Ben Affleck

5 things I found suprising about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Late Night

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Pissed-off Superman needed more screen time

(Spoiler warning)

Before I get into the list, I need to provide some context.

First, I didn’t see Man of Steel because I hate Zack Snyder. Maybe hate is too strong; severely disrespect is closer to the truth. And nothing in the trailers for that film convinced me I should see it, and the reviews definitely supported my choice to avoid it. So there’s that.

Second, I severely disrespect Zack Snyder. I mean, I give him props for being a money-making hack, sort of a “thinking man’s Michael Bay.” Which is the definition of damning with faint praise. While Bay seems to be making (crappy) movies for pre-pubescent boys (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers), Snyder seems to be staking out the freshly pubed (300, Sucker Punch), so to speak. To say my expectations were low is the height of understatement.

All that to say that I went into Bat v Supe not even considering that this was actually a sequel to Man of Steel. So while I really dug the Batman origin story that was condensed into a wordless montage at the very beginning of the film, I was more than a little put off by the fact there was little to no exposition explaining Supe’s big, Metropolis-mashing melee with General Tso’s chicken or whoever dude was. Just like Everyman on the street, I was like WTF? And also left wondering why, outside of opportunistic product placement, billionaire Bruce Wayne chose a cheap Jeep econobox to tool around the falling mayhem and basically do nothing. Other than somehow avoid being completely covered in concrete dust.

But, I have to admit that I actually started falling for the film in spite of all that, and by the time Lex Luthor dropped the bomb on the Capitol Hill Crew (I warned you about the spoilers), I was fully on board with the idea that just maybe Zack Snyder actually made a movie worth watching. Quelle surprise!

Here’s the main trailer; check out the 5 other things that surprised me after the jump:

5 things I thought were great about Gone Girl

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Late Night

Fincher’s frames Affleck… and Pike?

If nothing else, you gotta give David Fincher credit for consistency. I mean, he also deserves props for his sometimes daring, always stylistic filmmaking, but above all you can rest assured that he will, when all is said and done, deliver the goods in the form of a satisfying cinematic experience. His latest, Gone Girl, is the lastest well-earned notch in his belt.

Here the trailer; my 5 great things follow after the jump:

VOH

Visionary or Hack?