a0e64fd1   
   From: usenet@stainlesssteelrat.net   
      
   bladerunnerisawesome@gmail.com wrote:   
   >> Overall I thought it was an above average flick, but is it just me   
   >> or are others getting tired of these cookie cutter superhero movies?   
   >   
   > There is certainly the formula: the origin, the villain, the battle,   
   > the sequel. Dare I say though, that some formulas are worth repeating?   
   > Like... forever? Especially with this cast?   
      
   There's the argument that most stories can be derived down to a few   
   structures, but the saturation of superhero movies is just getting too much   
   for me. I see the real creativity being in originality, particularly so   
   within the story. Iron Man offers little if anything new IMO.   
      
   > As for product placement, when they're dealing with hundreds of   
   > millions of dollars in production costs I can't hold it against the   
   > filmmakers.   
      
   Well, I'll have to agree to disagree. The amount they're gaining in   
   sponsorship must be fractional compared to the budget. Aside from the   
   arguably pointless nature of it - is anyone going to be swayed to buy a car,   
   phone etc. just because it appears in a film? It's a sad slippery slope...   
      
   > Even then, nothing in Iron Man is nearly as bad as "Vintage   
   > 2004" Converse sneakers in a certain other film.   
      
   Although it's not as bad, it's all still part of the same slippery slope.   
      
   >> I hadn't seen a trailer for Hancock until tonight, and *that* looks   
   >> interesting.   
   >   
   > Looks to me like the potential to be Smith's biggest clunker since   
   > Wild Wild West. It'll profit because of Smith, but some of the comedic   
   > parts strike me as rather flat. Hopefully I'm wrong.   
      
   You think, based on the trailer? What annoys me more than anything is I've   
   often done the "what if?" you had an anti-hero superhero, with actual   
   superpowers (as opposed to your Mystery Men). Someone beat me to it and   
   wrote the screenplay ;-) In fact the Super Girlfriend film - I forget the   
   exact name offhand - is on a very similar if not identical theme, and very   
   funny in a cheap and cheerful way, if you like that sort of thing.   
      
   I'd be surprised if Hancock fails, and I was thinking it could be the film   
   where Smith straddles both artistic integrity (of a sort) and blockbuster.   
   If they've got the story and balance right of course.   
      
   >> 2008 is shaping up to be a reasonable year for films IMO, although   
   >> there's still a lot of formulaic stuff out there, and a sequel or   
   >> two too many.   
   >   
   > Well, I recommend "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days." It's perfect in every   
   > way and... nobody's seen it.   
      
   Correct, I've not seen it ;-) I'll look it up!   
      
   I'm still very interested in the 2006 film that's being released now, albeit   
   in a very limited way no doubt. I forget the name offhand, but it was   
   mentioned in my filmic post a week or three back.   
      
   --   
   StainlessSteelRat   
   http://www.stainlesssteelrat.net   
      
   "Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's   
    that girls should stick to girls sports, such as hot oil wrestling and   
   foxy boxing and such and such." -- Homer Simpson   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)