Yeah, never really approached it from that perspective, and makes sense. Ah to be a kid and not notice the difference... Hopefully we will be getting more movies using the Mad Max approach. That was a delight.

There are also the many, many problems William had with Disney through the years, most of it due to their use of Genie. More recently, his will forbade them from using any of his leftover recordings from the past movies to make a new movie (there's actually material for it, due to how many improvise he did).

If I'm not mistaken, Will Smith and Disney did go on record saying that his genie would be a very different genie. So hopefully, we won't see anything too insulting.

 

If nothing else, for me Will Smith is one of those actors who, if given creative freedom, can absolutely produce a captivating and unique genie performance of his own.

 

Which is why we shouldn't be too cynical just yet, yeah.

'Friend Like Me' in the cartoon version of Aladdin basically sums up Williams' relationship with his audience. He wasn't just an actor. He portrayed, by just being himself, a friend. Hundreds of millions of people considered him a friend. People who have never met him. Hell, I did. Without sounding sappy, his presence on screen was comforting.

I trust that Will Smith is seeing beyond the rather generous paycheck and understands he just doesn't have that... presence.

 

I'm always so very confused by CGI hate in general. There's a time for it, as there's a time for practical effects. There are great and garbage examples of both.

This is a Disney movie. Agrabah can't just look like an Arabian city, it has to look like magic imo. Ditto Cave of Wonders.

 

For me it's not hate, but when you've had chicken ten meals in a row a little fish or beef wouldn't be a bad thing.

 

It's mostly because the human eye can realize when CGI's being used 99% of the time, and nowadays when I see it, it just breaks my SoD? It's like seeing someone's gun is made of plastic in a movie or realize the way they shot the movie makes me realize they're using a stunt. Sure, I knew deep down that those 'fake things' are there, but they're not in my face, so I can ignore it, meanwhile I can't do that with CGI. It just throws me off? But tbh, I never liked pure CGI either, it just hits me in the uncanny valley between cartoons, which I can dive into and pure RL movies.

 

I'll definitely go see it, if only because it was such a part of my childhood, but the lack of Robin Williams will certainly remove some of the luster from it.

That said, I think Will Smith is probably the best person alive to play the genie.

As for Dark Phoenix, I'm looking forward to it. The reboots have been good to excellent so far, with Logan really hitting it out of the park. Sophie Turner is also hot as hell, but there was a reason her voice is perfect for Sansa Stark.

 

Detective Pikachu

 

Can it actually be good? And I don't mean Pokemon part, but a video game adaptation part.

 

I kinda want to see this movie, not because I think it’ll be good, but because it’s just inexplicable. Like what even is this.

And it should’ve been Danny DeVito.

 

I'm so confused yet very much down for this move.

 

lol what the hell is this even

They're straddling the line between realistic Pokemon and disgusting animal-like adaptations very effectively, at least.

 

I'm not going to lie, I will watch the shit out of that.

 

Toy Story 4 teaser.

 

That trailer for Detective Pikachu is hilarious. I actually like the semi-realistic Pokemon.

 

I've always wondered if Pixar will ever explore toys' destruction/death in any capacity as being part of the natural cycle of, well, life. One might think that it's not a theme for a kids' movie but Toy Story has had some dark themes in the past.

 

The Detective Pikachu trailer restored my faith in humanity.

 

Interestingly - and I only discovered this after someone pointed it out - the artist for the 'realistic Pokemon' books was hired as a concept artist for this movie.

 

lol fucken wat