Nerd Pride Radio

Just saw Aquaman. I think WB learned their lessons pretty well. It's fun, it's colorful (and a lot more hopeful than all of the DCEU movies except maybe Wonder Woman. Unlike WW, the themes of the movie aren't really undercut by the finale. The villain motivation is clear and has internal logic. Momoa can deliver even the cheesiest one liners with cool swagger, and I like that. I walked out of it without anything bothering me. If I really try, I can find some things to nitpick, but they do. not. matter.

I looked up some reviews after I got home. One of them said you have to wade through 2 hours of world building before the movie really gets going. I think that's a dumb argument. The plot moves forward organically and the world building is usually done as part of the plot movement. The plot lets you breathe a bit, but I don't think any of that was boring.

Yeah, all of these things make me want to see the movie! World building? Something beyond just action sequences? Great!

I never read the comics, so for all I know this is just canon that I've been unaware of, but the undersea realm has internal politics with factions, and an implied size that makes it impossible for them to have remained hidden this long. But that is a nitpick that does not hurt the movie. They actually embrace the cornier aspects of Aquaman's villains in a way that felt true to what I know of them but it did not, for me, come off as too cheesy.

My top 13 of 2018


13-Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot
12-Paterno
11-Bad Times at the El Royale
10-Sorry to Bother You
9-You Were Never Really Here
8-Game Night
7-Death of Stalin
6-Thoroughbreds
5-Annihilation
4-Hereditary
3-Vice
2-BlackKklansman
1-Assassination Nation

Hey, everyone go see Spiderverse in theaters. Just do it. So fun it makes most other superhero movies look like total shit.

Yeah. Spider Verse is as good as everyone says. Solid.

And Aquaman shows that DC has finally figured how to make a Marvel movie. It's huge, silly, action-packed fun, but like 90% of MCU movies, it's the same stuff you've seen dozens of times already. Worth it, yes. But not new.

In fact, Aquaman is really DC's Thor. Hunky, bearded prince from an alien world where technology is so advanced it looks like magic, filled with a huge mythos of ancient legends and dangerous races, plus an evil brother looking to usurp the throne, AND a legendary weapon of power that is the prince's signature tool.

Yes, he is definitely Thor-like, but I'm down with it. Actually, there are some pretty stark differences in the characters. For one, their character growth arcs are going in opposite directions. Thor was born and raised as a prince and his journey was about responsibility through humility (Ragnarok did this better than the first Thor, but that was the arc). Arthur is almost equally irresponsible at the beginning (although he's better than Thor because even in his irresponsible phase he was fighting to protect people while Thor was about having fun fighting giants with a veneer of "defending Asgard" for justification), but Arthur has to learn to step UP to the throne because his inaction was handing power to worse people.

In a way it's Spiderman's moral compass with Thor-style costuming and plot structure. And I think those character differences are more important than the general outline similarities.

You forgot that one's a god and the other talks to fish. Yeah, they have tons of differences.

I enjoyed Aquaman in the same way I enjoyed Ant Man and Dr. Strange and a bunch of others. It's a well-used formula of person with great powers rejecting the call to action and then ultimately accepting their role as hero. Classic hero's journey. Familiar story, but well-done, because Marvel (and now DC) has figured out how to make it work.

The hero's journey is just a form of basic story structure. Almost every movie worth watching follows this the same way they use three acts.

Mid90s

So this movie had a couple things going against it for me personally.

1.I find nostalgia to be overwhelming in the current culture and mostly a refuge for the feeble minded.

2.This movie had almost universal praise, I mean how good could it possibly be?

Well it's just great, a amazing coming of age story that just has to be seen as soon as possible. Amazing performances, writing, just the whole deal from top to bottom was fantastic.


The story follows a 12 year old kid growing up with a abusive older brother and a overworked single mom who finds refuge with a group of skater kids at a local shop. Oh also bucking all modern trends the movie is a LEAN AND MEAN 85, with pacing so tight you could bounce a quarter of its ass.

They're really treating Bohemian Rhapsody like an awards film, good god.

White Boy Rick: Big let down. Some good shit going on but man, that movie couldve been a classic. Felt the same after watching Black Mass.

boiler plate movie bio with a decent lead performance but it's nothing really special. Also the scene when Mercury shares that moment with the guys in the docs office after getting the AIDS news was beyond self parody.

I know why people are going wild for it but I don't have to like it.

after a re watch I've determined that Solo is, at worst, the 3rd best Star Wars movie

I liked Solo fine but third best Star Wars movie...lol. Lay off the hot takes guys.

Fourth.

4, 5, 7... then what? Something better than Solo?