raunchy comedies) tend to make more than reflective, slower paced movies about relationships, coming of age flicks or what have you. With The Wrestler in particular, Aronofsky was bright enough to include some well shot fight sequences and used a structure that reminded me of the first Rocky film. The underdog sports movie, as you know, is also a popular money making genre. The best scenario is when a filmmaker can take a popular genre, and elevate it above its genre where it becomes just a great movie (The Godfather, a gangster movie plot, but a GREAT film, and 2/3 of the The Dark Knight---yes, the last third of the film is a mess). -
I think we can all agree that was a quality picture. But afterwards I thought the whole wrestling thing was its weak point. Why didn’t make a story about a normal guy ‘wrestling’ trough life? Because I actually do like wrestling but the story would have connected with me much more. He could have made an American version of a Dardenne movie. So what you see as a smart move I see as sort of a compromise(albeit unconsciously)
-
Instead of devoting an entire overly-drawn-out movie to each character, they should have make one of those movies where it's actually four short films packaged together (a la Four Rooms, Twilight Zone, etc...).
That way there are two benefits. 1) The stories don't end up dragging too long. 2) If one of the stories sucks ass you still get three more chances at greatness.
I really like the "four movies packaged together" gimmick, and I wish it was used more. -
massive faggot...has made some good movies pre supertard tho
-
... The thing with that is, the Blockbuster didn't exist yet. That's why you could have these critically acclaimed films be the top moneymakers for the year as well. The critically acclaimed film IS what got you to the theater. Then JAWS and Star Wars came out, and the top moneymakers became the ones with spectacle meant to be seen on the bigscreen. So while I agree that we can, and will, have films that can have some of that 70s sensibility, we probably *won't* have them be top moneymakers, probably never, because they won't be films about spectacle. Unless we get someone like Nolan who can combine both great storytelling with an audience-pleasing piece that works both commercially and critically. Those 70's style films will exist; unfortunately, its just not what audiences are looking for, or what they flock to anymore.
-
That is what drives me nuts. The market for these films don't exist anymore, so instead of getting the studios to produce a Chinatown or a Taxi Driver we have them making Saw or Night of the Museum 2. Lowest common denominator dominates now.
And the thing is I can't really blame the studios. Lost Jarv said it was that the studios were willing to take a risk on an R-rated film back then, and that is true. But they didn't have a choice back then - the studio system was losing money until 1972, the year the Godfather first came out. They were putting all their hopes on this new crop of filmmakers because they sure as hell didn't know what the audience wanted.
But you can't say that really about modern executives - even if we don't like what they greenlight. they are just giving the audience what they want, and the films they put out require the least effort to nurture. While I wish they put out three or four Wrestlers and Gran Torinos a year, I can't tell a studio boss he is an idiot because they are making record profits now. The audiences have spoken and they want shitty products for the most part. -
That sort of story-telling is on the small-screen these days. And I, for one, don't really see a problem with that.
-
That would *never* make it on film.
-
I am going to politely disagree with you. I think it isn't nostalgia that makes the 70s look great, it just really was a period where better films were being made. It was like Italy during the neo-realism movement or France during the French New Wave, a movement that brought something unique to cinema.
Just look at the year in film for 1973: American Graffiti, Badlands, Charley Varrick, The Day of the Jackal, Dillinger, Don't Look Now, Elektra Glide in Blue, Emperor of the North Pole, The Exorcist, High Plains Drifter, The Last Detail, The Long Goodbye, Mean Streets, The Paper Chase, Paper Moon, Papillon, Pat Garret and Billy the Kid, Scarecrow, Serpico, Sleeper, The Sting, A Touch of Class, and The Wicker Man. And that was just one year. -
That wasn't an American film, was it?
-
they aren't giving the audience what they want- they are telling the audience what they want through slick marketing. Not the same thing. If you think about it, how many people go to shite like AvP multiple times? They may see it once, but that doesn't mean they're happy about it. The LCD is fickle- it's willing to change fad in a heartbeat, and once you start spending exponentially more on marketing on your fad de jour to guarantee bums on seats, the amount you need to break even is higher. Therefore, for the average soulless exec the simple answer is to spend more on marketing, and conversely less on actual filming. This leads to the rise of the focus group, and increased executive control over the creatives. What you end up with is dreadful anodyne product that fades from consciousness after a weekend, but no exec gives a shit, because as it broke even (or made a short term profit) his job is safe. Eventually, the market hits saturation for disposable crap and overall sales start to decline while piracy increases- as less people are more willing to pay for what they deem to be inferior product. See the music industry for the perfect example of this.
-
The Exorcist, Paper Chase, and Day of The Jackal were based on phenomenally successful books, so don't really count for what we're talking about. The Wicker Man was British and not a hit, A lot of those weren't exactly risky film-making. Paper Moon?
-
this is totally true, but there has to be a balance between quality and profitability as a decline in the former will eventually lead to a long term decline in the latter.
-
Nice Gaius, in between suckin dicks, can you please come up for air and explain why i am a coward? im just sick of war movies. what, im not allowed to ask a question up in here without being called a coward? you and laboof can have a wonderful life together, i hope they let you guys get married finaly.
-
You said Holocaust movie. Completely different things.
-
Holocaust movie for you always used to equal jew movie. You fucking horrible bigot.
-
Just make a brand new X-Men movie, get someone good to make it, give them a shooting schedule of more than 2 and a half days, and keep Rothman the fuck away from it. There, everyone should be happy.
-
I suppose is a good litmus test on your take on appreciating this type of 'comic book genre' material translated to the screen. Granted, none of us are as consistent as we say we are but I think in general this works.Now, my knowledge of Marvel is significant but my actual comic reading resume is not but I think if Singer failed in the first 2 Xmen movies it was with canon 100%.In fact, he failed HUGE at canon but let's break that down. For me, what he did both failed and worked for different storyline aspects. Basically all characters, their ages, their relationships, motivations, origins, their actual personalities on the page, etc...are all gone and redone for the screen.Some of that is forgivable and some is not. For example, someone mentioned Nightcrawler talking to his Mom (Mystique) and neither of them knowing it...well imagine how much extra material would have to be put into the film to establish this relationship and what's the point? I'm not defending the change but I do understand it in this case. To me, those are minor traits and not deal-breakers.But overt personalities didn't need to be changed so dramatically. Storm's new personality was terrible...meek and quiet...and Halle Berry isn't as good of an actor as people think. Wolverine was close...probably one of the closer ones but he was far too sentimental and far too prone to cry. Someone said that in X3 with Professor X scene that Wolvie wouldn't have crumbeled and cried but instead would have gone on a berserker rage and destroyed everything in sight. I agree 100%! In fact, it was the 'berserker' side of Logan that was most visibly absent from Singer's interpretation of that character. Rogue shouldn't be so wishy washy either...far more spunky and aggressive (I get the Bobby thing since Gambit wasn't introduced at the time). Cyclops horribly underused, etc. Jean Gray was ok for the first 2 but enough has been said about that.But I say again...the intro set piece (with Nightcrawler) to Xmen2 is brilliant, almost perfect. The Magneto escape scene is practically a perfect action set piece and yet the story is centered around the heart of belonging, prejudice, identity, etc.Meaning that even if you hate the interpretations or even wholesale removal of major character traits, my guess is you couldn't honestly say that anyone other than Raimi and Nolan have done better than Singer? In terms of giving us a kick ass action movie seriously derived from a medium that the majority of "adults" consider immature kids stuff even today?No accounting for taste obviously but I puzzle over the notion of something horrible like Fantastic Four being "better" than anything Singer's done in this genre...from every aspect EXCEPT certain specific and few personality traits did Story fuck up FF but yet that reason alone is why people think FF is a better franchise than the first 2 Xmen?
-
'Nuff said. Evidence for why its a terrible film and worse than the X-series.
-
...and shove it up your ass, you troll baiting moron.Quote: "you and laboof can have a wonderful life together"What the fuck does that even mean?! How did "Laboof" get brought into this? Are you sure you didn't mean to say Jon Hamm? Eh?
-
Jun 02, 2009 1:19:07 PM CDT
im sick of the glorification of world war 2 and the holocaust
by shogunshin
i hate on war, especially considering the main reasons for war are for war profiteers to fatten their pockets. people died for real during these events. like in Saving Private Ryan. im watching that flick and i felt just sadness, cause that was for real. the holocaust happened many years ago, and MANY people died, including 20 million russians, 10-20 million chinese, 400,000 brave americans, and 73 MILLION people in total. it was a disgusting war, and the quicker we put it behind us, the better. everyone was hurt during world war 2, not just one peoples, and im glad america helped end the worst war known to mankind.
-
...and WWI - WWII were tragic events beyond comprehension. Welcome to the sane, majority view. Maybe you should right a blog about this...
-
Hahaha, yeah shogunshin. We'd all be better off if we forgot atrocities like that.
-
Singer is STILL a talented director despite what people say and feel about SR.IMHO he could do well by launching a new saga.
-
That list of films from 1973 was just to show the number of quality and/or interesting movies made in one year, especially by the studios. Yes some were from successful books, but No Country for Old Men was based on a novel, and it is always listed as one of the great movies made in the last couple of years. Plus, think about how many bad/boring book adaptations we get (Cold Mountain).
Paper Moon might not be risky, but it is well crafted and well made, and vastly superior to such movies a Juno, Little Miss Sunshine or any of the feel good indie movies we get nowadays. As for the Wicker Man, I always thought an American Studio had a hand in financing that for some reason, but I was wrong. But still, when The Queen is always being listed as one of the best films made in the last couple of years, and that is a British production, I see no problem including the Wicker Man.
-
so many things changed, but so many things worked with Singer's X-Men. People forget that before X-Men there hadn't really been a decent superhero film (particularly of Marvel characters) for quite some time, if ever. Blade doesn't really count. So as much as I didn't like some of the changes, it was amazing to see X-Men translated to the screen and getting the point of the comic. In the end, it's not about what cool stuff from the comic ends up on screen - it's about understanding the characters and getting the ideas right. Which Singer did (in most, but not all cases). Which everyone involved with X3 did not (in almost every case - the only exception being the moment with Beast and Leech. And even that was rushed).
-
Boy that totally fucked up Magneto (the way he'd been set up in the films) just to have him be "evil". Most especially in the scene where Mystique sacrifices herself to save him, and he just leaves her there to rot like an asshole, completely contradicting their relationship from the previous films.
-
But I don't blame him for the series or how he made his movies. In fact I do give him a lot of credit. As oisin said above, before X-Men superhero movies were not that successful. We like to bitch and complain about not staying true to the comic books, but I think at that moment in film the general public would not have accepted things like costume and other superhero tropes. Singer's X-Men movie was basically the only way I think you could have made it back then without alienating the general audience. It was a well done tightrope walk.
-
serious without being pretentious or top-heavy to people unfamiliar wit the material or not really fans. He took the "funny book" genre and treated it as if it was the same dramatically any other "important" story. He brought his passion to the material and it's on the screen for the bulk of the first 2 films. Even if he made all of us happy from a canon point of view, he still gave this genre an still living anchor of credibility that not much before had.Superman 1 and 2 were considered gems by us (still are of course) but the cinematic world, for the most part, only considered them in terms of their talent (Reeves, Hackman, etc) but never really considered them serious dramatic material; they're "fun films" to them. It's like the self-loathing types that bounce into one of Massa's miniature gaming or D&D threads only to insult fellow geeks for being "more" geeky than they are. They're ashamed of liking something they believe is exclusive to children.Outside in.I remember when comic book movies were exclusively the purview the young (Batman came out the year I graduated HS). At the time, only the true cinema geek liked this genre past age 30. Yes we were getting serious actors and great talent behind camera but at the end of the day, people still considered them "comics" in movie form.Blade came along and upped the action but didn't really break from the "comic" notion. It pushed itself into the slightly self-parodying "one liner" action ensemble. Good stuff to be sure, but not dramatically self-sustaining.Only with Spidey1,2, Xmen 1,2, and Nolan's Batman have we gotten excellent action movies with a very specific and dramatic core at their heart. These people take these movies just as serious as if they were making 'A simple plan' or 'Apt Pupil' or 'Memento'.To me, someone like Tim Story made FF tongue firmly planted in cheek the whole time. That was a choice not the only possible path. The only choices are not uncharacteristically 'dark' Fantastic Four or campy, goofy, self-parodying material where the only thing left out is a fart or poop joke.To me, if you are a true cinephile, you do not appreciate movies from the outside in...you do not think "Kung Fu Panda, kids movie. We'll see". You go "Kung Fu Panda, we'll see" (totally awesome by the way).As I said, taste is taste but even if you're pissed at the big changes made to Spidey, Xmen, Bats...you have to give those directors credit for making this genre large enough to encompass serious "comic" movies.And not just corny "who likes this stuff? it's kids stuff! a guy in blue tights flying around with lasers from his eyes?!?! oh grow up people!!" crap.
-
Coulda been epic.
-
Singer's two X-Movies were good in their own right. They captured the zeitgeist of the time, and while not neccesarily being good X-Men movies, they are engaging when contained within their own universe. I would have enjoyed Singer's X-3 and that not coming to pass was the dagger in the heart of this franchise. At this point, with the public being more open to the weird I'm ready for a reboot. Use Astonishing and Morrison's New X-Men as a template, mix in a bit of Fraction and you have something for contemporary audiences.
-
Give X-Men back to Marvel and let them re-boot the whole thing.
-
Jun 02, 2009 6:05:45 PM CDT
C'mon, Singer, bring everybody back and do X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
by mrmysteryguest
-
Ian McKellen's portrayal was great, but I don't think they got Magneto quite right in the movies. For one thing, he is an Alpha or Omega-level mutant, meaning that his powers practically elevate him above the mortal plane. He is accountable to no man or nation. His realm is Asteroid M where he's able to look down on us insects from orbit, like an angry god.
-
If only because we know we can do much worse. My main issue with this is that I can't think of any young Magneto stories from the comics. Are they just going to make something up rather than use the comic book source material?
-
Maybe the Jim Lee stuff has forever tainted me, but his Magneto is what I picture. McKellen, a fantastic actor, never made sense to me in that role either, GreenRiver. And same goes for Jackman- great actor but Logan isn't Clark Gable with a muttonchops. He's a fucking small, hairy ball of violence.
-
Label the film as X4. Begin with the elder and powerless Magneto. Have him travel back to his homeland. Insert flashbacks to cover the damned origin story while intersecting the present. In the end Mags gets his powers back by re-visiting his past. Every gets what they want: Ian back in the role, an X4, an origins. Prequels don't work unless they can put the sequels in the proper context. And only Singer could pull this off.
-
I felt they got some of the essentials of the character right. The problem was it wasn't EPIC enough, just like that ENTIRE TRILOGY wasn't epic enough. The character also works better as an anti-villain than a pure villain. I felt McKellen was a little too much of a straightforward bad guy...I had troubles sympathizing with his pro-mutant cause because he was too much of a mean ol'bastard and came across as a fanatic.
-
...would be an influential host of an opinion cable show who has a pension for wearing blue lipstick.Way back before X3 took off, when Singer was still onboard, I had predicted that the adaptation of the Juggernaut character would be of a sports phenom whose powers were activated once he wore a sports helmet. FLash forward to Ratner's offering that included a scene of Vinnie Jones carrying his helmet under arm.Yeah, X3 is Ratner's baby, YET it is WITHIN the canon ESTABLISHED BY SINGER.Again, Singer's X4:Apocalypse would have the titular character in blue lipstick and gothic drag at best. Nothing more.
-
Thats how i would tackle a Magneto centric movie as well.
Except it would start with McKellen in the role, then in the flashbacks we get various different actors as Magneto over the years.
Cast mostly minor actors of course or an actor that can encompass various ages reaching all the way up to "prime" age. Except we actually see him get younger as he remembers backwards in time.
Have a big name actor like Ewan McGregor or Jude Law could play fully realized 40 year old Magneto in the flashbacks.
Magneto is trying to remember an event in his past that would allow him to get his powers back in the future. In the present he is a beaten down sick old man who is too weak to even get out of bed.
Apparently his mutant powers were holding back serious health issues due to his age and history of growing up in a concentration camp malnourished.
Buried deep within his purposely forgotten memories... is an incident that happened as a youth in the Nazi concentration camp where he was being held.
Something to do with a doctor he visited as a child when he was in the Nazi concentration camp.
This doctor always seemed to look after him, made sure he had his shots, gave him medicine when he was ill, allowed him to help him around his office and rewarded him with biscuits and the other treats.
Of course the doctor was not doing this out of the kindness of his heart, he know there was something different about the young magneto. The doctors motives were to perform various tests with the young mans blood.
Eventually the doctor even secured him a place in the Sonderkommando in order for his life to be spared longer so he could continue his experimentation on the young adult Magneto.
This doctor none other than Mr Sinister in disguise
And just as Magneto realized that Sinister had been manipulating him all this time (and was to blame for making him work for the Nazi's and provide them with genetic material that Sinister would use in his gruesome experiments on other Jews)... at that moment that he opened his eyes, Sinister happened to walk right in front of his bed.
Sinister is a powerful telepath and was able to sense that Magneto was using all of his willpower to remember him from his past.
Sinister basically tells Magneto that there is nothing he can do to him from what looks like his deathbed.
He then begins to explain to him how what he was doing was for the betterment of mutankind, he was trying to develop a way to isolate the mutant gene in order to manipulate or accelerate it.
His goal was to then be able to find any young mutant and enhance his or her mutant powers to their maximum levels.
He tells Magneto that due to that research in the Nazi camp, he was able to finally achieve his goals.
Magneto then is given the chance to have his powers back.
Magneto then realizes that he has actually been in Sinister lab all along!
He undergoes the treatment anyway, but there is a small hitch.
It not only returned his powers, they seemed to come back at a power level he had never felt before... but when he looked in the mirror he realized that his physical appearance had gone back to when he was half his age.
Not wanting to share his power with anyone else, Magneto the attacks Sinister and they have a huge battle. Magneto kills Sinister (although as we know, Sinister never truly dies).
Sinister dies laughing, as his job is now complete.
And that was to prime Magneto to be one of Apocalypse 4 Horsemen upon his return.
Now Magneto is more powerful than ever, as well as more ruthless than ever.
Just like Apocalypse likes em.
-
Well met. I've often crowed how Singer's X-Men were not adapted as faithfully as Story's FF, yet despite this Singer had told much more compelling stories (than Story) with much more fleshed out characters (despite their being nothing like the source material). In other words, Singer made a superhero version of Bay's Transformers, only I actually gave a shit.So, yeah, we could always have worse than another Singer helmed X-Men movie. His offering would be nothing at all like the comic source material, yet it would be (movie) familiar and perhaps even entertaining if he kept his daddy issues and lifestyle struggles in check.NAAH!! What I truly want is the director of the "Got Milk?" commercial -- where the delivery man falls through a trap door at Avengers mansion and ends up sitting face to face with a half dozen Marvel characters -- I want THAT guy to direct a feature length comic film. Just try to formulate a counter argument, but try and tell me you guys wouldn't kill to see that made, wouldn't you?
-
And have Halle Barry in that hot grey outfit from the cartoon. It will draw more audiences than some X-Men Magneto...which everyone I tell rolls their eyes at.
-
...DON'T.
-
X-Men 2.5
Show Jean Grey coming back to life and being found by the Hellfire Club before the X-Men find her in X-Men 3. Magneto was the Grey King at one time in the comics so it would make some sense if he was the head of the Hellfire Club and primary corrupter of Phoenix in the movie universe.
It'll never happen. :) -
Why not get Michael Mann to direct an X-Men movie. He can handle ensemble pieces. I mean, what made Singer this "perfect man for the job" anyway. I'm honestly asking. I loved Suspects, but why is everyone so stuck on him? Nothing wrong with liking him, but his vision was his, let's try someone else at this point, perhaps. Just saying . . . LOL - Michael Moore. Let's see how he puts it all together. "Now you say you work for Xavier, uh-huh, and does he provide healthcare for his employees? Yet you have to ride the bus for three hours everyday? Well, let's just say that you did."
-
Good call, cellar door. But Fantastic Four DID have a poop joke: Mr. Fantastic reaching for the toilet paper. For chrissakes. I don't think Story's FF was particularly tongue in cheek. It was just cheesy humor. A real tongue in cheek Fantastic Four could have been great - think Lee and Kirby period 60s film - a touch of 'Down with Love,' touch of 'Mad Men' - make it wacky and wacked, bit of funny, but weird. A hard tone to get, but it could have been great. But no. That doesn't sell toys and burgers.
And as usual, Immortal_Fish, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. In what universe is FF a more 'faithful' adaptation? Any loose interpretation of X-Men by Singer is worlds more faithful than the lameass excuse for Doom that we got. Your strange speculations about Apocalypse don't even make sense, given Singer's track record (not counting the fact that Apocalypse is one of the most one-note boring X-villains, and Singer wouldn't have touched him anyway). And your evidence for X3 not shitting on Singer's vision is that you had a prediction about Juggernaut borne out by a film he had nothing to do with? Huh? -
Making Gimili more of a movie cliche as the series goes on.
Totally eradicating the structure of ROTK in favor of a "realistic timeline".
Having the characters spout one-liners instead of realistic (or book correct) dialogue.
Legolas taking down an Oliphant as an action piece.
Losing The Scouring of The Shire.
ROTK was THEE biggest movie sellout of all time. And people complain about the Prequel Trilogy... -
Jun 03, 2009 5:33:29 AM CDT
Apocalypse can be made interesting if you combine others in him.
by dailysportspages
Have his original body as a gray egyptian "Scorpion King" type look, not the techno-organic stuff. This is the original form of Apocalypse, when he is still named En Sabah Nur.
That can be his Living Pharaoh or Living Monolith visage.... or the "Father" if you will.
Whenever he is "dead" or in slumber or whatever it is his hibernation period is called... have his spirit wander the earth influencing people to do his work.
This can be his "Shadow King" manifestation... or the "Holy Ghost" if you will.
When his "messenger/prophet/son" Mr Sinister sacrifices himself... then the full on APOCALYPSE can be reborn.
And he has the techno-organic properties of Sinister.
Apocalypse becomes his own sort of unholy trinity.
Basically....
Nur the long dead god.
Shadow the manifestation of his will.
Sinister is the completion of his prophecy.
They are all are manifestations of one singular being that wont rise until the Age of Apocalypse is upon us.
And when the X-Men think they have won a battle by killing each of the 3 manifestations... little do they know that they are falling right into Apocalypses plan.
Because Apocalypse cant come until all 3 of his manifestations are "killed".
Because once they are killer their life forces unite as the one and only APOCALYPSE.
Sure there is some cheese there, but not more than your average X-Men movie.
And by doing things this way you can keep Apocalypse as this shadowy figure, saving him till the end of the new trilogy. While at the same time having him or a manifestation of him... to fight with at any point in time.
That right there ends the "one note" discussion with regards to Apocalypse.
Specially if you mix it in with the Krakoa scenario.
-
-that's wayyy okay, I just think that we build up the 70's into being something that they were Not. Many of the movies you could cite from '73-Scarecrow or Emperor of the North or the Snowball Express or Slither or Soylent Green or Cahill US Marshall or Robin Hood, well--they stand up as being OK, but better than your generic current product or stuff from '84 or '56 or '63, for example? I don't think so. I do have fondness for all of those films I mentioned, though to be honest about, say, Papillon-that's a Snore if you wanna know the truth, despite McQueen and co- and you can say the same for several of that era's movies. Very slow paced. I like it--but have to be in the right mood for it. It's like watching Kojak on Hulu, they have the first three years there. All really fun to watch-Winchester on Mash, Stallone, James Woods, Eli Wallach, etc as co-stars, the big boat cars, the NYC on-scene filming, Savalas etc--but it's also dated, slowww, and (at times) hokey whenever it tries to be relevant to what was going on in it's time. Not as painfully dated as say 'Miami Vice' a Candlebox video, but you see what I mean.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 142 total posts 131 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 465 total posts 126 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 124 total posts 124 posts
- Wanna smell like the Hulk? What about Cap? Consider yourself a Thunder God or a unisex God of Mischief? -- 69 total posts 68 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 60 total posts 60 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 111 total posts 46 posts
- AICN Legends: Quint talks with Paul Reubens about all things Pee-Wee! Including the 3 (!!!) Pee-Wee movies in development! -- 37 total posts 37 posts
- Rest In Peace Bethesda’s Adam Adamowicz -- 88 total posts 37 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 174 total posts 33 posts
- The Sensorties Revisit The Friday Docback (And Still Smell)!! DOCTOR WHO Story #7 Again, The Coming Of Season/Series 7, And More!! -- 83 total posts 32 posts