Upcoming Films

[Fixer]

Caught Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Not much to discuss. That movie is just a barrel of fun Even the credits were an incredible love-letter to the 1980s

[Nessus]

Mildly interested in this:


youtu.be/q9867sT-Y1M

I remember reading the book ages ago (surprising they don't mention that it's adapted from a novel in the trailer). It was good, a bit airport-fiction-y, but good. Basically a modern style serial killer procedural, but with the twist of being set in an era when the very idea of forensic investigation was new and not well accepted. The protagonists have to work within a system that is utterly backward and corrupt not only to their methods, but to many law enforcement methods and ethics we take for granted. The investigation is not supported by the regular police, as they don't think the murders of slum dwellers, and boy prostitutes in particular, are worth anybodies time. The case ends up having a lot to do with the nasty underbelly/fallout of Victorian sexual attitudes, which means no-one in authority or of a class above the slums wants to even acknowledge it, much less investigate.

I'll be kind of interested to see how they handle Dakota Fanning's character, as she and her relationship to the narrator's character (Luke Evans's character) is an interesting element to the book. If they turn it into a romance subplot, I will be disappointed.

Subject matter and tone wise, it'd be difficult for a regular network to do it justice. It's the kid of thing you'd need the likes of HBO for, as it is very gritty and goes to some dark and squirmy places that a regular network would not feel comfortable with. TNT is a little too close to the latter, so I expect the things will be "cleaned up" noticeably from the book. Notice how the trailer really emphasizes all these pretty settings? Yeah... apart from two major locations (the apartment the main characters set up as their office, and the restaurant the frequent), most of the book takes place in reeeaaaallyyy sketchy slum areas.

[Ordo]

youtu.be/ue80QwXMRHg

[Robovski]

Saw the Thor Ragnarok trailer when I went to see Guardians 2 and it looks great. I was looking forward to Valarian but it's bombing; I'll be lucky if I can catch it still in theaters by the time I'm free to go.

[The Romulan Republic]

Have seen:

Guardians of the Galaxy II. Good effects and action, but a bit muddled theme and plot-wise, and a bit over the top even by the standards of its predecessor. 3/5.

Pirates of the Caribbean V. Felt forced, and a bit sexist, and Depp was off his game. Rush was good though, as always, and the end was pretty strong. Nice to see Will and Elizabeth again. 2.5/5.

Wonder Woman. Major thematic contradictions and clichés/plot contrivances (particularly the "people who want peace are actually evil Quislings" trope, on both scores), but still one of the better DCCU films thus far. Like Diana. Loved the middle segment in No-Man's Land, and the village after the battle. 2.5/5, tempted to make it a three.

Need to see:

Valerian.
Spiderman: Homecoming.
Thor: Ragnarok.

And of course The Last Jedi, though that won't be for a while yet.

Non-SF:

Had The Big Sick recommended to me, though its not the sort of film I would usually go see.

Also, Dunkirk, because Nolan (apparently its already being bandied about as Best Picture material).

Edited for more detail on the films I'd seen, plus tiny text for spoilers.

[Arkle]

Okay, so with the year more than half over, here is my preliminary rankings for the best films I've seen in theaters this year. Note: This list includes one movie that had a limited release in 2016 but didn't go wide until this year.

#1: Get Out
#2: Logan
#3: Hidden Figures
#4: The LEGO Batman Movie
#5: Wonder Woman
#6: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
#7: Spider-Man: Homecoming
#8: Power Rangers
#9: Valerian And The City of a Thousand Planets

EDIT:
Oh, what the heck, I'll go ahead list the movies I've seen for the first time this year but not in theaters. I won't rank them though, this is the order they were watched in.

Creed
Room (2015)
Doctor Strange
Pulse (1987)
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone
Gas Land
Revenge Porn (documentary)
My Mom's A Werewolf (a.k.a. the 2nd worst movie I have seen in my entire life)
Mulholland Drive
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press
The Hearse (1980)
Lurkers

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

Saw War for the Planet of the Apes- it was about on par with the first two in the trilogy, maybe slightly better. All three are good movies, but don't fall among my very favorites or as movies I'd add to my collection.

It is the first movie I've seen in theaters for quite a while, which is odd because there's quite a bit I would have liked to have seen. I was determined to see Logan but somehow I missed it until it came out to rent).

The new Spiderman is probably something I'll opt to rent. Dunkirk and The Dark Tower are both strong considerations to try to catch in theaters. Blade Runner 2049 is the must-see for me, as is Star Wars VIII of course.

[The Romulan Republic]

Oh, forgot to mention Al Gore's sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. I'd hardly be a good self-respecting dirty liberal progressive SJW if I missed that, now would I?

[SabreMau]

This probably counts as speculative fiction.

youtu.be/o4-URMnBOPU

Only made about $5 million in theaters here, but almost $350 million across Asia. The English dubbed home release version won't be out for a few more months, but if you order from Amazon.co.jp, the Japanese Blu-ray is same region code as US, comes with English subtitles, and will be releasing tomorrow.

[Fixer]

Though I thought the book was terrible, I have to admit the Ready Player One trailer is pretty damn awesome thanks to Spielberg magic. I wonder how they managed to get all the licences for everything.


youtu.be/Z-vGWwRF_Qc

Also, the 80's/90's nostalgia mines must be starting to run pretty dry.