Topic: Movie thread.

It's the opposite for me, when I got curious about the Clannad visual novel (made by Key, once one of the most prestigious VN developers, period; they were like the Pixar of visual novels), and I discovered a whole experience of bonding with characters in far more relatable ways than any TV shows could ever hope to accomplish. I've always been fascinated with the brilliant tool of storytelling and how we can have so many innovative and original ways to tell a story, so the discovery of visual novels and their unique plot structure just intrigued me deeply.

Of course, I was still put off by reading large chunks of texts back then, so I didn't exactly get into VNs that much until about half a decade ago. Even so, looking back, I never really gave enough appreciation for the way VNs tell their stories. For instance, take something like the famous Muv-Luv series, of which its first installment seemed like a typical romance comedy where you spend time with cute anime girls and have fun. But of course, all that slice of life bliss was intentional so as to set you up for the tension-filled 2nd and 3rd game where that bliss is all but taken away. I won't spoil anymore, but man, the Muv-Luv series is a great example of how brilliant visual novels can be because you're placed in a first-person perspective that's very different from a book. You're interacting with the characters as if you're the character, going through the daily life talking to the other characters. That level of immersiveness and interactivity just makes the whole story experience far more personal and intimate, so when a visual novel does use the medium to tell a more dramatic story (rather than just having typical harem romance novels) like Fate/Stay Night or The Devil on G-String (Bach's musical g-string, not the underwear ), the immersiveness of VN plot structures became a very useful tool to explore a fictional universe no anime could hope to replicate, period. It's also why most anime adaptations of visual novels fail (not just because of the length of VNs, though that certainly didn't help).

I've only played DDLC and Higurashi (just finished reading through the entirety of Higurashi's main arcs recently), but those are decent titles, especially Higurashi. It's hard to recommend VNs though because much like anime and just TV shows in general, there's so much variety in the kind of stories they can tell, whether it's sci-fi thriller (Steins;Gate) or even just mind-tripping existentialism (Wonderful Everyday). Most people who are into romance stories would find comfort though among early Key titles like Clannad and Kanon.

On the topic of Cars:
I liked the first one, skipped the 2nd one, and was hoping for Cars 3 to be a darker, more emotional story of Lightning McQueen's struggle from feeling outdated in the modern fast-paced world like Doc Hudson once did. But alas, we got Rocky 3: Cars Edition. It's not a bad take, but not my cup of tea.

Was suddenly thinking about Ang Lee's Hulk for no particular reason and came across this:

It's a nice take on the film, especially with what he said about Bruce's father. I never really thought about the symbolisms before, how the Absorbing Man in the film is literally a self-centered father that sucked the life out of his whole family.

I remember liking the slower and more ponderous moments of the film that a lot of people complained about. Definitely enjoyed those psychological scenes of Bruce questioning his own humanity buried within that chaotic rage more than the rather generic action scenes with Hulk smashing some tanks. I guess that's why I liked Eternals more than many others. Eternals too had its flaws in story structure, but despite its overstuffed plot, I enjoyed spending time patiently with the characters exploring their viewpoints of humanity and life itself as gods among men.

I still have my copy of Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces. I do agree with the video in that the "modern myth" in cinema isn't as prominent anymore. I think certain films do still offer that kind of spiritual hero's journey to really reflect our own humanity through the protagonist's reflection. Blade Runner 2049 definitely comes to mind. I haven't seen Dune, but from what I heard, it feels like one of such films too.

But yeah, Ang Lee's Hulk. An ambitious film released at the wrong time, perhaps. I always like it when filmmakers take a fun medium like superhero comics and make it something grander, more poetic, rather than just settle for "fun superhero punching time" simply because the audience would love that sort of thing. Taking risks in filmmaking has always been an uphill battle, but I think it might be even harder today. I just can't imagine Ang Lee's Hulk being released as a film in this day and age without getting lambasted the way Eternals was. "Why is there so much talking in my Hulk film?" I mean, it's like asking why a story about a man struggling with his inner demons have ponderous slow burn moments that examine his relationship with said rage. I think that's why Ang Lee's Hulk never really felt like a bad film or even a weird superhero film to me because the slower self-reflection moments made sense in the context of the story and character. I wish more superhero films would have the guts to do that. In spite of my gripes about Zack Snyder, I still like Watchmen specifically because of these self-examination moments.

Yes. Same.

currently watching Ginger Snap on Joe Bob Briggs' Drive In on Shudder along with rewatching In Search of Darkness 1 for the heck of it.

@HotGoomba... you saw nothing! ^Z_A^M

As a kid I watched the behind the scenes to a film more than the film itself. I like to see how things work I always have.

Watching Lord of the Rings behind the scenes videos mainly results in watching alternate takes, outtakes or bloopers. Mostly on location with a little green screen here and there.

Peter Pan (2003) Is apart of my childhood I remember renting it from my local library so many times just to watch the behind the scenes and watch Jason Isaacs vlog (no joke). (I now own it and oddly the blu-ray sucks because the BTS were not on it, but I bought a DVD combo pack with it in it and it did have the BTS)

I did the same with anything Jim Henson related, but I owned everything he made so I ended up watching those more. Some of these BTS's will soon be lost to time.

HAHA, I found the Jason Isaacs vlog!

My ★★ review of Top Gun: Maverick on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/37yaz1

Tron: Legacy is one of my favorites movies ever.

I almost always think the winner of Best Picture is a joke. Except for Parasite. That deserved it.

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I think "machismo chauvinists" sums up Top Gun and its guilty pleasure appeal pretty much. I was so bored watching the first film, but I understand the 'fun' of its concept as an outdated '80s machismo relic. It's the kind of fun you'd find singing the Team America theme song, or perhaps Denis Leary's song about being a jerk (of which its title I probably can't spell it out here). It's the idea of being crass and obnoxious because you can, because 'MURICA! lol

Besides, sweaty male volleyball. Hard to argue that doesn't have its appeal.

I actually like Brave somewhat, but even if I think Wreck-It-Ralph's idea is more interesting (albeit not original since it's just Toy Story/The Secret Life of Pets with video games), I do admit Brave has a kind of charm with Pixar's first foray into the fantasy setting.

Same. I've never seen the original Tron, but even then, I thought it's one of the most ambitious reboot since Casino Royale. To have the guts to make a sequel to such an old film, and in such a spectacular manner with mind-blowing graphics, it most certainly pioneered the "old movie reboot" of contemporary Hollywood.

For anyone wondering the original Tron is like a Ben-Hur type movie but set in a computer. It's not a fast film it takes itself slow and steady like a David Lean film but Sci-Fi.

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I really hope WB just replaces Ezra Miller with Grant Gustin. Obviously, not for this flash movie since that would basically require the whole movie to be reshot, but maybe in a post credit scene it could be a side effect of flashpoint.

@blindsquarel... That might not happen, but from what I know (don't ask how) that guy from maze runner will be the flash. Take note I didn't say who from maze runner.

That'll be way too expensive. The movie seems to have recording finished and most of it seems to be finished, so rerecording it to replace this one actor would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, which knowing Warner Bros. Discovery's current business plan, that's not gonna happen.

It'll either be released in theaters as it is, or even just be cancelled like Batgirl or Scoob Holiday Haunt (I doubt the latter would happen).