I have two recent ones...can't decide which I liked more:
John Carter - I thought this was a terrific flick. It wasn't a film for the instant-gratification crowd because the payoff was the ending - and it was one of the best endings I've ever seen in recent film history. Also, a lot of people just didn't understand that this was the 'original' sci fi outer space story, long before the likes of
Star Wars and
Star Trek. When people complained that the themes had 'already been done' they were right - they HAD been done, by THIS early 20th century story. The others just copied from it. It's almost like a time travel story in real life...Burroughs' John Carter (Barsoom Series, first story published in 1912) was first, filmmakers (and storytellers) went back in time and borrowed from it, and so when the John Carter movie finally hit the screen it was old news even though it was the original idea.
Also, this Barsoom series by E. R. Burroughs, with its elements of dream travel and heroic champions, is one of the inspirations for author Michael Moorcock and his most famous fantasy character, Elric of Melniboné.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elric_of_Melniboné (And don't get me started on how my beloved Elric is the prototype for all modern fantasy storytelling and RPGs, though Moorcock seldom gets the credit for it.)
Battleship - My enjoyment of this film has nothing to do with the fact that it features the same actor who portrayed
John Carter. I just really liked this movie, mostly for two things - the main character's character development, and the whole 'one ship against an army' thing. I literally 'squeed!' with joy when they rolled out the Mighty Mo!
I am a big fan of the Historical Navel Fiction genre (specifically Age of Sail writers such as C.S. Forester, Alexander Kent, Patrick O'Brian, and my friend, S. K. Keogh, who just published her third book...plug intended
). Because of how much I love of Age of Sail stories I find that I also quite enjoy other ship-based tales, including those based on the modern navy and even ship-based science fiction (
Star Trek, for example...it's been said that Captain Kirk was even fashioned after C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower character). It's all about the isolation and making things work with little or no resources - Naval stories are sort of like MacGyver-at-Sea tales for me.
Both of these films also had very satisfying endings for me, making them enjoyable and uplifting...something I really need in my entertainment today seeing as how the world is so dark and depressing. Neither were well-received by critics, however, and that had an affect on both the box office and on public opinion - many people passing judgement on the movies without even seeing them.
das
