Rate the latest movie you've seen.

[Baruch]

The people who finance successful movies, laugh all the way to the bank.  While the politicians exploit the successfully injected memes "The Resistance".

[Cavebear]

I actually had to check the date on that post, we've had a copy of Dr. Strange for months now.

Well, I checked the Verizon Fios list of available movies and (with great effort) and finally found Dr Strange available.  And (with some stored points) it was free!  So I watched it.

They did a good job matching the real origin.  Steven Strange was a superb surgeon whose career was ruined.  He sought healing.and received it through great effort.  Granted, in the comic origin, he was a alcoholic in an alley when the oriental male Ancient One found him, but I can live with the slight change.

Strange's entry into the Female Celtic Ancient One's study area was a bit of a surprise, but again, a minor change.  I enjoyed his struggle to understand the magic.  And that he broke some rules learning the magic was a positive; the top students don't always follow the rules.

I thought the graphics of the spells were a bit weak.  In the comics, there were usually multiple levels of competing spells; in the movie they seemed mostly weapons or transport spells.  A few layers broken but one that held. 

I expected Domammu, but with the human-sized body and flaming head.  What would have been wrong with that?  Sometimes changes make little sense and fans get annoyed.  They made him too much like Galactus.  I think that was an error/change they didn't need to make.  Dormammu would have been fine at normal size.

And I was disappointed they didn't use the opening music I sent Marvel years ago:

To the tune of 'Frère Jacques', sung by children voices...

Dr Strange, Doctor Strange,
Where are you, Where are you,
Mindless Ones are coming,
Mindless Ones are coming,
Dormammu, Dormammu!

LOL!

[Baruch]

OK, I liked that ;-)

[Cavebear]

OK, I liked that ;-)

Are you familiar with The Mindless Ones?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Are you familiar with The Mindless Ones?

They control Congress and the Executive Branch here.

[Cavebear]

They control Congress and the Executive Branch here.

Of course, but "The Mindless Ones" in Dormammu's universe?

[Baruch]

Are you familiar with The Mindless Ones?

Haven't read it, just saw the movie.  So not really.

[SGOS]

Mindless ones

[Baruch]

Mindless ones

Yes, Brits who are opposed to Brexit?  Isn't Brexit a slang term for the "English breakfast"?

[Hydra009]

Avengers Infinity War ∞/∞

My favorite Marvel movie.

First off, every character acted true to character.  No one did anything out of character.  Considering the sheer number of characters, that's pretty amazing.

Second, I love the interplay between the characters.

Third, I LOVE what they did with Thanos.  They didn't dig too deeply into his motivations or backstory, but the nailed his grit, determination, and cold-hearted cruelty.  He has a somewhat kind side to him, but he's NOT a jerk with a heart of gold.  He's a magnificent bastard with a heart of gold until you zoom out and see that the gold is actually an infinity stone powering an anti-puppy death beam.

The movie starts out okay, and it just ramps up and up.  Maybe a bit too much action and not enough foreshadowing or intrigue?  I remember being blown away by the Thanos Quest and Infinity War comic books, and I had much the same reaction today.  My only regret is that the audience didn't see more the chessmaster side of Thanos - the master tactician who's always one step ahead of everyone else.  Well, almost everyone else.

[caseagainstfaith]

Personally, I didn't care that much for Avengers Infinity War.  I just felt bludgeoned by CGI battles.  I stupidly read a spoiler about the basic ending.  Maybe I would have had a different reaction if I didn't know the basic ending.  As it was, I didn't really feel anything.

I don't know if I would have felt differently if I didn't know it was coming.  But, I think I would have suspected it even if I didn't know it.  And I know it will be undone, at least to some degree in the next movie.  Though I understand that what happens before the ending isn't undone and stays done.

Compare to, say Spiderman Homecoming where I felt engaged by the story.  Here, I just didn't.  At least for the most part. There were some funny lines I enjoyed.  And we did see Thanos doing stuff besides CGI battles, which helped.  So, I'm not saying I totally hated it.  But I am saying that compared to the rest of the movies in the Marvel Universe, I would say this was, for me, the worst one.  Not even close. 

[SGOS]

I don't know if I would have felt differently if I didn't know it was coming.  But, I think I would have suspected it even if I didn't know it.  And I know it will be undone, at least to some degree in the next movie.  Though I understand that what happens before the ending isn't undone and stays done.

Serious spoiler ahead.  If you haven't seen the movie, stop reading.  Although, I read an article yesterday that shamelessly admitted it was spoiling everything on the grounds that everyone who was interested in seeing Infinity Wars, would have seen it by now.  This is obviously not true.  Plenty of people would never go to a theater, but won't miss Infinity Wars when it comes out on Netflicks.

[spoiler]When everyone was disintegrating, I started keeping track, and then I lost track, but it seems to me that Dr. Strange may have been the last man standing or one of a few.  He has that pendant around his neck that controls time.  I've already decided he's going to turn back time like he did with Dormammu, and give everyone a second chance to get things straight.  But that almost seems a bit too obvious and simple.[/spoiler]

[SGOS]

Personally, I didn't care that much for Avengers Infinity War.  I just felt bludgeoned by CGI battles. 

It's seems like Hollywood gravitates toward battles, and it seems like some sales rep in a Hollywood computer lab did a good job of pitching their product to Marvel.  But I believe Marvel dominated the box office because it had some of the best consistently creative writers in the last 20 years, not because they take the easier path used  by lesser studios.  For me, Marvel storylines and dialog have been endearing and refreshingly unorthodox.  Even when Marvel offers some over used Hollywood trope, they exaggerate it so it comes off as a clever parody.

I stupidly read a spoiler about the basic ending.  Maybe I would have had a different reaction if I didn't know the basic ending.  As it was, I didn't really feel anything.

I didn't know the ending, and I didn't feel much either.  It was a surprise to be sure, but I just found myself watching unemotionally.  I was thinking to myself, "Oh! A cliff hanger," but I had no sense of, "OMG, How can I stand to wait for 2019 to see how this washes out?" 

I just want Marvel to keep making Tens, rather than Sevens, and to capitalize on its strengths that set it apart from the more mundane Hollywood formulas.

[Blackleaf]

Serious spoiler ahead.  If you haven't seen the movie, stop reading.  Although, I read an article yesterday that shamelessly admitted it was spoiling everything on the grounds that everyone who was interested in seeing Infinity Wars, would have seen it by now.  This is obviously not true.  Plenty of people would never go to a theater, but won't miss Infinity Wars when it comes out on Netflicks.

[spoiler]When everyone was disintegrating, I started keeping track, and then I lost track, but it seems to me that Dr. Strange may have been the last man standing or one of a few.  He has that pendant around his neck that controls time.  I've already decided he's going to turn back time like he did with Dormammu, and give everyone a second chance to get things straight.  But that almost seems a bit too obvious and simple.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Dr. Strange died, and he can't control time without the time stone, which Thanos has. Prior to losing the stone, however, he looked at over six million possible futures and found one where they won. Before turning to ash, he says to Iron Man, "It was the only way." So somehow this bleak timeline leads to the best result.[/spoiler]

[SGOS]

[spoiler]Dr. Strange died, and he can't control time without the time stone, which Thanos has. Prior to losing the stone, however, he looked at over six million possible futures and found one where they won. Before turning to ash, he says to Iron Man, "It was the only way." So somehow this bleak timeline leads to the best result.[/spoiler]

I must have been enthralled by the knowledge that I could flee from that guy in the theater next to me with the body odor, so my attention was refocused at the end of the movie.

[spoiler]Yes, Dr. Strange dying presents a bigger problem than losing the time stone.  He would simply steal it back like he swiped books from the library in Kamar-Taj. I felt emotional when Thanos yanked it off of Strange's neck, and I remember thinking with that one small gesture, "This is important," because him carrying that thing around seemed far less powerful than making and using portals creatively.  I actually forgot he was wearing it, and I wondered why Thanos took it from him.  I'll bet you two dollars, it's going to be part of the sequel.

Of course, coming back to life can be done in many ways.  If I were writing the script, I would consider a cameo with Daniel Jackson having the ancients put Dr. Strange in an Egyptian sarcophagus.  No, that's to corny, but Dr. Strange is going to fix this.  Since he first appeared and saved the universe, all he's done has been to perform amusing magic tricks in small cameo roles.  Marvel has yet to exploit his strengths in the Avengers.
[/spoiler] 
Two dollars???  Come on. It'll be fun.