Pacific Rim is about three dozen amazing ideas packed into a two-hour movie. Never gets a chance to really draw out those cool ideas. Would have been better as a miniseries.

Agreed. I was surprised how utterly superfluous the ghosts and supernatural elements were. They never meshed with the the film and the designs felt off and over the top. The third act was by far the strongest one, in part because it focused on the actors and ditched the effects and ghosts.

And his play-turned-film Frankenstein. Which is up there with Sunshine for my favorite score. Underworld is so good.

Underworld!

It’s my favorite film of all time. The score, the acting, the production design, the plot, and Boyle at his best in directing.

Apparently Garland’s initial idea for Sunshine was the story of the Icarus I.

Yes. Amen. And to anyone dissing the second half, I never get it. It plays entirely into the established mystery of what happened to Icarus I, the idea of obsession over the Sun, is mankind worth saving, and so on. And it ends in one of the most beautiful sequences ever. And Mark Strong made me a life-long fan just…

Finally saw it, and overall a lot of the plot ended up being a disappointment, but the fights were great.

The only shame is that we never got to see Urban actually fight Bourne. He’s the one non-Treadstone/Blackbriar heavy in the series, just a very highly trained FSB agent. It would have been interesting to see just how he compared to Bourne. He matched him in driving at least.

True. Although I really love the Supremacy car chase.

The third film has a few intentional homages that both work and don’t work (the final car crash being a remake of how Supremacy’s ends), but once you see everything fall into place, and especially how it overlaps on Supremacy, it works.

Did you see Kill the Messenger from last year? Renner’s best work yet. All of those things you mentioned.

It’s not a theatrical film, but since it was filmed and aired in movie theaters (both versions!), I have to recommend Boyle’s Frankenstein as one of his top five.

I’d argue that Sunshine is Boyle’s best, but that’s also because it’s my favorite film of all time. His last collaboration with Garland, one of the best casts assembled (when Evans was cast as Captain America and friends had doubts, I showed them Sunshine and they were sold), a score co-written by Underworld, and…

Jughead is amazing in this. I adore the Afterlife with Archie comic, it’s one of the best books currently out there, but it only has a zombie Jughead, not the character at his best.

Interesting, since the trailers were particularly cringeworthy at times, with the “he’s old! They’re young! Generational differences! But he can teach them things!” angle oversold. Nice to see it’s at least better than its marketing.

Well-deserved win.

I saw that as a kid in IMAX (which when you’re a kid and not too familiar with what IMAX means, leads to totally mind-melting intensity). I need to rewatch it, I haven’t seen it in over a decade, but I remember being completely captivated by it.

Did anyone see the documentary Everest, from 1998? I think it’s on Netflix, and it’s narrated by Liam Neeson. I saw it as a kid in actual IMAX, and although it doesn’t fully cover the events depicted in this Everest film, it does address it for a good portion. If anyone’s seen both, I’d love to hear how they stack up.…

I didn’t think you were being harsh. I thought I might have made and ignorant mistake and didn’t want to seem like I was advocating authoritarianism or anything. I’m a big believer in the Nordic model. Thanks for helping me get the usage correct.