I can see how it might not get good reviews. It's very formulaic and pretty predictable. But the characters were likable, and it was a very traditional good-vs.-evil storyline. It kept me interested, and it was fun.
Ah, thank you for the spelling. Will correct.
The car itself looks really cool, a similar body shape to some of our classic cars. (It looked kind of 1940s to me. I was a little surprised when Geo told me it was a '66.) He likes old cars a lot. Sounds like one would have to upgrade the suspension, if possible. But when Dima got it all painted and slicked up, it was pretty sharp. I rather liked the hood ornament.
Also, the movie had some pretty neat visuals. Unfortunately, I couldn't really appreciate them because my attention was split between watching the movie and reading subtitles.
The producer on the movie also produced an animated feature we really like, 9, and I think that's what caught Geo's attention when he picked up the movie at the thrift shop.
It's not what I'd call a "great" movie, but it was fun. It's a decent popcorn matinee or "unwind and the end of a horrific workday" movie.
I think less good reviews were cause it was too *american* if you know what i mean. People here if they want to watch something loike that can always pick US movies, originals so to speak. But i can also see why for some people it can be interesting to watch. If you'll go rare movie hunting again (sort of) you can look for our movie Metro. It's (how do you call it?) a movie about water flooding Moscow underground. Too simple of course but i think it was well done FX-wise and a dog there is adorable ;)
It's not really the same, but kind of like what we do. The American movie industry so often takes foreign movies and Americanizes them, which sometimes drives me up a wall. We can be kind of ethnocentric anyway, but Americanizing (and sometimes "dumbing down") stuff that works so well in it's original format is part of the reason why we have that problem, I think.
For example, Let the Right One In is a really cool Swedish (?) vampire movie, and if you get the one with the right (more accurate?) subtitles, it's really awesome! And it was so well received that within a year or two, a studio had bought the rights to re-make it into an American version, Let Me In, which I haven't seen, partly on principle. Sometimes the transfer from one culture to another can be interesting, especially if it puts a different spin on things or brings a different facet to life. But if it's just done for the sake of making it more "palatable" to an American audience (and profitable to the company), that's when I get a little bit annoyed. (The first time Mad Max, which is an Australian film, was released in the States, they re-dubbed all the dialogue--which was in English, of course--because the studio was afraid that Americans wouldn't be able to understand the Australian accents. I saw the dubbed version and was very unimpressed. Then I saw the real version, with the real soundtrack and actor's voices, and it was pretty darn awesome.)
That's why I thought it was really interesting that Black Lightning had an "American" feel to it, since it was a Russian movie made in the context of--I assume--the Russian culture. I thought it was something similar in Russian storytelling. Then the producer said that they did indeed use the American superhero formula, and I still thought it was interesting, because they took an American formula and placed it in a Russian setting. I just thought it was pretty neat, that it could work in either setting equally well. But maybe I'm mistaken.
I also asked Geo today about the Volga, and told him what you'd said about the hard ride. He laughed and said, "Oh, they're awful" and said that the American equivalent would be a Vega or a Chevette (which have reputations for not being very good, and aren't really impressive). But he still thinks it'd be fun to have one. The body design reminds him of a Willys. (Having looked up Willys, I agree that the body of a 1930s Willys looks a lot like the car in the movie.)
I'll ask Geo if he's ever heard of Metro. From your brief description, it sounds like a disaster movie, which is another genre whose popularity goes in phases.
I know that problem :) Sometimes americanization is good esp when they take the subject and tell a different story with it (maybe slightly different but still) and sometimes it sucks pretty bad. I don't watch vamp movies but i saw the trilogy about a girl with a dragon tatoo (original one) and really liked it and when US made their version i didn't watch it on principle cause for me there's only one Rapace and no one can replace her.
But otoh i saw british Sherlock and also US kind of version of it Elementary and liked them both.
No, the stories about superheroes isn't in Russian culture at all so anything with it is an influence of US culture.
Yes, a disaster movie! Nothing special but it was done pretty well for that type of movies here and i wasn't bored watching it (felt so deep for that little dog).
Ah, thank you for the spelling. Will correct.
The car itself looks really cool, a similar body shape to some of our classic cars. (It looked kind of 1940s to me. I was a little surprised when Geo told me it was a '66.) He likes old cars a lot. Sounds like one would have to upgrade the suspension, if possible. But when Dima got it all painted and slicked up, it was pretty sharp. I rather liked the hood ornament.
Also, the movie had some pretty neat visuals. Unfortunately, I couldn't really appreciate them because my attention was split between watching the movie and reading subtitles.
The producer on the movie also produced an animated feature we really like, 9, and I think that's what caught Geo's attention when he picked up the movie at the thrift shop.
It's not what I'd call a "great" movie, but it was fun. It's a decent popcorn matinee or "unwind and the end of a horrific workday" movie.
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If you'll go rare movie hunting again (sort of) you can look for our movie Metro. It's (how do you call it?) a movie about water flooding Moscow underground. Too simple of course but i think it was well done FX-wise and a dog there is adorable ;)
Reply
It's not really the same, but kind of like what we do. The American movie industry so often takes foreign movies and Americanizes them, which sometimes drives me up a wall. We can be kind of ethnocentric anyway, but Americanizing (and sometimes "dumbing down") stuff that works so well in it's original format is part of the reason why we have that problem, I think.
For example, Let the Right One In is a really cool Swedish (?) vampire movie, and if you get the one with the right (more accurate?) subtitles, it's really awesome! And it was so well received that within a year or two, a studio had bought the rights to re-make it into an American version, Let Me In, which I haven't seen, partly on principle. Sometimes the transfer from one culture to another can be interesting, especially if it puts a different spin on things or brings a different facet to life. But if it's just done for the sake of making it more "palatable" to an American audience (and profitable to the company), that's when I get a little bit annoyed. (The first time Mad Max, which is an Australian film, was released in the States, they re-dubbed all the dialogue--which was in English, of course--because the studio was afraid that Americans wouldn't be able to understand the Australian accents. I saw the dubbed version and was very unimpressed. Then I saw the real version, with the real soundtrack and actor's voices, and it was pretty darn awesome.)
That's why I thought it was really interesting that Black Lightning had an "American" feel to it, since it was a Russian movie made in the context of--I assume--the Russian culture. I thought it was something similar in Russian storytelling. Then the producer said that they did indeed use the American superhero formula, and I still thought it was interesting, because they took an American formula and placed it in a Russian setting. I just thought it was pretty neat, that it could work in either setting equally well. But maybe I'm mistaken.
I also asked Geo today about the Volga, and told him what you'd said about the hard ride. He laughed and said, "Oh, they're awful" and said that the American equivalent would be a Vega or a Chevette (which have reputations for not being very good, and aren't really impressive). But he still thinks it'd be fun to have one. The body design reminds him of a Willys. (Having looked up Willys, I agree that the body of a 1930s Willys looks a lot like the car in the movie.)
I'll ask Geo if he's ever heard of Metro. From your brief description, it sounds like a disaster movie, which is another genre whose popularity goes in phases.
Reply
I don't watch vamp movies but i saw the trilogy about a girl with a dragon tatoo (original one) and really liked it and when US made their version i didn't watch it on principle cause for me there's only one Rapace and no one can replace her.
But otoh i saw british Sherlock and also US kind of version of it Elementary and liked them both.
No, the stories about superheroes isn't in Russian culture at all so anything with it is an influence of US culture.
Yes, a disaster movie! Nothing special but it was done pretty well for that type of movies here and i wasn't bored watching it (felt so deep for that little dog).
Reply
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