What to Watch If You Like the MCU
December 24, 2021 7:01 AM Subscribe
"... for those that enjoy the MCU or those seeking alternatives, I’ve collected a recommendation corresponding to every MCU movie. Some will be obvious, some less so. Regardless, they will be connected in some way that will make you a better moviegoer and, hopefully, be fun for you to watch—whether you liked their MCU equivalent or not."
I will admit that I clicked on this just to see if they copped out with "If you liked Thor: Ragnarok we recommend watching Thor: Ragnarok again" but when I saw what they actually chose I may have shrieked a little. This is a good list.
(And yes, Jupiter Ascending was super dumb but is rewatchably pretty.)
posted by phooky at 7:28 AM on December 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
(And yes, Jupiter Ascending was super dumb but is rewatchably pretty.)
posted by phooky at 7:28 AM on December 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
Ant-Man to Heat is some real galaxy-brain shit.
posted by sinfony at 7:37 AM on December 24, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by sinfony at 7:37 AM on December 24, 2021 [9 favorites]
the agents of the respective first gen avengers stars are frantically taking notes right now.
posted by cendawanita at 7:44 AM on December 24, 2021
posted by cendawanita at 7:44 AM on December 24, 2021
Also, god, i loved every inch of the aesthetics of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, but what an inert movie. I'd sooner slag on that than on Jupiter Ascending, which was nuts and all over the place but at least had energy and a point.
posted by cendawanita at 7:47 AM on December 24, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 7:47 AM on December 24, 2021 [13 favorites]
Ant-Man to Heat is some real galaxy-brain shit.
I felt the same way. 'Heat' is a pretty fucking intense watch with absolutely 0 moments of delight, which is part of the charm of 'Ant-Man.'
Overall, an 'A' for effort here but the match-ups feel like much of a stretch.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:50 AM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I felt the same way. 'Heat' is a pretty fucking intense watch with absolutely 0 moments of delight, which is part of the charm of 'Ant-Man.'
Overall, an 'A' for effort here but the match-ups feel like much of a stretch.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:50 AM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
Also, god, i loved every inch of the aesthetics of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, but what an inert movie.
^^^ This. I've tried twice to like this film and it just disappoints every time.
I think if anything, this list just underscores all of the reasons one comes to like and rewatch the MCU films in the first place (w/ respect for those who find them lacking).
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:54 AM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
^^^ This. I've tried twice to like this film and it just disappoints every time.
I think if anything, this list just underscores all of the reasons one comes to like and rewatch the MCU films in the first place (w/ respect for those who find them lacking).
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:54 AM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
this webspage does somethin funky where it hijacks my back button for every movie entry i scroll past like is a new webspage i've clicked on
posted by glonous keming at 7:54 AM on December 24, 2021 [18 favorites]
posted by glonous keming at 7:54 AM on December 24, 2021 [18 favorites]
Some of these choices though. Jupiter Ascending? Ugh.
Why don't you know what's good and fun in life??
I don't know how I feel about the content of the list but I appreciate that it exists and the author made some interesting connections.
posted by curious nu at 7:54 AM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
Why don't you know what's good and fun in life??
I don't know how I feel about the content of the list but I appreciate that it exists and the author made some interesting connections.
posted by curious nu at 7:54 AM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
Jupiter Ascending was poor but Sky Captain etc is a good idea truly wasted. It's one of those films you know isn't going to work just a few.minutes in. Wasted its stars with poor characterisation and woeful dialogue. Managed to make one character work and then dropped the ball by only keeping her on screen for ten minutes. Not a good substitute for Captain America.
posted by biffa at 7:55 AM on December 24, 2021
posted by biffa at 7:55 AM on December 24, 2021
Some of these choices feels very, "I shook a box of adjectives and nouns," pilot versions of some basic algorithmical work. Like, why the one Chinese-American movie gets another kungfu recommendation, considering the rest of the list?
Here are some of my alternates, in the spirit of the article:
1. If you like Black Panther, you must check out Baahubali (both parts). Both a fantasy of an idealised kingdom that was untouched by colonialism and pretty much an active pop-culture presentation of what it means to be a king, between what it means to be a king by divine right versus by actual actions where the men are the ostensible leads but much of the story hangs on the power of the female characters.
2. Shang Chi: I know what I said above, but this movie isn't good enough to deserve The House of Flying Daggers. No, this one is strictly at the first Storm Riders level. Young men raised by evil Sonny Chiba to be assassins but are too cute and too dumb to be such, played by the hot idols of their time who weren't known to be kungfu practitioners.
3: The First Avenger: I mean, THE ROCKETEER IS RIGHT THERE??
posted by cendawanita at 8:10 AM on December 24, 2021 [23 favorites]
Here are some of my alternates, in the spirit of the article:
1. If you like Black Panther, you must check out Baahubali (both parts). Both a fantasy of an idealised kingdom that was untouched by colonialism and pretty much an active pop-culture presentation of what it means to be a king, between what it means to be a king by divine right versus by actual actions where the men are the ostensible leads but much of the story hangs on the power of the female characters.
2. Shang Chi: I know what I said above, but this movie isn't good enough to deserve The House of Flying Daggers. No, this one is strictly at the first Storm Riders level. Young men raised by evil Sonny Chiba to be assassins but are too cute and too dumb to be such, played by the hot idols of their time who weren't known to be kungfu practitioners.
3: The First Avenger: I mean, THE ROCKETEER IS RIGHT THERE??
posted by cendawanita at 8:10 AM on December 24, 2021 [23 favorites]
I was on board until the writer said “Blade Runner 2049” stood on its on merits.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 8:45 AM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 8:45 AM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
Tangentially, also The Lego Movie is the Matrix, but with more Batman.
posted by bonehead at 8:52 AM on December 24, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by bonehead at 8:52 AM on December 24, 2021 [12 favorites]
Also, god, i loved every inch of the aesthetics of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, but what an inert movie.
Agreed. There was a ton of potential there and they just couldn’t make it all work together as well as they could have. That was a movie with serious sequel potential if they’d done better. The opening city attack scene, though, is just an awesome, gorgeous sequence. The rest of the movie couldn’t quite live up to that.
posted by azpenguin at 8:56 AM on December 24, 2021
Agreed. There was a ton of potential there and they just couldn’t make it all work together as well as they could have. That was a movie with serious sequel potential if they’d done better. The opening city attack scene, though, is just an awesome, gorgeous sequence. The rest of the movie couldn’t quite live up to that.
posted by azpenguin at 8:56 AM on December 24, 2021
Talking of Captain America, did anyone see Wrath of Man recently? I thought Scott Eastwood would make for a decent baddie Cap from another universe (since Chris Evans seems pretty done with the MCU).
posted by biffa at 9:05 AM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 9:05 AM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
For Captain America: they could also have gone with A Matter of Life And Death, a fantasy-ish film from 1946. It has some of the same nods to "what is The American Character" that Captain America handles, and there's another US/UK love story between the two leads.
Also, that scene towards the end of Captain America, where Steve is in his plane and heading towards a crash and has a whistling-past-the-graveyard conversation with Peggy, was inspired by the first scene of A Matter Of Life And Death, where the two leads have much the same conversation for much the same reason.
I mean, there's also some batshit wackadoo elements to A Matter of Life And Death as well - but we are trying to find a film to compare with a story about a dude from the 1940s injected with a serum that instantly makes him a supersoldier, so hey.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:14 AM on December 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
Also, that scene towards the end of Captain America, where Steve is in his plane and heading towards a crash and has a whistling-past-the-graveyard conversation with Peggy, was inspired by the first scene of A Matter Of Life And Death, where the two leads have much the same conversation for much the same reason.
I mean, there's also some batshit wackadoo elements to A Matter of Life And Death as well - but we are trying to find a film to compare with a story about a dude from the 1940s injected with a serum that instantly makes him a supersoldier, so hey.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:14 AM on December 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
We Recommend: Independence Day
Please don't.
posted by doctornemo at 9:32 AM on December 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
Please don't.
posted by doctornemo at 9:32 AM on December 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
Overall, a very interesting prompt with some creative choices.
posted by doctornemo at 9:32 AM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by doctornemo at 9:32 AM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I liked the article but scrolling through it flooded my browser history with an entry for each film on the page and goddammit I don't know how or why but one click should be one page.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:42 AM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:42 AM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
There is this conception on film twitter that marvel movie-goers seem to not understand that there are other movies out there. They’ve heard of movies, folks, they’ve even seen some of them! Getting them to pay for theater tickets with their friends is a different matter.
posted by Think_Long at 9:56 AM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Think_Long at 9:56 AM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
The real problem with Sky Captain: one of the planes had a code on its wing written in helvetica. I accept all the fancy diesel-punk technology; my nerd brain cannot accept they would use a font designed in the 1950s.
posted by HeroZero at 10:00 AM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by HeroZero at 10:00 AM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
Some surprising choices here, good and bad (I would not recommend 3 Days of the Condor now). This felt less like a serious recommendation list and more of a free association exercise or inkblot test. But I came away with a few new films to watch (along with some from this thread!).
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:02 AM on December 24, 2021
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:02 AM on December 24, 2021
These recommendations always have an air of superiority that make me wonder who's the intended recipient. "These movies you like? Sorry, they are bad and dumb, unlike these movies I like."
posted by simmering octagon at 10:24 AM on December 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by simmering octagon at 10:24 AM on December 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
I like it. It's odd and inconsistent, more like a cinematic free-association game than actual considered recommendations on the objective merits. As if the writer has individual quirky tastes. That's exactly what I want in a list! I can go to Amazon if I want nearest-neighbor algorithms that give me things with the same plot points and special effects budget.
These recommendations always have an air of superiority
No one who recommends Sky Captain and World of Tomorrow can maintain an air of superiority. If they put on airs in the past mentioning that movie means they've been sucked up by a vacuum clanner, if they try them in the future they will be vented out an airlock.
posted by mark k at 10:31 AM on December 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
These recommendations always have an air of superiority
No one who recommends Sky Captain and World of Tomorrow can maintain an air of superiority. If they put on airs in the past mentioning that movie means they've been sucked up by a vacuum clanner, if they try them in the future they will be vented out an airlock.
posted by mark k at 10:31 AM on December 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
The recommendations have the most strained possible links to the MCU movies. Did he just pick the first Marvel movie that came to mind for each of them? Which movies I'm not sure he actually watched? I think this is just his list of his favorite movies with a Marvel connection for click-bait.
Like, I love Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare movies, but I would never recommend FOUR HOUR HAMLET to someone who said, "I wanna watch something like Thor."
posted by Horkus at 10:39 AM on December 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
Like, I love Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare movies, but I would never recommend FOUR HOUR HAMLET to someone who said, "I wanna watch something like Thor."
posted by Horkus at 10:39 AM on December 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
This was a fun read and I came away with a few things to watch. Thanks.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:44 AM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:44 AM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you liked Ant-Man you should watch Phase IV
posted by RobotHero at 11:03 AM on December 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by RobotHero at 11:03 AM on December 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
If you liked Iron Man, you should watch Tetsuo: The Iron Man
posted by RobotHero at 11:06 AM on December 24, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by RobotHero at 11:06 AM on December 24, 2021 [13 favorites]
This is at least making me glad I never tried to watch Sky Captain.
posted by Foosnark at 11:18 AM on December 24, 2021
posted by Foosnark at 11:18 AM on December 24, 2021
I never saw Sky Captain, but I enjoyed the director's website and this blooper reel which features some extremely 2004 CGI. I imagine it influenced the industry in quiet ways depending on who you ask; the director claims 300 and Sin City and even Avatar were influenced by his work.
posted by credulous at 11:24 AM on December 24, 2021
posted by credulous at 11:24 AM on December 24, 2021
There are some good recommendations but hooo boy jumping from Spider-Man to The Devil All the Time is going to cause some emotional whiplash.
I watch and enjoy dark movies and The Devil All the Time was a rough watch even by my standards. It's basically trigger warning bingo of murder, sexual violence, suicide, animal harm and physical and emotional spouse & child abuse. It's very good but I cannot emphasise enough how brutal of a jump going from Spider-Man to this movie is. It's like deliberate counter-programming for maximum shock value.
posted by slimepuppy at 11:44 AM on December 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
I watch and enjoy dark movies and The Devil All the Time was a rough watch even by my standards. It's basically trigger warning bingo of murder, sexual violence, suicide, animal harm and physical and emotional spouse & child abuse. It's very good but I cannot emphasise enough how brutal of a jump going from Spider-Man to this movie is. It's like deliberate counter-programming for maximum shock value.
posted by slimepuppy at 11:44 AM on December 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
I’m glad the very second entry was “You liked The Hulk, in which Banner was in Brazil for a little bit, so you should watch this movie about kids struggling with crime and poverty in Brazil,” because my expectations for the list were adjusted properly from the start.
(Not to say that City of God wasn’t excellent, just that the associations in the list are tenuous.)
posted by ejs at 11:45 AM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
(Not to say that City of God wasn’t excellent, just that the associations in the list are tenuous.)
posted by ejs at 11:45 AM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
this list feels like a thinly veiled (and yes, tenuous at that) argument in favour of the MCU being big and foolish and kinda dangerous in a cultural bull in a china shop sort of way. I am in favour of such a list and capable of accepting such insinuations.
posted by philip-random at 12:19 PM on December 24, 2021
posted by philip-random at 12:19 PM on December 24, 2021
I liked the article but scrolling through it flooded my browser history with an entry for each film on the page and goddammit I don't know how or why but one click should be one page.
Yeah, paste magazine apparently has some sort of policy where their listicles also try to mess up your back button for... reasons? For example, their list of the best sci-fi films of 2021 also does the back-button thing. I can't work out why this is, though, because injecting a bunch of hash urls into your history doesn't result in new pageviews, so basically it just tries to trap you on the listicle page for fun I guess.
I thought this list was fine as sort of "here's a weird recommendation tangentially related to each MCU movie" exercise in free association, but it's not serious. Anything that recommends Midsommar and Back to the Future is not seriously trying to track the tone of the MCU films.
posted by axiom at 12:32 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yeah, paste magazine apparently has some sort of policy where their listicles also try to mess up your back button for... reasons? For example, their list of the best sci-fi films of 2021 also does the back-button thing. I can't work out why this is, though, because injecting a bunch of hash urls into your history doesn't result in new pageviews, so basically it just tries to trap you on the listicle page for fun I guess.
I thought this list was fine as sort of "here's a weird recommendation tangentially related to each MCU movie" exercise in free association, but it's not serious. Anything that recommends Midsommar and Back to the Future is not seriously trying to track the tone of the MCU films.
posted by axiom at 12:32 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Well, that might've been the first time someone other than the Netflix algorithm recommended someone watch The Devil All the Time
posted by box at 12:36 PM on December 24, 2021
posted by box at 12:36 PM on December 24, 2021
the MCU being big and foolish and kinda dangerous in a cultural bull in a china shop sort of way.
If - and i say this quite literally about to hit play on an MCU episode which i am looking forward to immensely - a person reacts to such insinuations defensively, I'd offer that they need, idk, deprogramming
posted by ominous_paws at 1:05 PM on December 24, 2021
If - and i say this quite literally about to hit play on an MCU episode which i am looking forward to immensely - a person reacts to such insinuations defensively, I'd offer that they need, idk, deprogramming
posted by ominous_paws at 1:05 PM on December 24, 2021
The writer is absolutely correct about one thing: Florence Pugh is a huge star.
posted by maxwelton at 1:09 PM on December 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 1:09 PM on December 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
Hey, if you like any of the Iron Man movies, you should definitely watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, so this list is at least partially correct.
Some of the suggestions seemed better fits than others, but it's a good prompt - I thought about trying to reverse engineer the selections though, and I am pretty sure I would not be successful at that match game - if you asked me what MCU movie a fan of The Favourite should watch, I doubt I'd have offered up Captain Marvel, but I probably would only have offered a blank stare to be honest.
I somehow haven't seen either Midsommar or Black Widow yet, though, and might actually make that a doubleheader.
posted by the primroses were over at 1:09 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Some of the suggestions seemed better fits than others, but it's a good prompt - I thought about trying to reverse engineer the selections though, and I am pretty sure I would not be successful at that match game - if you asked me what MCU movie a fan of The Favourite should watch, I doubt I'd have offered up Captain Marvel, but I probably would only have offered a blank stare to be honest.
I somehow haven't seen either Midsommar or Black Widow yet, though, and might actually make that a doubleheader.
posted by the primroses were over at 1:09 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
(I would not recommend 3 Days of the Condor now).
I'm curious, BlackLeotardFront. Why not now, the relationship between the male and female leads?
posted by doctornemo at 1:11 PM on December 24, 2021
I'm curious, BlackLeotardFront. Why not now, the relationship between the male and female leads?
posted by doctornemo at 1:11 PM on December 24, 2021
Cap America/Thor fans should watch 1978 Superman (and the sequel).
Loki fans: Batman Returns. Loki is Catwoman.
Bucky fans should watch Deep Space Nine, which is chock full of war trauma.
Tom Holland Spider-Man fans should watch all his interviews (he is delightful) plus his Rihanna lip-sync.
posted by emjaybee at 2:13 PM on December 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
Loki fans: Batman Returns. Loki is Catwoman.
Bucky fans should watch Deep Space Nine, which is chock full of war trauma.
Tom Holland Spider-Man fans should watch all his interviews (he is delightful) plus his Rihanna lip-sync.
posted by emjaybee at 2:13 PM on December 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
If you like The Avengers, please consider (the absolutely bonkers) 2017 Russian blockbuster Guardians!
posted by battleshipkropotkin at 2:41 PM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by battleshipkropotkin at 2:41 PM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
City of God is a better movie than any of the comic book movies I've seen.
posted by lkc at 2:44 PM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by lkc at 2:44 PM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
The Guardians of the Galaxy recommendation is totally inappropriate. Blade Runner 2049 is a rather grim tale, and entirely lacks the fun that Guardians has in spades. I liked both, but they are nothing alike.
posted by Ansible at 2:49 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Ansible at 2:49 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang has the same writer and director (Shane Black) as well as the same lead actor (Robert Downey Jr.) as Iron Man 3 and is similarly set around the winter holidays.“... but I repeat myself.”
Yeah, while I like the concept of the piece, this could have used an editor, if for no other reason than it might behoove the writer to know that John Hurt and William Hurt are two different, unrelated actors.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:41 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Did you like the utterly forgettable Iron Man 2? Well then, you'll love the utterly forgettable Seven Psychopaths!
And yeah, some of these seem like incredible stretches. Like, I guess Age of Ultron and Ex Machina are connected by the tenuous thread of "is AI dangerous?" but otherwise the two seem to share absolutely nothing in common. And that's one of the better connections!
But I feel like the premise isn't really to say the movies being connected are really very much alike, that it's just a jumping-off point for some movie recommendations. In that light it's a better list with some great movies in it.
posted by chrominance at 6:47 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
And yeah, some of these seem like incredible stretches. Like, I guess Age of Ultron and Ex Machina are connected by the tenuous thread of "is AI dangerous?" but otherwise the two seem to share absolutely nothing in common. And that's one of the better connections!
But I feel like the premise isn't really to say the movies being connected are really very much alike, that it's just a jumping-off point for some movie recommendations. In that light it's a better list with some great movies in it.
posted by chrominance at 6:47 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I mean clearly End Game pairs with The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Thior's Dark World? Julie Taymore's Titus. Ragnarok also works with that too.
posted by Carillon at 7:34 PM on December 24, 2021
posted by Carillon at 7:34 PM on December 24, 2021
>>Julie Taymore's Titus.
OMG I will never stop thinking about those meat pies.
posted by blakewest at 8:24 PM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
OMG I will never stop thinking about those meat pies.
posted by blakewest at 8:24 PM on December 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
The main appeal of Avengers was not that it was a blockbuster alien invasion action film. It was how it smashed together three movies worth of charismatic actors so you had a bunch of characters the audience was already familiar with but who hadn't met each other yet.
It's like how the airport battle in Civil War is so much better than any of the super team battles in the X-Men movies because the audience knows all the characters on both sides rather than having a bunch of strangers introduced with at most a line of dialogue and a brief demonstration of their powers.
What the MCU did was take some of the virtues (and vices) of a television series (or Marvel comic books which were themselves inspired by TV soap operas) -- characters who have longer-term history and relationships with each other, drawn-out overlapping plot arcs -- and brought them to movies.
I think if you want something that feels like a Marvel movie, you need to recommend a season of a TV show.
posted by straight at 9:45 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
It's like how the airport battle in Civil War is so much better than any of the super team battles in the X-Men movies because the audience knows all the characters on both sides rather than having a bunch of strangers introduced with at most a line of dialogue and a brief demonstration of their powers.
What the MCU did was take some of the virtues (and vices) of a television series (or Marvel comic books which were themselves inspired by TV soap operas) -- characters who have longer-term history and relationships with each other, drawn-out overlapping plot arcs -- and brought them to movies.
I think if you want something that feels like a Marvel movie, you need to recommend a season of a TV show.
posted by straight at 9:45 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
So much hating on Sky Captain here today. Tough crowd. I thought it was groovy.
posted by ovvl at 8:20 AM on December 25, 2021
posted by ovvl at 8:20 AM on December 25, 2021
I do like Sky Captain's back story.
In 1994, Conran began assembling moviemaking tools, including a bluescreen in his living room. He was not interested in working his way through the system and instead wanted to follow the route of independent filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh. Initially, Kerry and his brother had nothing more than "just a vague idea of this guy who flew a plane. We would talk about all the obvious things like Indiana Jones and all the stuff we liked."[15] Conran spent four years making a black and white teaser trailer in the style of an old-fashioned movie serial on his Macintosh IIci personal computer. Once finished, Conran showed it to producer Marsha Oglesby, who was a friend of his brother's wife and she recommended that he let producer Jon Avnet see it. Conran met Avnet and showed him the trailer. Conran told him that he wanted to make it into a movie. They spent two or three days just talking about the tone of the movie.[16]
too bad he didn't really have a script.
posted by philip-random at 9:47 AM on December 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
In 1994, Conran began assembling moviemaking tools, including a bluescreen in his living room. He was not interested in working his way through the system and instead wanted to follow the route of independent filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh. Initially, Kerry and his brother had nothing more than "just a vague idea of this guy who flew a plane. We would talk about all the obvious things like Indiana Jones and all the stuff we liked."[15] Conran spent four years making a black and white teaser trailer in the style of an old-fashioned movie serial on his Macintosh IIci personal computer. Once finished, Conran showed it to producer Marsha Oglesby, who was a friend of his brother's wife and she recommended that he let producer Jon Avnet see it. Conran met Avnet and showed him the trailer. Conran told him that he wanted to make it into a movie. They spent two or three days just talking about the tone of the movie.[16]
too bad he didn't really have a script.
posted by philip-random at 9:47 AM on December 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
Conran spent four years making a black and white teaser trailer in the style of an old-fashioned movie serial on his Macintosh IIci personal computer
Here's a link to that original trailer on YT, if you're interested. It's impressive considering the tools used. It's also highly reminiscent (derivative?) of Fleischer's Studio's 1941 Superman - The Mechanical Monsters if you want to take a peek.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 10:31 AM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Here's a link to that original trailer on YT, if you're interested. It's impressive considering the tools used. It's also highly reminiscent (derivative?) of Fleischer's Studio's 1941 Superman - The Mechanical Monsters if you want to take a peek.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 10:31 AM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I did say I love the visuals, the strongest part of Sky Captain. And I actually caught it at least three times at the cinema so I was really into this 'movie' (at best, it's an animated picture book). I can never shake the thought that his closest industry comparison was the Lucas/Spielberg gang, except Spielberg can tell a story and Lucas had Marcia Lucas.
posted by cendawanita at 12:36 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by cendawanita at 12:36 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think the idea of Sly Captain was great, I was super keen to see it, but somehow the director had retained too much control (!) and didn't deliver a plot, characters or dialogue to do it justice.
For Captain America: they could also have gone with A Matter of Life And Death, a fantasy-ish film from 1946
They could sub this for any of the MCU in fairness, since it is the greatest film ever made.
posted by biffa at 4:45 PM on December 25, 2021
For Captain America: they could also have gone with A Matter of Life And Death, a fantasy-ish film from 1946
They could sub this for any of the MCU in fairness, since it is the greatest film ever made.
posted by biffa at 4:45 PM on December 25, 2021
the one also known as Stairway To Heaven. It happens to contain my fave euphemism for death. A character asks about the welfare of a friend who has died. Nobody wants to tell him the truth in so many words as he's not in very good shape himself.
"He's ... gone on ahead," somebody finally says.
posted by philip-random at 5:01 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
"He's ... gone on ahead," somebody finally says.
posted by philip-random at 5:01 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
What to Watch If You Like the MCU
You should watch your back. Martin Scorsese will eventually track you down.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:03 PM on December 25, 2021 [4 favorites]
You should watch your back. Martin Scorsese will eventually track you down.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:03 PM on December 25, 2021 [4 favorites]
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Some of these choices though. Jupiter Ascending? Ugh.
posted by Foosnark at 7:25 AM on December 24, 2021 [5 favorites]