About to watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for my Contemporary World Cinema class and I didn’t even realize Ang Lee directed it until like a week ago. Naturally, this made me think of Hulk since his name was predominantly attached to it, and it’s one of the first films I remember being enthralled by as a kid, so I decided to give it a little rewatch before my class.

For 2003, I think the film still holds up fairly well. It’s nice to see some inspired art direction in a piece of superhero media after years and years of their films looking mostly the exact same. And the CGI on Hulk isn’t too bad either. Sure, there are some shots that look quite weird and off-putting, but I’d argue there are others that look really good. Great even. The actors also do quite well. There isn’t a bad performance I can think of besides maybe Bana in a few instances. Even Josh Lucas was kind of funny (especially his death). Easily the best performance was Nick Nolte, though. Holy shit, can that guy put on one hell of a show. That last scene with him and Bruce prior to their fight it great on his part.

As for the story itself though…it’s whatever. I wouldn’t say it’s terrible or even broken, it’s just kind of there. There are a few points where it gets somewhat enticing, but much of it feels like it’s been done better in other things. The whole “discovering the monster inside you” angle is really nothing new, I don’t think the film did quite enough with it to make it stand out a little more. And there are a few contrivances. Like how does Bruce’s father manage to get back inside the lab when it was already stated to have been closed off and under surveillance. And how did his father even manage to escape? They show later he was being carted off to presumably some prison after the explosion and killing Bruce’s mother, but just exactly how did he get free? This motherfucker blew up a top secret military research base and killed his wife in front of his young son. I’m suprised they didn’t execute him on the spot

I did like Betty’s relationship with her father, though. I think it’s a little better than the one they portrayed in The Incredible Hulk. I also thought connecting Bruce’s alternate persona with his backstory was quite neat, especially during the final battle. I’m glad it was wasn’t something just appeared out of absolutely nowhere, and the film even took its time to sow seeds during the opening to imply Hulk was always there, just to a lesser extent. It’s something that the MCU didn’t quite right when it came to the character’s origin in that film, even though The Incredible Hulk was supposed to be a sequel to this movie at one point.

Overall, probably a 5/10 for me. Perhaps I’d have to give it a bit more of an in-depth look to give its story a better chance, which I might do honestly. Either way, this movie’s practically a diamond in the sludge of today’s superhero landscape, as least in my humble opinion.

Other quick thoughts: action sequences are fairly cool, the editing was a little jarring at times (the fucking zooms and boxes, holy), and the main theme is still Incredible (pun fully intended).

But what are your guys’ thoughts on the film? I would love to hear some differing takes from people on this sub, and maybe I’ll learn some new things. Either way, I always love the discussions that get started here. Even if it does turn a little messy sometimes.

As we know, this December two of the years biggest films are going to be released within the same timeframe as each other — Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday. Since this is bound to be an interesting series of events, I thought I’d give my thoughts on what I expect from each of these films, both from critical and financial standpoint. To get the easiest one out of the way, let’s look at it from a critical perspective.

Which One Will Be Better?

In terms of which film is going to be better, I’d like to think it goes without saying that it’s going to be Dune. You can level a lot of criticism at the Dune films (trust me, I have quite a few of them myself), but they’re just overall better made. And I’m not just talking purely technical aspects, though let’s face it, Dune has Doomsday beat on that too. Dune overall just has a more coherent story and purpose. It feels like it’s trying to say something and it isn’t doing it in a completely broken way. Paul’s rise and fall and the consequences that follow are all that is needed to beat Doomsday. Dune definitely has flaws, and I need to rewatch the two films in order to fully articulate my thoughts and lay out the story, but it has its moments and is nowhere near as utterly fucked as the current state of the MCU.

I don’t even understand what Doomsday is supposed to be. In fact, it sort of feels like it’s nothing at all. Just the culmination of the fan service slop train Marvel has been coasting off of for years now. Nothing the movie is based around is remotely coherent or tangible. Pretty much every character is broken. Every plot line is meaningless. Every worldbuilding facet is an utter catastrophe. Infinity War felt like the big event that made it feel like the rest of the films we watched previously mattered, both in big and small ways. Doomsday feels the exact opposite. It feels like it’s trying to DISTRACT us from the previous films, content with just recycling actors who played characters more than 10+ years ago as a way to get the tisms flowing in people’s brains and shoeing in big, spectacle moments just cause. They’re trying to gaslight us into thinking these past few years have had something even remotely resembling a through line when it’s the most confusing and convoluted it’s ever been.

To sum it up, Dune doesn’t need much to beat Doomsday in terms of filmmaking, both from a technical and storytelling standpoint. Now let’s look at the other side of the coin.

Which One Will Make More Money?

This one is a little more complicated. In terms of box office numbers, Doomsday will likely make more considering how a good chunk of casual audiences seem to prefer cape shit over something like Dune. However, I don’t think Dune is to be counted out so quickly.

The first film made over $400 million at the box office while simultaneously debuting on HBO Max. Many could’ve chosen to stay home and subscribe to watch it, but many chose to go to the theater, which was impressive in light of COVID and how theaters were still recovering from being shut down. The series received further commercial success with Part Two, which made over $700 million, $300 million more than the first film. If this trend continues and Part Three manages to make more money than Part Two, it could be close to a billion if not more, especially considering how popular the Dune films have become in such a short amount of time.

Now this isn’t guaranteed to happen, but since Dune already securely IMAX and forced Marvel to make their own “Infinity Vision” (whatever that’s supposed to be) while ALSO selling out the first week or so, I think it’s safe to say it for sure isn’t a slouch when it comes to ticket sales. I know IMAX is a bit of a pointless thing that hardcore cinephiles can use to prop themselves up on a pedestal when talking about the films that use the format, but it is popular in this day and age, and Dune securing and selling out with IMAX shows it won’t be easy for Doomsday in the long run.

I don’t have any numbers for standard screening sales for both, and I know Doomsday already made a shit ton from pre-sales, but I’m willing to bet the gap between the two is closer than people think. Especially considering that Marvel has only recently surged in popularity once again thanks to Spider-Man. Everything else in the prior 2-3 years or so either failed to make its budget back or just barely crossed the threshold.

I also think Dune has a higher chance at making its money back than Doomsday. Again, if we’re to believe Part Three will make more or even just as much money as Part Two, that would be enough considering the first two films have much more stable budget estimations from what I’ve read. Doomsday is most definitely going to be one of if not the most expensive film ever made. The amount of big name actors who are officially attached to it, how many more are rumored to make appearances, the production shooting back-to-back with Secret Wars, and reshoots galore means the budget is more than likely going to be WAY bigger than estimations. Another Deadpool and Wolverine situation if you will

So yeah, Doomsday will make more for sure, but Dune will be close behind, and it will for sure have a better chance at making the studio money that can used in meaningful way.

………………

But yeah, those are my stances on this whole situation. I thought it would be nice to start a discussion like this and see what other people think. It came to mind when I realized how Doomsday has been getting a lot more attention from Mauler and crew while this sub simultaneously seems to hate Dune. I would love to hear what everyone has to say about this particular topic. Do you care about this? Are you indifferent? Are you interested in how these two mash together? Are some of my conclusions flawed and require further info or thought? Please let me know. All I know is that I’m kind of intrigued as to how this all plays out, since this is more than likely going to be the next Barbenheimer, though I can see the argument for how that isn’t really accurate since Dune and Doomsday are more alike than the other two.

But to those who made it this far, thanks for reading and I’m so down to read other people’s posts and add to them.

…I think the “leaks” about Tobey are true. Add on to the fact that Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds are now officially going to be in the film, it seems all but certain at this point. And my only question is…why? Just why? Are these big studios with thousands of assets and workers that have access to more than 70 years of history for this IP so devoid of ideas that their best course of action is to just to keep bringing back older actors from films produced by other studios for the sake of…dramatic effect?

Because if you recall, the rumored fight between Tobey and Hugh is supposed to take place at the beginning of the film, so I’m assuming this is going to be one of the opening shots, if not THE opening shot. Taking all of this into account, my guess is that they’re trying to tug on the old nostalgia strings by having Tobey’s Spidey die in the opening of the movie along with Hugh’s Logan. Do they not have any faith in any another opening hook that could’ve gotten the audience’s attention that DIDN’T involve these actors once again playing these characters 20+ years later?

Now this inherently doesn’t mean anything, and I could be completely wrong by the time the movie releases and we see what the context of this shot is. But as of right now, I’m inclined to believe the leaks. I don’t see this being the make timeline’s version of New York for obvious story reasons, not to mention the leaks say that Tobey’s universe will die, and this New York looks like it would fit that criteria. I also noticed that Avengers Tower is nowhere to be seen, so that’s also something. Plus I don’t know, it looks it could be Tobey’s New York if you squint?

In conclusion, the leaks are more than likely true, and it pretty much tells me what kind of movie this is going to be. I hope EFAP reacts to this one, because they will have a field day. What are your thoughts?

Now that MKII has come to streaming, surely EFAP wouldn’t miss the opportunity to do another EFAP Movies about it alongside Annihilation, yes? Especially since the quality difference between the two sequels is FAR more apparent than their first installments, and I remember the panel having a fun time watching ‘95 and 2021 back-to-back due to the differing components of each of them.

So this has been happening for about maybe a week now, but ever since the new update came out, I have not been able to find newer lobbies. Every time I try joining another one, I either end up back with the same two lobbies of people I’ve been with before (all of which fail to reach 20+ players during peak hours) or just end up in a public lobby by myself.

This hasn’t been an issue for me before, and I’ve tried all the routes I can think of to fix it. Those methods include turning my WiFi on and off, turning my matchmaking off and on, joining from story mode, deleting and reinstalling the game, changing the dns settings, changing the mpu settings, forgetting the WIFI entirely and inputting it manually, restarting and unplugging my PlayStation, and just restarting my router as a whole. Nothing seems to work.

And before anyone asks, I know for a fact it isn’t my WiFi connection because the router in my house is brand new and my internet runs fine 99% of the time.

Any advice or suggestions on how to fix this? It’s quite annoying cause I actually like playing in populated lobbies.