The Shoutbox
Black Widow is still the best MCU movie, and I will die on that hill.
Opinions vary
Everyone knows my taste is shit, but I will certainly make a case that the Captain America films are pretty damned good - all three of them. Guardians of the Galaxy is fun and entertaining, and Infinity War was a hell of a lot of fun in theaters. The Iron Man stuff got progressively worse, but I recall the first film being extremely well-received at the time.

This stuff clearly isn't timeless, as public opinion has soured quite a bit on even the films that used to get reviewed really well.
I wonder if you watched the same movies I did
Fair point. Most (all?) of it was drawn from previous source material. I still think they deserve some credit for engineering it all together with a plan from start to finish, with really only a few missteps up until the finale. Especially when comparing it to the garbage that came/is still coming after that era.

Like I said: For better or for worse. For people who grew up with the comics and liked the characters, it was fun to see them put to screen with some success. Sadly, it grew into a marketing monster and eventually collapsed under its own weight. Many people never want to see another super hero film again.

Alas, they are on their way out, which will make folks like Minio fairly happy, I presume.
Originally Posted by Sedai
at least the Russo brothers tried to map out a giant story arc with at least a modicum of vision.
The big story arc wasn't really their idea, though. They were just hired hands.
Speaking or worse and worse copies...I just saw the Alien: Romulus thread float to the top of the sidebar.

Cinema is probably doomed.
Originally Posted by Mr Minio
Originally Posted by Sedai
I would say many of the recent Disney live action remakes of their animated films usurp Marvel as the worst shit out there recently.
The exact same thing, only a different name/studio/producers/whatever. It's the exact same non-cinema.
I think it sinks even lower, as at least the Russo brothers tried to map out a giant story arc with at least a modicum of vision. It ended up spiraling out of control and becoming worse and worse copies of itself, but I count at least a few decent flicks in the bunch. The Winter Soldier is a pretty good spy thriller, for better or for worse.

The live-action remakes are nothing more than creatively bankrupt business decisions meant to secure rights to properties that are about to fall into the public domain.
Originally Posted by John McClane
Being a cinephile means whatever you want it to mean.

Originally Posted by Sedai
I would say many of the recent Disney live action remakes of their animated films usurp Marvel as the worst shit out there recently.
The exact same thing, only a different name/studio/producers/whatever. It's the exact same non-cinema.
Originally Posted by Mr Minio
One last note about popularity. Marvel spends millions, billions on marketing. If you advertise something long enough and hard enough, people will want it.
Except for musicals, nobody wants musicals.