TV/Movies Megathread

[celedhring]

I can't fault the new Fantasy Four movie for not being ambitious; it's set itself the seemingly impossible challenge of being worse than the previous ones.

[Ideologue]

I'm surprised that, given the success the X-Men have had with it and the general resurrection of interest in the period thanks to Mad Men, the decision wasn't made to set the new Fantastic Four film in the 1960s.  For the FF it would be absolutely perfect.

[Admiral Yi]

The principle problem of the FF IMO is that their powers are so eclectic it's difficult to plot encounters that are challenging but it's plausible they win. 

A shame Jessica Alba seems to get stuck with mostly crap scripts.

[The Larch]

Small insert: Marvel plans to cancel FF's comic book series (whic began in the 60s) early next year in part because they don't own 100% of their rights.

[Ideologue]

The principle problem of the FF IMO is that their powers are so eclectic it's difficult to plot encounters that are challenging but it's plausible they win. 

A shame Jessica Alba seems to get stuck with mostly crap scripts.

Can't be that difficult.  They've plotted eight fucking thousand of the things.  And in fact, the FF are pound-for-pound one of the strongest superhero teams in the Marvel Universe, power-wise.  Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm don't really need an explanation, but the other important things to remember are:

1)the basis of Sue Storm's powers haven't been about turning invisible since the early 1970s, but rather about projecting invisible force fields.  As a result she's one of the strongest combatants around.  She's basically an insanely powerful telekinetic.

2)Reed Richards' real ability is not to stretch and stuff, but to be improbably smart.  His scientific genius is almost always more important to the story than his porno-powers.

[Ideologue]

Small insert: Marvel plans to cancel FF's comic book series (whic began in the 60s) early next year in part because they don't own 100% of their rights.

?

Did the Kirby estate get a percentage?  Man, is there anything more overblown than creators' rights in comics?

[11B4V]

Binge watching

Hell on Wheels.

[FunkMonk]

Just saw Fury. It was excellent. Shia LaBeouf was surprisingly good. Brad Pitt was Brad Pitt. The battle scenes were top notch.

3 brewed-up Shermans out of 4

[The Larch]

In fact Reed Richards has been for a long time one of the Marvel Universe's big brainiacs and acted as a grey eminence when figting cosmic threats and so on. He even belongs nowadays to a group of similarly detached eggheads that call themselves the Illuminati, with Dr. Strange, Charles Xavier, Tony Stark and a few others. The fact that he can stretch his body is an afterthougt.

[Admiral Yi]

Can't be that difficult.  They've plotted eight fucking thousand of the things.  And in fact, the FF are pound-for-pound one of the strongest superhero teams in the Marvel Universe, power-wise.  Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm don't really need an explanation, but the other important things to remember are:

1)the basis of Sue Storm's powers haven't been about turning invisible since the early 1970s, but rather about projecting invisible force fields.  As a result she's one of the strongest combatants around.  She's basically an insanely powerful telekinetic.

2)Reed Richards' real ability is not to stretch and stuff, but to be improbably smart.  His scientific genius is almost always more important to the story than his porno-powers.

I'm obviously not the afficianado you are, but they seem to follow a pattern.  Their firepower (Thing and Flame) get stunned, shackled, or distracted, and Invisigirl and Captain Stretchy conduct holding actions until those two get back in the fray.

[Ideologue]

I don't even remember what happened in the movies.  The Invisible Woman is absolutely the heavy in the comics.

[The Larch]

Small insert: Marvel plans to cancel FF's comic book series (whic began in the 60s) early next year in part because they don't own 100% of their rights.

?

Did the Kirby estate get a percentage?  Man, is there anything more overblown than creators' rights in comics?

It's not because of the authors but because of the sale of the cinema and merchandising rights in the recent past. As Marvel's editor put it, "when we make Avengers stuff, we get 100% of the profits, when we make FF stuff we get something like 30-40% back, so it makes sense for us to devote our efforts to franchises and characters that will give us a better financial return."

It's also one of the reasons why the X Men are also an afterthought for Marvel nowadays, having put them in disarray in the "Avengers Vs. X Men" series in 2012, ater which they cancelled lots of their collections and relaunched them afterwards after being rebranded. They have even killed off Wolverine for real last month, although death is rarely final in comic books.

[Admiral Yi]

Marvel sold off its flag ship??? 

[The Larch]

Marvel sold off its flag ship??? 

Marvel sold off the cinema (and some other associated ones, like merchandising stuff) rights of several of its flagship characters (X Men, Spiderman, FF) in the 90s, when it was in a dire financial situation. Nowadays the movies based on those characters are done with no input from Marvel Studios, like the Avengers ones.

[Eddie Teach]

Binge watching

Hell on Wheels.

They shouldn't have killed off [spoiler]Elam[/spoiler].