The discussion re Ridley Scott is perfectly encapsulated in how Blade Runner and blade runner 2049 treats its characters. Denis does both scale and character development.
You can take all 800 episodes, cut out all the parts where Devindra complains that the film didn’t have enough for the woman to do, edit them all together, and it will literally be the length of an average Filmcast episode.
I love Devindra's comment about "vibes". I'd never really thought of vibes as being perhaps THE major distinction in what makes a sequel interesting or not. I've seen plenty of sequels, especially legacyquels, that were almost exactly the same story replayed, and I enjoyed them immensely. It's whether or not it gave me any sort of new vibe that made it entertaining. Creed is the best example of a new vibe. We had the same template, and many of the exact same beats, but the vibe made the film feel entirely new and fresh. Cobra Kai (not counting the most recent bloated seasons) was another great example of giving us the same, but with a brand new vibe. Vibes. It's what we need.
Dude that's a tautology. "vibes" means nothing on its own, it's just the overall impression you're left with, every film leaves you with an overall impression, if the film is interesting of course it's gonna have fresh vibes, because that's what having fresh vibes means. That's all it means. It's not a secret ingredient you can add during post-production before the film wraps up, it's the end result of the entire process, it's what you get after the film is already out and people have already watched it. What are filmmakers supposed to learn from that? That if people find their movie boring, it's because they made a boring film instead of making a film that isn't boring? Wow. Thanks Captain Obvious.
@@zogwort1522 LOL. Did you just "umm, actually" me about VIBES? lol. that's hilarious, dude. I'll go ahead and school you about how to read comments and respond to comments, since this is apparently your first time. Vibes is absolutely a perfect way to describe the missing secret sauce in so many sequels. And no, it's not something you sprinkle in during post-production. The project has to be marinated in it from the get go. (and before you launch into another "umm actually", I realize that you can't marinate film scripts, because the pages would get all soggy and unreadable. Duh). And yes, filmmakers need to learn that in 2024, you have to give your sequels something completely different as far as vibe, feel, tone, etc, than the original. Ghostbusters Afterlife gave us almost a beat for beat repeat of the original, including forcing an endless parade of direct references to the shots and items from the original. Afterlife had no vibe of its own. We were better off just watching the original again. Same with Gladiator 2. It COULD have given us a totally different vibe, but we got a carbon copy. But at the same time, different vibes are tricky. Audiences are fickle and impossible to predict. The Last Jedi (my favorite of Disney's Star Wars) gave us a VERY different vibe, but audiences revolted (eventually) and showed they just wanted the same vibe as before. Mandalorian was at its strongest when it was doing its own thing, its own vibe. In season two and three when it started marinating the show in old school Star Wars, it became a dull, lifeless show. So yes, the only way to get interesting sequels is to figure out how to find that new vibe, but give it to the fans in a way that doesn't alienate the mouthy hardcore fans. Vibes is the answer! It's all about vibes! Thank you, Devindra, for unlocking this secret!
@@VictorDiGiovanni Jesus Christ am I talking to Chuck Wendig over here? The reason why they slavishly copy things is precisely because of buzzwords like "vibes" getting in the way of rational analysis. Obviously audiences are fickle, they eventually wise up to cheap tricks, that's why you *cannot* bank on some vague abstract wispy je-ne-sais-quoi and hope for the best like Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams both did. All you can reasonably do is enforce strict quality control at every level of the creative process, do market research and budget accordingly. Like in any industry. Because good craftsmanship means your product won't suddenly lose its value when audiences start using their brains, which is not a reversible process. But good craftsmanship requires knowing how stuff works, not just how it feels, because all art is technology first and foremost. When you start chasing vague, ethereal, mysterious qualities that you couldn't define if your life depended on it, you end up resorting to random gimmicks, which is *exactly* what Hollywood execs and bad writers do all the time: They don't understand storytelling on a technical level, to them a good film is a black box, all they can see is that audiences responded positively and it always amazes them. And since test screening audiences are made up of people like you, who cannot describe their own feelings in an intelligible way, all they're left with is a pile of useless babble about "vibes". So they ask themselves "what the fuck is vibes?" which is a trick question because it doesn't have an answer, "vibes" is a New Agey placeholder term for the qualities you have failed to identify in a film, just like magic is an inefficient substitute for technology. Therefore, the only thing they can do is give in to superstition and mimick random, completely superficial aspects of a successful film, in hopes of summoning "vibes" within the minds of the audience. Like Pacific islanders talking into an empty wooden box to summon Jon From because they don't know how radios work. Like Rian Johnson shoehorning bathos and unlucky coincidences into all of his films because he saw the Cohen brothers do it. Like JJ recycling leitmotivs at inappropriate times just because they remind him of the OT. And it doesn't work in either case because the stories they write are stupid, which is the first thing that should be avoided. But you won't try to avoid that if you believe in "vibes" much like how you won't try to grow your own crops if you believe in Jon From.
@zogwort1522 lol. I didn't read your manifesto, but the main vibe in getting here is that someone peed in your cheerios. Look, like it or not, vibes are a thing. Vibes are what's wrong with this movie, just like Devindra suggested. In the absence of other logical reasons why a movie sequel can be so dull, vibes fills the void admirably.
@@VictorDiGiovanni Damn right someone pissed in my cheerios, it's called the entertainment industry. As I said, there *are* logical reasons why movies are dull or not, "vibes" is what you say when you can't be assed to find out what these reasons are.
Ridley Scott is my go-to example for a Director whose entire Filmography would be incredible if he simply did 1/2 - 2/3 as much but took more time & better care with his chosen projects!
The only Gladiator 2nd entry I need is a prequel about Maximus and Lucilla, not literally a remake of the 1st film with partially the same characters even. The bloated CGI battle scenes demonstrate the adage of just because you can (and not even done well at that), doesn't mean you should. The final nail in the coffin is Lucius's even more horrendous than average mullet.
I don't get the buzz about Denzel Washingtons performance. It wasn't good. Everyone is doing that weird, "classical era" accent. And Washington sounds like he just stepped out of Training Day.
Absolutely pointless movie. Mescal wasn’t even the main character. The emperors were just strange for the sake of being strange. They actually made the first film worse by sullying Maximus’ love for his wife which was the whole point of the character!
Its as if Ridley Scott doesn't understand his own (older) films... The pain Dave is suffering at 20:30 is why Hollywood is completely lost. This generation of producers and writers are without a doubt the most creatively bankrupt since the invention of this industry. Since 2010 its been downhill.
Typical sequel with sequel brain. Everything has to be connected to the first installment with ridiculous contrivances. Of course Maximus’ son has to have a dramatic arc. It’s just silly. Lacks star power (despite Denzel), forgettable score (which is all too common with modern blockbusters), unnecessary sequel
This is not true - sadly they loved Deadpool & Wolverine which is terrible! I heard their review when it was still in theaters and just saw it now that it’s streaming. Really surprised they praised that movie. It was garbage
The discussion re Ridley Scott is perfectly encapsulated in how Blade Runner and blade runner 2049 treats its characters. Denis does both scale and character development.
You can take all 800 episodes, cut out all the parts where Devindra complains that the film didn’t have enough for the woman to do, edit them all together, and it will literally be the length of an average Filmcast episode.
Zoom in on Jeff from 2:38-4:00 to see a man silently work through all 7 stages of grief
I love Devindra's comment about "vibes". I'd never really thought of vibes as being perhaps THE major distinction in what makes a sequel interesting or not. I've seen plenty of sequels, especially legacyquels, that were almost exactly the same story replayed, and I enjoyed them immensely. It's whether or not it gave me any sort of new vibe that made it entertaining. Creed is the best example of a new vibe. We had the same template, and many of the exact same beats, but the vibe made the film feel entirely new and fresh. Cobra Kai (not counting the most recent bloated seasons) was another great example of giving us the same, but with a brand new vibe.
Vibes. It's what we need.
Dude that's a tautology. "vibes" means nothing on its own, it's just the overall impression you're left with, every film leaves you with an overall impression, if the film is interesting of course it's gonna have fresh vibes, because that's what having fresh vibes means. That's all it means. It's not a secret ingredient you can add during post-production before the film wraps up, it's the end result of the entire process, it's what you get after the film is already out and people have already watched it.
What are filmmakers supposed to learn from that? That if people find their movie boring, it's because they made a boring film instead of making a film that isn't boring? Wow. Thanks Captain Obvious.
@@zogwort1522 LOL. Did you just "umm, actually" me about VIBES? lol. that's hilarious, dude.
I'll go ahead and school you about how to read comments and respond to comments, since this is apparently your first time.
Vibes is absolutely a perfect way to describe the missing secret sauce in so many sequels. And no, it's not something you sprinkle in during post-production. The project has to be marinated in it from the get go. (and before you launch into another "umm actually", I realize that you can't marinate film scripts, because the pages would get all soggy and unreadable. Duh).
And yes, filmmakers need to learn that in 2024, you have to give your sequels something completely different as far as vibe, feel, tone, etc, than the original. Ghostbusters Afterlife gave us almost a beat for beat repeat of the original, including forcing an endless parade of direct references to the shots and items from the original. Afterlife had no vibe of its own. We were better off just watching the original again. Same with Gladiator 2. It COULD have given us a totally different vibe, but we got a carbon copy.
But at the same time, different vibes are tricky. Audiences are fickle and impossible to predict. The Last Jedi (my favorite of Disney's Star Wars) gave us a VERY different vibe, but audiences revolted (eventually) and showed they just wanted the same vibe as before. Mandalorian was at its strongest when it was doing its own thing, its own vibe. In season two and three when it started marinating the show in old school Star Wars, it became a dull, lifeless show.
So yes, the only way to get interesting sequels is to figure out how to find that new vibe, but give it to the fans in a way that doesn't alienate the mouthy hardcore fans.
Vibes is the answer! It's all about vibes! Thank you, Devindra, for unlocking this secret!
@@VictorDiGiovanni Jesus Christ am I talking to Chuck Wendig over here? The reason why they slavishly copy things is precisely because of buzzwords like "vibes" getting in the way of rational analysis.
Obviously audiences are fickle, they eventually wise up to cheap tricks, that's why you *cannot* bank on some vague abstract wispy je-ne-sais-quoi and hope for the best like Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams both did.
All you can reasonably do is enforce strict quality control at every level of the creative process, do market research and budget accordingly. Like in any industry. Because good craftsmanship means your product won't suddenly lose its value when audiences start using their brains, which is not a reversible process.
But good craftsmanship requires knowing how stuff works, not just how it feels, because all art is technology first and foremost.
When you start chasing vague, ethereal, mysterious qualities that you couldn't define if your life depended on it, you end up resorting to random gimmicks, which is *exactly* what Hollywood execs and bad writers do all the time: They don't understand storytelling on a technical level, to them a good film is a black box, all they can see is that audiences responded positively and it always amazes them. And since test screening audiences are made up of people like you, who cannot describe their own feelings in an intelligible way, all they're left with is a pile of useless babble about "vibes".
So they ask themselves "what the fuck is vibes?" which is a trick question because it doesn't have an answer, "vibes" is a New Agey placeholder term for the qualities you have failed to identify in a film, just like magic is an inefficient substitute for technology.
Therefore, the only thing they can do is give in to superstition and mimick random, completely superficial aspects of a successful film, in hopes of summoning "vibes" within the minds of the audience.
Like Pacific islanders talking into an empty wooden box to summon Jon From because they don't know how radios work.
Like Rian Johnson shoehorning bathos and unlucky coincidences into all of his films because he saw the Cohen brothers do it. Like JJ recycling leitmotivs at inappropriate times just because they remind him of the OT.
And it doesn't work in either case because the stories they write are stupid, which is the first thing that should be avoided. But you won't try to avoid that if you believe in "vibes" much like how you won't try to grow your own crops if you believe in Jon From.
@zogwort1522 lol. I didn't read your manifesto, but the main vibe in getting here is that someone peed in your cheerios.
Look, like it or not, vibes are a thing. Vibes are what's wrong with this movie, just like Devindra suggested. In the absence of other logical reasons why a movie sequel can be so dull, vibes fills the void admirably.
@@VictorDiGiovanni Damn right someone pissed in my cheerios, it's called the entertainment industry.
As I said, there *are* logical reasons why movies are dull or not, "vibes" is what you say when you can't be assed to find out what these reasons are.
Congrats on 800 episodes, gents.
Ridley Scott is my go-to example for a Director whose entire Filmography would be incredible if he simply did 1/2 - 2/3 as much but took more time & better care with his chosen projects!
The only Gladiator 2nd entry I need is a prequel about Maximus and Lucilla, not literally a remake of the 1st film with partially the same characters even.
The bloated CGI battle scenes demonstrate the adage of just because you can (and not even done well at that), doesn't mean you should.
The final nail in the coffin is Lucius's even more horrendous than average mullet.
I don't get the buzz about Denzel Washingtons performance. It wasn't good. Everyone is doing that weird, "classical era" accent. And Washington sounds like he just stepped out of Training Day.
It’s because “Denzel can do no wrong because he’s Denzel.”
Absolutely pointless movie. Mescal wasn’t even the main character. The emperors were just strange for the sake of being strange. They actually made the first film worse by sullying Maximus’ love for his wife which was the whole point of the character!
He was away from Hispania and had sex with a married woman 😂. Damn Max you dirty dog.
Its as if Ridley Scott doesn't understand his own (older) films...
The pain Dave is suffering at 20:30 is why Hollywood is completely lost. This generation of producers and writers are without a doubt the most creatively bankrupt since the invention of this industry.
Since 2010 its been downhill.
A24 movies 🤷♂️
True but one development house is not enough.
Extremely disappointing. The plot was a convoluted mess
The cgi looked good, not sure what David meant.
Oops... you reviewed the wrong movie.
Typical sequel with sequel brain. Everything has to be connected to the first installment with ridiculous contrivances. Of course Maximus’ son has to have a dramatic arc. It’s just silly.
Lacks star power (despite Denzel), forgettable score (which is all too common with modern blockbusters), unnecessary sequel
You guys hate everything
Check out the three uploads prior to this one for proof this is not true
Don't know if they hate a lot or not, but this movie SUCKS
This is not true - sadly they loved Deadpool & Wolverine which is terrible! I heard their review when it was still in theaters and just saw it now that it’s streaming. Really surprised they praised that movie. It was garbage
It’s okay to have standards. I know newer generations have lost the meaning of that