Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
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Notes -
I saw LOTR extended edition, Cyberpunk Edgerunners and John Wick 4 whilst I was on my brief hiatus away from this place and shall write a short review of all three in hopes of encouraging all to watch them.
Lord of the rings (extended edition)
LOTR trilogy is fantastic. The very fact that a trilogy like this one was made with top tier actors, visuals, award wins and box office numbers is a big W for everyone. Harry Potter novels were something I liked quite a bit as an 8th grader as my ma brought a few of their books from her library before diwali break and I loved reading them. I never paid much attention to LOTR, Narnia or GOT because I never felt that I would like them. As I grew up, I could understand the not so subtle ways Rowling tries to show people who like traditional values as the villain and also how it was frankly a series for children. LOTR did the opposite, when I finished watching all 12 hours of it, I felt appreciative of atavistic values like honor, duty, loyalty to your flag. It makes you see why these things are beautiful, why many of our forefathers lived by certain codes, the reason for it being people valuing these things more than their own life at many points. I am not a Christian, far from it and Hindu theology is very different from the kind you find among Abrahamic religions yet I cant not appreciate the work of Tolkien. I had not read the books but I sure as hell wish to now. Tolkien through his fantasy land builds a narrative that shows us some high human values that may sound wishy washy or woo woo given how spiritual things may be looked down. The trilogy is just amazing.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners
If you have a gf, watch this with her as this show hits you in the feels, I have a no gf rule due to reasons people know of. I got into this anime because I saw the music video of the theme song "I really wanna stay at your house". It takes place nearly a year before the events of the cyberpunk 2077 game. The protagonist is one 18 year old david martinez and the show is a 10 episode journey of his rise from a poor studious prodigy to one of the top mercenaries of Night City. It is heartbreaking, bittersweet and overall a show you have to watch. Also that track alone is worth it.
John Wick 4
Watch this in theatres, best action choreography I have seen in a movie, it is better than all three before it and I am really glad I got to see it in theatres. Just sheer carnage, glorious violence, I wish to be as fluent with math and CS as Wick is with violence. Great great movie.
I don't want to watch John Wick 4. The original John Wick was great: the conflict was personal, John Wick was plausibly squishy: like the best kind of Batman, he could defeat any foe with enough preparation, but was vulnerable to surprise attacks and being outnumbered, by the end of the movie he was barely alive. I disliked the sequel for piling on too much of their "world of hitmen" crap and giving Wick magical regeneration powers. I have no idea why I watched John Wick 3, masochism, I guess?
I think JW 1 was a masterpiece, it felt gritty and realistic in its presentation, and even the more outlandish aspects of the hidden assassin subculture didn't demand too much suspension of disbelief.
In contrast, the more the latter films delved into that, the more nonsensical it became, you're telling me that this society tolerates city-wide shootouts and massacres?
I thought that police officer in the first film was simply paid off or friends with John, not that pretty much the entirety of law enforcement aids and abetts the insanity!
Yeah, I thought he was aware of John Wick's ties to organized crime and thought, "dying by trying to arrest an ex-mafia goon with fresh corpses in his home isn't why I busted my ass to get a low-stress job patrolling a wealthy suburb, fuck this, I ain't seen nothing".
Similarly, I thought Intercontinental was just one of these places that cater to the organized crime with a strict "no business on the premises" policy of neutrality. Um, like Arlecchino was in Moscow. Or Progizhin's Old Customs House was in St Pete.
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Yeah, I like all the sequels as much as the original, but watching 4 in the theater this week, I couldn't stop thinking about the contrast with the original. It boggles the mind as to how the hell society functions when it seems like the world of the assassins and the High Table must have quite an appreciable crumb of the entire Earth's GDP flowing through it. Like, just how much crime does it take to fund all these opulent facilities, equip so many goons with weaponry, and give them cool cars, too?
It's a shame we never got that Buckaroo Banzai sequel in film form, because the High Table and all its organizations probably would be a good depiction of a World Crime League.
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It is not about the story for me personally, I just like the action set pieces and experiencing them in a theatre. The movie still makes him vulnerable enough imo, you should watch the 4th one.
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1 and 2 were the best in the series IMO. 3 & 4 jump the shark and are fantastical, fundamentally different movies. I agree with much of your critique and wish they continued emphasizing realistic gunplay more in 4.
I still think the series as a whole is the best action franchise of the past 2 decades, and that 4 was a very enjoyable experience.
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