Just saw John Carter...

mikecl wrote:

ZMan wrote: ...and it was really good. Very epic in places. Great landscape shots. Great work on the Tarks. Really brought back the wonder in watching movies.

I loved Taylor Kitsch in Friday Night Lights but in the trailers the acting looked wooden. Does he give a good performance then?

Yeah he is good. Character has more depth than is apparent on the trailers.

ZMan wrote: but the book rights are probably doable.

The books are in the public domain.

S.

Black Barney wrote: that movie is for dumb people

What did you think of it?

S.

I know it's pg-13, but how appropriate is it for a 5 year old? Would I be pushing it?

Jeff White wrote: I know it's pg-13, but how appropriate is it for a 5 year old? Would I be pushing it?

There's a lot of fighting but it's not gory, there's blood but it's mostly blue blood. There's some exposed skin but no real nudity.

Jeff White wrote: I know it's pg-13, but how appropriate is it for a 5 year old? Would I be pushing it?

There was a mom and son who looked to be about that age in the audience when my wife and I saw it yesterday and he seemed to handle it ok.

Black Barney wrote: that movie is for dumb people

Why do you feel that way?

For me, this is what movies are for. The Help or the Kings Speech might be good films but I can see those type of films on tv. John Carter, Avengers, these are films that are mnade for the big screens.

At least that is how I see it nowadays - as opposed to 30-35 years ago when any genre film was potentially worthy and fun to see in theaters.

With my dwindling time and other concerns, I think action films and their ilk are best suited for movie theaters. All else can be seen on a smaller screen with no loss of enjoyment.

Zev makes a good point. Good dramas like The Kings Speech or Winters Bone are movies I won't see in the theaters. I'll wait to watch them on Netflix, On Demand if I miss one that seems really good and Netflix won't have it for awhile. All in the comfort of my own home. Genre flicks are pretty much the only ones I'll see on the big screen and John Carter in Imax 3D was awesome. Today's 3D is still a little rough but definitely better than when I was a kid. The newest trailer for The Avengers I saw before JC yesterday almost made me wet myself and I might have to catch the first midnight 3D Imax showing for that one. I'm pretty discriminating though, there's big-budget flicks I'll make sure I miss. Jake Gyllenhaal as Aladdin? I don't think so and that's just one example.

One thing about John Carter is that it seemed like Disney took all the cheesy sword-and-sandal movies from the 60s and remade them as a superior action flick. Good script, the acting was good enough, all in all a great genre action movie that didn't drag and didn't leave me thinking any part of it was stupid. I went into it not knowing anything about John Carter besides seeing Frazetta's paintings. Now I might have to read the ERB book.

I loved the Barsoom books as a kid and have been mildly dreading this film release for what it might do to my memories of decent but not earth-shattering stories that I've long enjoyed (I got the entire series on Kindle for free and started re-reading them a while back.) While you could make the argument that John Carter is of the same pulp origins as Conan, I think you'd be wrong in that REH had a definitive philosophy and perspective in his Conan tales, whereas ERB was mostly just spinning tales for the sake of spinning them. There are pros and cons to both, of course.

What made me dread the movie release and generally colors my view of films and other media, in general, these days is something that's hard to define but what I usually chalk up to "lack of vision." If you're going to tell me a story, make sure that the story is interesting and well told. That means plotting, scripting, and acting. No one wants to hear a joke in a monotone or rushed when most jokes are about timing and delivery, right? Same with movies. Give me a story well told, not just one gussied up with the latest CGI and delivered as spectacle. I've seen spectacle. I've seen or read most stories under the sun (I can't read superhero comics anymore because they're all identical to stuff I read 30 years ago.) Give me a story that will keep me thinking when I leave the theater. Movies like The King's Speech and The Descendants do that. Spectacle like the vast majority of fantasy/SF material frequently doesn't.

I guess I'm just too cynical to be impressed with the fireworks on the big screen anymore, although I can certainly understand Zev's perspective as movies more as escapism than challenging. I suppose it depends on what you want to get out of it.

I dunno, I don't mean that John Carter is for dumb people and The King's Speech and Winter's Bone aren't, I'm not comparing John Carter to those cuz then I would be saying action movies or sci-fi is for dumb people and I don't think that.

I think there is GOOD action, there is GREAT action and there is action for dumb people. John Carter strikes me as the latter. It is no Bourne Ultimatum, Casino Royale, umm... Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. All of those were great action movies and you could TELL they were good. i can tell that John Carter will have a bad script, bad characters and just a bunch of awesome beautiful effects and that's it.

It's probably a pass (like a 2.5 star movie) but that's it. No one will talk about it a month from now nor ever again.

John Carter was on the big screen for less than 2 hours and cost $250 million to make. I dare filmmakers to do better.