What are you thinking? (Part 2)

[Jonipoon]

I also saw it, but I wasn't that impressed. While it's definitely a fun movie with amazing action sequences and great chemistry between Ryan and Hugh... Story-wise it's quite weak, and the villain's motivations are as boring as someone like Malekith from Thor 2. I thought the stakes would be higher after watching the trailers with all the time-travelling stuff and so on, but most of the film actually takes place in the same "area". That being said I'm very happy that Ryan and Hugh finally got to make the movie that both of them as well as the fans have wanted for like 20 years. It's bound to have a positive response. I guess I'm in the minority.

Then again I didn't like Endgame or Far From Home either, and those were both extremely popular films that got rave reviews from just about every corner. Personally, I just feel the whole multiverse/time travel stuff relies too heavily on cameos and spectacle for people to go "Woaaah" about. Story takes a back seat, and I don't like that. Everybody who knows me on this forum knows that I always put story first before everything else.

A great example from the film would be

Spoiler

the inclusion of Gambit. I mean, Channing Tatum does an amazing job in the role! It's the best live-action Gambit by far, and his powers looked incredible. They truly gave Gambit the most badass action sequences in the entire film. While all of this is great and all - what's the point of his inclusion other than a glorified cameo? What purpose does it serve the story? Nothing, and that's my main criticism of this film, and the problem with these multiverse films in a nutshell.

 

[1995umk3]

Thinking what to eat. Just ate a sandwich.

 

[Turo602]

I wasn't too bothered by the story given the circumstances in which this film is even happening and its overall meta narrative. While it's not exactly a "great" film, I think it serves its purpose well enough and was exactly what it needed to be, a bridge from FOX Studios to the MCU. Based on the reactions to the film so far, I feel like it's lost on so many people just how unprecedented a movie like this really is.

Deadpool and Wolverine is easily my favorite post-Endgame MCU film next to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. As far as these multiverse movies go, I liked it a lot better than No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness. However, like No Way Home, there are elements of the plot that seem kinda stupid if you're familiar with the other worlds they're pulling from.

I actually saw a really good analogy from IGN likening Deadpool and Wolverine to the Royal Rumble in WWE and honestly, I think that can be applied to the MCU as a whole. It is often said that wrestling is about moments and that's exactly what this film was filled with, moments, to elicit a reaction from the audience. It isn't often that I can say I really loved an MCU movie, yet there are many moments that stand out throughout the years that have made the MCU the juggernaut that it is and this movie is definitely one of them.

As a fan of superheroes before it was cool to like superheroes, I both love and hate what the MCU has done for comic book movies, but I also can't deny how f*cking cool it was to see Hugh Jackman finally get to portray Wolverine without any compromises. They definitely got good mileage out of him in this one, but I hope they can squeeze him into Secret Wars before we say goodbye to him again. Interacting with The Avengers and possibly even Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man as well as fighting Hulk are like the final things he can still do as Wolverine before bowing out now that he's gotten the Deadpool crossover and comic accurate suit checked off.

 

[KManX89]

As long as we’re still on the subject of the MCU, the trailer for one of the few other MCU projects I’m actually looking forward to at this point, DareDevil: Born Again just got leaked and… dare I say, I like what I see (it sounds so foreign to say that about anything MCU post-Endgame)? It looks pretty on-par tonally with the Netflix series, and I love that they’re bringing back Karen and Foggy with their OG actors to boot when that originally wasn’t in the cards apparently (they were originally supposed to die offscreen early in the show according to leaks, you read that right). Apparently Kevin Feige had it rewritten and reshot to more closely match the original/Netflix show, and we can count that with him finally letting Ryan and Hugh make their bromance movie they’ve long been wanting to make as one of the few bright spot decisions he’s made post-Endgame. Based on the story leaks, it looks to be going in a rather adult direction just like the OG show.

Oh, and if the leaked set photos are any indication, letting Bernthal be the comic-accurate ruthless Punisher we’ve come to know from the Netflix shows (where he gave us by far the best live-action version of The Punisher to date and was easily the highlight of DDS2) likewise without any compromises, who I’m also amped to see back (he got a nice crowd pop when they showed Jon’s Frank Castle in the trailer). He literally said he’d only come back if they agreed not to Disneyfy his character, and it looks like they’re making good on that commitment. Oh, and he’s got the skull symbol, so no worries there, either.

And speaking of doing right by the fans, Deadpool & Wolverine is the second R-rated movie to join the billion dollar club, and in record time to boot (in just its third weekend). This bodes well for Blade if it ever gets made, which is sadly looking less and less likely as time goes on.

 

[KManX89]

I’m in a bit of a mental health crisis. The last 2 months have been hell for me. I’ve been off all my meds this whole time with the national Adderall shortage and it’s giving me all kinds of withdrawal symptoms. First I’ve had trouble staying awake, showing up an hour late for work twice, missing workouts on my days off from work and creating scheduling conflicts from passing out and now I’m starting to feel depressed. Watching movies/TV and gaming isn’t giving me the same joy it once did and when I went to the mall yesterday for some outgoing escapism, I found myself having anxiety without my Dopamine rush. It never used to hit me so hard when I was on my Adderall.

It’s gotten to the point where I legitimately don’t know what to do with my life. I’ve felt myself increasingly in cognitive decline with every passing day sans Adderall (and my sleeping meds which actually treat depression that I can’t take without it or I’d feel even more tired and groggier). Every time I’ve tried to keep my mind busy, depression would eventually and randomly hit me and bad life experiences have been hitting me harder than ever before (in recent memory). Just the other day, I was crying myself sick while eating my Subway in full view of everyone there.

 

[Turo602]

That sucks. I don't know what you're going through or what your situation is with your family, but times like these, it's important to surround yourself with family and friends. I know there isn't much going on here these days, but I've appreciated that you still post around here from time to time. Maybe it's time for a new hobby or maybe you just need something new in your life, like a pet? Whatever it is, just know what you're going through is temporary and things will always get better, even if they have to get worse for a little while.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I'm starting to get the sinking feeling my goal of getting back into mt biking at age 66 is fool hearty. I gave it up 20 yrs ago due to conflicts of interest with the mt bike club I was riding with, very stressful neighbor noise in the apt above me, and an old lower back injury that was making even cleaning the bike after rides before taking it into the apt building a painful chore. Recently I've found the decision to quit the club may have been too stubborn.

The core members of the club I was in I discovered were regularly riding bootleg trails. While that may not sound like a big deal to some, it was very contrary to the mission statement of the club to work together with land managers to gain trail access. In retrospect I kind of wish I'd stuck with that club, because they are now under another name, and have done tons to gain the respect of land managers and even other trail user groups.

Staying with that club though would have meant spending 20 yrs riding with them, only to come home to an environment so stressful it was hard to even get enough sleep to recover from the rides. So I keep seeing the apt situation I was in as the main cause of me giving up the sport. I now live in a MUCH quieter, more peaceful apt in the north part of town, so I spent around $300 getting new parts for the bike to make it more ridable.

I've done 3 rides so far on this slightly upgraded bike, each on trails more technical than a bike of it's outdated geometry is made for. The result is I've had progressively worse crashes each ride, with worse injuries each time that take more recovery time. And that's even with walking a few of the most technical sections. The crash I'm recovering from now I'm pretty sure bruised my latissimus dorsi, often causing painful muscle spasms.

So I'm now left with the choice of continuing to ride this bike, give up the sport for good, or get a bike with more current design that can handle the more rugged trails we have now. I don't know if I can handle any of those choices if it means getting that feeling once again that I made the wrong choice. I used to really enjoy mt biking, but the trails I used to love most are now mere shells of what they were due to clear cutting and changing trends.

There's ONE exception, it's not the closest place to ride, just under a 2 hr drive, but it is by far the biggest mtb trail network in our state with 166 miles of mtb trails. It's a place I used to ride called Capitol State Forest, and last time I rode there they had just done a lot of clear cutting and a guy from Florida I was leading a ride for was very upset how much hiking we had to do to get through it. It is now a mt biking mecca though.

Capitol State Forest now has a variety of green, blue, and black rated trails, many of which cut through thick forest, and even the ones in old clearcut are like bike park stuff. There's also two free campgrounds nearby. The only bummer is, unlike Bellingham up north, they don't really have a good pick of bike shops to demo what I'd call decent bike brands. This is because that area is dominated by Trek brand bike shops.

Maybe what I'm describing here is potentially not a bad "problem" to have. If you'd seen me yesterday though in our senior only apt building having a difficult time just getting my laundry in and out of the machines, while elderly women tenants at least 10 or more yrs older than me were looking at me oddly as I spasmed in pain, you'd get why I'm not feeling so gung ho about it right now. I had to do the clothes one day, the bedding the next.

This is the best video I've seen to give you an idea of how much trail building has been done at Capitol State Forest. This is the North Slope of it, where the trails are more technical and they recommend longer travel Enduro type bikes, and full face helmets. Am I crazy for wanting to do this stuff?

 

[Ikawaru]

Work sucks. I have discovered that I do not conform to the sexist agenda where woman dominate all positions of power and homosexuals are given special treatment. This is a popular viewpoint in northeastern United States and the West Coast. I simply prefer an equal, more rational playing field where whoever is qualified to get the numbers in the green is the person who gets the position, regardless of their identity

I apologize if this comes off as offensive to some, but it is only a matter of time before the rational part of your brain comes to the forefront and finally decides that this is stupid and does not make any sense and it is purely ideologically driven, and to take steps to do something about it.

At the same time, I do not care for religious white Christian patriarchal setups either, so the issue I see here with "progressives" is that they are overcompensating mistakes from the past with something equally stupid. I guess I just see no niche for me in the West and may to look to the east to find my green pastures. *Shrugs*.