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Author Topic: Black Panther (2018) Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 02-17-2018 05:20 PM                        CINEMA: Regal Warren East, Wichita, KS AUDITORIUM: 14 PRESENTATION: Warren GRAND slope auditorium with Regal Roller Coaster Vision PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None RATING: Three stars (out of four) Remember that time I wondered what a Noovie was? Turns out their Twitter handle is literally @WhatsNoovie. THE PLOT: A king is ordained. Wackiness ensues. So we have a so-called 'third world" country in Africa called Wakonda which holds secrets, not unlike the Wakonda Shopping Center in Des Moines, which has a secret hidden old twin cinema buried in the back somewhere. The African Wakonda lives under old tribal and monarchy rule as far as the world knows, but secretly mines a metal that can be used for pretty much anything from curing wounds to holophones to copying Steak n Shake's chili recipe. Some think they should use it to better the world, some think they should use it to rule the world, and some outsiders want it for unscrupulous purposes. There's a biblical-style mini war, a Fast & the Furious-style car chase, a Kill Bill-style fight in a club that is laid out exactly like O Ren Ishii's hangout, and the usual witty Marvel humor. The biggest laugh here, of course, came with the line "No. We're in KANSAS." The talk about big ticket sales for this are dead on. They damn near sold out the Grand auditorium for a noon Saturday matinee. They had evening-level staffing on hand.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 02-19-2018 12:42 AM                     Cinema: AMC Patriot 13, Lawton, OK (with Carmike branding still visible in spots). Screen: #7, IMAX Digital Format: Dual 2K Projection 3D, 5.1 audio Presentation Problems: Feature volume a bit lower than desired. Crowd Problems: Serious issues at TWO screenings. A fire alarm caused the 2nd screening. Movie Rating: 3 stars out of 4 It seems like the best Marvel super hero movies are the ones that work as origin stories, perhaps with the exception of The Winter Soldier -that was more considerably more thrilling than the first (but still good) Captain America installment. Black Panther is a really good origin story. But Captain America: Civil War is kind of prerequisite viewing for this movie since that's where Black Panther/King T'Challa makes his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This movie is fun to watch mainly for the performances from a great cast and the usual crowd pleasing action moments and snarky humor expected with Marvel movies. It does help to not think too much about stuff like scientific laws of physics while watching this movie. But the Marvel MCU has been throwing that aside since the first Iron Man movie, released nearly 10 years ago. I only bring up the physics thing since it's an important part of the Black Panther suit. It also helps to not think too much about other movies while watching the show. Some of the plot reminded me of Superman 2 as soon as the purpose of those glowing purple plants was made clear early in the story. Even with that much telegraphing going on the movie was still entertaining as it unfolded. Random observation: Daniel Kaluuya looked like he put on some pounds since Get Out. Lots of press people are making a big deal about Black Panther being a really different movie since the hero is black. Screen Junkies on YouTube skewered that point in its Honest Trailer of the Blade Trilogy. The press might have forgot about Luke Cage being a big hit more recently on Netflix. One thing that is different about this movie is the casting of its female lead characters, Nakia and Okoye, played by Lupita Nyong'o and Danai Gurira respectively. They cast dark-skinned actresses in those roles rather than go with the conventional choice of light-skinned black actresses. Colorism is a global thing affecting multiple races. Marvel has arguably goofed in this regard previously, with Storm of the X-Men being an example. The character has been frequently portrayed as a dark-skinned black woman in the comics, yet Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp have played the role in movies. In the case of Black Panther it probably helped that Lupita Nyong'o is a previous Oscar-winner and Danai Gurira has been kicking ass as Michonne on The Walking Dead since its 3rd season. Still, it might be cause for hope the success of Black Panther might get casting people to think outside of the box a little more often. It might do more to broaden our cultural standards of beauty. Another random observation: Black Panther will be in Avengers: Infinity War in May. So is Josh Brolin (as the big villain Thanos). Josh Brolin is also playing Cable in Deadpool 2. How many actors besides Josh Brolin are playing Marvel movie characters in both the MCU and separate X-Men world? Oh, I almost forgot: the crowd problems. My girlfriend and I took our first stab at watching this movie late Friday night. With about 20 minutes left in the movie a pair of assholes (either teens or college age guys) pulled a fire alarm in the theater as a prank. Unfortunately for them they didn't notice the security people and two Lawton PD units already on the scene since this was a "black" movie. They were promptly detained. I don't know if the pranksters were arrested and charged. But given a pulled fire alarm was a detail in the Florida school shooting a few days ago I could understand if the pranksters face serious consequences. The movie kept running while we exited the theater, so we just got a pair of re-admit passes and tried again Sunday. The second screening was better in the regard that the show was not interrupted by some jackass prank. Unfortunately people to our left and right couldn't stop playing with their damned phones. The family in the next row behind us had a toddler of jibber-jab age who just couldn't keep quiet during the non-action parts. My girlfriend loves kids and even this little girl was getting on her nerves.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 02-22-2018 05:47 AM                        CINEMA: Regal United Artists Colorado Mills STADIUM 16 (stadium seating in EVERY auditorium!!!) AUDITORIUM: #1 PRESENTATION: Sony Hi8 videotape (ME I believe not MP) PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: A little dim As far as the movie goes, it was good. Not amazing, but good. It's fun. It's also predictable to a fault, but every single one of those Marvel movies are. Hell most movies are, period. If you can't see what's happening from a mile away you've probably never seen a movie before. I generally don't like comic book movies. I mean they're OK but there are just so many of them that they don't really stand out any more. The market is oversaturated with them. But there are a couple of things that are kind of refreshing with this one. First and foremost there is no giant battle that unbelievably destroys an entire city. Suspension of disbelief is actually possible in this movie... for the most part. Basically the plot is about trying to obtain some unobtanium or some shit. The main character is likable. The villain is almost likeable but he's exceedingly dumb. There was a cameo from some guy from the 2nd Thor or Captain America movie I guess but I didn't know who the hell he was, it had to be explained to me. His presence did nothing to enhance my enjoyment. I hope the actor who plays him gets the shits for 4 consecutive days next week. It was really cool seeing Andy Serkis onscreen instead of just CGI though. I hope he has healthy bowel movements for the next 60 days. So will I buy it on Blu-ray? Nah. If someone brought over their Blu-ray and wanted to watch it with me? Sure.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 06-24-2018 08:56 PM                     maybe I'm in superhero overload, but I found the story/script pretty pedestrian on this one. Technically though, I'm kicking myself for missing this in the theater - specifically an IMAX one. I watched the Vudu Dolby Vision streaming version a week or two ago and it looked fantastic, but the 3D bluray is an entirely different ballgame, top notch 3D and with the image expanding vertically to reveal more picture was pure eye candy.  |  IP: Logged

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