Michael Bay movies were popular because of CGI and 'splosions but they had nowhere near the staying power.

The MCU (and to a lesser extent DC) could've made a few big movies adhering to the approach you're championing here, but they'd have flared out like the Transformers movies did.

The reason the MCU has staying power is because the performances are generally credible. Not Oscar worthy, but not relying on little more than Megan Fox's abs and 'splosions to keep the film going.

That's why the Transformers franchise has faded away to obscurity while MCU can simply print money.
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The biggest problem with Transformers is that it's just dumb. Cars that turn into big flying robots. WTF? It was dumb in the 80s and it's still dumb. The entire concept always reminds me of the "I don't get it" scene from Big.
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Sure it is.

But the first 2 movies did exceptionally well - why? As you said, CGI and 'splosions will get eyeballs. For awhile.

But because it was ONLY CGI and 'splosions, their last 3 movies have done dick.

That's precisely the point - the premise of Transformers isn't all that much more ludicrous than your basic Superhero template and both properties experienced similar initial success for similar reasons. But the superhero properties have grown and gotten more successful while the transformers movies have fallen apart precisely because the Superhero folks took them more seriously and didn't lean into the camp.

In other words, they cast an actress who could play Diana Prince rather than one who looked like Wonder Woman. And they made a LOT of money because of it.
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I would much rather see the same scatter plot with more recent years. Say 2013 and on, maybe even 2014 or 2015 on. I believe at some point RT critics started whitewashing movies, could have been because the movie studios learned how to control that a little better.

I wouldn't mind seeing the budget on the outliers as well to see if studios had a ton of money invested.
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We'll obviously have to agree to disagree over Gadot. Again, don't hate her, and sure she's pretty, but I don't get the giant IT factor you see in her. She's Ziva from NCIS with super powers.
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Gadot's work has been wildly overhyped. But, then, so has her Wonder Woman movie.
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Again - not saying she's an excellent actress; I started from that very point. I'm saying she's simply passable - she doesn't actively detract from the movie (lets the CGI and 'splosions do their thing).

I simply don't think Carano could even get to THAT level. Like I said - they don't need Streep - but they need more than Carano. The only actress I've seen worse than her was Ronda Rousey (also in a F&F movie) - holy mother of God was she terrible.

Side note: Remember that thread where she could beat up Floyd Mayweather? Ah CP....good times.

Also agreed - I fell asleep watching it the first time and I friggen love silly period movies. WWI era idiocy should've been right up my ally. Just couldn't keep my interest despite how extremely attractive she is.
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Speaking of World War I - did you by chance see They Shall Not Grow Old?
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Hell yes - went to the Independence theater on the 27th and watched it. Really really enjoyed it.

I'm not sure they needed the 3D or were even well served by it. I also kinda wish they'd have put the 'making of' documentary on before it. Seeing the work that went into remastering some of those god-awful old film clips was just amazing and probably my favorite part. I wonder if I wouldn't have had a better appreciation for the effort in the creation of that thing if I'd have seen the making of first.

Then again, i wonder if that would've shifted some focus away from what the stories they were actually trying to tell.

It got a little tedious towards the very end of the documentary itself (prior to the 'making of') when it just seemed like a gratuitous re-hash without much new information, but it was definitely a worthwhile experience.
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Cool. I'm glad somebody else actually saw it. I mentioned it in the movie thread and didn't get a single reply.
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It was sold out throughout all of KC.

Peter Jackson is truly a mad genius. I don't think anybody else could've pulled that off given his love of the subject matter and film-making expertise.

When he was discussing the various possible incarnations of this movie, including all the film he couldn't use among the navy and 'air forces', I was pretty hopeful that he could pull together at least a couple more of these with slightly different focuses.

It seems doable if he can get the funding. Sadly, he was a producer on that piece of shit Mortal Engines movie so I gotta believe he lost a fair amount of money on that thing. Hopefully he still has enough loose change to make another actual GOOD product.
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This.

About the time media all agreed it was ok to flat lie to people was about the time critics sold their credibility to Disney for woke points.

Forget weather you love or hate The Last Jedi anyone watching that thing knew immediately that it would be a film 1/2 the people would love and 1/2 the people would absolutely hate. That was obvious but critics ignored that to help push a big opening weekend.

And honestly it seems like that's all many studios seem to worry about anymore is that big 1st weekend splash. Even if there are diminishing returns it doesn't matter if we get enough asses there opening weekend...
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And put aside the movie being good or bad: I don't think I've ever witnessed the public's desire to see a movie fall this much due to the star without them committing a crime.

Bris Larson is single handedly circumcising the profit right off this flick...
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Misogyny among the nerd class appears to be rampant. It's understandable, I suppose. Goofy dudes who have been rejected by girls all their lives can't be expected to appreciate, admire and respect women.

What I don't get is the idea that you can "rate" or "review" a movie that you've never seen. That is bizarre and transparently stupid.

Personally, I look at it like this; Marvel deserves the benefit of the doubt. They aren't perfect and have whiffed on a couple, but for the most part, they have elevated the genre and created something historic in film. I wish we could start all over with Iron Man 1 and RDJ, but we can't. From this point forward, it's about something new and I'm all in. Marvel is a guaranteed presale ticket (or 3) from me. I never thought I'd see anything like this in my lifetime. When I sit back and think about it, I realize that I'm grateful.

FAX
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"The public" is a pretty broad statement here. All the Marvel fans I associate with in real life are really excited about it. :-)
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