Tonight’s movie night movie will be, “Thunderbolts* (2025).” I wonder which actor plays Captain Asterisks?
I did not expect Thunderbolts* to be this good. Wow! Easily one of the best Marvel movies in like... maybe 10 years?! It builds on a bunch of past stuff from the last few lackluster films while growing into something deeper than a "superheroes beat up the bad guy" special effects spectacle. In fact, beating folks up almost never worked out for them in this one! It felt like a much needed tweak and improvement to the somewhat stale MCU formula and I hope they can hang onto it.
@Ronnie @bigzaphod Agreed. I don’t understand why it got bad press other than maybe toxic masculinity. It was great and more relatable than any other Marvel film theme.
@Ronnie @justincox I didn't know it got bad press - I'd only heard good things about it here and there on socials. On the tomato site it's got 88% / 93% depending which score you look at, so that doesn't say bad reviews to me.
@bigzaphod @Ronnie I remember it having similar reactions to The Marvels (which was campy as hell but a lot of fun). Maybe it was just the vocal incels who can’t stand a female lead.
@justincox @Ronnie the Marvels wasn't nearly as good as Thunderbolts, but yeah I liked it and wanted more. The reaction to it was disappointing for sure.
@bigzaphod @justincox @Ronnie #TheMarvels wasn’t the greatest film in the world…but it wasn’t bad either, and the first act had some elements that have been long overdue in #MCU films for some time.
I’m a bit disappointed that some fun #MCU films as of late have gotten such a lackluster response, #CaptainAmericaBraveNewWorld was also a fun watch. But I think after so many incredible #MCU films, both #Marvel and #DC fans ( #BlueBeetle was such an underrated superhero origin story film!) want something either better or different than what came before, and “good, fun movie” isn’t cutting it, as unfair as that might be.
If they do manage to turn things around, it isn't going to be easy. A lot of commentators have been really happy with Andor, but I'm sure a lot of star wars fans assume it isn't FOR them.
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I think you kind of have to look past the specific form of what these people say, because they're from Hollywood, they don't believe a word they say about anything unless it's how great they are, and lashing out at people they don't like or who criticize their work.
Healthy ecosystems such as Hollywood of yesteryear or Japan's anime ecosystem today had different rungs, you'd get lower cost lower impact media to start, and as you succeeded you'd get to work on higher impact higher cost (potentially higher profit) works until eventually you earn the big tentpole blockbuster through proven success.
There used to be multiple rungs in Hollywood, but now you go from niche movies at Sundance (not even a market) to producing mega budget blockbusters, and that's not healthy. Hollywood would blame streaming for this, but other markets have rungs still, it's more that Hollywood got addicted to blockbusters and ate their seed corn.
Some of the best movies of all time were created at those lower rungs. Star Wars: A New Hope was actually a fairly low budget movie. E.T. was a lower budget movie. Cult classics Half Baked and Office Space were lower budget, and Fight Club and The Matrix were mid-budget, not massive tentpoles with budgets that would bankrupt the studio. They couldn't make any of these today because those rungs of the ladder don't exist. They can only hand the empire to a child emperor and watch them have a hissy fit when the treasury starts to dry up and barbarians at the gate start taking territory.
I think a lot of these storytellers are trying to do what Joker did -- hop into an established franchise and tell the story they want to tell regardless of the franchise. That's a big problem with an established brand because something that could have been a modestly successful lower tier film ends up pissing off customers who came in with an expectation based on the brand. The problem was never politics, but not following the laws of physics when it comes to pleasing customers and making money. Then the child emperors lash out because it turns out the emperor must follow certain laws of physics or their empire collapses. Then the audiences are alienated because the movies wasn't FOR them, and you get the current MCU. Even if they make some decent movies, it'll take a lot of time in the penalty box.
There used to be multiple rungs in Hollywood, but now you go from niche movies at Sundance (not even a market) to producing mega budget blockbusters, and that’s not healthy.
Those rungs still exist, but people usually don’t pay attention to those movies. #A24 used to be on the lower-to-mid-rung level, but now it’s grown in popularity and prominence. But we also have #FocusFeatures, #NEON, #Blumhouse, #SearchlightPictures, #SonyPictures, #UniversalPictures and #Lionsgate all release lower to mid-budget movies as well.
Some of the best movies of all time were created at those lower rungs.
They still are. For example, I’d argue the #MagazineDreams is the best movie of the year. It had a budget of $8m.
I think a lot of these storytellers are trying to do what Joker did – hop into an established franchise and tell the story they want to tell regardless of the franchise. That’s a big problem with an established brand because something that could have been a modestly successful lower tier film ends up pissing off customers who came in with an expectation based on the brand.
Yes, but I think the most recent superhero movies are eschewing this strategy.
@realcaseyrollins @bigzaphod @Ronnie @justincox
The problem is not whether or not the movies were good. The problem is two-fold. The primary problem is Disney.
Disney has ruined nearly every franchise that it owns at this point. I stopped watching the MCU after endgame.
I watched the abomination that was the last star wars trilogy and have not watched any spinoff since. I did not even watch the last Indiana Jones.
Disney has ruined their brand.
@realcaseyrollins @bigzaphod @Ronnie @justincox
This leads into the second problem. The first Iron man was a good movie by itself, thaT needed no other movies to watch it. The same with the first Captain America.
But as the MCU grows, if you don't keep up with all the previous movies, you feel lost and lose your desire to continue watching.
Since Disney chased away their viewers, it is hard for them to come back because they don't know everything that happened since they quit watching.