Just got back from a late show of the 2 hour debacle.

I hated it.

Didn't see that coming, did you?

My advice? Wait for it to stream somewhere, then hit "stop suggesting" or such without watching it. Once again, every moment of the film worth seeing was in the teaser/trailers.

Wait, I thought... isn't the new Shazam a multi-episode show? Or am I confused. Is there also a tv show?

On a similar note (of comics being turned into shows) have you watched the new season of The Tick? I LOVED the tv show with Patrick Warburton as the Tick a few years ago (Batmanuel's name alone was worth it), but the new one with Peter Serafinowitz (sp?) is pretty good.

Hang in there after the movie ends thru all the clips and the very last one makes it clear a sequel is coming.

I am not sure how I feel about a superhero who is teenage immature.

jamiepan (imported) wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:46 am Wait, I thought... isn't the new Shazam a multi-episode show? Or am I confused. Is there also a tv show?

You are thinking about "Beat Shazam" based on the Shazam app. For more on the Shazam app, here's the Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shazam_(application)).

Personally, I think anything DC, movie-wise, isn't worth seeing. Even from the commercials. Even the TV shows on The CW don't interest me. I'm Marvel all the way. Yes, I have my tickets for Endgame already purchased.

I have to confess, I'm not really looking forward to 'Endgame'. I've read that it's 3 hours long. Hopefully it will have an intermission! Otherwise, an adult diaper or a catheter might be needed.

My biggest gripe about DC movies is how dark they are. Literally. There's a thing called "brightness/contrast" in all digital editing software. Apparently, they've not found it. Too many night scenes, and just the overall 'darkness' of their movies is a problem. Granted, characters like Batman are out at night, and are not happy people. I get that. For me, the movies are too hard to watch in that I can't see them. Literally. It also doesn't help that our local theater here doesn't understand "turn down the lights".

Hell, even this blasphemous remake of "Dumbo" was dark. Dim indoor sets, and a lot of night scenes.

Marvel movies, on the other hand, are bright. For the most part. Lots of color, and even in fast action, you can see what's going on. "Infinity War" had its big battle in broad daylight! The characters have their faults, yes, but they're not all gloom and doom and "woe is me" all the time. You don't get a teenage Peter Parker whining to Tony Stark the way young Kal-El did in "Man of Steel". I mean, dammit man...after that scene, I just wanted to find a Kryptonite bullet and put poor little Clark out of his misery. It's no wonder that the MCU has been so successful, while DC gets ripped on, and tends to flop after opening weekend.

I heard Wonder Woman was pretty good, though. Didn't go see it, because they set her in WWI, though. That, and I'm allergic to Chris Pine. I'll keep my 70's TV series DVD's, thank you.

Slight SPOILERS ahead, so be warned:

The one bright spot to this film was Jack Dylan Grazer. He made a great Freddie Freeman. He was nerdy, loud, had a bad leg, and he's adorable. I mean, you don't put posters of the homely people in the windows to advertise prints or films, OK? Then he turned into Adam Brody later on. Not to spoil that, but there's a very tear-jerking scene that evokes more emotion (lasting only 2 seconds) than in the rest of the film. And when he goes off on Shazam/Billy, it's a well-written scene. One of the few in the movie.

Asher Angel as Billy just didn't get it. At least, not for me. He had his moments, but overall, the character isn't well-written. You can tell that he tried, though; you can't fault a child actor for being given a bad script.

As for the villain? They should have used John Glover (Lionel Luthor of 'Smallville'). When Glover is in his element, which is most of the time, he's terrifying. We only got Mr. Sivana for about a minute overall, and he would have made a much better Dr. Sivana than Mark Strong. I mean, there were kids laughing at this villain. Much like they laughed at the werewolf in HP3. I had high hopes, since this was a DC movie, that Shazam would just kill him. No such luck. Put the poor guy out of his misery, OK? Granted, Glover was a bit old to be the grownup, though, given Dr. Sivana's tragic backstory. Still, Mr. Strong just didn't get it.

I suppose that Zach Levi as Shazam was OK. He did seem to capture the idea of "boy in a man's body" without too much creepiness. I'd take this character over Aflekc's Batman or Cavill's Superman any day.

As for the rest of the characters? Cardboard cutouts. I didn't feel a thing for any of them. I mean, damn...The Vision in the MCU and his fling with Wanda evoked more emotion in a few scenes than every other DC movie combined. Billy finally tracked down his mom in Shazam? Good for him. Pathetic scene, and I mean the acting. Now tell me more about Thor and Loki as kids, OK? Billy was about as emotional in that scene as the rock that Hulk threw at that one guy.

Overall, this movie tried hard - but it failed. There were a few good comedy scenes, but the scenes that tried to evoke emotion and make you feel for the characters failed. As I mentioned before, the only ones that worked were the ones with Freddie. You could probably cut out the rest of the movie and just watch his clips, and be entertained.

It almost seemed as if they were trying to do that?

So if you've seen the trailers/teasers, you've seen just about all that's worth seeing in this movie.

grapesoda19 (imported) wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 3:12 am Even the TV shows on The CW don't interest me. I'm Marvel all the way. Yes, I have my tickets for Endgame already purchased.

I lost interest in those the first time they pulled a crossover story, where you have to go and watch Arrow, let's say, to see what happened on the last episode of The Flash.

I watched the previews of SHAZAM and wasn't impressed.

The entire "super-earthman, alien-enhanced, immortal-galactic-being, genre has been over done.

I'm surprised there isn't a superpower for zits and hemorrhoids ... something really goofy.

AS for "Infinity War: Endgame" there's been too much hype. Too much screaming hysterical fan-adoration of what seems to be an entire MARVEL genre whose sole purpose is to take money with movie after movie. I haven't seen some of the more recent movies just because I want something more in a story.

Paolo wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:23 am I have to confess, I'm not really looking forward to 'Endgame'. I've read that it's 3 hours long. Hopefully it will have an intermission! Otherwise, an adult diaper or a catheter might be needed.

There are some theaters that are considering putting an intermission in. Now, the Russo Brothers said of the 4 test audiences they screened the movie for, no one got up the entire 3 hours and 1 minute of the film. So, if one is added, it will be by the theater themselves as the Russos and Marvel aren't adding them. I have

Paolo wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:28 am good bladder control, so I'm golden.

I lost interest in those the first time they pulled a crossover story, where you have to go and watch Arrow, let's say, to see what

happened on the last episode of The Flash.

I just never watched them. Wasn't interesting. I don't mind a good crossover, an NCIS/NCIS: Lo

Dave (imported) wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:36 am s Angeles/NCIS: New Orleans crossover would be awesome! I like crime dramas.

As for "Infinity War: Endgame" there's been too much hype. Too much screaming hysterical fan-adoration of what seems to be an entire MARVEL genre whose sole purpose is to take money with movie after movie. I haven'

t seen some of the more recent movies just because I want something more in a story. I didn't get it either, but I liked Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2. So I started at the beginning with Iron Man. I binge-watched every Marvel movie (not series, just the movies) in 2 weekends. Now I get it. Infinity War and now Endgame is the end of a 22 movie story line. No one has done that....ever. Plus, no one knows who of the original casts are coming back. Some have said they are leaving after this one, but that could be misdirection. That's the fun of it all.

If you do decide to start from the beginning, here's a link on how to watch everything Marvel (movies, shows, one-offs, Netflix series, etc.) in Chronological Order: https://www.cnet.com/features/marvel-ci ... s-endgame/

...I have to confess...

You know, this, right here, is why I cruise the forums of my favorite sites; why I wade through the chaff of Reddit; why I dig in corners.

I know nothing about you except your posts here, but here in the middle of what should be nowhere, I read a well thought, concise, interesting and reasoned commentary on WTF is wrong with DC.

The movie reviewer I want to read talks from the heart, slams shittyness hard and entertainingly, notices reasons for feelings and describes them.

If only I owned a newspaper or big website, I'd bribe you away from your job in a hot second.

Thank you!

My last employer described me as "brutally honest" to the employer I have now. I had been doing odd jobs for him off and on for a while, and I overheard the phone conversation while I had my head up under one of the large printing machines trying to figure out why it was jamming paper.