MCU's THE ETERNALS (11/6/20) 8 8

[AJLewandoski]

49 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

I think the critique we've seen in the past is that Marvel like to keep a pretty tight grip on things and don't necessarily allow the directors to spread their wings like they would with an independent film.  So just because the director won an Oscar, I don't expect the film to have the same creative stamp.  Not negging the movie in any way, I'm just saying that I expect the film to still have many of the same qualities as the Marvel movies that came before it.

I believe they're on the record as giving her basically free reign to make the movie how she wanted it to be made, she wrote the pitch and the -script and directed. Small quote from Variety: “From early on, [Marvel] knew the way I wanted to make this film, how I wanted to shoot,” shared Zhao. “It can’t be hundreds of people standing around. They very much adapted how to run the set the way that I wanted to work. I’m still surrounded by 25 people.” 

[ExNihilo]

3 minutes ago, AJLewandoski said:

I believe they're on the record as giving her basically free reign to make the movie how she wanted it to be made, she wrote the pitch and the --script and directed. Small quote from Variety: “From early on, [Marvel] knew the way I wanted to make this film, how I wanted to shoot,” shared Zhao. “It can’t be hundreds of people standing around. They very much adapted how to run the set the way that I wanted to work. I’m still surrounded by 25 people.” 

Cool to hear that.  That hype reel today definitely has me more interested in the film than I was before.

[fantastic_four]

As long as she didn't change the core concepts from Kirby, i.e. the relationships between the Celestials, Eternals, Deviants, humans, and mutants, giving her free reign makes sense.  Her only real restriction should have been to just stick to those key story points so that the film can serve as back story for the X-Men.

[Bosco685]

I want to see all of this backstory brought forward live.

[piper]

6 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

I want to see all of this backstory brought forward live.

Love the ideas and artwork but the Kirby dialogue and plot leaves somthing to be desired.

[InfantTerrible]

This looks like one of those b-tier TV show

[Bosco685]

9 hours ago, piper said:

Love the ideas and artwork but the Kirby dialogue and plot leaves somthing to be desired.

[@therealsilvermane]

17 hours ago, piper said:

Love the ideas and artwork but the Kirby dialogue and plot leaves somthing to be desired.

Agree. Jack Kirby wasn't the best storyteller. Sometimes I could tell Kirby was being intentionally tongue-in-cheek with his 70's Marvel stories but other times it seemed unintentionally comical. And sometimes a bit too far out there for the more realistic direction comics started taking in the 70's.

[drotto]

If true ouch.   This and Shang Chi may not be released in China.

 

https://heroichollywood.com/shang-chi-eternals-marvel-china-release/

[@therealsilvermane]

2 hours ago, drotto said:

If true ouch.   This and Shang Chi may not be released in China.

 

https://heroichollywood.com/shang-chi-eternals-marvel-china-release/

China, the government not the people, is the root of all evil. They seriously need to get over themselves. Too bad there isn't a Shang Chi in reality, 'cause maybe he could get rid of that jerk president over there who decided to make himself dictator for life.

[fantastic_four]

2 hours ago, drotto said:

If true ouch.   This and Shang Chi may not be released in China.

 

https://heroichollywood.com/shang-chi-eternals-marvel-china-release/

I'll be shocked if they DO let Eternals in.  Once any foreigner bad-mouths the Chinese government publicly in any way that person is usually banned from China indefinitely.  A recent example is Daryl Morey, the former General Manager of the NBA Houston Rockets.  In 2019 he tweeted this:

But deleted it quickly afterwards.  Doesn't matter to China that he deleted it--China now refuses to air Houston Rockets games in China.  Morey then quit the Rockets in 2020 by choice and went to the Philadelphia 76ers, so China banned their games, too.  Even after Morey left China has continued to ban Rockets games, presumably because the team didn't make amends by firing Morey.

[paperheart]

6 hours ago, drotto said:

If true ouch.   This and Shang Chi may not be released in China.

 

https://heroichollywood.com/shang-chi-eternals-marvel-china-release/

wondered why the "stocks" were tanking, initially thought it had to do with the Jungle Cruise announcement (which would actually make more sense since the "stocks" are US BO only)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the (SHCHI)  

    H$162.37 H$13.11 (7.47%)                  

Eternals (ETRNL)

H$166.45 H$11.58 (6.50%)

 

 

[drotto]

9 minutes ago, paperheart said:

wondered why the "stocks" were tanking, initially thought it had to do with the Jungle Cruise announcement (which would actually make more sense since the "stocks" are US BO only)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the (SHCHI)  

    H$162.37 H$13.11 (7.47%)                  

Eternals (ETRNL)

H$166.45 H$11.58 (6.50%)

 

 

Yeah, Chloe Zhao is on China's naughty list for anti-Chinese comments she made about 8 years ago.  The Government is looking at the depiction of the Mandarin as an anti-Chinese stereotype. 

Edited May 13, 2021 by drotto

[paperheart]

2 minutes ago, drotto said:

Yeah, Chloe Zhao is on China's naughty list for anti-Chinese comments she made about 8 years ago.  The Government is looking at the depiction of the Mandarin as an anti-Chinese stereotype. 

fortunately, i hadn't anticipated watching this one in Beijing. Shang-Chi looks like a pass anyway.

[AnthonyTheAbyss]

3 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

I'll be shocked if they DO let Eternals in.  Once any foreigner bad-mouths the Chinese government publicly in any way that person is usually banned from China indefinitely.  A recent example is Daryl Morey, the former General Manager of the NBA Houston Rockets.  In 2019 he tweeted this:

But deleted it quickly afterwards.  Doesn't matter to China that he deleted it--China now refuses to air Houston Rockets games in China.  Morey then quit the Rockets in 2020 by choice and went to the Philadelphia 76ers, so China banned their games, too.  Even after Morey left China has continued to ban Rockets games, presumably because the team didn't make amends by firing Morey.

Yao Ming needs to step in.  Even Steve Kerr didn't comment on it afterwards.  The NBA lost so much money because of that tweet.

 

***That's why I don't #hashtag

[fantastic_four]

42 minutes ago, AnthonyTheAbyss said:

Yao Ming needs to step in.

If by that you mean he needs to encourage the Chinese government to launch their nukes at Houston, then I think he's probably done that already.  He was reportedly furious at Morey for the tweet.

https://www.rappler.com/sports/nba/yao-ming-extremely-hot-china-crisis

[AnthonyTheAbyss]

47 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

If by that you mean he needs to encourage the Chinese government to launch their nukes at Houston, then I think he's probably done that already.  He was reportedly furious at Morey for the tweet.

https://www.rappler.com/sports/nba/yao-ming-extremely-hot-china-crisis

Aw man...not Yao Ming.

All hope is lost if we can't get Yao to stand up for US/China relations.  The MCU is scrood.

[fantastic_four]

11 hours ago, AnthonyTheAbyss said:

Aw man...not Yao Ming.

All hope is lost if we can't get Yao to stand up for US/China relations.  The MCU is scrood.

It didn't really surprise me because Yao has been outspoken about his love for his country since he first came to the league.  He never applied for American citizenship even though he probably could have easily gotten it, always represented his country in the Olympics, frequently went home during the off-season and returned when he retired, he's the former owner of the Shanghai Sharks, and he's the current head of the Chinese Basketball Association.  I know before he entered the league China announced they would be taking half of his NBA salary if he wanted to retain his citizenship, but I never heard if that actually happened and have never been able to find info about it.  Yao did publicly comment that he was fine paying his country what he owed them so it was clear he didn't view it as an issue.

He's also struck me as one of millions of examples of how Chinese Communism is a farce--how does he retain his millions in a Communist country where everything is supposed to be shared with his country?  I'd really love to watch a 10-hour documentary on how Communism in China works these days, because it's so mixed up with capitalism that I can't tell why they even still retain it since it's so distant from Marx's Communist ideal.  

Anyway, back to the topic.  Two things will surprise me--if Eternals gets shown in China, and if Shang-Chi DOESN'T get shown.  Disney certainly knew before they even greenlit the film that being shown in China would be challenging, and from what I can tell they have structured the film to be entirely respectful to Chinese culture in every way that the Fu Manchu stereotype wasn't.  I would also be surprised if they didn't talk to someone in the Chinese government about the likelihood of the film being shown there before they greenlit it.  Were they told up front it wouldn't get in, or were they led to believe it would?

Edited May 14, 2021 by fantastic_four

[drotto]

4 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

It didn't really surprise me because Yao has been outspoken about his love for his country since he first came to the league.  He never applied for American citizenship even though he probably could have easily gotten it, always represented his country in the Olympics, frequently went home during the off-season and returned when he retired, he's the former owner of the Shanghai Sharks, and he's the current head of the Chinese Basketball Association.  I know before he entered the league China announced they would be taking half of his NBA salary if he wanted to retain his citizenship, but I never heard if that actually happened and have never been able to find info about it.  Yao did publicly comment that he was fine paying his country what he owed them so it was clear he didn't view it as an issue.

He's also struck me as one of millions of examples of how Chinese Communism is a farce--how does he retain his millions in a Communist country where everything is supposed to be shared with his country?  I'd really love to watch a 10-hour documentary on how Communism in China works these days, because it's so mixed up with capitalism that I can't tell why they even still retain it since it's so distant from Marx's Communist ideal.  

Anyway, back to the topic.  Two things will surprise me--if Eternals gets shown in China, and if Shang-Chi DOESN'T get shown.  Disney certainly knew before they even greenlit the film that being shown in China would be challenging, and from what I can tell they have structured the film to be entirely respectful to Chinese culture in every way that the Fu Manchu stereotype wasn't.  I would also be surprised if they didn't talk to someone in the Chinese government about the likelihood of the film being shown there before they greenlit it.  Were they told up front it wouldn't get in, or were they led to believe it would?

From the start The Eternals has been trumpeting its diversity especially the LGBTQ+ aspects.  We know that is an issue in China, as exemplified by the kissing scene that was removed from the last Star Wars, and the shrinking of Finn on posters.  These things seem much more hard baked into this film, and likely much more difficult to remove or even minimize.

[thunsicker]