Posts by Walter Bishop98

Back on your thread again,

It was a solid film; I caught it while relaxing at my cabin up north over the weekend.

When I dropped it off at the local video rental shop, I told the owner it actually holds up better than Independence Day, and he couldn't disagree.

It seems like nowadays, people aren't really interested in making those more atmospheric, mysterious alien movies anymore, are they?

There is something inherently taxing about biographical films based on true stories. They tend to weigh heavily on the soul.

It seems to me that a heavy film often demands a mournful conclusion—not just sad, mind you, but truly heartbreaking.

Furthermore, once a heavy film concludes, you don't just move on; you find yourself lingering under its shadow for quite some time.

Don't you find yourself dwelling on it when you finally settle into bed at night, or perhaps finding it resurfaces in your mind several days later?

To me, There Will Be Blood feels more like an inspiring masterpiece than some heavy-handed tragedy. By the end, you find yourself actually admiring that family's grit. It all feels somewhat positive in its conclusion—though I did unfortunately find out later what actually happened to that kid in real life, which changes things—so it doesn't strike me as particularly grim.

I'm trying to dig through my memory for a truly heavy film, but nothing is jumping out at me immediately. The first thing that comes to mind is Born on the Fourth of July, though I'm not entirely sure if I'd categorize it as a definitive "heavy" film.

When I was just a kid, The Last Emperor absolutely wrecked me. Or that series about Djumbirov.

Then again, I probably shouldn't hold those up as the gold standard for heavy cinema.

Honestly, I find myself in complete agreement with you here.
My main issue is that SR feels like a really poor imitation of the films that came before it; with Man of Steel, I found the whole thing somewhat engaging simply because it was a fresh take, and despite its flaws, it actually felt decent enough at times.
As you can clearly see, I’m not particularly satisfied with any of them, though Man of Steel held my interest purely because it was new, nothing more than that.
As for SR, it's a sequel that honestly should never have been filmed in the first place.
Another point to consider: I don't think they should have leaned so heavily on reworking old music or similar tropes; shouldn't they have tried to distance themselves from the past instead?
You essentially hit the nail on the head regarding the casting—how the actors themselves carry these roles well, specifically for Henry Cavill, since his character just wasn't written effectively, which is something I completely agree with. Visually speaking, both of them look the part quite well.

My main issue with Superman Returns is that Brandon Routh feels like he’s just imitating Christopher Reeve while Kevin Spacey tries to channel Gene Hackman.
Personally, I found Man of Steel a bit better, though even that didn't quite hit the mark for me; they missed the bullseye on so many levels, especially with the lead casting—while he looks the part, the whole Krypton backstory and everything stemming from it just never resonated.
If only the film had been built around Superman's specific perception of the world, perhaps exploring those moral dilemmas through a more cohesive narrative, it might have actually reached its potential instead of stumbling where it did.
Ultimately, it's an incredibly shallow movie.
The real issue with these modern Batman and Superman reboots is that they seem to be shamelessly copying Marvel, whereas they used to follow a completely different blueprint.
Take Tim Burton's Batman, for instance, which leaned into that gritty noir aesthetic and felt like it existed in its own unique universe; even Christopher Reeve's Superman and Nolan's Batman possessed a distinct stylistic identity, much like Burton's Batman.
Everything coming out of DC lately feels like a cartoon, including Wonder Woman—which, granted, is my favorite, but I suspect it only holds such high ratings because we haven't had a proper film about her before.