TV/Movies Megathread

[viper37]

Ridley Scott announces Napoleon and Gladiator 2.  Woah!

Napoleon and Gladiator 2? Does Gladiator come forward in time at the moment of death to do battle with Napoleon? Maybe Napoleon could be modeled on Cyrus from the 300 movie and have all sorts of weird shit around him. The Old Guard could be monsters!

Could be an idea.  You should submit it

Napoleon is going to be filmed soon and Gladiator 2 is apparently already written and will start shooting immediately after that.

[Savonarola]

The Mark of Zorro (1920)

In old California Don Diego Vega (Douglass Fairbanks) pretends to be a wastrel and fop; but is, in fact the masked vigilante Batman Zorro, champion of the oppressed.  While the sword fighting leaves something to be desired; Fairbanks uses his considerable athletic ability to great effect here.  (His version of Robin Hood would take it even further, but ended up looking a little overly merry.)

It is sort of strange to see Zorro as the champion of Catholic priests and Indians at a time when the Klan was making a big comeback.  In any event does anyone know if the wastrel by day / hero by night trope is older than The Scarlet Pimpernel?  I can't think of an earlier version of the story, but I'm probably forgetting something.

(In the original comic book this is the movie Thomas and Martha Wayne took young Bruce to see the night they were gunned down (according to IMDB at least, that's a fact I'd hate to ruin by research.))

[Syt]

Contrasting movies that are set in the same year (roughly): https://twitter.com/silentmoviegifs/status/1444014570427846659?s=20

[Duque de Bragança]

Battle of Algiers took place in 1956-57 vs Porky's in 1954. Great comparison!  Lots of the same kind cf. Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Friday the 13th 

[Zoupa]

What's more surprising is wins for roles as a queen where she mostly just sits about looking unhappy.

Agreed. She's done lots of more noteworthy roles.

[Sheilbh]

Tyrannosaur springs to mind.

Although I absolutely loved her Queen Anne.

[viper37]

The Mark of Zorro (1920)
In any event does anyone know if the wastrel by day / hero by night trope is older than The Scarlet Pimpernel?  I can't think of an earlier version of the story, but I'm probably forgetting something.

possibly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-heeled_Jack

it wasn't common before Zoro/Batman, afaik.  They were more the Iron Man-type like Ivanhoe

[Josquius]

Wasn't spring heeled Jack more of a villain?

[Darth Wagtaros]

Wasn't spring heeled Jack more of a villain?

I had thought so.

THe Mark of Zorro always makes me think of Batman.

[Savonarola]

The Mark of Zorro (1920)
In any event does anyone know if the wastrel by day / hero by night trope is older than The Scarlet Pimpernel?  I can't think of an earlier version of the story, but I'm probably forgetting something.

possibly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-heeled_Jack

it wasn't common before Zoro/Batman, afaik.  They were more the Iron Man-type like Ivanhoe

That's a good point.  I had been thinking about it in terms of a hero, but if you consider a villain by night / harmless man by day then Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde would have preceded the Scarlet Pimpernel.  Earlier still there must have been legends surrounding Deacon Brodie since that's what Robert Louis Stevenson was obsessed with as a teenager.

[Savonarola]

X-Men Origins Wolverine (2007)

This is mostly forgettable; though some of the interaction/fight scenes between Sabertooth and Wolverine are well done.  (It helps that Liev Schrieber can snarl, sneer and preen with the best of them, such as Hugh Jackman.)  More than anything the concept of the film is a mistake.  Logan is a mystery man; any attempt at explaining that mystery falls flat and weakens the character.  Tuco gets the back story, not The Man with no Name or (speaking of sneering) Angel Eyes - that wouldn't have worked.

[Josquius]

Free guy - very surprised to see this on free streaming. Was it out so long ago?
As expected nice idea ultimately badly and generically executed. The Disney properties advertising was particularly painful.
Seems clearly aimed at kids despite being a riff on gta which is...interesting.
Some funny bits though and not terrible.

[Liep]

Kastanjemanden (The Chestnut Man)

Thrilling Nordic Noir on Netflix. 4 out 6 chestnuts.

[celedhring]

Bond. I thought it was okay, some great fun scenes (the one in Cuba is delightful), but I didn't care much for the villain and felt the movie lost steam as it went on. [spoiler]Wasn't expecting Bond to die, I thought he'd ride into the sunset with Seydoux and his daughter. Made me feel a bit sad.[/spoiler].

Always liked that all the Craig Bonds have continuity with each other (as this one does, the Spectre arc of this flick was much better than Spectre movie itself).

And I love the idea that the UK [spoiler]would bomb one of the Kuril Islands under the noses of the Japanese and Russian militaries[/spoiler]. Rule Britannia is back babyyy.

[Sheilbh]

Going to see it tonight - the length is off-putting though

I was listening to a podcast where they were talking about Bond as basically just a superhero and it seems weird they haven't yet tried to do an extended universe stuff like the MCU and Star Wars have (with different degrees of success). I could be wrong but I suspect any company with a reasonably successful franchise (and Bond's longevity alone is incredible) will now be trying to spin it into a universe.