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I understand your point regarding similarity of narrative and CGI battles. (Disclosure: I'm a fan of the MCU.) Especially in terms of structure and content - when watching a new MCU film, one has come to expect several action scenes, interspersed with humour and one-liners, and a big CGI-heavy...

That's the thing - superhero films get a lot of disdain (from those who are not fans) because they dominate the box office, but compared to the total number of films released, superhero films still number less than 10 (if we include DC's films and Sony's Spider-verse) than the total of, say...

Agreed. That was one reason I posted earlier in another thread that an opinion of a creative work (the example used was a toddler vs Rembrandt, etc.) can't be wrong. One person may prefer the toddler's work, the other 99.99% may like the Rembrandt. It's simply a preference. To each their own...

I haven't seen the film, but I did read the book a few years before the film. I thought the book was pretty good - a lot of thought-provoking material, fascinating imagery, and consistently mysterious. I would like to read the follow-up novels, but haven't done so yet. And I need to see the...

A very good list, especially in terms of the diversity of films included. In addition to the genres and categories @TravisR mentioned (eg, horror, etc.) there is also Enter the Dragon, representing martial arts! My one surprise would be that 4 Oscar-winning Best Pictures from the 1970s -...

Yes! Great to find a fellow HK film enthusiast! The HK film industry has long been “neglected” by Hollywood types. Occasionally, great films like The Killer or some of Jackie’s classics will get noticed or championed by the likes of a Tarantino. Cultural (and language) differences may play into...

Great choices! Mine are Police Story 3 and Drunken Master 2. But none of these (yours or mine) are from the 80s, unfortunately. His best from the 80s (IMO) are the 2 Project A films and Police Story, plus Heart of the Dragon (with Sammo Hung).

Some great choices again (Mad Max 2, yes!) but no place for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Aliens or Die Hard? Here’s another list which is also quite varied, but contains more films that I would agree with (or, at least, not question the exclusion of certain films!). I liked that it included films...

A pretty good list with some excellent choices! But it's a travesty (IMO) that Beauty and the Beast doesn't rate in the top 40. And I could make an argument that Titanic should be in the top 40 as well! At first I thought maybe the poll excluded animated films in general, but then I went...

2010s had a feast of fairly good to great sci-fi, often highlighted by an autumn release of a film related to space or space travel: 2013: Gravity 2014: Interstellar 2015: The Martian 2016: Arrival 2018: First Man 2019: Ad Astra For me, hard to choose between Inception (2010), Interstellar...

Great list! I consider 1976 to be one of the top years (like 1939 or 1967) in terms of films nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Rocky won BP for 1976, but it’s relatively low on this list (#44), compared to 3 of its rivals which are all in the top 10: Taxi Driver, All the President’s...

You are correct - I must have flipped them around in error!

I love how there are so many differing opinions on films! Captain America: The Winter Soldier (the one where Redford has a major role) is generally considered one of the best in the MCU (#3 for me). Even amongst MCU fans, there are different rankings for individual entries. Take Iron Man 3, for...

Yep, while making a film for the art is a noble aim, ultimately, directors, actors and other production personnel want to make a living or become financially secure. If taking on a franchise film makes them a lot of money, or provides opportunity to do more work, then that's a good reason...

Franchise films do have to follow a basic foundation, since they’re usually based on existing IP, eg. comics, or the original film. If you’re making a film about Superman, you can’t just take away his ability to fly! Unless it’s built in as part of the story… but ultimately, he has to be able to...

For sure, there's more at stake with a big budget film - losing $100m on a $200m film is a bigger deal than losing $10m on a $20m film, based on magnitude ($100m vs $10m). But if a director makes a set of films that lose $10m each time - that's not a good track record either. Ironically, if I...

And the film for which he won his Oscar for Best Director is a remake of a Hong Kong film, Infernal Affairs, spoken in Cantonese.

Yes! Aside from the stylised violence in QT's films, his dialogue is what distinguishes him from many other writers. Case in point: Inglorious Basterds. I've always considered the film as essentially a series of long conversations. But what a series of conversations!! He uses dialogue to set...

Movies are ultimately a business, when we get down to it. Studios are unlikely to keep spending money on small/moderate budget pictures if they lose money. Heck, they'll stop a "big-budget" franchise in its tracks if there are diminishing returns (eg. the Divergent series). Blame the audience...

Defining films and novels by genre is always fascinating to me because many do combine tropes from 2 or more genres. Often one genre dominates and that’s where it’s put under. A great example is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which by and large is an adventure film, but contains more humor...

I think there’s a tradition that stories set in space are lumped into SF and non-historical stories with medieval trappings are “fantasy”. I do label Star Wars as a fantasy that happens to be set in space. Many of its concepts (Force = magic, Jedi = knights, lightsabre = sword, etc.) are common...

Good question about actors, Reggie. A frequent discussion I have with my wife is the list of "best actors who haven't won an Oscar". Off the top of my head, and by no means exhaustive: Stanley Tucci Edward Norton Amy Adams Toni Collette Robert Downey, Jr Glenn Close Joan Allen Alan Rickman...

Why are franchises of interest to studios? Because it's familiar IP. If it's popular as well, then even better. So yes, the older series like Andy Hardy may have been done quickly and cheaply, but they still relied on the familiarity audiences had with the IP. In today's world, with film...

Indeed... I've never seen them, but non-horror "franchises" included a series of Andy Hardy films (16 in total, 1937-58) and a series featuring Ma and Pa Kettle (10 from 1947-57), amongst others.

Agree about the shaky first half and very well done second half. I'm not typically a fan of stories that go back in time, as it reduces the suspense. For example, with Rogue One, we already know the outcome of the mission. But the characters and their ultimate fates (plus the final battle) are...

Agree with many of your points. I'm not a super-fan, either. I didn't mind what what they did with Han or Luke in the first one. Especially if the reasons are that Harrison Ford was sick of Star Wars and was coming back out of obligation (or pay check), and that JJ Abrams said that having Luke...

Re: Star Wars... Not to get too in-depth on the merits or otherwise of the sequel trilogy (since it's been discussed aplenty), but the lack of a cohesive vision across the 3 films is what made it (overall) disappointing for me. I enjoyed The Force Awakens, even though many elements were...

Besides the genres mentioned above for QT's 10th film, such as horror or sci-fi, I'd be interested in a detective/noir type film (think Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler) from him as well. Just imagine the dialogue coming from a hard-boiled private investigator played by someone like Samuel L...

The Truman Show is one of Weir’s best, IMO. It was so prescient and ahead of its time. I also liked Green Card!

1976 was a competitive year for Best Picture. When the likes of Network, All The President's Men, and Taxi Driver (which are some of the most acclaimed films of all time, and which could probably win any other year) are not even crowned BP, that speaks to the quality.