The Film Thread

[Ginko]

I'd rather have non-canonical, Ultimate universe, black, Samuel L. Jackson Nick Fury, than normal Marvel Universe, white, David Hasselhoff Nick Fury!

[Chindie]

Nick Fury? He's not even much of a thing in the comics world any longer.

About the only Marvel comic that I really ever liked (and read more than one or two of) was Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos.

Hence my disappointment at the non-canonical black Nick Fury.

He is canonical! Just not in the canon of the 616 Marvel universe (which is the main universe of comics for Marvel, the ones where all these characters started).

The Nick Fury in the Avengers is based on the Ultimate universe of comics, where Nick Fury is indeed black and, in fact, was based on Samual L Jackson. The Ultimate universe was a reboot for every character that allowed people to get on board without having to know 40+ years of back story. The Ultimate universe has actually been quite interesting as far as characters development goes, there appears to be an unwritten rule that popular characters can and will die, and if they die, they're gone.

Fury is more of a thing in the Ultimate universe, in the original 616 universe he's used a recurring character a lot... but I'm not even sure he has his own comic any longer. He tends to be a big deal when they do 'event' storylines though.

[mjmooney]

Nick Fury? He's not even much of a thing in the comics world any longer.

About the only Marvel comic that I really ever liked (and read more than one or two of) was Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos.

Hence my disappointment at the non-canonical black Nick Fury.

He is canonical! Just not in the canon of the 616 Marvel universe (which is the main universe of comics for Marvel, the ones where all these characters started).

The Nick Fury in the Avengers is based on the Ultimate universe of comics, where Nick Fury is indeed black and, in fact, was based on Samual L Jackson. The Ultimate universe was a reboot for every character that allowed people to get on board without having to know 40+ years of back story. The Ultimate universe has actually been quite interesting as far as characters development goes, there appears to be an unwritten rule that popular characters can and will die, and if they die, they're gone.

Fury is more of a thing in the Ultimate universe, in the original 616 universe he's used a recurring character a lot... but I'm not even sure he has his own comic any longer. He tends to be a big deal when they do 'event' storylines though.

I hate reboots. I preferred the way DC handled their Golden Age/Silver Age character differences by postulating parallel universes (Earth One and Earth Two) - which actually allowed them to interact.

As I've said on here before, a Howling Commandos movie might have made a nice alternative to Inglourious Basterds!

On balance though, I think I prefer (my memories of) the comics themselves to having films of them at all (if pushed, I like the Adam West Batman WAY better than any of the supposedly 'dark' versions).

Needless to say I will have no truck with 'graphic novels'. FFS, if you're over 12, read a proper book! (and I don't mean Harry Potter)

[tonyh29]

I saw Avengers last night , I'm not a huge fan of these films though tbf I enjoyed Iron man 1 ( 2 tried too hard and spoilt the film) and Thor ..not seen Cpt America yet

As mindless films go , it was pretty decent ( mindless is probably a tad harsh tbh as the film had some good story development going on , by mindless I mean characters that are pretty much indestructible and beyond belief even in a comic book world .i.e Hulk and his exit from the main ship (hopefully worded that without it being a spoiler )

Overall i enjoyed it ...the film had some good humour and some characters that had you interested in them Hulk in particular

if I had one criticism to make it would be of course that Scarlett didn't get them out and she really really needed to get it on with Cobie Smulders .. but fingers crossed for the sequel

[Chindie]

I hate reboots. I preferred the way DC handled their Golden Age/Silver Age character differences by postulating parallel universes (Earth One and Earth Two) - which actually allowed them to interact.

As I've said on here before, a Howling Commandos movie might have made a nice alternative to Inglourious Basterds!

On balance though, I think I prefer (my memories of) the comics themselves to having films of them at all (if pushed, I like the Adam West Batman WAY better than any of the supposedly 'dark' versions).

Needless to say I will have no truck with 'graphic novels'. FFS, if you're over 12, read a proper book! (and I don't mean Harry Potter)

It's perhaps wrong to say that the Ultimate universe is a reboot... the 616 universe thats been there since the beginning is still going and there are still storylines that reach back to storys from decades back (some of the big storylines in that time even have effects that have continued on). The Ultimate universe was created as a seperate entity that postulated 'What if all the heroes we have, started over and some things changed?'. It's more modern take on things, some characters have changed a little (the Spiderman villain Venom for example is not an alien symbiote in it's Ultimate incarnation, and Peter Parker has recently been killed in that universe with a new guy entirely taking up the mantle). And even that universe has been going for... 10 years now I think.

DC tends to reboot far more often than Marvel does. It recently rebooted it's entire catalogue after a storyline got so enormous it was unwieldy to continue with IIRC. Marvel only really has the 616 and Ultimate universes, with some other ones that got made up for one off storylines and events that then got more or less left to the history books.

As for graphic novels... I think thats the snob in you, in all honesty . They may be poncey comics but they're often some of the best things in the medium. And it's not just a thing for kids. It was really the dark interpretations of Batman that created the graphic novel so perhaps you'd not appreciate it

[mjmooney]

As for graphic novels... I think thats the snob in you, in all honesty . They may be poncey comics but they're often some of the best things in the medium. And it's not just a thing for kids. It was really the dark interpretations of Batman that created the graphic novel so perhaps you'd not appreciate it

Guilty as charged, your honour.

I've tried reading them, and in all honesty, I can't see the appeal.

[kurtsimonw]

I remember when I was little and thinking comics were for kids and I couldn't really understand half of the dialogue. Now I can appreciate them much more. It's also because I like art and "proper books" I find boring as I'm more of a visual person. To me it just seems like the easy way out when they expect me to basically create it in my head with my imagination.

[Chindie]

I saw Avengers last night , I'm not a huge fan of these films though tbf I enjoyed Iron man 1 ( 2 tried too hard and spoilt the film) and Thor ..not seen Cpt America yet

As mindless films go , it was pretty decent ( mindless is probably a tad harsh tbh as the film had some good story development going on , by mindless I mean characters that are pretty much indestructible and beyond belief even in a comic book world .i.e Hulk and his exit from the main ship (hopefully worded that without it being a spoiler )

Overall i enjoyed it ...the film had some good humour and some characters that had you interested in them Hulk in particular

if I had one criticism to make it would be of course that Scarlett didn't get them out and she really really needed to get it on with Cobie Smulders .. but fingers crossed for the sequel

The Hulk thing is what you expect of the Hulk he basically is indestructible. Thor's roughly similar, he's actually meant to be stronger than anything more or less.

Glad you enjoyed it though.

Although sadly Scarlett doesn't get them out (though Google can help there), did you at least enjoy the gratuitous shots of her catsuit clad arse?

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Graphic Novels would be considerably better if they sorted their fonts out.

I love words too much to see them butchered by comic sans and co.

I realise the above complaint makes me sound like a right dork.

[tonyh29]

did you at least enjoy the gratuitous shots of her catsuit clad arse? Very Happy

[BOF]

Tell me this isn't going to be THE must-see film when it comes out!

Elijah Wood starring in a version of Speed where the bus is a piano

I saw this story about Elijah Wood joining a Spanish film called Grand Piano in my news feed a bunch of times without reading it because it sounded boring, but now I’m kicking myself for not clicking through to the subheadline.

The project, written by Damien Chazelle and to be directed by Eugenio Mira, is like “Speed” at a piano.

Wait, what? He’s going to ride around town on a piano? How does that work? Jeez, Spain sounds like a Dali painting.

The story concerns a once-great concert pianist who suffers from stage fright and comes back to perform after a five-year hiatus. Just when he’s about to play the first bar, he notices somebody has written a threatening note on his music sheet. He’s now forced to play his best concert ever to save his life as well as his wife’s. Think Speed at a piano. The movie will shoot at Ciudad de la Luz Studios in Alicante, Spain, and a week in Chicago. A late summer production start is being eyed. [THR]

Hmm, well I’m no script scientist, but the thing about Speed is that a bus moves. You have to watch out for little kids and try not to drive off overpasses. If Speed was set at a piano, there’s really no conflict until the climactic moment when you poop yourself. That’s not really a movie, it’s more like a concert with concerned faces. But if they are making a movie about a piano marathon, I’d suggest getting Carey Mulligan from Shame as the singer. That bitch can really stretch out a song.

[jon_c]

Graphic Novels would be considerably better if they sorted their fonts out.

I love words too much to see them butchered by comic sans and co.

I realise the above complaint makes me sound like a right dork.

Thing is, it in actually someone's job just to write in that text. and so many do it exactly the same.

I'm a grown man and I'm not ashamed to say I'll read a comic. (I'm a big Garth Ennis fan) But it's the term 'Graphic Novel' that irks me. Call a comic a comic, for the love of God.

It's like people who read Harry Potter, but have the 'adult' cover.

[mjmooney]

I'm a grown man and I'm not ashamed to say I'll read a comic. (I'm a big Garth Ennis fan) But it's the term 'Graphic Novel' that irks me. Call a comic a comic, for the love of God.

It's like people who read Harry Potter, but have the 'adult' cover.

Respect.

[kurtsimonw]

I am not ashamed to say that I probably own over 1,000 comics, probably even 2,000. Don't see why some see it as such an 'odd' thing. I like to read that kind of thing and I like art, so it's a perfect combination to me. Even more perfect as they've recently been transformed into some very good movies!

[Ginko]

As for graphic novels... I think thats the snob in you, in all honesty . They may be poncey comics but they're often some of the best things in the medium. And it's not just a thing for kids. It was really the dark interpretations of Batman that created the graphic novel so perhaps you'd not appreciate it

Guilty as charged, your honour.

I've tried reading them, and in all honesty, I can't see the appeal.

Each to their own and all, but I can't take anyone seriously who prefer the camp Adam West imagining of Batman over the dark Batman of the comics and graphic novels.

As much as I enjoyed Tim Burton's and Chris Nolan's take on Batman, none of the movies have ever come close to how I imagine the true Batman to be, that being that he is a dark and troubled character and that he uses his superior intellect as 'The World's Greatest Detective' to bring the story to it's conclusion. I can understand why none of the filmmakers have tried making a film like this though. It probably wouldn't translate to a big blockbuster movie very well. Nolan has definitely come the closest.

Thankfully Rocksteady have managed to achieve this with their Arkham series of games though. That's how Batman should be in my opinion. They do an absolutely fantastic job of getting the mood and the characters absolutely spot on in my opinion. There will never be a better Joker than Mark Hamil in my opinion. Jack Nicholson did a great job, as did Heath Ledger, but Mark Hamil's Joker is the 'true' Joker in my eyes.

[Brumerican]

Only ever read one graphic novel and that was Watchmen . To be fair I thought it was absolutely brilliant and the film was a massive let down in comparison .

Never really read Marvel comics but I did use to buy 2000AD regularly as a young teenager as well as the Commando comics , Beano and Dandy

[Chindie]

I really liked the Watchmen adaptation. It did the best it could I thought, which is surprising since Snyder is a laughable director. The Directors Cut is decent too, they seemed to have cut one of the best 'moments' in the film for the theatrical cut.

[Brumerican]

I liked the Watchmen movie a lot , don't get me wrong, but I still preferred the novel and the original ending .

[Chindie]

Oh yeah the novel blows it away. I think some of it is down to the pacing, the novel spreads it out as it can whereas the film has to try and rocket through all this stuff and even then it's a long watch (and feels it).

I wasn't that... upset at them changing the ending. I don't think the original plays to a movie audience and the alteration isn't a massive deal.

[Ginko]

I actually prefer the ending of the film adaptation to Alan Moore's original. I feel dirty for saying it as I'm a big fan of Moore, but the film ending actually made more sense and made the story feel more complete. Moore's ending was good, but a little disconnected with the rest of the story.