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Author Archives: ScreenPhiles

Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel – Trailer

September 18, 2018 By in Marvel, Marvel Studios, Movies, sci-fi, superheroes, Trailer Park, upcoming Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

The first trailer for Marvel Studios Captain Marvel dropped this morning, and it you’re unfamiliar with the character you’ll likely have no idea what’s going on.

The trailer has little in the way of any sort of narrative thrust, though you do learn that Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) is a warrior and has flashbacks of her life on earth and she’s really mean to old women on trains.

A de-aged Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) make an appearance (the technology to make actors younger seems to be virtually flawless, though up to this point we’ve only seen it used on men. I wonder if this is because there’s have been no need to use it on women yet or because of technical shortcomings. I don’t recall it being used on Michelle Pfeiffer in Ant-Man And The Wasp, then again she’s aged so well it’s hard to tell).

As far as first trailers go, it’s a bit overwhelming, and I expect that followup trailers will begin to make sense of the chaos.

The Predator – Review

September 17, 2018 By in 20th Century Fox, action, directors, genre, horror, Movies, review, sci-fi Tags: , , , Leave a comment

I was really expecting Shane Black’s reboot of the Predator franchise to be all sorts of awesome. After all, this is the same guy who wrote the Lethal Weapon movies, as well as The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Boyscout, as well as directing movies like The Nice Guys and Iron Man 3.

And…I was wrong because The Predator was a mess. It’s certainly not the worse movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s not very good either.

If you want the bloody details, check out the video below.

Be warned, it contains mild spoilers and even milder profanity.

The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina – Trailer

September 16, 2018 By in #Netflix, Movies, Netflix, Trailer Park, TV, upcoming Tags: Leave a comment

Shows like Riverdale and now The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina I find genuinely perplexing because they take what people read the comics for–humor and an often irrelevant tone–and turn them, in the case of the former, to essentially 90210.

It’s really odd and a little off-putting for me, which is why so have yet to see a full episode of Riverdale.

Though I’ll probably watch Sabrina–I take my horror (or horror adjacent) series where I can find them. It also works to my advantage that I was never into Sabrina in the comics so I don’t have anything to directly compare her to.

The Predator – Teaser Trailer Recut

September 15, 2018 By in 20th Century Fox, directors, horror, Movies, My Two Cents, sci-fi Tags: Leave a comment

I’ve got my ticket to catch Shane Black’s The Predator this afternoon, and while me seeing the movie was never really in doubt, I was really put off by how bad the first teaser for the movie was.

I was literally having debates with people over how dopey it was. And as I said, I’ve already drank the Kool-Aide–and was already in the queue for more–so as terrible a trailer as it was, it wouldn’t have any effect on me catching the movie.

But if I were on the fence? That’d be another matter entirely.

Sun Sets on Cavill’s Superman?

September 12, 2018 By in action, actors, Comics, DC Comics, DC Films, genre, Movies, My Two Cents, repair, superheroes, Warner Bros. Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Apparently, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Henry Cavill is out as Superman.

There are quite a few reasons stated (scheduling issues, problems negotiating a cameo in Warner Bros upcoming Shazam!, delays in ramping up a sequel to 2013’s Man of Steel, etc) and while–if this is true because it bears repeating that this is not been confined by Cavill or his representation–for my money how egregiously bad Superman had been interpreted has more than a little to do with it.

And speaking of Man Of Steel, anyone with a modicum of vision could see that was where the problems began.

As a Superman movie it was a pretty good alien invasion movie, which is problematic because such a controversial approach to the character–by the way, if you’re generating controversy producing a Superman movie you’re already doing something wrong–alienated huge swaths of moviegoers, tainting everything that followed.

And I have said before that the current incarnation of the DCEU needs to go, but I had always hoped that Cavill hung around because you can see the optimism, the potential for hope embodied in his performance being subsumed by the ego of a director who clearly never truly understood the material he was working with.

Iron Fist, Season Two – Review

September 11, 2018 By in #Netflix, actors, Comics, directors, drama, genre, Marvel, Marvel Comics, Marvel Television, Movies, review, superheroes Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

I binged–a word I have every intention of continuing the use of–the second season of Marvel’s Iron Fist last week and it was…okay.

It course-corrects from first season, which seemed to spend as much time with Joy and Ward Meechum (Jessica Stroup and Tom Pelphrey) as it did with Danny Rand/Iron Fist (Finn Jones).

One issue that remains–perhaps the most pressing the problems–is the approach to the entire series (one shared with Marvel’s Luke Cage, it’s worth mentioning) in that it keeps doubling down on the realism, when they should be leaning into the more fantastical elements of both characters.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Here’s the trailer for The Five Deadly Venoms which I include because this is the sort of action that should inspire Marvel’s Iron Fist.

And sure, it’s a bit over the top, but that’s the point. It should be! We’re talking about people with abilities beyond those of mortal men.

The filmmakers shouldn’t be be afraid to lean into that (and sure, such an approach would likely facilitate greater use of stunt people, but I think it would be worth it).

The Villainy of Ben Mendelsohn

September 5, 2018 By in actors, Marvel, Marvel Comics, Movies, My Two Cents, sci-fi, superheroes Tags: , , Leave a comment

Is it even possible that Ben Mendelsohn can play anything but a villain? I’m admittedly not too familiar with his filmography–I first noticed the actor from Netflix’s Bloodline (2015-2017) where he was less an antagonist than just troubled–though the next thing I caught him in was 2016’s Rogue One where as Admiral Krennic he was so villainous that if he had a mustache he would likely have twirled it, Snidely Whiplash-style.

He supposedly was in 2012’s The Dark Knight (I assume his role was a relatively minor one because I don’t remember seeing him) though I suspect I’ve seen him more than I think because he’s been appearing in movies since the early 1980’s.

I bring him up because Entertainment Weekly has just released some photos from Marvel Studios upcoming Captain Marvel with Mendelsohn as–you guessed it–a villain.

I’d be worried he was being typecast I’d it weren’t for the fact that he’s so prolific.

Here’s he’s playing the leader of the shape-shifting Skrulls.

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