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Gatsby77

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Everything posted by Gatsby77

  1. Gatsby77
    ? If those numbers hold, it's still $100 million behind Wakanda Forever in domestic tickets alone in its first 10 days. As (I believe Paperheart) noted earlier, Quantumania won't even hit $500 million worldwide.
  2. Gatsby77
    Whatevs... The original Top Gun was the highest grossing film the year it was released - and the year after that, and the year after that (1986-88). Maverick got dethroned for the next year almost instantly by Avatar 2. #TotalFailure
  3. Gatsby77
    I'm glad to see Cocaine Bear succeeding where Snakes on a Plane failed.
  4. Gatsby77
    But like...he's Kang. I've said it before, but in the Avengers comics I read in the '80s he was always a b-list screw-up. Not remotely in the same league as the true Marvel-wide big bads. I dunno...it feels sort of like, if the Pied Piper were the big bad of the Flash movie - AND set up to be the next big threat to the Justice League.
  5. Gatsby77
    Given that's not adjusting for inflation and The Dark World came out more than 9 years ago... That's not good.
  6. Gatsby77
    Julliard must be proud...
  7. Gatsby77
    Wow that's bad. Less than 1/2 of Wakanda's first Wednesday take. And a Day # 6 average of $888 per screen - a mark that took Wakanda until Day # 18 to hit.
  8. Gatsby77
    This, As I've said, I'm a huge fan of the first Captain Marvel film. It was shockingly well-written, initially presented as an '80s buddy comedy genre film with Danvers & Nick Fury - that turned out to be a solid psychological drama with at least three twists. In short - it was better than it had any right to be - and has stood up to repeat viewings for me. But reality matters. 1) We've past the apex of comic book superhero movies in general. 10 years of oversaturation will do that. 2) Streaming penetration is far higher today, in 2023, than it was 4 years ago - meaning that fewer people are going to the movies in general. And there is no way to put a positive spin on either 3) Captain Marvel's losing top billing in her own sequel; or 4) A date shift from a July summer tentpole position...to November.
  9. Gatsby77
    The domestic daily drop-off so far isn't good. Goes to horrible word-of-mouth usually indicative of a huge 2nd weekend drop (65%+), Ant-Man - Quantumania: Friday = X. Saturday = - 26.5% Sunday = - 24% Monday = - 43.6% Shang-Chi: Friday = X Saturday = - 21.4% Sunday = - 2.1% Monday = - 15%
  10. Gatsby77
    Agreed - but I loved what they did with Wanda's arc - first with WandaVision - establishing her power, grief, and psychosis in a way that primed her to be the "Big Bad" in Dr. Strange 2. Overall, it wasn't a good movie - but her character arc across both projects was really well done. And it was a textbook example of structuring a TV show to set up a movie. (Or, presumably, two movies, given that we still haven't seen The Marvels.)
  11. Gatsby77
    This...this is what concerns me most about Phase 4 (to date). Reminds me of the issue I had with Netflix's The Defenders. On paper, it should have worked. You had a group of "street level" NYC heroes thrown together as a makeshift team - who have to adjust accordingly. But...with the exception of Jessica Jones & Luke Cage, none had interacted before, and the team simply didn't work. Particularly the pairing of Cage and Iron Fist - given their long history in the comics, one would have expected more chemistry. Instead, the entire show just seemed like a haphazardly constructed cash grab - a great idea, astonishingly poorly executed. I fear the same for the disjointed list of heroes you cite above. Best case scenario? Maybe they cordon them off as "West Coast Avengers" - thus still reserving the OG Avengers name for a more substantial collection of heroes.
  12. Gatsby77
    You misunderstand - I collected Batman from 1989 - 2010 - including back issues. So while I read # 439-520 off the shelf, I also collected (and read) backwards. At one point I owned 3 of the first 10 issues - ~40 of the first 100, and many from 200-forward. Of that, I’d rank Batman 400-500 as one of the most iconic mainstream modern runs out there. Classic stories including # 400, Year One, 10 Nights of the Beast, Death in the Family, Year 3, Lonely Place of Dying, Dark Knight - Dark City, & Knightfall. And the others weren’t bad either.
  13. Gatsby77
    I've been thinking about this with an eye towards consistent quality, and I like what was said about the single creative team (or close to it). For Silver Age, FF # 1-102 (Lee/Kirby) was phenomenal, although I think they didn't really hit their stride until the 40s. It's hard to argue against ASM for overall cultural impact - and a solid rogues gallery introduced over the first 50 issues. For Bronze Age, Tomb of Dracula was a solid all the way through, largely due to all 70 issues being done by Gene Colan (and arguably his best work). For Copper Age, Sandman wins for me - 76 issues that endeavored to tell a complete story, again held together by the vision - and consistently good work of a single writer. I'd have to give the Modern Age to The Walking Dead due to the crossover success of the TV show. Hard to believe # 1 is nearly 20 years old already. But for overall quality through the ages - I'd go with Batman. It's fairly difficult to find a truly bad issue between # 200 and #520 or so...and then it picks up again with # 608 - 700. Ditto with the Golden Age issues - I've read most of # 1-100, and they're really well done - both for their time and holding up today. My favorite part of collecting Batman in the mid-90s to 2010 or so? More than any other series, you could pick up an issue from a full 40+ year span and it would generally be good.
  14. Gatsby77
    So now they're admitting they f--d up when they changed the book's ending? That's a good start.
  15. Gatsby77
    Batman Forever was more watchable than The Batman. I'm serious.
  16. Gatsby77
    That's good! Means it's at least better than Eternals. Other reviews haven't been even that kind. BTW - I found Eternals borderline unwatchable - took me three tries to get through it.
  17. Gatsby77
    1) Lockdowns - and public fear of crowded spaces like theaters - was far higher when F9 was released than was Shang-Chi -- so the fact that it broke through and still made 76% of Shang-Chi's domestic take was incredibly important to domestic theater chains - at the very time that they needed a win. Translation: It saved domestic cinema. If it had failed, Shang-Chi would have been pushed back even further. 2) Which one is getting a sequel?
  18. Gatsby77
    For the 50th time, Fast 9 came out months before Shang-Chi - and grossed nearly $300 million more worldwide. It was also (gasp!) a better movie.
  19. Gatsby77
    ? We've been waiting for a Flash film since 2016 (you know, when this thread started). I didn't know what I was expecting when a full trailer was released, but it...wasn't that. With that trailer drop, are you honestly excited for this film? Seriously? Looks like more of the same Snyderverse aesthetic () and a multiverse / time travel / wannabe JLA film.
  20. Gatsby77
    What I wouldn't have given for a 2009-2015-era Flash solo film directed by Chris Nolan or Joe Carnahan, starring Ryan Reynolds as Wally West - and modeled after the first Iron Man movie. As in... Origin story and explanation of the Speed Force Early adventure scene where he stops a gang of villains robbing a bank (Boomerang, Captain Cold, etc.) - basically, lift it directly from Flash Annual 5 - the one with the Travis Charest art. Introduce Eobard Thawne as the Big Bad / Reverse Flash. Have him murder a few people in truly frightening ways a la the Purple Man in Jessica Jones Season 1. Flash v. Reverse Flash climax. Post-credits that introduces Gorilla Grodd. Short (100 minutes), simple (no world-threatening aliens, sky beams, time travel, etc.) And minimal tie-ins (if any) to the rest of the Justice League. Just lay the foundation, a la the early solo Marvel films. The art is in the telling - a tight -script by an established voice.
  21. Gatsby77
    I'm cautiously optimistic it will be a good time, but Kang always seemed like such a minor villain to me - not remotely in the same league as Dr. Doom, Thanos, etc.
  22. Gatsby77
    I'm shocked at the seeming lack of enthusiasm for this movie on these boards. We're less than 3 days away and it's virtual crickets.
  23. Gatsby77
    This. I want to see a Flash movie. This looks like a Justice League movie, with (at least) two Flashes, two Batmen, and Supergirl.
  24. Gatsby77
    No. I presume we're all familiar with various Harbinger and related Valiant movie announcements, and the studio shuffling through the years. This is not the first time a Faith movie - and screenwriter - has been announced. That was 2018, with scripting for Sony by Maria Melnik. Given the 15-year+ history of Valiant film announcements, a new one - this time by Paramount - means nothing.
  25. Gatsby77
    Umm... I read a post that said, "but but...with the rights back at Paramount now and the recent success of Top Gun Maverick...dur dur dur" it'll be different this time. I disagree. I think we'll see an Ana DuVernay New Gods film before we see a Faith film.