criterionforum.org

Looks terrific.

Comic news: Early response to Wonder Woman is the strongest of any non-Nolan DC adaptations, and Tom Hardy will be playing Venom with Ruben Fleischer directing

Alamo Drafthouse held a women-only screening for Wonder Woman and faced some backlash. This comment from the theatre is hilarious:

The Drafthouse is replying to many of the complaints. When one man asked if they had ever held a men-only screening, the Drafthouse said, "We've never done showings where you had to be a man to get in, but we *did* show the 'Entourage' movie a few years ago."

Nice. I was reading comments n Facebook and Twitter about it and it's surprisingly fun watching a bunch sexually frustrated misogynists get owned.

It's amazing how stupid some guys can be.

As a white male I have an understanding that I won't be catered to in this way because *the world* has catered to my class for hundreds of years. I'll never understand how other white males fail to grasp this.

I hope Alamo Drafthouse has similar African-American screenings next year for Black Panther.

Black Panther isn't American.

But he was created by Americans for a primarily American audience, and will be starring in an American made film with an American lead actor in the role.

So what you're saying is you don't want David Oyelowo to attend the showing.

No, what I'm saying is you're picking a stupid fight over semantics. You found a little way to dig at my use of a more PC term, and just couldn't resist needling me over it.

So fine - I hope they have a screening for *black* audiences.

But you won't be happy with me saying that, because you dislike me, so mock away.

I was just making a joke. I don't dislike you.

knives wrote:I was just making a joke. I don't dislike you.

Perhaps so.

It often comes across differently. This is the only forum I go to that feels like I'm the geek walking into a football locker room.

EDIT: In any case, back to the point - Drafthouse should stick to their guns and ignore these complainers.

captveg wrote:This is the only forum I go to that feels like I'm the geek walking into a football locker room.

this is actually the case with these forums except the ones already occupying the football locker rooms are also geeks who thrive off the modicum of power they have online because they repeatedly get slammed irl

Come on guys I feel unpopular (and called out for being overly concerned with representation and politics and what have you) here too sometimes but let's not act like Knives is shoving people into lockers here. I don't think the intention was to mock the SJWness of 'African American' here, just a light goof on the fact that it's literally less accurate than 'black' at conveying intended meaning

In retrospect I don't think he was either. This forum simply makes me apprehensive and hypersensitive of any possible sleight.

*slight

swo17 wrote:*slight

LOL

Not only is Wonder Woman certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has a 95% approval by critics. I just hope this is the beginning of WB/DC righting the ship. The trailers make this movie look great with the only thing that I dislike being the generic guitar riff theme that they've given the character.

Wonder Woman getting a classic origin story movie is good for everyone, not just DC/WB. Long overdue. And such things can be botched (Green Lantern), so glad to see this appears to be a really good one.

As far as its implications for DC/WB "righting the ship" - the message they heard from the divisive response to Man of Steel and Batman v Superman is to not move heroic characters into states of mind that are not the idealized versions of those characters. So they are going to be using the ending of Justice League as an in-universe reboot: ideal Batman with ideal Superman moving forward, w/ ideal hero pals. "Come see 7-10 movies of these and other heroes fighting mostly external and not internal challenges between 2018-2021" will be the banner call (most likely visualized by the "JL standing in front of the sunrise" concluding film image).

Because the Superman and Batman characters had been done (well) on screen in "classic" origin mode before, Snyder wanted to explore their boundaries. Lots of people didn't want that. Lesson learned. Theoretically, Justice League will "end" Snyder's "trilogy" as an upswing movie that can get them to that crowd-pleasing place.

(There are other legit reasons people don't like those movies, well covered here and elsewhere, but this is a part of it. And hopefully the lesson they learned from Suicide Squad is to have a decent screenplay.)

FYI, that's an electric cello, not a guitar.

Saw Wonder Woman last night. I've generally like the DCU films thus far, and this is easily the best one. It's a bit long, but in fact I think it's the action sequences I'd cut down, rather than the quieter moments of the film, such as WW and Steve Trevor on the sailboat back to London, which I found quite charming. I do wonder how some people will react to the portrayal of WW, since she comes off a incredibly naive at times. I'm neither a comic book reader, nor did I grow up with the Lynda Carter portrayal, so I don't know if that's inherent to the character or not. Overall, as I said, the best DCU film, but not quite as good as some of the best MCU films. But if they stick with the tone of this for Justice League (and beyond), it should improve the brand.

P.S. I really really like that theme riff, and in fact I use it as a ring tone for when my wife calls or texts me

willoneill wrote:I do wonder how some people will react to the portrayal of WW, since she comes off a incredibly naive at times. I'm neither a comic book reader, nor did I grow up with the Lynda Carter portrayal, so I don't know if that's inherent to the character or not.

The naiveté in WW's origin comes from the comic books. Don't remember exactly if it was George Perez or someone before him, but this part of Princess Diana's origin has been included in the Justice League cartoon as well. It makes sense as she comes from a sheltered upbringing.

Wonder Woman (2017)

A winning comic book origin adaptation that is long, long overdue. The middle act, from the fish-out-of-water humor and Superman '78 homage, through to the No Man's Land and village action sequences, is the true standout section of the movie. In particular the building frustration with the politics and bureaucracy that comes to a head with Diana in the trenches - with her determination that she must finally *act* - is the heart and soul of the film. The film's finale, while certainly quite good, is a bit in the shadows by comparison.

The village fight also features sequences that match up favorably to the Smallville fight in Man of Steel, as well as the warehouse fight in Batman v Superman.

As far as classical tellings of superhero origins go, this has the spirit of such films as Superman '78 and Iron Man, and if it doesn't surpass those, it certainly hugs right up next to them; director Jenkins has delivered a similar styled crowd-pleaser, and for Wonder Woman, it's about time.

9/10

Caveat: I actually really liked both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and I am *not* a comic reader/aficionado.

I know there's already the assertion that WW is not like MoS or BvS. But honestly, I do not see that much *thematically* different between those films. In all of them, you have a particular character with either a particular origin or a particular history or both with some kind of moral code - whether strongly affirmed (WW), affirmed but not thoroughly tested (Supes), or held but compromised (Batman) - understanding what it means to practice it. The end goal when it comes to the Justice League is how will all of them work together to solve a more complex moral crisis.

I think a lot of the complaints that I have heard over the years with the DC films come down to how to accept the interpretation of the characters. And from what I have heard about the history of DC, there have been plenty of interpretations and portrayals and story lines ... and that is not counting what the non-comic art forms have done. I have seen this as not seeing them in full perfect form (even WW had some room to grow into herself even though she was by her world near battle-ready) and I think that also is part of the frustration in viewing.

Oh and this is not trying to stir up controversy either. Just being honest about how I see the films thus far and my response to everyone else's reactions.

Some positive feedbacks like this one make me a bit hopeful, but after reading the Guardian's review, I'm afraid that it'd best for me to avoid WW like the plague, because all the issues described in the review are usually exactly what I tend to see first.

I've avoided reviews and anything specific regarding the details of WW. I'm kind of with djproject, at least about Man of Steel. There were some good moments in that film and I actual prefer the theme they use to the classic '70s theme. My overall problem and reticence about these movies lately is both the formula and the length. Why do they all have to be so long? Is there a reason, like are the studios pushing for longer films, if so why? Aren't we being told all the time how the population is dumb and ADD riddled? Sorry for the tangent but maybe someone has answers or ideas.

I only say this because the other day I rewatched Hitchcock's '30s The Man Who Knew Too Much and was amazed how much he packed into such a short time. I also recently saw part of Raimi's Spiderman 2 on tv and was sort of pleasantly surprised how character and dialogue driven it is; there's a scene where Peter Parker just sits and eats cake with his neighbor. What a bygone era...Anyway, I'm happy to see the good reviews and will probably still bite the bullet with WW.