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Eh, it's petty but it just sounds so stupid. ^^ I wish he would choose another catchphrase, he actually has pretty decent opinions.

Also, his Tommy Wiseau impression is much worse than the Nostalgia Critic's.

So, I'm just gonna re-post my comment about Black Panther from its thread here with some additional points:

I've seen the Black Panther movie. I've just got back from watching it in my local cinema and my opinion is......I like it, but I don't love it. I like the Shakespearean story which is up there with the first Thor movie (yes, I like the first Thor movie). I like the setting. Some of the characters are cool and I like how the Wakandans talk Africans and English which is a fresh air from what we usually get. Acting are great all around and the movie is just as entertaining as Harry Potter flicks. I enjoy it more than Thor: Ragnarok & Guardians 2 coz BP actually treat all of the characters with respects and doesn't treat the movie like a one big joke. Not that I totally hate Thor 3 & Guardians 2. They entertained me and pretty much met my modest (if not low) expectations of them. OTOH, BP is a relatively serious movie and it only has few jokes and some of them hits. It's a serious-but-also-a-crowd-pleaser movie, I get to see how the audience react to what's on-screen. They actually chuckled, laughed and cried during the whole thing (unlike The Last Jedi) so some things in this movie actually really clicks with them which is no surprise considering my country also consists of many tribes not unlike what's depicted in BP. There's also an amusing point that the audience from my country get: it's T'Challa's clothes during his "otherworld visit" and down time. It's very particular and very familiar coz muslims usually wear it during religious activities, so it's kinda amusing to see a Marvel superhero wearing one of those in the movie .

But, the movie lost some good points from me due to some lackluster practical fight-choreography, some poor CGI for 2018 standard especially for the climactic double-panther fight (it looks straight from Raimi's Spiderman movies more than a decade ago), plot holes, questionable character decisions and writing issues. These review videos more or less explain most of the technical problems of Black Panther (fair warning: Spoilers abound. The below videos are easier to understand if you already watched the movie):

I may not entirely agree with all of their criticism above, but they bring out some good points about the movie's problems which partly also originated from the comic source material which is already flawed in some concept. So, my conclusion is: I appreciate all the things that Black Panther has achieved (except for the overhyping that some people made of it) but it's far from a masterpiece. To me, it doesn't even close to reach The Dark Knight level. So, ignore the hype and just expect an entertaining Marvel blockbuster movie and it might worth your time.

Yeah, I agree with that last paragraph. Although I think the Christopher Priest era of the Black Panther comic was pretty damn awesome.

Waugh finally back from LA and hibernated for a day. feel terrible dragging old posts back out but wasn't able to respond before lololol


Eh...Kingsman2 was...watchable. it wasn't as good as 1 but I appreciate enough of the action segments to find it fun. I wouldn't watch it again. I just appreciated it more than Ragnarok because it kinda...


There was just too much disappointment for me and honestly I just didn't find it fun it was too crowded of a movie and honestly asides from Loki I can't pinpoint a highlight??


Also I always have and always will hate Natalie Portman. Until she can act as anything other than 'maybe terrified girl not sure cus every emotion leads with knitted brows' I just don't see a future where I would enjoy anything she does. The fact she's kind of annoying offscreen doesn't help. I probably would have liked the first two third a lot if she wasn't in it.

@Beto: Even before the Olympics started CNN (edit: I meant NBC nightly) was basically broadcasting propaganda for Nk's ski resort :/ After that Cnn and most outlets pretty much showered attention on the sister, passing around some photo of a letter (?) She signed hoping for a unified Korea. The cheerleaders too, I've seen independent sports journalists (American Koreans who were sympathetic towards a future unification) cover how stoic and robotic they were in reality, never smiling or responding to any of the reporters there until it was their cue to cheer and probably not having a good time- but you wouldn't see any of that coverage in the regular news. It was all about their synchronicity and energy.

There was even one article that was suppose to cover the fact the women's hockey team lost to I think Sweden 0-8?? But no, clearly NK are the REAL winners of the Olympics because they managed to humanize themselves to the rest of the world. Or how historic it was getting only one point against Japan's team. You wanna know how many points the Korean hockey team would have gotten if they werent forced to cater to NK politics? Probably more than one. From what I heard SK asked for defense players too and NK was like nah, here's all our offense players. I'm not even trying to piss on the players mind you, I've seen independent coverage that talks bout the players themselves and it seems there was actually a bit of new found comradery there, but when western media starts sounding like the NK national media I know they've fucking sunk to the pits of hell.

Nobody thinks poorly of the actual NK people. It was always about that piece of shit regime and the shit that they do to blackmail their neighbors into playing nice.

Sorry ippus, but if the western mainstream media was so focused on doing that propaganda job for North Korea, they kinda botched it, at least where I'm concerned (I didn't really see much of those pieces you're referring to, actually). And I do keep a pretty close eye on the news, around here - no humble brag intended, tho.

Then again, maybe I'm biased? Perhaps that's my own problem, I guess.

Well Beto, let me just kindly remind you that Ippus and I weren't originally from North America, and we have a personal & emotional investment in that whole North Korean business. Our feelings to that affair are simply not going to be similar to yours. When news outlets like CNN and/or New York times gave Kim Yo Jong positive coverage for 'extending her hand in diplomacy', our overseas mindset immediately raised a red flag, and the only thought that crossed was "are you kidding?".

You think this is the first time North Korea did this? Nah, they've only been doing this since the end of the Korean War, and they botched it every time.

When the Japanese prime minster was invited to seat in the VIP section of the Winter Olympics, nobody at home was expecting him to cuddle up to Kim Yo Jong, and he did what was expected of him. The Party Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party represented China and was present in the VIP section as well, and he ignored her too. Pretty much the only person who cuddled to her was President Moon of South Korea. After all, the last time South Korea snubbed the North in the Olympics, the latter retaliated by bombing a Korean flight, killing all 115 members on board. Otherwise, no one else in their right mindset was going to do what Moon did.

Kim Yo Jong is a toxic character in East Asia, period.

China, Korea and Japan have ongoing problems that dates back to the 2nd century BC. The United States is nothing but a second, or third, or even fourth fiddle in this, and its media should just keep their mouths shut, because they have no idea what they are talking about. Seriously, they should just stop being self-important and fuck off.

Umm....guys, since when this Movie Thread turns into Politic Thread?

Yeah, uh, sowwy...

Tak, the thing is: you seem to imply I'm somewhat influenced by the "mainstream" media or that I harbor any sympathy towards Kim Yo-Jong (or the North Korea regime, in some way, shape or form). Let me disabuse you of those notions, right here and now, please: I'm not guilty of either of those thought crimes, mate.

Also, I'm an American, but I'm from the South.
We think a little bit different, down here.

Anyway... As for movies, this weekend I've watched Mute and Learning to Drive. Liked both well enough, actually (Mute's visuals are quite striking).

Believe it or not, my appreciation for the actress begun when she appeared in the Star Wars prequels...

Though my appreciation for her have since then dissipated.

She did a great job in Leon the Professional. V for Vendetta also was a good movie with her. She was decent in the Star Wars prequels as well. All the rest I've seen with her was pretty "eh", but she's a hottie.

Bring me everyone.

What do you mean everyone?

EVERYONE!!!

And I just discovered a LIVE-ACTION adaptation to Full Metal Alchemist...




... ...

... ... ...

... ... ... fuk...

The FMA live-action movie isn’t actually all that bad, man. Me and my daughter actually kinda dug it - and we’re pretty big fans of the original manga and anime(s). If it had sucked, we’d had been pretty pissed!

Ugh, dude, "isn’t actually all that bad" means barely tolerable aka barely watchable. I need better press than that.

That's... not really what I meant? Now you wanna believe the media?

Last notes, irregardless of whether the propaganda job was successful, the very idea that major US news outlets would do such a thing pisses me off. The fact NK shoved their way into the winter olympics at all pisses me off. I'm not even all that patriotic but this was something people in SK planned and were mega excited about hosting and they just hijacked the narrative for their own propaganda, all because the asshole spent the prior months antagonizing his neighbors and catching the ire of Trump. It's like having a relative who is always out to get you, and you can't get rid of him because familial reasons. They spit in your food, shit in your bed, kills innocent animals in their spare time and parades around your house like a king and gives you all sorts of shit for daring to call them out and still you're expected to be the nice adult about it.

But that's just my grumpy feelings on it.

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Natalie Portman....I didn't like her in V either. I just...don't like her in movies. I'll admit I hate her less in the Star Wars Prequels but that's only because there are far worse characters to compare her with...



General consensus on FMA LIVE seems to be that it's awful. I'm inclined to assume it's true just because most anime live actions are pretty awful anyway? The least bad of the lot was like...Kenshin LIVE.
So long as it isn't as boring as Gyakuten Saiban LIVE I'll consider it a win.

Kenshin LA trilogy are actually good. It works well as adaptation as well as a fun samurai-fantasy flicks for newcomers. My friends who’ve never seen RK anime or read the manga actually really dig the movies when I showed it to them. I’d even go as far as saying that the climactic fight with Shishio in the LA movie is a lot more exciting and intense than the one in RK anime. There are other fights where I actually prefer the LA ones than the anime ones. When prominent elements in a live-action feature are able to surpass the anime, I know I have something special here.

Another great samurai-fantasy adaptation that can rival Kenshin LA in terms of faithfulness and execution is Blade of the Immortal LA.

The adaptation of Karuta sport manga & anime Chihayafuru LA movies are great too and hit the spirit, character and story of the source.

Casshern LA is really something else. Instead of logic, it focuses more on the characters and visual experience, just like the recent Devilman: Crybaby. It really works as an artsy movie with a Casshern skin that tackle a heavier theme than the original anime. It’s almost like Hideaki Anno & Darren Aronofsky worked together to make a Casshern adaptation based on their combined vision (but with limited budget).

Yatterman LA is also another good adaptation that’s very faithful to the original show and even added some extra meta-humor in the mix. The result is something colorful, silly, bizarre, ridiculous and fun, just like the anime.

The Death Note & Gantz two-parter movie adaptations are also not half bad. Those are really decent LA adaptations.

Last and probably least, Gatchaman LA is also pretty fun. It’s certainly better than superhero rubbish like Elektra, Catwoman, Kick-Ass 2, Green Hornet and probably even Blade Trinity.

So yeah, Japan obviously has higher percentage of making good LA movie adaptations of animanga than Hollywood.

Now now dear Beto, you didn't actually sink that low, did ya?

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Yeah, I agree:

Kenshin was masterfully adapted. Blade of the Immortal is another good movie. Gatchaman is pretty fun in its own right. I don't know if I want to watch the rest, though...

Anyway, a lot of recent adaptions felt like expensive cosplay parties, and I cannot help but feel irritated.

If you like the level of faithfulness of Kenshin & Blade LA adaptation movies (aka. changing the story but still true in spirit), I think there’s a chance that you’ll like the LA Death Note, Gantz, Yatterman and Chihayafuru IF you like the source materials in the first place.

As for Casshern LA, it’s basically an arthouse movie with some Tokusatsu elements in it. It’s better to adjust your expectation based on it and get in the mood for something artsy before you watch it.