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Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » Avengers: Endgame » July 17, 2023 10:35 pm

Kittyhawk
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I am mostly disappointed by 3D, in most cases "real movies" are not half as effective as special 3D films in places like the Futuroscope. I believe there was one scene in The Hobbit where the 3D was amazing. Or maybe two... (I missed Avatar in the cinema).
Regarding DVDs, I am very happy that so many people are getting rid of them because it means that I can pick them up really cheap My internet connection/equipment is not up to streaming.
 

Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » Avengers: Endgame » July 14, 2023 4:42 pm

Kittyhawk
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besleybean wrote:

Glad you said  that, thought I was going mad.
Pretty sure I have the DVD, sitting on my shelf!

I'm pretty sure I won't ever have the DVD, but I do remember that I went to the cinema to see it in 3D. Because I'll forever regret not seeing the first Dr. Strange in 3D. Or Imax - or does Imax 3D exist? But all I remember from the Multiverse of Madness is that I found it abysmally bad, completely forgettable.

Also the whole Multiverse idea gives Marvel/Disney license to do whatever they want in the movies - if it doesn't fit in the continuity, well, it happens in a parallel universe, so what... Whereas I actually liked phase 1 and 2, when the movies could stand alone, but at the same time were pieces of a puzzle.

Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » Avengers: Endgame » July 11, 2023 7:34 pm

Kittyhawk
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@BrianPowers your post is much too late - Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came out in 2022.

Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » Avengers: Endgame » May 17, 2019 2:20 pm

Kittyhawk
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Rache wrote:

...
How do you interpret his gesture with the one finger in the last battle? I read there are different interpretations out there. ...

For me it was a message to Tony saying "There is only ONE scenario where we win - so if necessary you'll have to take the gauntlet even though it will kill you."

But I only watched the film once and in 3D and with subtitles, so I've probably missed a lot. On the other hand, I didn't really enjoy it so I won't watch again (pretty much the only enjoyable moment that sticks in my memory is Steve saying "that's really America's ass" to his earlier self - IMHO he was not talking about his glutes  )

What destroyed my enjoyment (apart of course Tony dying) is the fact that an Earth with 4 billion inhabitants wouldn't be particularly empty (so the pictures of New York deserted didn't make any sense to me), and that bringing 4 billion people back after 5 years, when the survivors have moved on (into the jobs and the houses) would result in so many problems that I really can't consider it a happy end.

I'm mostly just happy that this saga is now over and I can take a step back and patiently wait for Doctor Strange 2.

Books » What are you reading at the moment? » December 27, 2018 1:23 pm

Kittyhawk
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Rosemary Kirstein's The Steerswoman series. The second time it's almost better than the first time (and after 25 days of Christmas market I'm soooo in need of intelligent people....)

Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » let's discuss... dr Strange (spoilers) » December 27, 2018 1:21 pm

Kittyhawk
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Great news! I might have to find an IMAX 3D cinema...

Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » Thor Ragnarok » September 29, 2018 3:23 pm

Kittyhawk
Replies: 21

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Really? Why? Often they are the most interesting thing about the film (in LOTR SEE, for example. Or the Blackhawk Down 3 DVD version). Sadly, my favourite films often have little or no bonus material, and the films with great bonus features are not all that great in themselves (which explains the previous sentence...)

Fan Fic » Crossovers » September 28, 2018 12:19 pm

Kittyhawk
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There's "natural" crossovers, and recently I've discovered "necessary crossovers." Or rather, I've discovered the need for a crossover which I'm unable to find (so if anybody feels inspired...): What was Mycroft doing while an alien spaceship ploughed up the Old Royal Naval College in Thor: The Dark World? Not much detecting to do, so no need for Sherlock and John, but Mycroft definitely should have been involved in some way, maybe Lestrade as well...

Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » Thor Ragnarok » September 28, 2018 12:07 pm

Kittyhawk
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I can understand getting confused with the Marvel Films, especially since the contents don't always correspond to the title (Why Captain America: Civil War and not Avengers: Civil War?), and sometimes there seem to be several titles for the same movie - the first Avengers film is generally referred to as simply "Avengers" but my DVD clearly says "Avengers Assemble". And while looking for Thor: The Dark World on Amazon I have seen it as Thor: The Dark Kingdom (I'm assuming it's the same).

Thor: The Dark World is the one where Jane goes to Asgard and Aliens to London (which brings me to the subject of "necessary crossovers" and back to Sherlock: Where was Mycroft that day?)

Btw, are you as pissed off as I am that only the Blu-Rays seem to have decent bonus material? At least for the recent movies - the first Thor-DVD has a commentary by Kenneth Branagh...

Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » Thor Ragnarok » September 27, 2018 1:04 pm

Kittyhawk
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I was not comparing to Infinity War - I only saw it once half a year ago and have forgotten all the details. If I did want to compare Ragnarok to Infinity War it would have the huge advantage of Dr. Strange and Loki surviving the end of the movie!
I was comparing to the second Thor movie, Thor: The Dark World, which is not what I'd call a good movie, but I did really enjoy the part with Loki (chapters 9 to 12). And the lighting on Svartalfheim is just so beautiful. And there's the human element, which is completely missing from Ragnarok.
 

Benedict's Non-Sherlock Work » Thor Ragnarok » September 24, 2018 3:33 pm

Kittyhawk
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Having finally caught up to the fact that one has to watch all the Marvel movies, preferably in order, in order to really understand each new one (I would have enjoyed Infinity War more if I had seen Guardians of the Galaxy beforehand)  I've finally gotten Thor: Ragnarok from the library (there is an interlibrary loan system - what's 60 km of e-biking if you get to see Loki and Dr. Strange ;) ). And I'm so happy that I didn't spend any money on it! After The Dark World and considering the topic (it's about the destruction of a world, after all) I was expecting some high drama.

What I got was silly jokes from beginning to end, with a completely ridiculous buffoon Thor - I have never been a great fan of his but I don't think he deserved that -, a practically powerless Loki and a Dr. Strange scene that's hardly any longer than what we had already seen at the end of the Dr. Strange movie, which made me feel cheated.

I've watched it twice, in case I missed something the first time but no, it doesn't grow on me (unlike the first and second Thor movies and even Avengers: Age of Ultron which wasn't all that bad upon rewatching). For me the mood of the movie is just wrong...

I sort of understand Vhanja's point of view - as a silly comedy the movie might be okay, but the thing is that I don't think the Apocalypse should be played as a silly comedy, so I was put off right from the very first scene. It also doesn't feel at all like a sequel to The Dark World...

Films » Film vs. Book » June 12, 2018 9:22 am

Kittyhawk
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I've just discovered that I don't always need the book - or other documentation. And that there's cases where I just don't care about the inaccuracies in the movie. I'm sure there's lots of things that are wrong in "Florence Foster Jenkins" (wonderfully played by Meryl Streep) - but I just don't care. While it's a nice enough film, the lady is hardly even a footnote in music history, and the way the protagonists are portrayed, nobody needs to feel insulted...

Films » Hidden Figures » June 12, 2018 9:16 am

Kittyhawk
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Well, fortunately the real Katherine was a bit more daring than that...
 

Films » Hidden Figures » June 11, 2018 10:32 am

Kittyhawk
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But the question is how much of "not exactly" is acceptable...

I mean, didn't you wonder even when you watched the movie the first time why Katherine didn't discuss the restroom problem with anybody? Time is money and that's a pretty good argument for integration... For me it also makes a difference whether NASA promotes the first black woman to supervisor in 1962 or 1952... - and that's something I did not suspect upon watching the movie.

Films » Hidden Figures » June 9, 2018 6:38 pm

Kittyhawk
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Actually, I'm more interested in why the changes were not acknowledged in the DVD bonus material. The changes themselves seem pretty straightforward to me and fulfill the purpose of turning a sometimes confusing several hundred pages of history book into two hours of entertainment. But I feel that if reality is skewed for the purposes of entertainment, the viewer should be informed at some point, and the DVD bonus material offers ample opportunity. Which is too often missed - I had the same complaint about Imitation Game.

Films » Hidden Figures » May 30, 2018 6:30 am

Kittyhawk
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What do you think should I find out? I know for sure that only the director and the actress are talking in the commentary track on the DVD...

Films » Hidden Figures » May 28, 2018 5:33 pm

Kittyhawk
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The book as written is unfilmable, I don't doubt that (it's not the most compelling read, either, but I find it interesting - because the subject matters interest me). The thing that bothers me is the "based on a true story" on the DVD cover. I'd much prefer if they'd put "loosely inspired by the book .... written by .... - go read it if you want to know the true story" - that would be honest! I'd also like for the bonus material to explain about the differences, and the reasoning behind the changes (they did it for LOTR in several places!) - firstly so I'd know how things truly happened, and secondly because I'm always interested in how films are made. But from the commentary to Hidden Figures it sounds as if neither the director nor the actress who plays Katherine had read the book...

And what really worries me is that too many people will think that things happened as they are shown in the movie...
 

Films » Hidden Figures » May 28, 2018 8:22 am

Kittyhawk
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ALL the details. Some of the differences, off the top of my head:

NASA was not as backwards as is shown in the movie: Dorothy Vaughan became the first black femal supervisor in 1952 - ten years before the film. Katherine Coleman did not run half a mile to the bathroom for years - Mary Jackson did it once, exploded on her way back when asked by an engineer how she was and was offered to work with him. Katherine quite logically concluded that "Ladies Restroom" included her and never bothered to look for a "Coloured Girls Bathroom" (assuming that's how the signs were labelled...)

Dorothy, Mary and Katherine never worked together for any length of time in the computing pool and didn't share a car either - that was Eugenie Smith and Katherine Coleman. Mary Jackson didn't go to court to get permission to attend evenig classes at a "white" school - she simple asked the school's director for dispensation, which she got. Katherine authored her first report - with her name on it - in 1958. And the meetings from which she was excluded at first weren't Pentagon meetings (I must have lost hairs scratching my head wondering how to get from Langley Air Field, Hampton, to the Pentagon!) but editorial meetings for the publications of technical reports. Her children are much older than shown in the film. Her second husband did not work for the National Guard.

Do I even have to say that Dorothy did not sneak into the IBM mainframe room and secretly got the machine running when nobody else could? And she probably never stole the FORTRAN book from the library either... Dorothy Vaughan quite officially took the courses offered by NACA/NASA on  computing machines (I haven't yet come to the details of her further career). Also mechanical computers didn't appear in 1961, but much earlier (1948?)

The "spirit" of the book is preserved - the idiocies of discrimination (against blacks and/or women), female/black solidarity which helped overcome them, the genius of the pro

Films » Hidden Figures » May 27, 2018 8:18 am

Kittyhawk
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Halfway through the book (NACA has just become NASA) I have to say that unfortunately every single detail in the movie - apart from the three women's names - is wrong... I'm so happy that I watched the movie before reading the book, as otherwise I would have hated it.

On the other hand, the book, as written, would be unfilmable. It's not the most compelling read either, you probably need to be a woman and/or black to enjoy it.

Films » Film vs. Book » May 25, 2018 5:42 pm

Kittyhawk
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That was certainly part of it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with making (lots of) money doing something you love. And from the very little bonus material that's on the standard edition DVDs (which are all the library has, and I feel no need to buy The Hobbit) it looks like Peter Jackson & Co. enjoyed The Hobbit as much as LOTR (of which I have the SEE, and I watch the bonus material regularly because I find them really motivating) - maybe more so, because the schedule was not as insane as for LOTR, especially The Return of the King.

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