tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87066497536434141922024-03-13T19:14:43.837-05:00Dustin Off The ReelsSo, see any good movies lately?SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.comBlogger305125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-46594963260271040932016-05-27T10:50:00.000-05:002016-06-04T12:10:08.312-05:00The Angry Birds Movie Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjMIN3wyX_haFIO0ZsIYSORHBzchtgPFvjUur9cKBOpsNgUuJcylIIdYJJVCaOkTmGz3VDjo7W9B46lrl_Y1fAaIXsTDoGqQhD_aavtA3_PG1WSd2PpZZP41Lj3_D5A5KhZX_vdyxWNc/s1600/The-Angry-Birds-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjMIN3wyX_haFIO0ZsIYSORHBzchtgPFvjUur9cKBOpsNgUuJcylIIdYJJVCaOkTmGz3VDjo7W9B46lrl_Y1fAaIXsTDoGqQhD_aavtA3_PG1WSd2PpZZP41Lj3_D5A5KhZX_vdyxWNc/s320/The-Angry-Birds-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">About five or six years
ago I read an article that said an Angry Birds movie was in development. Anyone
I mentioned this to refused to believe it because the market was already
flooded with merchandise based on the popular casual gaming app and no one wanted
to see more of it. Additionally, because making a story based on launching
spherically shaped birds at building blocks with a sling shot doesn't sound
like it has much story potential. Well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Angry Birds Movie</i> (2016) did finally hit theaters and it was every bit as
weak, ridiculous, and unwanted as everyone assumed it would be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Flightless birds lead a
mostly happy existence, except for Red (Jason Sudeikis), who just can't get
past the daily annoyances of life. His temperament leads him to anger management
class, where he meets fellow misfits Chuck (Josh Gad) and Bomb (Danny McBride).
Red becomes even more agitated when his feathered breth<span class="dgc">ren
welcome green pigs lead by Leonard (Bill Hader) to their island </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="dgc">paradise. As the
swine begin to get under his skin, Red joins forces with Chuck and Bomb to
investigate the real reason behind their mysterious arrival. When it is
discovered that the pigs steal all the eggs from Bird Island, it's time for the
birds to get angry, fight back, and save their children. But the only weapon
they've got is a gigantic slingshot the pigs gave them as a gift of good will.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Angry Birds Movie</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is, of course, based on the app of the
same name. Since it was released in 2009, the Angry Birds game has been
downloaded more than 3 billion times across all versions and platforms of
mobile devices. Angry Birds has become a big merchandise brand name, creating
not only several variations of the popular app game, but also plush toys, board
games, t-shirts, candies, a line of Hot Wheels cars, LEGO and K'nex sets,
sports equipment, pet toys, and more. With so many products already available,
it was only a matter of time before a movie was produced. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Angry Birds Movie</i> did feel a lot like both a celebration of the
game and a 97 minute commercial for the game and existing merchandise. Of
course, there had to be even more merchandise produced specific to the movie
itself. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Angry Birds</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Movie</i> really was a cash grab, and it
wasn't even a vaguely amusing cash grab like the <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/07/minions-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Minions</i></a> movie.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the one hand, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Angry Birds Movie</i> doesn't take
itself too seriously. That's a very good thing, given the ridiculousness of its
premise. But at the same time it doesn't take the ridiculous premise seriously
enough to take advantage of the potential humor. Jokes often fall flat as they
simply draw attention to how weird a situation is. For example, when the anger
management instructor is launched via the slingshot, she literally drops
fireballs out of her butt onto the pig city below. That happens to be what this
character does in the game, but it's given no explanation in the movie. They
could have made a joke about spicy burritos, have her be embarrassed when her
lady-like demeanor is compromised, or just about anything, but instead they had
Red quip "Well, how about that? She can shoot fireballs out of her
butt." That was the joke. Many jokes are as bland and fall flat like this.
There are a number of bird and pig related puns, most of which I thought felt
forced and were disappointing as a </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">connoisseur </span>of delightfully terrible puns.
There are a few amusing nods to the game, such as in the opening scene, when
Red asks two birds what they rate the birthday cake he delivers, he asks how many
stars out of three. This is a reference to the game; the highest score you can
get is three stars.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The humor was
disappointing, and the writing in general was pretty weak, too. Rescuing eggs
of course makes sense, but none of the character's motives beyond that makes
much sense. They just do what they do without much of a rhyme or reason behind
it. The aforementioned incident of Red delivering a cake had Red arrive late.
We're not given a reason for him to be late, and the recipients of the cake
accuse him being lazy, tired, or of sleeping in. Nothing suggests that these
might have been the case, and Red is established as being a responsible, if
grumpy, individual. The reasons for events happening and the motives for why
characters act the way they do are left unexplored and unexplained, making the
story and characters very weak and flimsy. I realize this is a children's
movie, but there are much better children's movies you could take your children
to see. <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-peanuts-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Peanuts Movie</i></a>, for
example, was outstanding. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Angry Birds
Movie</i>, is so poor in quality that I can't imagine anyone who is not ten
years old or younger enjoying it much. There are a series of 2-D animated
shorts based off of the Angry Birds game which have far superior writing than
this full length movie.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Angry Birds Movie</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is to date the best film adapted from
an app. This is a pretty poor endorsement, as I cannot think of a second
example of such a phenomena. The story is predictably weak, the humor
frequently falls flat, the characters are shallow and have nebulous motivation,
and the movie drags on for longer than needed. The Animation is decent enough
and the all star cast was great, apart from the lousy script they had to work
with. I realize I'm not the target audience here, but Author C. S. Lewis once
said, “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good
children's story in the slightest.” I believe the same can be said about
children's movies; a lot of Disney films are enjoyed enthusiastically by
adults. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Angry Birds Movie</i> is
mostly an annoying commercial for products you likely already own. This is not
worth seeing in theaters, wait for it on home video if you must. If you really
want an Angry Birds experience, you're better off spending movie ticket money
on the entire collection of Angry Birds ads-free game apps and spending the
evening playing those on your Smartphone.<br />
<br />
Is there another casual gaming app that might make a good movie? Comment below
and let me know!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-24207328942198921272016-05-20T13:27:00.001-05:002016-05-21T00:20:46.074-05:00Captain America: Civil War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It's no secret that
Superhero mash-ups are a big thing. Ever since six of Marvel's greatest had to
band together to fight villains from another world in <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2012/05/avengers-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i></a>, audiences have been
craving more alliances between Superheroes. This year, it seems, Superheroes
aren't getting along so well. We've had <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2016/04/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice</i></a>
which pitted two of DC's best known heroes against one another. Now Marvel's
heroes, The Avengers, are being split down the middle and are fighting amongst
each other in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain America: Civil War
(2016)</i>. The result is a highly enjoyable and, holding true to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain America</i> form, makes some
interesting political commentary.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With many people
fearing the actions of super heroes, the government decides to push for the
Hero Registration Act, a law that limits a hero's actions. This results in a
division in The Avengers. Iron Man stands with this Act, claiming that their
actions must be kept in check otherwise cities will continue to be destroyed,
but Captain America feels that saving the world is daring enough and that they
cannot rely on the government to protect the world. This escalates into an
all-out war between Team Iron Man; Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Panther
(Chadwick Boseman), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow Scarlett Johansson), War
Machine (Don Cheadle), and Spider-Man (Tom Holland); and Team Captain America:
Captain America (Chris Evans), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Falcon (Anthony
Mackie), Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen),
Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) while a new villain emerges
(Daniel Brühl).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While overall I liked <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-avengers-age-of-ultron-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers: Age of Ultron</i></a>, it
could have been better. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War</i> was
much more along the lines of what I had hoped for. Tons of Superhero action,
incredible fight scenes, intermingling between super powered characters,
clashes of personalities, interesting themes, etc. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War</i> is first and foremost a sequel to <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2014/04/captain-america-winter-soldier-movie.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captian America: The Winter Soldier</i></a>.
It's a continuation of the story of Captain America and his old friend who was
brainwashed and controlled by Hydra. The second story is the governments of the
world putting a system of accountability on the Superheroes and the resulting
conflict between our heroes. This second story is a natural side effect of the
Captain America/Bucky Barnes story, so they are intertwined in very logical
ways.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The hard part is to
know who to cheer for. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i>
there was a really great, but short, fight scene early on between Thor and
Iron-Man. It was amazing because these were both characters I loved and the
fight was incredible, and I simply did not know who to root for. It wasn't
until Captain America intervenes to breaks up the fight, which itself was
amazing, that the two lowered their arms. The fight was creative, took
advantage of and displayed each hero's respective powers and abilities, and was
edge-of-your-seat exciting. You wanted to see them really lay into each other,
but you didn't want either one to lose because you already like these
characters. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War</i> is pretty much
a whole movie with fight scenes like that one. But it's so well written that
you still don't know which team to side with. The conflict that arises from the
Hero Registration Act makes a lot of sense. Neither side is wholly wrong, and
if you, yourself, aren't flip-flopping between which team you'd be aligned
with, you're just being unreasonably stubborn. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War </i>is that well written. The major fight between sides is
absolutely amazing, and again you don't want anyone to really get hurt, but you
just can't help but get caught up in the action and see the very different
personalities and superpowers clash in the most epic ways. Most of the heroes
are in it for a short while, but they are just so fantastic. I love how Ant-Man
keeps forgetting less super powered hero's names; he refers to Hawkeye as
"arrow guy." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Holding true to Captain
America tradition, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War</i> makes
some social and political commentary. It explores topics of the morality and
justification of revenge, how much control the government should have over its
citizens, the idea that law is not an indicator of morality and how many
horrible things have been done to people that were perfectly legal, and the
traumatic effects that war has on innocent bystanders and those who get caught
in the crossfire. There were lots of people who died in the epic fight scenes
we love so much in previous Marvel movies, and the natural consequences of
those fight scenes are coming to fruition here. Normal people are becoming
fearful of superheroes and what they are able to do, so a Hero Registration Act
makes sense. But at the same time, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil
War</i> explores the idea that while war is absolutely a terrible reality, it
is sometimes necessary. Having people who are able to stop the evil actions of
others is good. They save as many people as possible but often are not able to
save everyone, which is truly regrettable. But are the rescuers at fault for
not saving everyone? Would it have been better to let the enemy have its way
and save no one at all? The human cost of "Collateral Damage" is
explored respectfully here. It's a complicated set of topics that can be touchy
issues. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War</i> explores these
topics without getting preachy or telling you what you should think, and does
it with a safe Superhero metaphor over the top so as not to potentially offend.
The themes explored in this movie are fascinating and make for a rich story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Two new heroes are
introduced in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War</i>, we were
teased with these new characters in the trailer. The first of which was Black
Panther. Wow, this character was fantastic. He was complicated, compelling,
interesting, and a fun addition to the movie. I truly have limited knowledge of
this character from the Marvel comics, but I couldn't help but love him. He's
scheduled to have his own movie early in 2018 and I am psyched about it now
that I've seen Black Panther in action. The other is my all time personal
favorite superhero, Spider-Man. This is the third actor to play Spider-Man and
he's quite possibly my favorite. That's saying something because Tobey Maguire
was pretty great and Andrew Garfield did a solid job as well. We don't get an
origin story for Spider-Man this time, which is good. It would have taken too
much time and we've already had the origin of Spider-Man, possibly one of the
best known original stories in the Marvel universe depicted on the big screen
twice in a relatively short amount of time between two <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spider-Man</i> film series. This Spider-Man is still in high school, is
reluctant to join the fray because he's got a big math test to study for, he's
a hilariously talkative and cracks jokes during fights (a signature component
of the character), he's not yet confident in himself and is still mastering his
newfound abilities, acts like a fanboy in front of all the established heroes,
and comes up with ideas for taking down opponents from "old movies"
like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back</i>.
Sony owned the movie rights to Spider-Man and since the character was an
important component to Marvel's Civil War storyline, Disney had to negotiate
rights to the character back from Sony so Spidey could be in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War </i>movie. I don't know that we'll
have another Spider-Man movie from Sony (probably not), but Disney has one
starring Tom Holland as the infamous web-slinger due out in summer of 2017, and
I'm looking forward to seeing more of this Spider-Man in action as well. We came
to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War</i> to watch Captain America
and Iron-Man throw down, but frankly Black Panther and Spider-Man pretty much
stole the show in every scene they were in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, we've got this new
villain that gets much of the two storylines rolling. Helmut Zemo plays such a
small role in everything that I often forgot he was there orchestrating events
so far behind the scenes that he was often overlooked. He's not powerful, he
has no superhuman abilities, he's working alone, he was dangerous only because
of knowledge and convictions he held. He wasn't even much of a villain, but
more of a weasel who would sneak around and push buttons in just the right way
to get a small reaction that would escalate exponentially into big conflicts
while almost entirely avoiding attention. I'm not even familiar enough with
Marvel comics to know if this was ever a major villain; I've never heard of him
before. He's a pretty good weasel, and his subtlety is a refreshing change of
pace from the over-the-top flashy villains we've had in the past.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Captain
America: Civil War</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> begins the next wave of Marvel movies
with an action-packed blockbuster boasting a decidedly non-cartoonish plot and
the courage to explore some thought-provoking themes. It's thematically heavy,
and indeed doesn't end on as positive a note as we usually get from Superhero
movies. The writing is excellent, the large cast of heroes all get their due
screen time and moments to shine, and their clashing personalities are
positively delightful. The action is creative and riveting to say the least. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civil War</i> is fun, smart, and coherent.
Most importantly, it allows its heart to beat strongly amid the chaos, with
character moments and set pieces working together to create one of Marvel's
best films so far. I loved <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain
America: Civil War</i>. It is worth the ticket price to see in theaters, and
worth getting a copy of when it's available on home video. Just make sure
you're all caught up on previous Marvel movies before you see it; like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i> movies, it's important to
know where each character is before they all come together again.<br />
<br />
So, which side were you on while seeing this movie, Team Captain America or
Team Iron Man? Comment below and tell me why, but please be careful to avoid
spoilers.</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-5338242644651709812016-05-06T13:31:00.000-05:002016-05-06T23:50:29.879-05:00The Huntsman: Winter's War Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUV-nygU7xC6sqTA_TKwRDowaPvEWNjaXOFq_SiJc-lNnEXcSXbSS4vUnCwD-_LDTRUuWC-WDu3vlbxU9xNjZrIzg8uF33EKzrQbVc8B_0cTT5wQFn7dNoBmmw8fu3l0q29OD1yEcPVI/s1600/The-Huntsman-Winter%2527s-War-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUV-nygU7xC6sqTA_TKwRDowaPvEWNjaXOFq_SiJc-lNnEXcSXbSS4vUnCwD-_LDTRUuWC-WDu3vlbxU9xNjZrIzg8uF33EKzrQbVc8B_0cTT5wQFn7dNoBmmw8fu3l0q29OD1yEcPVI/s320/The-Huntsman-Winter%2527s-War-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2012/06/snow-white-and-huntsman-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snow White and the Huntsman</i></a> was
released back in 2012 and was surprisingly decent for what it was, <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">d<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">e</span>spi<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">te</span> </span>having Kristen Stewart as one of the leads. <span style="color: #333333;">Charlize
Theron as Ravenna, the evil queen, stole the show and made it exciting and
interesting; I wanted to see more of this amazing actress in this interesting
role. Well, a movie pegged as a prequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snow
White and the Huntsman</i> was released and I was psyched to see more of
Charlize Theron as Ravenna. Unfortunately, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Huntsman: Winter's War</i> (2016) is a major flop and seems to go out of its
way to avoid showing us what made the previous movie decent.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Betrayed by her evil
sister Ravenna (Charlize Theron), heartbroken Freya (Emily Blunt) retreats to a
northern kingdom to raise an army of huntsmen as her protectors. Gifted with
the ability to freeze her enemies in ice, Freya teaches her young soldiers to
never fall in love. When Eric (Chris Hemswor<span class="dgc">th) and fellow
warrior Sara (Jessica Chastain) defy this rule, the angry queen orders them to
be killed. Eric escapes, believing Sara to be dead. Many years later after Snow
White had defeated Ravenna, The Magic Mirror Ravenna used as the source of her
powers is stolen before it can be destroyed. Fearing the return of the Evil
Queen, Eric is ordered to seek out the Mirror and destroy it. Accompanied by
dwarves Nion (Nick Frost) and Gryff (Rob Brydon), Eric sets out to find and
destroy The Mirror. But Freya also seeks The Magic Mirror for its power, and
she sends one of her most lethal Huntsman to retrieve it first and kill Eric
along the way if necessary.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Huntsman: Winter's War</span></i></span><span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
was marketed and promoted as a prequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snow
White and the Huntsman</i>. That's just fine, of course. However, the story is
more of a prequel/sequel mash up. The first fourth of the movie is a prequel
and we are introduced to Freya, Sara, and Eric, and we see Ravenna's
relationship with her sister. Then we get "Seven Years Later" on the
screen and from that point on, everything is supposed to have happened after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snow White and the Huntsman</i>, effectively
making it a sequel. A sequel is also fine. But doing both in one movie is both
confusing from a narrative perspective and a blatant cash grab from a film
making perspective. Yeah, I wanted to see Ravenna's fantastic villain in action
again, but this was a convoluted way to make it happen. Yes, it's just fine to
have a few years pass in a story to shorten the span of time between important
related events. But it's sloppy story telling if within that elapsed time,
which we gloss over, a whole other movie's worth of events occur, the likes of
which have a significant impact on rest of the story. I can appreciate a movie
expecting it's audience to have seen the previous movie, but there's so much
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Huntsman</i> assumes the
audience knows and doesn't bother to explain. It makes the story confusing,
convoluted, and poorly presented. The dreadful quality coupled with rehashed
good quality special effects and big name actors makes this seem like a cash
grab; there's no heart in it. It feels like it was thrown together at the last
minute just to sell tickets.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
trailers for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Huntsman</i> were pretty
exciting. We got to see some shots of Freya and Ravenna throw down against each
other with flashy special effects and action. That's the kind of
larger-than-life stunts I appreciated about the first movie and wanted to see
more of them in this second movie. Unfortunately, nearly every scene in which
that sort of action occurred was shown in the trailer. I wanted to see lots of
Ravenna doing her crazy thing; using beauty as a weapon, harnessing the power
of The Magic Mirror, and manipulating blood in disturbing ways. Sure, we see
some of that and what we see is pretty cool, but what we see is only toward the
end during the climactic fight. We see a whole lot more of Freya, but we don't
really see her use her powers much either. Granted, what made Ravenna so
menacing in the first movie was how powerful and manipulative she was before
she even resorted to using magic. Here, she's all super powers with none of the
sophisticated subtlety of the previous film. The big fight at the end is
probably the best part of the movie; but, it spends too much time with uninteresting
characters mucking about in the woods doing very little pertaining to their
intended quest.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Huntsman</span></i></span><span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
does have a pretty good cast. Chris Hemsworth has shown us some good acting in
the past. Charlize Theron is reprising a role I adored, and she was incredible
in </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/11/mad-max-fury-road.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a><span class="dgc">.
Emily Blunt is great actress as well. Nick Frost plays an excellent comic
relief as usual. Really, the whole cast is good, they just had a horrible
script to work with. The few characters returning from the previous film aren't
as interesting or well developed as they were before. I actually feel sorry for
the cast involved. It seems like they were present only to fulfill contractual
obligations, not because they thought this would be a good movie. The best part
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Huntsman</i> is that while Snow
White is mentioned nominally a few times, Kristen Stewart does not appear in
the movie.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Huntsman: Winter's War</span></i></span><span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
boasts some nice special effects and a stellar cast, but neither one is enough
to make up for the sloppy storytelling, lousy script, and convoluted nature of
this entirely unnecessary sequel. This movie is disappointing no matter how you
look at it. The returning characters aren't as interesting or fleshed out as
they previously were, new characters were weak and bland, and important points
of the story are left out under the assumption you've seen the previous movie.
It seems like the producers thought that Elsa in Disney's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/12/frozen-movie-review.html"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Frozen</span></a></i> was popular and tried to shoehorn a rip off of
that character into a half-baked sequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snow
White and the Huntsman</i>. This movie lacks the heart and epic quality of its
predecessor, and even that movie wasn't all that good to start with. I cannot
recommend seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Huntsman: Winter's
War</i> even if you did like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snow White
and the Huntsman</i>. It's a blatant cash grab which I can't imagine anyone
involved in it enjoyed making.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-32127382613526570272016-04-29T13:46:00.000-05:002016-04-29T23:44:56.712-05:00Strange Brew Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nEyNL8Mkrt28BjObS8jCePt-yWUFWe0EXXVTbr7L0pj97wxtc7tf0UIjb9wPWcUfq2fY0rHJTfNoTquiIjB7b0wEVMSMyQzDTlbTIWIWiuKDMDL9ISQ5wOBYrntVHOuttEQOYfKoIVU/s1600/Strange-Brew-Movie-Poster.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nEyNL8Mkrt28BjObS8jCePt-yWUFWe0EXXVTbr7L0pj97wxtc7tf0UIjb9wPWcUfq2fY0rHJTfNoTquiIjB7b0wEVMSMyQzDTlbTIWIWiuKDMDL9ISQ5wOBYrntVHOuttEQOYfKoIVU/s320/Strange-Brew-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are a couple of
movies that are regularly brought up among friends of mine when talking about
1980's comedy movies. One is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange Brew</i>
(1983). When I confess that I have not seen it, I'm told to "Take off, you
hoser." Well, I finally got around to seeing it. It is wacky, silly, and
at times surreal. Though early on, it prompted me to reflect on the subjective
nature of comedy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In their quest for free
beer, bumbling Canadian brothers Bob (Rick Moranis) and Doug McKenzie (Dave
Thomas) wind up working at the Elsinore Brewery. The hapless hosers uncover a
sinister mind-control plot spearheaded by Brewmeister Smith (Max von Sydow) and
must stop the scheme, which also involves Un<span class="dgc">cle Claude (Paul
Dooley), a member of the Elsinore family. As Bob and Doug try to help </span>the
brewery founder's daughter Pam (Lynne Griffin) regain the brewery founded by
her recently-deceased father<span class="dgc">, they also manage to drink plenty
of their favorite sudsy beverage.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bob
and Doug McKenzie were popular characters on the SCTV (Second City Television),
a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from the Toronto's Second
City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984. The two dim-witted beer-swilling
brothers, wearing heavy winter clothing and tuques, would comment on various
elements of Canadian life and culture, frequently employing the interjection
"Eh?" The sketch was conceived when SCTV moved to the CBC television
network which had shorter commercial time which required the SCTV show to need
a two-minute filler. The characters became remarkably popular and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange Brew</i> was formulated during the
height of their popularity. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
challenge for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange Brew</i> was
expanding an improvised two-minute comedy sketch about two guys talking about
how hard it was to find parking spaces in donut shops into a full-length story.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange Brew </i>purports to be </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">to
be loosely based on Hamlet, though I saw more similarities between Hamlet and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lion King</i> than I did between Hamlet
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange Brew</i>. The movie starts
out being remarkably loose and unstructured. It looks a lot like I imagine the
SCTV's sketches looking like, the two McKenzie brother sitting around talking
about beer and how they are in a movie. This went on longer than it should have
and I was worried that I was in for 90 minutes of this sort of thing. When the
story actually got underway, it was easier to watch. The story is decent for
what it is; a silly adventure that serves as a vehicle to deliver some bizarre
humor. That's about all the plot does and it does that well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The humor here I felt was
hit-or-miss. Sometimes it was funny, other times it took me a moment to realize
the punch line had already been delivered. The two brothers still make
commentary on things around them; one of my favorite moments of this is while
they are driving, Bob begins to speculate and says, "Did you ever notice
that, like, in movies when they're driving they don't look at the road for a
long time?" Doug, who is driving turns to Bob and says, "Geez, no, I
never noticed that, eh?" Doug continues to make eye contact while Bob
explains, "Yeah, it's because they're being towed by a rig." The
conversation is interrupted when Doug nearly front ends a truck. The humor
makes constant jabs at Canadians and stereotypes about them. Reoccurring themes
include hockey, beer, and donuts. The villain's henchmen all wear hockey gear
and carry hockey sticks. The whole story centers around trying to get free beer
from a brewing company. In one rather amusing scene, the McKenzie's get
classified company information from a receptionist by offering her donuts; she
cracks when presented with a jelly-filled donut.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, there are plenty
of funny moments, but there were a lot of gags I didn't find so funny. I found
the aforementioned opening scenes pretty bland and even annoying, which is what
prompted my reflection on the subjective nature of humor. Analyzing humor won't
get anyone anywhere, though. Humor is very subjective and if I laugh at
something and you don't, no amount of my logic is going to convince you that it
was funny. Overall, I didn't think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange
Brew</i> was nearly as funny as many of my friends had made it out to be, but
it was alright for a few chuckles. Also, having lived in Canada myself, I can
honestly say actual Canadians don't act the way the McKenzie brothers do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Strange
Brew</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
is fairly lowbrow in its intent and outcome, though it effectively draws out a
few laughs from its unique premise and weird characters. I thought other comedy
titles from its time were funnier, such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Better
Off Dead</i>, <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2012/05/uhf-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">UHF</i></a>, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange Brew</i> isn't a bad way to spend an afternoon watching a
movie, it's just not something I think I'd go out of my way to see again. It
seems to have made a lasting impression culturally as Rick Moranis and Dave
Thomas basically reprised their roles as the McKenzie brothers as the two moose
in Disney's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brother Bear</i> many years
later. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange Brew</i> may be worth
seeing once if you enjoy bizarre comedies or jokes about Canadians. Otherwise,
you may be better off watching something else.<br />
<br />
What are some other good television sketch comedies made into movies that
you've enjoyed? Comment below and let me know!</span></div>
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<![endif]-->SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-2033993369688463462016-04-22T13:24:00.000-05:002016-04-22T23:58:55.419-05:00The Jungle Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rDeq-kr9BGrSyGsgqBmDtKLFLl73uymQYEbR263tO17wEAdH2KHDgF1_gUbMgrc0oZ2H87bYaRGLanXcwwXnlKU5VupsLfDMwICwlg96G23MoJvfGqpNQAhktpQtRS9TmM-ELFEwoe4/s1600/The-Jungle-Book-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rDeq-kr9BGrSyGsgqBmDtKLFLl73uymQYEbR263tO17wEAdH2KHDgF1_gUbMgrc0oZ2H87bYaRGLanXcwwXnlKU5VupsLfDMwICwlg96G23MoJvfGqpNQAhktpQtRS9TmM-ELFEwoe4/s320/The-Jungle-Book-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, it seems that
live-action remakes of classic Disney animated features are going to be a trend
now. I still say that <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2014/06/maleficent-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maleficent</i></a> was not that impressive,
while <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/03/cinderella-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cinderella</i></a> exceeded my expectations.
I'd heard about a live-action <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beauty and
the Beast</i> remake, but a live-action version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jungle Book </i>(2016) slipped under my "coming soon" movies
radar. The original animated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jungle Book </i>isn't
one of Disney's greatest films, though I enjoyed it as a kid. This newer
version has more story to it and is more thematically cogent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Raised by a family of
wolves since birth, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) must leave the only home he's ever
known when the fearsome tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) unleashes his mighty
roar. Guided by a no-nonsense panther (Ben Kingsley) and a free-spirited bear
(Bill Murray), the young boy meets an array of jun<span class="dgc">gle animals </span>who
don't have his best interests at heart<span class="dgc">, including a slithery
python (Scarlett Johansson) and a smooth-talking ape (Christopher Walken). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Jungle Book</span></i></span><span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
is a collection of short stories written in 1894 by Rudyard Kipling. And
according to Disney tradition, their original 1967 animated musical was a
significantly watered down and sugar-coated version that had little to do with
the book upon which it was based. There was a 1994 live-action version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jungle Book</i> which featured no
talking animals. This third version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Jungle Book</i> strikes a balance between Disney's two previous versions by
retaining the buoyant spirit of the 1967 films (as well as some of its
memorable songs) while crafting a movie with more realism and peril. I think
this balance worked out very well.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the animated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jungle Book</i>, there
wasn't much theme or story surrounding it. Disney was content to have some cute
characters sing some musical numbers and have a villain generate some kind of
tension regardless of how vague his motives might be. Thematically, I
interpreted the animated movie to be about growing up. Mowgli is being
encouraged to leave the fun filled jungle and go to the man village and take on
responsibilities, Mowgli resists this, trying on new animal personas, up until
he discovers a human young lady and then has no trouble at all moving from
childhood. In this version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jungle
Book</i>, it's more about nature and man's place in it. Back in Kipling's day,
nature was something to be overcome and tamed, where as now nature is something
to be protected. Mowgli loves and respects nature, but as a human he is prone
to making and using tools. This is mankind's adaptive skill, as opposed to
tooth and claw that the rest of the animal kingdom has. It is established, that
while Mowgli's tools have very practical use, they are not in alignment with
the natural world, and it would be in his best interest to leave the jungle to
be with his own kind where such tools are more inherent. A sense of urgency is
produced by Shere Kahn who distrusts man and his tools because he was burned by
fire or "Man's red flower" which disfigured him. Fire itself is
developed as a powerful tool that humans use. Fire was similar to The One Ring
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lord of the Rings,</i> in that
controlling it was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>going to give someone
ultimate power, but corrupt them as well as create destruction. Thematically,
everything fit together beautifully. The story and theme were woven together in
this new interpretation without detracting from the fun quality of the original
animated film.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Initially, I was
surprised that more of the movie was not shot in actual jungle locations, given
the prominent theme of preserving the natural order of things. This was a CGI
intensive movie that used a lot of green screen to create a surreal, dreamlike world.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jungle Book</i> made glorious use of
photo-realistic rendering, computer-generated imagery, and motion capture
technologies in such a way that frankly rivaled the innovations of <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2016/01/avatar-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i></a> and <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/04/life-of-pi-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life of Pi</i></a>. Among the most
impressive uses was the motion capture, and none was more impressive than that
done for the character of King Louie. This antagonist shows up later in the
movie, and is essentially the catalyst which gives Mowgli the idea of how he
can defeat Shere Kahn. When we see King Louie, I thought he looked familiar. It
took me a few minutes before I realized that this Gigantopithecus, looked,
sounded, and acted a whole lot like Christopher Walken. The mannerisms were so
spot on of the actor, even Louie's eyes looked like Walken's. The visuals and
camera work are nothing short of amazing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Admittedly, I wasn't
real keen on a remake of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jungle Book,</i>
since I didn't find the original all that great. But this version was
fantastic! It's as lovely to behold as it is engrossing to watch, and is only
bolstered by a stellar vocal cast. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Jungle Book</i> actually makes significant improvements upon its predecessors
while setting remarkable new standards for CGI. This wasn't a musical, though
it had Baloo singing a bit of the song "Bear Necessities" and King
Louie singing a shorter and slightly altered version of "I Wan'na Be Like
You" to give it a different context for this version of the movie. Though
not part of the actual movie, Scarlet Johansson sings Kaa's "Trust in
Me" song over the end credits. This is a good movie and worth the money to
see in theaters; it would be a great film to see as a family. I'd also consider
getting a copy on home video when it's available.<br />
<br />
Disney is cranking out live-action versions of their animated classics. I'm
still looking forward to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beauty and the
Beast</i>, even more so after seeing this the fantastic transition made on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cinderella</i> and now <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jungle Book</i>. What is an animated Disney movie that you'd like
to see made into a live-action film? Comment below.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-43664514159970874782016-04-08T02:35:00.000-05:002016-04-08T23:56:59.463-05:00Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, Warner Brothers
announced their latest superhero movie, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman
v Superman: Dawn of Justice</i> (2016) and the internet exploded. Certainly,
this was a match that DC comics fans have been anticipating for years. I,
however, like many others, objected to it as more information was released
about it. I truly could not see this movie being any good. It seemed that
Warner Brothers was making a foolhardy attempt to catch up with Disney Marvel
Cinematic Universe in a short amount of time by throwing a bunch of DC heroes
into one movie all at once. After seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman
v Superman: Dawn of Justice</i>, I still hold that opinion. However, I didn't
think the movie was nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Following his titanic
struggle against General Zod, Metropolis has been razed to the ground and
Superman (Henry Cavill) is the most controversial figure in the world. While
for many he is still an emblem of hope, a growing number of people consider him
a threat to humanity, seeking justice for the chaos he has brought to Earth. As
far as Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is concerned, Superman is clearly a danger to
society. He fears for the future of the world with such reckless power left
ungoverned, and so he dons his mask and cape to right Superman's wrongs. The rivalry
between them is furious, fueled by bitterness and vengeance, and nothing can
dissuade them from waging this war. The tension between them is further fueled
by <span class="dgc">the conniving Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who is launching
his own crusade against the Man of Steel.</span> However, a new dark threat
arises in the form of a third man: one who has a power greater than either of
them to endanger the world and cause total destruction!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was just too much
revealed about this movie in the trailer. It left virtually no surprises for
the movie to show us. It showcased what was surely supposed to be a major
reveal toward the end of the movie by having Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) show up
in the trailer and have the three face off against something that looks
remarkably like Doomsday. That ruined so many of the surprises that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman v Superman</i> had to offer. Really,
if you know anything about the DC comic universe, you know that if Doomsday
shows up anywhere, you can pretty accurately guess how the story is going to
end. The trailer showed us too much and it weakened what the movie had to offer
that was good. I want to meet the marketing team behind this movie and give
each one of them a firm slap across the face.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Batman
v Superman</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> evens out to be a decent movie; it has a lot of bad
in it, but it does deliver some great material as well. Let's start off with
Batman. Affleck was publicly announced to play the part of Batman in this
movie, and the internet exploded. So many people were enraged by this, and
reasonably so, especially after that really, REALLY terrible <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daredevil</i> movie he starred in back in
2003. I understand that so many people were outraged by Affleck playing Batman
that his agent advised him to stay off of Twitter for a few weeks. But, Affleck
ended up being amazing! I thought it would be a good number of years before
anyone would be brave enough to don the role after Christopher Nolan's <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dark Knight</i> Trilogy</a>. This was a new take
on Batman, one that was damaged, and had changed his moral code just enough to
be new without changing what we all love about the character. This made him
very hardcore and fascinating. If Warner Brothers plays their cards right, this
would make for a strong center for a new solo film with Affleck as Batman. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The action and
cinematography in general was fantastic. The story here may not be so good, but
let no one say that director Zach Snyder doesn't know how to move a camera. The
camera work was beautiful, the scenery and visual effects were stunning, and
nearly everything looked pretty darn fantastic. Only once or twice did I ever
get drawn out of the movie experience to go "eh, that could have been
polished up a bit better" or have the cameras angels in post-editing
change so fast as to leave me behind and wonder what just happened. The action
scenes were intense, and looked incredible. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the concerns I
had about <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2012/05/avengers-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i></a> movie was that they
were going to mash together a bunch of major characters, give one or two of
them a bulk of the screen time, and leave everyone else as half-baked
characters. This was my concern with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman
v Superman</i> as well, more so because only Superman had one movie prior to
this, <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/06/man-of-steel-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of Steel</i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i> Any other characters being introduced for the first time could
not possibly get the amount screen time to be fleshed out enough for their big
screen debut. This was kind of what happened with Wonder Woman. By the end of
the movie we still don't get a real sense of who she is or what she's about.
However, this movie revolved mostly around Superman and Batman, so that's
somewhat forgivable. She still played a significant part in the end, but she
wound up as a token female superhero, which is really too bad. Given the small
role she had, Wonder Woman was pretty good for what she was. I think that a
more brief appearance of her would have been better. Don't misunderstand, I
want to see Wonder Woman in a movie; I just think it would have been better to
leave her as a hinted at cameo, as was done with other Justice League
characters who make very brief appearances.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I didn't like this
portrayal of Superman. Superman is supposed to be a symbol of hope, but I was
never convinced of that here. There was a montage that seemed to be trying to
tell me that he is a symbol of hope, but I just couldn't buy it. The tone of
this story is too dark, this depiction of Superman is controversial within his
own storyline, and the brightness of hope didn't seem to have a place in this
movie. It was more of a Batman movie that happened to have Superman in it. The
two characters are thematically opposite and the two clashing themes don't fit
together well in the same movie. It could have worked in the right hands, but
it just didn't work out well here. Then the whole motivation for Superman to be
fighting Batman was hard to swallow; Batman's motive was very clear and
understandable, Superman's motive was that the poorly developed script said it
would be neat to see them fight. The two were basically one short conversation
away from understanding one another, but they duked it out instead.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The story in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman v Superman</i> was as messy as I
feared it would be. During the opening credits we get a rehash of the all too
familiar origin of Batman which was really well done and featured minimal
dialogue. Then we go to the first scene, which tells us a little bit of story,
then it switches to another scene to start another storyline, and it keeps
switching back and forth every five minutes or so, making it frustrating to
keep track, and not giving us enough information before switching back. On top
of this, the overall story moves very quickly and it's easy to get lost if you
aren't paying very close attention. Batman had some visions or dreams of what I
assume were the future and took them as hard evidence. While some were kind of
cool, they didn't make any kind of sense. Perhaps it's hinting at a bigger
story arc that spans multiple movies? If so, they were made to appear much more
significant to current events than what they were. It's too soon for that since
we're just now introducing a bunch of characters. There are so many plot holes
in this movie I'd like to discuss, but I want to avoid further spoilers that
the trailer didn't already spoil for you. Suffice it to say, the story needed
work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lex Luthor was a major
disappointment. <span class="dgc">Jesse Eisenberg may be a good actor, but he's
not a good Lex Luthor. Luthor is supposed to be an ordinary human, albeit one
with a strong, commanding presence. This Lex Luthor was an energetic squirrelly
little twerp that more closely resembled the socially inept Mark Zuckerberg (that
Eisenberg played in </span><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-social-network-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Social Network</i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">)</i><span class="dgc"> who had finally
snapped and went crazy. He just looked too young and silly to play a decent
Luthor. Doomsday truly felt shoehorned in at the last minute; I could see
studio executives insisting on including him to excite fans into wanting to see
the movie. The origins of Doomsday in this movie were not canonical and in
fact, made no sense at all. It could have been a great story arc, but as was
the case with the inclusion of Wonder Woman, there was no real story around him
and he mostly shows up to excite fans and destroy some property.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There
are many hints dropped thoroughout the movie to tease at and suggest the
upcoming superhero alliance of The Justice League. Yeah, those were exciting to
see. But they're doing it all backwards. Marvel had the wherewithal to introduce
characters individually in their own movies before putting them all together.
That allowed us to know who each of The Avengers were right from the start and
proceed with character and plot development for the story in which they were
gathered together. For the DC movies here, many characters are thrown together,
few are given enough screen time for us to care about, others are mere cameos,
and we as movie goers are not given context for why we should be excited about
them. We should see a Wonder Woman movie, an Aquaman movie, a Flash movie, and
maybe some others before throwing them all together, or else the resulting
story about their union will have to spend too much time explaining who they
are and what they're about and not have enough time for a fleshed out,
compelling narrative. I'm curious to see if these DC movies can prove me wrong
and deliver something well done and interesting, or if I'm right and the series
will fall apart from weak story and characters before it can get going. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman v Superman</i> has it's good points,
but it's not a very good start to a series of movies.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice</span></i></span><span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
was much better than I feared it would be. Ben Affleck as Batman was positively
amazing! The visual effects were stunning, the action was riveting, and the
cinematography was gorgeous. The villains were a considerable disappointment.
The story and pacing was a bit of a mess, even if it was a fun mess. And the
movie felt bloated with all the hints at things to come in future movies, about
half of which could have been left out to avoid unnecessary confusion. Overall,
I think the movie was good, just not great. It could have been better, but it
could have been a whole lot worse and I am grateful that it wasn't. I urge you
not to veto this movie because Ben Affleck played Batman, nor because Warner
Brothers isn't going about their Superhero team up movies as well as Marvel
did. Give it a shot; you may like it. I think this is worth seeing on the big
screen if you're a DC comics fan; it's not a bad way to spend a couple hours.
If you're not such a big fan of DC, maybe wait for this on home video.<br />
<br />
What do you expect to see from future DC/Justice League movies? Do you have
high hopes? Do you think they'll deliver a decent set of movies based on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of Steel</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman v Superman</i>? Avoid spoilers, but tell me what you think!</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span>SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-87527919230021213372016-04-01T13:40:00.001-05:002016-04-09T00:01:13.088-05:00The Boxtrolls Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVyreaGan42aSjc4NuGdSZbDCas-PC7ATSva9J9WvMvE42oAWFVp6dih_3bNtIgjrx6HlWvAZBhwMQEYK0M4VRS4qBX2oQMI2DijzSB8FAu9X1O4g8f93R5MM4erpUKE-mJS6v04GwTnw/s1600/The-Boxtrolls-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVyreaGan42aSjc4NuGdSZbDCas-PC7ATSva9J9WvMvE42oAWFVp6dih_3bNtIgjrx6HlWvAZBhwMQEYK0M4VRS4qBX2oQMI2DijzSB8FAu9X1O4g8f93R5MM4erpUKE-mJS6v04GwTnw/s320/The-Boxtrolls-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It's so frustrating
when there is a movie I really want to see in theaters and then miss the opportunity.
I really had wanted to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls</i>
(2014) in theaters, but somehow missed it. I'm a big fan of stop motion
animation, and even though it seems to be a dying art in the face of high tech
digital animation, once in awhile another feature film hits theaters. I'm glad
there are studios and talented stop motion animators keeping the medium alive. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls</i> ended up being a charming
film featuring some stellar animation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Boxtrolls are a
community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned
human boy, whom they named Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), in the amazing
cavernous home they've built beneath the streets of a city called Cheesebridge.
The story is about a young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling
trash collectors who tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator, the
town's villain, Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley). When Snatcher comes up with
a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls. Eggs decides to venture above ground and
"into the light," where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty
Winnifred <span class="dgc">(Elle Fanning), the mayor's daughter</span>.
Together, they devise a daring plan to save The Boxtrolls family.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The animation in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls</i> is fantastic! This was
animated by Laika Studios, who also did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coraline</i>,
<a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/01/paranorman-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ParaNorman</i></a>, and were contracted to
do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corpse Bride</i>. There is such
beautiful subtlety in the characters' movements, from the subtle little facial
expressions and eye movements to the insanely complex gestures and action
scenes. Everything moves with marvelous fluidity and nonchalance. Even the bounciness
of Winnifred's curly hair and swaying of Snatcher's greasy, ropey hair looks
remarkably believable and convincing. The characters still have fascinating
structure to them. Unlike most characters designed by Tim Burton, not all of
the ones in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls</i> are spindly;
some are large and bulky, others are small and compact, and there are a few
skinny, spindly ones, too. Some of the characters even change size and
dimensions. Often when this happens, we're shown a projection of their shadow
on a wall as they transform, but here we actually see the transformation in
exquisite detail. Even these shots are done with amazing detail as the
character struggles to maintain balance while we watch their weight shift
significantly. I simply cannot speak highly enough of the animation here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A complaint I had about
the stop motion animation in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ParaNorman</i>
was the frequent inclusion of some CGI to garnish a particular shot that simply
couldn't be done with stop motion animation alone. While these shots and scenes
often looked good, it kind of weakens the magic of stop motion animation when
there's too much CGI. There was some CGI added here and there in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls</i>, but it wasn't taking
center stage. It took the form of clouds of smoke or dust to accent a shot, not
take up the whole background as was done in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ParaNorman</i>.
Minimal use of CGI was beneficial in the end. Most of its implementation was
subtle and wouldn't have looked as good without it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The story here is cute.
We have a boy raised by a family of quirky lovable little creatures who are
misunderstood, and worlds collide when the boy tries to interact with the
people where he's from. Then we've got a token villain who is selfish and wants
to exterminate the cute lovable creatures, and our hero has to straddle the
line between both worlds to bring peace to both. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls</i> doesn't really do much in the way of originality as
far as story goes, it's a classic Hero's Journey story structure that's been
used since ancient Greek myth. It's still a fun little story that anyone of any
age could get behind, though, and the characters are remarkably charming, if a
bit on the simple side.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The theme here seems to
be trying to say something meaningful but it gets murky. It seems to be trying
to say something about our nature, or how we were born. We're constantly told
that characters behave in such a way that is simply in their nature, and they
can't really change their circumstances. For example, it is in the nature of
the Boxtrolls, themselves, to be passive and hide when there is danger. Eggs
doesn't want them to change, but he tries to get them to run for their own
safety but can't seem to get them to do it. When the Boxtrolls actually do flee
on occasion, there is much applause for changing their nature. But Snatcher is
motivated by climbing the social ladder and is actively trying to change his
"nature" or circumstance but can't seem to do it. What's the message
we're supposed to get from this? There's not even something to suggest that we
have the circumstances we're given and we just have to do the best with what we
can sort of manage. The murky theme is amusingly explored by Snatcher's
henchmen who are frequently discussing the duality of good and evil and
pondering whether they are inherently good or evil, and if they even have a
choice in the matter. These same henchmen get a funny mid-credits scene where
they speculate about giant omnipotent beings controlling everything they do
while we actually see the stop motion animators manipulating the puppets for
these characters. I'm really not clear what message I was supposed to get from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls</i>, but I can overlook that
since the rest of the movie was pretty good.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Boxtrolls</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> isn't Lakia's best film, but it's still very much
enjoyable, as it is packed with enough offbeat wit and visual splendor to offer
a healthy dose of all-ages entertainment. Visually, the film is a feast,
stuffed with little jokes and surprises and the kind of black humor that Alfred
Hitchcock heartily enjoyed, as well as having some painful, groaner puns. The
animation is incredible, but the theme is obtuse and confusing. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls </i>moves forward with
revolutionary techniques in filmmaking, but mostly stands still as far as theme
and story structure goes. It looks great, but no amount of visual trickery or
animation genius can make a mediocre story any better than what it is. That
said, I still liked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls </i>a
great deal, and I think it's worth seeing even if it is on the simple side. I
just can't get over how great everything looked! <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boxtrolls</i> is currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing
and it's not a bad way to spend an hour and a half. Though there are parts that
might be a bit too scary for younger viewers.</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-4190961276121311702016-03-25T09:57:00.001-05:002016-03-25T09:57:29.310-05:00Zootopia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17_omqeasd8cJ9JzURB8cQOvbOxzIsLimfmgqdW5R-mXeTVLLvpCAb6ElA8G1OUNWDT0kfUcPpUE_03bkXj6cswuqoESQdlghXrskNpfVbNNVsTw-SmmctDRPfshvmIfotn7S6kasHHA/s1600/Zootopia-Moive-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17_omqeasd8cJ9JzURB8cQOvbOxzIsLimfmgqdW5R-mXeTVLLvpCAb6ElA8G1OUNWDT0kfUcPpUE_03bkXj6cswuqoESQdlghXrskNpfVbNNVsTw-SmmctDRPfshvmIfotn7S6kasHHA/s320/Zootopia-Moive-Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I'm usually down for a
Disney movie, but the trailers for Disney's latest film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zootopia</i> (2016) did not thrill me at all. They consisted of
genuinely humorous blips featuring talking animals but not a single thing about
plot. It's usually a red flag when a movie trailer doesn't tell you anything
about the plot, or interesting details about the characters, or even innovative
cinematography to perk one's interest. More often than not if a trailer says
nothing about the story, it's because they're trying to hide the fact that
there is none. Fortunately, I ended up seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zootopia</i> and I loved it! It's full of delightful characters,
stellar animation, and tackles touchy social issues in a tasteful way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From the largest
elephant to the smallest shrew, the city of Zootopia is an anthropomorphic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mammal metropolis where various animals live
and thrive. When Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) becomes the first rabbit to join
the police force, she quickly learns how tough it is to enforce the law.
Determined to prove herself<span class="dgc">, Judy jumps at the opportunity to
solve a mysterious missing person case. Unfortunately, that means working with
Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a </span>cynical con artist fox<span class="dgc"> who
is her only lead and who makes her job even harder.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Who
doesn't like talking animals? Disney's been doing it for years. They're usually
good at it to be honest. This is the first time anthropomorphic animals have
been used to illustrate a complex and diverse society. It's a highly creative
setting and atmosphere that is deliriously fun to watch. It also creates a safe
environment to explore the complexities of race, privilege, and social
stratification. There are generalizations made about different species; foxes
are cunning and sneaky, elephants never forget, rabbits are passive and meek, cheetahs
are fast and agile, etc. However, none of those traits are accurate to the specific
characters we meet, and it's even a little offensive to them when they are
stereotyped that way. We have those generalizations proven wrong by these
characters time and again, showing that you can't make broad generalizations
about people based on their appearance or standing in life. It also addresses
the idea that our circumstances profoundly affect what we can and cannot do.
It's not the ghastly sweet trope of "you can be whatever you want to
be" which sounds nice but is effectively untrue. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zootopia</i> acknowledges that life is more complicated than the cute
slogans we often try to attach to it, and that we all have limitations and make
mistakes. All of this is beautifully illustrated, symbolically, through these
talking animals and their fascinating world setting. One of the best lines that
demonstrate this is from Police Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), "</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Life
isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and all your insipid
dreams magically come true. So let it go." This was also a delightfully playful
jab at Disney's </span><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/12/frozen-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Frozen</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.<span class="dgc"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another
thing that sells this world setting so well is the animation. It's amazing! The
detail is impressive and the designs are astounding. It is difficult to animate
fur because each individual stand of fur needs to move on its own, such as when
wind blows through the fur, when the fur it touched, or when the skin bunches
as the body moves. It needs to move in such a way that it looks natural and
like actual fur moves. Fur gets wet, mussed up, sticky, muddy, and physical
contact between furry creatures happens a lot, and it all looks fantastic! In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zootopia</i> the little details are
astounding. My favorite is how the small stands of fur on top of Nick's muzzle
bunch up on the rare occasion when he starts to bare his teeth. It looks so
believable and lifelike, for a fox wearing a Hawaiian shirt and tie.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These
characters are utterly delightful. Judy Hopps is an optimistic, bright-eyed
character with high hopes. This isn't out of the ordinary for Disney, of
course. Judy is expected to be naive or innocently stupid. While she is a good
girl through and through, she's not a dumb bunny. She's intelligent and
resourceful and regularly caused me to do a double take when I realized how
she'd out witted or out talked characters who don't take her seriously. She's a
fantastic character. Judy was a much needed and delightful change of pace from
Disney's usual heroines. Unlike most of Disney's female protagonists whose
stories revolve around romance or family loyalty, Judy's focus is on her dream
career as a police officer and serving her city. Nick has a wily, dry wit and
is crafty and sarcastic, not unlike how one would expect a fox character to
behave. But he frequently shows a great amount of heart and depth, especially
when we learn about his past and why he seems so emotionally detached. I loved
these characters and I almost wish the movie had been longer so I could see
them shine longer. It was fantastic to see two characters who form a strong
friendship rather than romance for a change.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
story was that of a classic mismatched buddy cop movie. Judy and Nick get along
like cat and dog at first, but are forced to cooperate to the mutual benefit of
one another. The suspects keep changing and it keeps the audience guessing. As
of this writing I have seen the movie twice in theaters (it's just that good)
and knowing the end from the beginning allowed me to notice the little hints at
the big picture. The ending is still a surprise, but it doesn't come out of the
blue like some poorly written "whodunnit" stories do. The whole movie
is really well structured, well written, and has plenty of action and gags to
laugh at.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Zootopia</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
is fun, funny, cute, charming, well written, and thought-provoking. The cast is
great, the characters are lovable, the action is fantastic, the story is
complex and entertaining, the theme is tastefully implemented, the animation is
amazing, and it's suitable for viewers of all ages. I honestly can't think of a
single negative thing to say about this movie. It's just so much fun! It's
timely message about the harm of prejudice in the face of prevailing xenophobic
political rhetoric is very much needed and welcomed. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zootopia</i> is absolutely worth the cost of tickets at the theaters. This
is the kind of movie we want to encourage Disney and other studios to keep
making. I encourage you to go see this and to consider getting a copy on home
video when it's available.<br />
<br />
What's the best family-friendly "buddy cop" movie you've ever seen?
Comment below and tell me all about it!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-11849627492629386802016-03-18T14:04:00.000-05:002016-03-19T00:06:11.398-05:00The Road to El Dorado Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTppmLNRUiST1I8GQJ_tl925RoZQddEJpRoV5Ea3QQBTaknhlCJTZZgl-Mbs0oIVFOsFc8kZPGhyqMVQGSGjswsE-2Vi0X-3KY691WXzU9vZgXNc4PhFFNfMtKbXDJJzMOGmaxx-gMFd8/s1600/The-Road-To-El-Dorado-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTppmLNRUiST1I8GQJ_tl925RoZQddEJpRoV5Ea3QQBTaknhlCJTZZgl-Mbs0oIVFOsFc8kZPGhyqMVQGSGjswsE-2Vi0X-3KY691WXzU9vZgXNc4PhFFNfMtKbXDJJzMOGmaxx-gMFd8/s320/The-Road-To-El-Dorado-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While browsing Tumblr
and other social media outlets I'll occasionally see internet memes from
Dreamworks' animated feature <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road to
El Dorado</i> (2000). I remember enjoying it when it hit theaters 16 years ago,
so it put me in the mood to see it again. The animation has aged well, and it's
still an amusing animated family film. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Road to El Dorado</i> is not quite as good as I remember, but it certainly is
fun.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Con-men Tulio (Kevin
Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branagh) get hold of a map to the lost City of Gold,
El Dorado. After stowing away onto one of the ships of the Spanish explorer
Hernán Cortés (Jim Cummings), the pair escapes and eventually do find the city.
There, a fanatically vicious high priest named Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante) who
has a religious fixation for human sacrifices, proclaims them to be gods in a
scheme to win c<span class="dgc">ontrol of the city for himself. Meanwhile, they
meet a beautiful woman named Chel (Rosie Perez) who helps them in their ruse to
escape El Dorado with as much gold as possible.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I've got to give props
to Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh for their roles as Miguel and Tulio. Both
characters made the movie incredibly fun. The characters are experienced con
artists who have well rehearsed "arguments" to distract people who
catch on to their ruses, which get them out of trouble. They do this a couple
of times in the movie, resulting in staged fist fights, slapping, and sword
play which ultimately gives them a means of escaping. These moments are
terrifically charming, and they make me wonder if Kline and Branagh were
improvising these lines only to have them animated later on. I wouldn't put it
past them, since both actors are very skilled and they seem to bounce off of
each other magnificently; those scenes do have an improvised comedy quality to
them. The characters felt a bit thin, but the actors did a remarkable job
working with what they had to make them lovable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The animation in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road to El Dorado</i> was pretty great.
It's 2D cell animation, which was becoming a rarity then and is even more so
now. The well- executed animation in this film gave it a classic feel that is a
delight to watch. I remembered there being CGI monster toward the end that
Tzekel-Kan had summoned, but as it turned out I was remembering it wrong; it's
just a really well animated hand drawing. The animation does some creative
things with the lighting and took some interesting creative liberties during
some musical numbers. I can't say anything new or innovative was used in terms
of the animation, but what it does is some solid, classic 2D cell animation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It's quite annoying
when an animated feature thinks it needs to include a musical number for every
single bit of plot development. Yes, musical numbers can be great, but too much
of them is overkill and can weaken the overall quality of the movie. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road to El Dorado</i> teeters on the
edge of too much. The music was provided by Tim Rice, who did the musical
numbers for Disney classics such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aladdin</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beauty and the Beast</i>, as well as
Elton John, who provided the music for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Lion King</i>. The music and songs in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">El
Dorado</i> are great, but their incorporation into the movie seemed awkward at
times and unnecessary at other times. Most of the music was used to fill in a
lack of dialogue during several montages. Few occasions had characters actually
singing about something to move the plot forward, and when it did, it felt
forced. The music was good, but the implementation didn't feel right, almost as
if the producers felt an obligation to include songs for the sake of entertaining
kids when the moment in the movie would have been fine without it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The story in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road to El Dorado</i> wasn't exactly
boring, but it was predictable. In other hands, the story might have centered
more on Cortés, whose ship catches up to Tulio and Miguel in the New World. But
this is a story of two pals who get caught up in events beyond their
comprehension after being mistaken for gods. The story ultimately recycles a
lot from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Man Who Would Be King</i>;
one likes being a god, the other doesn't. They intend to get away with as much
gold as possible, but end up loving the people and try to defend them from harm
from within and without the city of El Dorado. The story simply doesn't do a
whole lot that you can't see coming from a ways off. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the plus side the
story doesn't suffer from one towering central figure who gets all the screen
time (like many Disney animated feature films do). This liberates <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road to El Dorado</i> for goofiness.
There aren't any serious themes lurking about or uplifting lessons to learn.
It's just a couple of con men in over their heads and their gal pal and a horse
that sometimes is smarter than the other three put together. Since the horse
doesn't speak, it's able to exploit the miming gifts of the animators. There is
a moment where the two heroes and their horse are in a rowboat somewhere in the
ocean off Central America. It looks like the end. Then a seabird appears,
circles and lands on their boat. This is a good omen. Land must be near. Then
the bird drops dead. Bad sign. Then a shark leaps out of the sea and snaps up
the bird in one gulp. Piling gag on top of gag is the strategy of the film, not
unlike <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Emperor's New Groove</i>. It's
here for laughs, not to be profound. The movie doesn't take itself too
seriously and we shouldn't either. That being said, the less you know about
history, the better your chances of enjoying this movie.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Road to El Dorado</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a fun, light hearted romp of a movie
that the whole family could enjoy. Most of the characters are flat, but they
are in the hands of some fantastic actors who make their characters loveable.
The story is hardly profound, deep, or innovative, but it isn't trying to be.
It's just here to entertain and create a few laughs. It's a decent enough
movie, but I would have thought it would have been forgotten eventually if not
for the fact that <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/the-road-to-el-dorado">humorous
internet memes</a> keep popping up here and there. It's a fun movie to look up
and watch every once a blue moon or so, but unless you have kids that really
love this sort of movie, it's probably not worth owning.<br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road to El Dorado</i> took a number
of creative liberties in their interpretation of historical events in order to
tell a fun story. What are some other ridiculously misrepresented historical
events depicted in movies in the effort to tell a fun story? There are good
ones out there, right? Comment below and let me know!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-12104794957612272282016-03-11T13:34:00.000-06:002016-03-11T14:06:12.937-06:00Upside Down Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8vS__SwhFyFdHdF2ysyFrXVcoPsgK0w0ZCWDTwnZ68aythVedCG5dNRjEFh1LigJifxdwdC27fl3buH70B5Ec91BPXr5O5OKKYnypY9VItwx0TQG11ZDVqYIOxJ5tlfGn_UfO6rS7tXY/s1600/Upside-Down-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8vS__SwhFyFdHdF2ysyFrXVcoPsgK0w0ZCWDTwnZ68aythVedCG5dNRjEFh1LigJifxdwdC27fl3buH70B5Ec91BPXr5O5OKKYnypY9VItwx0TQG11ZDVqYIOxJ5tlfGn_UfO6rS7tXY/s320/Upside-Down-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Generally when we think
of sci-fi stories or films we think of action, aliens, and disastrous effect of
bizarre technologies. We rarely think of sci-fi in terms of drama or romance,
but there are examples of those unusual stories in film such as <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2012/04/ai-artificial-intelligence-movie-review.html">A.I.
Artificial Intelligence</a> and <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-adjustment-bureau-review.html">The
Adjustment Bureau</a>. In 2012 a Canadian-French romantic sci-fi film was
released and the trailer was positively fascinating. It took a while for me to
get around to it, but the movie did not disappoint. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upside Down</i> shows us an incredibly unique setting and some amazing
camera work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ever since Adam (Jim
Sturgess) and Eden (Kirsten Dunst) fell in love as teens, their bond has faced
astronomical odds. The pair are separated not just by social class and a
political system bent on keeping them apart, but also by a freak planetary
condition: they live on twinned worlds with gravities that pull in opposite
directions-he on the poverty-stricken planet below, she on the wealthy,
exploitative world above. Their budding but illicit romance screeches to a
tragic halt when interplanetary-border patrol agents catch them and Eden
suffers an apparently fatal fall. But when, ten years later, Adam learns she is
alive and working at a vast corporation whose towering headquarters connects
their planets, he sets out on a dangerous quest to infiltrate the company and
the upper world to reconnect with her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like so many sci-fi and
fantasy movies <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upside Down</i> starts off
with a prologue that simultaneously sets up the story and explains the physics
of the twin world gimmick in ways that will more or less satisfy the average
moviegoer, or at least keep them from asking pesky questions about the lack of
orbits or how the twinned worlds can have sunrises and sunsets and the like.
Unfortunately the writer-director Juan Diego Solanas has made the bizarre
decision to explain these details entirely through Adam's voiceover rather than
showing us how it works. That always bothers me since movies are a visual
storytelling medium, so why not show us how things work rather than having a
narration? But it serves its purpose and we quickly understand how the
mechanics of this setting works and understand the risks our protagonists are
taking right from the get go. The setting reminds me of the 1927 Fritz Lang
movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metropolis,</i> in which society
has been literally split into two unequal classes; the rich living in an
impossibly luxurious city in the sky and ruthlessly exploiting the resources
and labor of the working class that dwells below ground in poverty. The setting
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upside Down </i>simply has fascinating
and bizarre physics to further complicate the socioeconomic divide.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another complaint that
I have about the movie is the fact that there is a highly interesting setting,
but a rather weak screenplay. This twin-world concept is a premise that could
inspire any number of fantastical stories, but the screenplay is content to do
a simple <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Romeo and Juliet </i>retread
about two lovers from opposite worlds fighting to be together. And since the
young-lovers plot device is the main focus of this story, why needlessly
complicate things with the even more cliché trope of amnesia and force the
other to jump through hoops just to jog her memory? The screenplay also suffers
from some dialogue that occasionally sounds unnatural, almost as if the script
had gone through a couple of languages in <a href="https://translate.google.com/">Google Translate</a> before finally being
translated into English. That's not to say it's all bad, it just sounds somehow
off from time to time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But having said that, I
am willing to overlook some amateurish storytelling if the movie in question is
bold or stylish enough to make up for narrative shortcomings, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upside Down</i> is one such movie.
Practically every scene is crammed full of visual marvels that range from an
endless sea of office drones, to a grand ballroom with dancers twirling about
on both the floor and the ceiling, to Adam escaping some flames by jumping <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">up</i> into a nearby river. My goodness, I
don't know how many of these visuals were achieved. Probably with a lot of CGI,
but it looks as though a whole lot of practical effects were incorporated as
well. And it's not just the big special effects displays like Eden being
lowered from Down Below to Up Top by a rope, making her resemble a balloon on a
string. Subtle little things like having an item from the other world and
having to rest it on the underside of the desk so it doesn't fall upwards are
used with such casual nonchalance that it really sells the bizarre physics of
the setting and makes it hard to take your eyes from the screen. The results
are so stunning I would gladly take a couple images shown here over most
anything from recent blockbuster epics any day. It's the kind of imagery where
you could pause the movie at any given moment and just study the image as one
might study a painting. Here's the trailer to give you an idea of what this
movie looks like:<br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dkYvYGR7Ys4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dkYvYGR7Ys4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Upside
Down</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
is such a gorgeous movie to watch that I half expect Terry Gilliam to have
wished he'd thought of some of the visuals used here. In spite of its
wonderfully unique and fascinating premise and a talented cast, the story fails
to offer much in the way of a compelling drama or romance to anchor it's
dazzling visuals. It evokes no serious emotions other than awe and wonder at
how beautiful it looks. The movie clearly had big dreams, but they never quite
pan out the way it obviously hoped it would. I could see most viewers either
interpreting this as some kind of crackpot masterpiece or dismiss it as one of
the silliest pieces of cinema they've ever seen. I enjoyed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upside Down</i> enough that I'd consider getting my own copy, but not
because the story was good. It's just so darn neat to watch! As of writing
this, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upside Down</i> is streaming on
Netflix and is by no means a waste of time to watch it there.<br />
<br />
What are some other non-action sci-fi movies you've seen? Were they also worth
watching? Comment below and let me know!</span></div>
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<![endif]-->SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-3735177140398686032016-03-04T14:03:00.001-06:002016-03-04T14:03:37.680-06:00What We Do in the Shadows Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmOzJIlK9ipaoZ4-b1sSmjGhYeiQiTcGGnKiv0Yzj_c0LYa2kw_y1bSENUdk_ME105b9YBvN3NTuGMp1fLZysiYWpIWy9O6HigU-mN90i678sDi9yIJAsG3Eog6cwPAM14-2MxSU2Dy8/s1600/What-We-Do-in-the-Shadows-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmOzJIlK9ipaoZ4-b1sSmjGhYeiQiTcGGnKiv0Yzj_c0LYa2kw_y1bSENUdk_ME105b9YBvN3NTuGMp1fLZysiYWpIWy9O6HigU-mN90i678sDi9yIJAsG3Eog6cwPAM14-2MxSU2Dy8/s320/What-We-Do-in-the-Shadows-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I had a friend show me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What We Do in the Shadows</i> (2014) the
other day. It's a mockumentary vampire movie from New Zealand that has a whole
lot more wit and humor than it initially appears to have. Drawing from
different vampire mythos, it puts together several mismatched varieties of
vampires and has them cohabitating in a rented flat together. Interestingly, it
makes some unexpected social commentary while showing us some absurd humor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Follow the lives of
Viago (Taika Waititi), Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), Vladislav (Jemaine Clement),
and Petyr (Ben Fransham) - four flatmates who are just trying to get by and
overcome life's obstacles-like being immortal vampires who must feast on human
blood. Hundreds of years old, the vampires are finding that beyond sunlight
catastrophes, hitting the main artery, and not being able to get a sense of
their wardrobe without a reflection, modern society has them struggling with
the mundane like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get
into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The concept of a
documentary crew following around four mismatched vampires in their everyday
lives is silly as can be and generates a whole lot of situational humor. Like
many reality TV shows each of these vampires will speak to the camera about
themselves and what they think of the situations they're in. Their insight is
often interesting and sometimes ridiculous, such as lamenting the lack of a
reflection to see how they look when trying to dress up for a night on the
town. Other times it's about frustration with their flat mates about pulling
their weight by helping to pay rent or doing the dishes. The absurdity of the
situations this creative concept generates simply lends itself to hilarious
situational humor. This movie is about the "real," mundane lives of
vampires. Almost like a behind the scenes view of James Bond when he'd have to,
say, go to the bathroom, shop for grocieries, or clean his house. All the
things that would not be put into a Bond movie simply because it's not that
interesting. Here, we are shown a behind the scenes look at the lives of vampires
and all the banal things they have to do unrelated to being a monstrous
creature of the night. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The four characters
here resemble established vampire characters from pop culture. We basically
have Count Orlok from the classic black-and-white film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nosferatu</i>, Count Dracula, Lestat from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Interview with the Vampire</i>, and David from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lost Boys</i>. All have different values and means of hunting, each
has different goals, and each one tries to keep the other in check for their
collective well being. And blessedly, the characters in the movie even make fun
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twilight</i> and how that it simply
does not depict real vampires; that alone earns several bonus points in my
book. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This was an independent
film, and the visual effects and camera work are delightfully cheesy. Getting
the characters to float in the air is obviously a simple means of wires
attached to actors. What little CGI is used was not great, even though it was
well implemented. One genuinely excellent bit of horror-style cinematography
featured the camera following a victim through the vampire's flat as he tries
to escape. The intensity of this scene was broken up with some silly antics
such as Jemaine Clement's face superimposed on a black cat's head in a rather
campy looking way. In one scene, two vampires get into a physical fight with
each other and are tumbling around the hallway walls and ceiling, lunging at
each other. Up until that point the special effects were so low quality that
this scene caught me off guard and made me wonder how they did that. Having a
rotating hallway set to create the illusion of the actors flying around the
ceiling seemed a much more expensive stunt than what other visuals leading up
to it suggested the movie had a budget for. There was a lot of shaky camera
work to suggest an improvisational quality of this "documentary." It
was a little annoying after a while, but fortunately it was not so erratic as
to give me any kind of motion sickness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What
We Do in the Shadows</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is far from being preachy or taking
itself so seriously as to have a deep meaning or philosophical idea holding it
together. However, I saw this as commentary on male bonding. As adults, men
don't seem particularly adept at making friends with other men these days. I
could go on a nice long rant speculating why, but that's not the point. The
vampires in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What We Do in the Shadows</i>
are a small group of friends trying to get through life together and find women
to have relationships with. Life keeps throwing challenges at them, but they
keep going making the most of their situations. Even when arguments arise
between them, they will make a display to try and intimidate the other (as
vampires this takes the form of floating in the air hissing at one another),
but neither of them want to actually come to blows with their flat mate and
friend. I doubt anything new you hadn't seen before relating to male bonding
would come of viewing this movie, but men being friends together in a
heterosexual sort of way and sticking up for one another seems to be the
unifying theme of the movie and it worked well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What
We Do in the Shadows</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> was a funny movie. It's a cleverly
constructed riot that delivers constant laughs from its premise without
bleeding it dry. It's a smarter, fresher, and funnier take on vampires than
I've seen for some time now. They do vampires right, even if it is in a
humorous way. There are competent actors delivering some witty humor, a skilled
director who knows what he's doing with camera work, and some deceptively
skilled visual effects artists. It's well written enough that it's hard to tell
how much of it was improvised or there was improvisation at all. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What We Do in the Shadows</i> is a good,
solid movie that is worth seeing.</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-91421735101515238592016-02-26T12:41:00.001-06:002016-02-27T00:06:35.508-06:00Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Several years ago,
author Seth Grahame-Smith had a brilliant idea to take the classic Jane Austin
novel, Pride and Prejudice and add zombies to it. The resulting book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and Prejudice and Zombies</i> was
literally the Jane Austin novel with a words changed here and there and
occasional full paragraphs added so as to have zombies in the classic piece of
literature. This book was so well received that it was number three on the New
York Times bestseller list for a while, sold out on Amazon.co.uk's website and
required a second printing, and was even on <a href="http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Pride-and-Prejudice-and-Zombies-by-Seth-Grahame-Smith-Reading-Guide">Oprah's
Book Club</a> at one point. With a book resume like that, a movie was
inevitable. As a movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies</i> wasn't exactly good, but it was fun and one of the
more enjoyable film adaptations of a Jane Austin book I've ever seen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A zombie outbreak has
fallen upon the land in Jane Austen's classic tale of the tangled relationships
between lovers from different social classes in 19th century England. The five
Bennet sisters must cope with the pressures to marry while protecting
themselves from a growing population of zombies. Feisty Elizabeth Bennet (Lily
James) is a master of martial arts and weaponry and the handsome Mr. Darcy (Sam
Reilly) is a fierce zombie killer, yet the epitome of upper class prejudice.
When zombie outbreaks begin happening within the supposedly safe walls of
mansions during social gatherings, the two characters begin to suspect that
there is someone helping the zombies get in. As the zombie outbreak
intensifies, they must swallow their pride and join forces on the blood-soaked
battlefield.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have tried to read
Jane Austin a couple of times and have found her writing to be lyrical with
certain poetry to it, albeit very dry and verbose to the point that it's
positively arduous to read. I figured with the addition of zombies the classic
novel would be easier to read, especially with opening lines like, "It is
a fact universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be
in want of more brains." Alas, what little of the book I made it through
was still so "Austiny" I just couldn't get into it. It is literally
the Jane Austin classic with small bits and pieces changed or added here and
there. It feels very much like a Jane Austin novel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the movie, it still
feels a lot like a Jane Austin-inspired movie, but with zombies in it. There is
articulate dialogue, beautiful sets, lovely costumes, gossip about marriage,
and melodramatic spectacles. There are also zombies to stir things up every now
and again. This is still mostly the same story but with a lot garnish added
that generates an appeal to 14 year old boys; zombies, fight scenes, and
explosions. One of my favorite parts of the original Austin story is when Mr.
Darcy proposes marriage to Elizabeth; she rejects him with the most elegant,
eloquent, and ladylike verbal slap in the face. That same exchange is present
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and Prejudice and Zombies</i>,
but in this version Elizabeth is so offended and enraged by the audacity of
Darcy's proposal, that the two get into a pretty fantastic duel using all their
fighting skills while using the same eloquent dialogue during the fight scene.
I daresay having Elizabeth fight while rejecting the marriage proposal cheapens
the words used, but it sure is a whole lot of fun to watch! That pretty well
sums up the movie; the addition of zombies<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and fight scenes is a whole lot of fun, but cheapens their original
context making it rather ridiculous.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At one point, The
Bennet Family is visited by Mr. Collins who is played by <s>The Doctor</s> Matt
Smith. As an avid Doctor Who fan, it's weird to see Matt Smith outside of his
role as The Doctor. Mr. Collins intends to marry one of the Bennet sisters, but
is disliked across the board. Mr. Collins provides a lot of the comic relief,
something that Matt Smith is pretty good at. It's still the kind of humor one
might find in a Jane Austin novel; obliviousness to protocol, social awkwardness,
and the fact that the Bennet sisters frequently try to politely get as far away
from him as possible. Comedy isn't the point of this movie, but it's a much
needed addition which keeps the ridiculous premise from taking itself too
seriously.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The zombie mayhem was
delightful. Rotting corpses in 19th century period costumes shambling around
attacking aristocrats is a tantalizing treat for zombie enthusiasts. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and Prejudice and Zombies</i> is a
nice PG-13 romp and the violence stays within those boundaries. Decomposing
reanimated corpses do tend to be on the grotesque side as a matter of
principle, so we do see minor bits of blood and gore every now and again and
plenty of very ugly zombies. Thankfully the truly gruesome zombie slaying stays
off screen. Sure, that kind of thing is fun every now and again, but I don't
personally care for visually explicit violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There were a few times I thought the movie was pushing what it could get
away with in terms of violent action, but it still stays within PG-13 quality
material. Maybe not something I'd take anyone younger than a teenager to see.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pride
and Prejudice and Zombies</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> wasn't a particularly good movie,
but it was fun. It manages to wring a few fun moments out of its premise, but
never quite delivers the thoroughly kooky mash up the title suggests. It's an
over-the-top combination of the beloved 19th century novel and the unquenchable
and inexplicable modern demand for all things to be zombie-fied, resulting in
bizarrely daft movie which had a few moments of real invention and undeniable
wit. Much like Austin's Mr. Collins character, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and Prejudice and Zombies</i> is absurd, self-important, and not
nearly as clever or elegant as it thinks it is. It's still pretty fun
nonetheless. It remains affectionately faithful to the original characters and
structure, there are just zombies thrown into the mix. I think this is worth
one viewing, it's ultimately a forgettable movie experience, but it's a fun
movie experience while it lasts. I'm glad I saw it; it's just not something I'd
go out of my way to see again. I'd wait for it on home video if you plan to see
it at all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />I'd love to see a mash up of more classic literature and outlandish monster mayhem. Something like <i>Lord of the Flies and Body Snatchers</i> or something like that. What are other weird combinations that might be fun to see? Comment below and let me know!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-26136770104457025132016-02-19T13:43:00.000-06:002016-02-20T00:01:30.816-06:00Deadpool Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Marvel's super hero
movies have been flooding the movie theaters for some time now. Many of the
ones produced by Disney have been fantastic, while the ones produced by Fox
have been hit or miss. Fox still owns the film rights to the X-Men franchise,
and most of those have been good. The eighth installment in the X-Men series is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool</i> (2016); something fans have
been begging studios for for sometime, especially after that horrible depiction
of the character in </span><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2011/11/x-men-origins-wolverine-movie-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">X-Men Origins: Wolverine</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.
The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool</i> movie is not so much
about the story as it is about this bizarre and well loved character of the
Marvel Universe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wade Wilson (Ryan
Reynolds) is a former Special Forces operative who now works as a mercenary.
His world comes crashing down when he develops terminal cancer. Even though
this fiancé, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), remains by his side, he fears losing
her. A recruiter from a secret program approches Wade and offers him an
experimental cure for his cancer. Initially he refuses, but later decides to
leave Vanessa and undergo the procedure. At the sketchy laboratory, evil
scientist Ajax (Ed Skrein) tortures, disfigures and transforms him into a
mutant. The rogue experiment leaves Wade with accelerated healing powers and a
twisted <span class="dgc">sense of humor, and shortly thereafter adopts the alias
Deadpool. With occasional help from X-Men mutant allies Colossus (Stefan
Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Deadpool uses his
new skills to hunt down the man who nearly destroyed his life.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">X-Men Origins</i> movie, Deadpool was
one of several characters who were horribly misrepresented in all the wrong
ways. I was bent out of shape about how Gambit was depicted, but that was
nothing compared to how inaccurate their disparaging and repulsive version of
Deadpool was. The Deadpool in this movie is a vulgar and loudmouthed goofball
and was what we were expecting in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">X-Men
Origins</i>. Here, he is highly talkative, cracks more jokes and wisecracks
than Spider-Man, suffers from psychosis which itself makes him unpredictable
and random, he's gratuitously violent and crude, and is aware that he is a
comic book character, so he breaks fourth wall often to humorous effect. During
one such gag in the movie he turns to the camera, looking at the audience and
says, "A fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break? That's, like,
sixteen walls!" At another point in the movie, Colossus is dragging
Deadpool away and says, "You will talk with Professor Xavier."
Deadpool responds by asking, "McAvoy or Stewart? These timelines can get
so confusing." referencing Patrick Stewart's role and James McAvoy's role
as a younger version the same character in prequels, and commenting on how the
timeline in the X-Men movies don't actually make a lot of sense.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ryan
Reynolds played Deadpool in both movie depictions, and he's so perfect for the
role. I mentioned in my review of </span></span><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/04/woman-in-gold-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Woman in Gold</span></i></a><span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
that </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ryan Reynolds is frequently typecast as an arrogant,
handsome, cocky, and rude young man. Wade Willson is certainly handsome before
the secret Project X scientists get a hold of him, but not so much afterwards.
Pretty much every other aspect of Reynolds' usual typecasting is present in the
character of Deadpool. Deadpool's wacky and sometimes crude quips make the
whole movie hysterical, and they are often the sort of sarcastic things
Reynolds says in other movies. One of the cleaner lines from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool</i> has the titular character
surrounded by henchmen with guns early in the movie. "You may be wondering
why the red suit. Well, that's so bad guys don't see me bleed." He points
at one of the henchmen to his left. "This guy's got the right idea... He
wore the brown pants!" At which point Deadpool proceeds to kill all of
them. I almost wonder how much of the movie was scripted and how much of it was
Ryan Reynolds ad-libbing or just being himself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the fun things
about the Deadpool character is that he's not by any means typical. He
frequently reminds us and other characters in the movie that he's not a hero.
Deadpool has always been a mercenary who is in it for his own reasons and for
whomever tends to have the bigger paycheck offer. Superheroes and villains are
often depicted as having cool gadgets, weapons, and fancy hideouts. Deadpool
lives in the ghetto, and shares a dilapidated apartment with and elderly,
bitter blind woman. Deadpool is so lacking in resources that he has to take a
taxi in his costume to get to the big fights. He doesn't have fancy powers
outside of his accelerated healing. His healing powers make him effectively
immortal and are so advanced that the character has literally recovered from
decapitation in the comic books. Since he has no offensive powers, he fights
with guns of various sizes and a pair of swords. "Okay guys, I only have
twelve bullets, so you're all going to have to share!" It's these combined
quirks that make the character so likeable and enjoyable. He doesn't take
himself seriously, and that's why fans love him. The character wears a
colorful, cheap Adventure Time wrist watch under his crime fighting costume for
goodness sake!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It seems a lot of
people were all worked up over <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool</i>
being rated R. Apparently they didn't think comic book movies were supposed to
be R rated. But allow me to point out comic book movie titles that preceded <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool</i> which were rated R, such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Watchmen</i>, </span><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/02/kingsman-secret-service-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kingsman: The Secret Service</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, Kick-Ass</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">,
</span><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/02/abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter-movie.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">300</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">,
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dredd</i> to name a few. "But
this is a Marvel movie, those aren't supposed to be R-rated." Oh, you mean
like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Punisher</i> and a whole trilogy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blade</i> movies? I generally don't prefer
R-rated content. But given the character of Deadpool, a PG-13 version of the
movie would have been an insulting, watered down version of what the iconic
character is. I feel like it was important to have an R rating to get this
character done right for a movie. There were a couple of times I averted my
eyes during the movie so as to avoid something I prefer not to see. But that's
my preference and I would have been frankly disappointed if that sort of
content was absent. Even sex scenes and graphic violence was imbued with
Deadpools iconic, bizarre humor. The profanity and violence which permeates
this movie is not simply thrown in to get a higher rating. It's intelligently
incorporated and used in creative and witty ways. It's not vulgarity for the
sake of vulgarity; it's well written and fits perfectly with setting and
characters that use it. This is not a super hero movie for children; no matter
how much your ten-year-old loves Iron Man and The Avengers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool </i>is not for kids. And that's the
way this movie should be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Deadpool</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
was everything that Deadpool fans had hoped for: fast, hilarious, and gleefully
profane. The fourth-wall-busting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool</i>
subverts the superhero movie formula with wildly <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">entertaining </span>and absolutely
non-family-friendly results. This immature action-comedy is Marvel's biggest
breath of fresh air since </span><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2014/08/guardians-of-galaxy-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Guardians of the Galaxy</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.
The movie makes self referential jokes as soon as the opening credits start
rolling. The story may be a little on the cliché side but the narrative format
makes it more interesting, and Deadpool himself makes it even better. This
movie isn't about the story, it's about this character and depicting him the
way he was meant to be depicted and the wacky humor he brings to every
situation. And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool</i> succeeds in
that endeavor with flying colors! I recommend seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deadpool</i> if you're a fan of the character or the Marvel universe.
However if you prefer classic, heroic, morally centered characters, you may
want to skip this one; that's simply not who Deadpool is. Also, leave the kids
at home if you plan on seeing this. I liked it enough to get a copy when it's
available on home video.<br />
<br />
Even though it's been done before, it was a bold move to make a R-rated
superhero movie amidst all the other Marvel and DC superhero movies hitting
theaters which were designed to be a bit more family friendly. What are some
other Marvel and DC superhero movies titles you'd like to see that could
reasonable have an R-rating? Comment below and let me know!</span></div>
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<![endif]-->SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-77945801274377165452016-02-12T13:34:00.000-06:002016-02-12T23:57:45.957-06:00Van Helsing Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BaVITEkE7lkNH7CMR_SwjIzQHA2QYqW_YOmol3zabfiCqyHDBLMU5B_BZ3GR2Wzxe0Oh4txRrPb2PnXxRx_4OdtTUbvN5Gjz79BPSBZHvShU0DoQ1Zt7qwAG2iJndNWMnjuhLmWQfDM/s1600/Van-Helsing-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BaVITEkE7lkNH7CMR_SwjIzQHA2QYqW_YOmol3zabfiCqyHDBLMU5B_BZ3GR2Wzxe0Oh4txRrPb2PnXxRx_4OdtTUbvN5Gjz79BPSBZHvShU0DoQ1Zt7qwAG2iJndNWMnjuhLmWQfDM/s320/Van-Helsing-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The eponymous character
of Abraham Van Helsing is a creation of Bram Stoker in his 1897 Gothic horror
novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dracula</i>. He's an aged Dutch
doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments. He's supposed to
have been simply an aged medical doctor of his time, but many adaptations of
this character depict him as a vampire hunter, monster hunter, and the
archenemy to Count Dracula. One of these creative reinterpretations was a movie
released in 2004, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van Helsing</i>. It is
frankly not a good movie, but it's an interesting form of low-budget B-movie
that I doubt anyone could have foreseen as little as a decade before its
release. Silly a movie as it is, it's a guilty pleasure of mine to watch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Famed monster slayer
Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) is dispatched to Transylvania with Friar
Carl (David Wenham) to assist the last of the Valerious bloodline in defeating
Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh). Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale) reveals that
Dracula has formed an unholy alliance with Dr. Frankenstein's monster (Shul<span class="dgc">er Hensley) and is hell-bent on exacting a centuries-old curse on her
family. Together Anna and Van Helsing set out to destroy their common enemy,
but uncover some unsettling secrets along the way.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ridiculous
and over the top as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van Helsing</i> is, I
have to give it props for creativity. The character of Van Helsing is vastly
different from his original depiction in Bram Stoker's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dracula</i>. This is a young Van Helsing with more monster hunting
gadgets and gizmos than any one person should be able to carry on themselves
and still walk. This Van Helsing wields a rapid fire crossbow, spinning wrist
blades, explosives, retractable silver stakes, and weaponized holy water. All
of which are creatively used to his advantage in entertaining action scenes.
The movie was distributed by Universal Pictures who made iconic monster movies
back in the 1940's including Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and
werewolves. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van Helsing</i> brought
several of these Hollywood icons together again in a way similar to the
multi-monster movies that also Universal produced in the 1940's such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House of Dracula</i>. There's even an
implication that an escaped Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde is true identity of The
Hunchback of Notre Dame whom Van Helsing encounters in Paris early in the film.
The way that these monsters came together felt natural for this particular
world setting and the varied methods of combating these creatures made for some
interesting fight scenes, especially in cases when multiple monsters were
ganging up on our heroes and a weapon that might hurt one creature would have
no effect on the other creature.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
am convinced that this was a fairly low budget movie, or at least it was for
the most part inexpensive to make. I'd estimate that roughly 85-90% of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van Helsing</i> was filmed with the actors
in front of a green screen and then a fleet of very busy CGI artists filled in
the details afterwards. I realize that CGI can be very costly, but I can't
imagine it being more expensive than creating elaborate, believable sets or
filming on location. There have been a number of movies that basically were CGI
intensive with actors in front of green screens which ended up looking just
terrible, such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars: The Phantom
Menace</i>. This movie looks pretty solid, though. Many of the monsters are
just as CGI generated as the villages and castles they terrorize, but they look
great. And I feel that it is important to say that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van Helsing</i> features one of the best looking movie werewolves I've
ever seen, even if it's transformation is unorthodox.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Van Helsing</span></i></span><span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
received mostly negative reviews. It was criticized for having poor acting, way
too much CGI and special effects, and being a mockery of the horror genre. I
can't exactly disagree with most of these criticisms. Most of the acting is
very melodramatic and is so stylized that it's hard not to scoff at the movie's
attempts to look cool. I can't for the life of me imagine the actors falling
apart in peals of laughter at some of the poses and superfluous, artificial
back flips that were required of them. Parts of the dialogue were so cheesy
that I simply had to roll my eyes before pressing on in the movie. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van Helsing</i> isn't trying to be a horror
movie; the horror genre is supposed to elicit feelings of fear in its viewers. This
movie doesn't even make a poor attempt to do that. Sure, there are iconic
monsters from horror movies, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van
Helsing</i> is an action movie and the action choreography is fun, if a little
hard to swallow at times. Critics may have dragged the movie through the mud,
but the film grossed $300 million worldwide and did well with the general
public, becoming one of the biggest blockbusters released in 2004. That ought
to tell you something about its quality.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Objectively,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Van Helsing</i> isn't a terrifically good
movie, but it is a whole lot of fun. The action is great, the visuals are above
average, and the ridiculous story is entertaining enough to enjoy. It starts
out looking like a special effects overkill, but by the end it succeeds in
assembling all the monsters and plot threads into a high-voltage climax. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van Helsing</i> is silly, but spectacularly
fun. If it doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy, you probably won't. I did,
however, and I recommend seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van
Helsing </i>for the fun of it. With so many classic monsters present, it makes
for a good movie to watch during Halloween. I have a copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Van Helsing</i> sitting on my movie shelf
next to other titles I like to enjoy every now and again.<br />
<br />
What is your favorite monster hunter movie? What do you like about it? Comment
below and tell me all about it!</span></span></div>
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<![endif]-->SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-27410852010552394542016-02-05T14:08:00.002-06:002016-02-13T00:24:07.941-06:00Galaxy Quest Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I grew up watching the
various Star Trek series. I absolutely loved Star Trek, its characters, and the
stories. A number of years later a brilliantly written movie was released
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galaxy Quest</i> (1999). It's a
fantastic bit of comedy satire that parodied the original Star Trek series
beautifully; both the TV show itself and the actors in the show. It's a
fantastic comedy film, and it's even funnier if you're a Star Trek fan.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The sci-fi adventure
television series "Galaxy Quest" took place aboard the intergalactic
spaceship NSEA Protector. Eighteen years after their series was canceled,
actors Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver), Sir
Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell) and Fred Kwan
(Tony Shalhoub) are making appearances at sci-fi conventions and shopping mall
openings in costume and character. They are wallowing in despair and at each
other's throats until aliens known as Thermians arrive and, having mistaken the
series for fact and consequently modeling their entire culture around this, the
Thermians take the cast of actors into space to save them from the genocidal
General Sarris (Robin Sachs) and his armada.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The characters here are
great. Tim Allen is playing a fictional character variation of William Shatner
who had played Captain Kirk. Jason is arrogant and cocky, and has a passion for
and possibly dependence upon the Galaxy Quest series. He loves the enthusiasm
of his fans and the revenue it tends to bring him, small as it may be. Jason is
also a notorious ham and subpar actor; a lot like Shatner. The late and great
Alan Rickman is depicting a hilarious fictional version of Leonard Nimoy; who
for many years couldn't seem to separate himself from the Spock character.
Alexander in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galaxy Quest</i> was an
accomplished Shakespearian actor who took the television role for the income,
but was never able to shake himself free from the role afterwards. He loathes
the Galaxy Quest series with all his soul and refuses to deliver his
character's line to please fans. He hates that even when delivering quality
material for the series, he was constantly upstaged by Jason's hammy melodrama.
Sigourney Weaver's character is loosely based on Nichelle Nichols' Lieutenant
Uhura character on Star Trek. Gwen's character was the communication's officer
and didn't do much other than repeat what the ship's computer says. Gwen didn't
like her role in Galaxy Quest because she was little more than a token female
character who was present just to look attractive, which was more or less what
Uhura did in Star Trek. These characters are so well written and satirize the
characters and actors they parody with perfection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are so many nods
to the Star Trek series and the culture that surrounds it. Sci-Fi conventions
are about the only place these fictional actors get any recognition anymore.
The fans at these conventions have a very loose grasp on reality, not unlike
existing stereotypes of convention attendees. There is a group of kids, lead by
a very young Justin Long, who have memorized schematics of the ship on the
Galaxy Quest series and essentially know how to operate everything on the ship
and the science behind it. The socially awkward fans beg Alexander for
autographs which he begrudgingly grants them with disdain while they repeat his
character's line "By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall
be avenged." It's meant to remind us of Spock's iconic line "Live
long and prosper."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">During fight scenes
with aliens, Jason manages to lose his shirt just like the character of Star Trek's
Captain Kirk notoriously did on a regular basis. There's an extra from the
Galaxy Quest series who tags along with the actors into space. He's terrified
on an away team mission to a planet surface because no one knows who he
actually is and he expects to be an extra who dies on the mission, just like
the red shirt ensign who always dies on the original Star Trek series. The
other actors assure him that's ridiculous and won't happen. This extra asks
them, "Did you guys ever WATCH the show!?" Gwen's character on Galaxy
Quest was present to look attractive. Her job was basically to repeat
everything the ship's computer said to the captain. Since the ship the actors
are taken to was modeled after the Galaxy Quest series, the ship's computer doesn't
respond to anyone other than her, thus forcing her to do the same thing she did
on the series. Tommy Webber (who himself is a play on Wil Wheaton's Wesley
Crusher), tells Gwen how annoying it is that she repeats everything that is
said to her. "Look!" Gwen shouts in response. "I have one job on
this lousy ship, it's STUPID, but I'm gonna do it! Okay!?" The actors
constantly have to rely on their memories of the TV show they were in to save
their lives and fight against alien threats. It's just hysterical all the
little jabs and jokes at the Star Trek series and culture make their way into
the movie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galaxy Quest</i> movie came out seventeen
years ago, as of this writing, and it holds up quite well. The CGI effects are
slightly dated, but still look pretty darn good. I think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galaxy Quest</i> was a B movie of sorts. That. or the camera work and
visuals were intentionally designed to resemble something campy and cheesy. But
it works really well in this context. The makeup and costume designs looked
ridiculous and fake when it needed to, and well made and believable when it
needed to. I think the movie has aged quite well. </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Galaxy
Quest</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is such a good movie. It's funny, has fantastic
satire, has a great cast who clearly gets the jokes and references they are
spoofing, and is a great piece of cinema writing. It's aged well in the past
seventeen years, and remains a good, solid movie. It makes fun of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Trek</i> without being insulting to it.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galaxy Quest</i> is a good movie on its
own, but you'll easily get a lot more out of it if you're a long time fan of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Trek</i>. This is worth seeing, and
owning a copy. As of this writing, it is streaming on Netflix. This is not
something you should miss.</span></div>
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<![endif]-->SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-44121194027669333182016-01-29T14:13:00.001-06:002016-01-30T00:15:03.452-06:00The Revenant Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Leonardo DiCaprio is a
phenomenal actor who puts forth extraordinary effort in his acting and ends up
delivering a particularly high-quality performance. It's no secret he's
striving for an Oscar award, and remarkable as many of his performances have
been, he has yet to earn that particular award. In his latest film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Revenant</i> (2015), the whole movie is
anchored in DiCaprio's 200% commitment to his performance. It's a good movie
with a stellar cast, but not something that's going to stick with you very long
afterwards.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While exploring the
uncharted wilderness in 1823, legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo
DiCaprio) sustains injuries from a brutal bear attack. When his hunting team
leaves him for dead, Glass must utilize his survival skills to find a way back
home, guided by sheer will and the love of his family. Grief-stricken and fue<span class="dgc">led by vengeance, Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track
down John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the former confidant who betrayed and
abandoned him.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For
a movie set in the uncharted American frontier, there were a number of British
and Irish actors portraying American characters. Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, and
Domhnall Gleeson all played prominent roles in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Revenant</i> with remarkably spot on accents. Of these three actors,
I thought Tom Hardy was most impressive. I didn't even realize it was Tom Hardy
until the end credits started rolling. He has this thick accent that I can only
describe as being "southern," nebulous as that term might be to
describe an accent. He also had a thick mop of hair and a scraggly beard hiding
most of his face. His acting and makeup was so well done that I did not realize
it was Tom Hardy at all. Domhnall Gleeson is becoming a favorite of mine. He's
known for playing Bill Weasley in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry
Potter</i> movies, Phil in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unbroken</i>,
and recently General Hux in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars:
The Force Awakens</i>. He's a solid a actor who delivers great performances.
Will Poulter has appeared in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Maze
Runner</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader</i>. He's still fairly new to the big screen,
but does a fine job here juxtaposed with some big name talents.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Leonardo
DiCaprio's skill and passion for acting is very much evident here. He depicts
intense emotions as he portrays Hugh Glass enduring trial after trial and
struggling to keep alive in a harsh, unforgiving frozen wilderness. He's
grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, and it shows in every little thing
Glass does, from begging a Native American he encounters for some food to stave
off starvation, to rescuing a girl from being raped by frontiersmen. DiCaprio
imbues his character with an intensity that is simply remarkable to watch.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Director
</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alejandro
G. Iñárritu takes DiCaprio's performance and makes it even better with some
truly magnificent camera work. This is the first Iñárritu film I've<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ever seen, and his mastery of capturing
beautiful imagery is beyond compare. Even with some of the grotesque scenes, it
still looks beautifully done. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Revenant</i> captures some truly gorgeous shots of the wilderness, forests, and
frozen tundra. The way shots were set up was very artistic without a sense of
self-importance. There weren't many shots that didn't look like a work of art. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Revenant</i> was a beautiful movie to
watch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Having said all that,
it took me a while to determine if I actually liked it. The story within the
movie was pretty simple. There's a set up which was interesting, a remarkably
long middle full of Hugh Glass trying to not die, and a conclusion that wasn't
very straightforward. I daresay <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Revenant</i>
could have been much shorter and still achieved the story it set out to tell.
There were many moments where Glass was simply walking or staring off wistfully
into the distance. Yes, these moments looked good, but made the movie drag
significantly in terms of story. I don't want to say it was slow moving,
because there was so much to visually take in. But the story progressed at a
snail's pace at times, even if it was beautiful to watch. It wasn't until well
after the movie ended that it occurred to me that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Revenant</i> was more about the experience than the narrative. It
was about the experience Hugh Glass had trying to survive after being mauled by
a bear and left for dead, not the story of how he survived. It's also about our
experience of witnessing this beautifully constructed film, not the film
telling us a deep or meaningful story. It's likely the movie won't appeal to
some audiences because of how drawn out the story ends up being, but that by no
means is to suggest that it is a poor movie.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Revenant</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a starkly beautiful as it is uncompromisingly
harsh. There is a phenomenal cast delivering well made characters, and a highly
skilled director showing us some remarkably beautiful scenery and capturing it
in the most visually stunning way. The story here is not the point, and is in
fact a very simple story. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Revenant</i>
is about the experience, not the story. I do think that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Revenant</i> is worth seeing if you are not too put off by the
violent and occasionally gory images and the aforementioned sexual assault that
give it its R rating. There is a chance you may find it too
"artistic" if you value story over visual delivery. I'm glad I saw
it, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to see a second time.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Is there a role that you think Leonardo Di<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Caprio</span></span></span> deserved an Oscar for? Comment below and tell me about i<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">t!</span></span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-3383706776333628712016-01-22T13:27:00.001-06:002016-01-22T23:55:37.130-06:00Avatar Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9nleu5rj53kWtkhwLGpW9VX4YXo0NUvfGzGxLGBf486_zpWpfreRmKE5Ltu9nfPIENw_iEs8ac9DjD7UMqZN4WOePd2FwfennqYL_gzkF7HsEKAP2pjkWSMTdiYYWFfYNvbPXB7eMIU/s1600/Avatar-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9nleu5rj53kWtkhwLGpW9VX4YXo0NUvfGzGxLGBf486_zpWpfreRmKE5Ltu9nfPIENw_iEs8ac9DjD7UMqZN4WOePd2FwfennqYL_gzkF7HsEKAP2pjkWSMTdiYYWFfYNvbPXB7eMIU/s320/Avatar-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It doesn't seem so long
ago that James Cameron's last film, Avatar (2009), was still a pop culture
topic that everyone was talking about. From how amazing the visual effects
were, to "<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/">Post
Avatar Depression</a>," to its world-wide box office records, to
assertions that it rips off other popular movies in terms of story, everyone
was talking about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i>. It seems to
have had less of a lasting cultural impact than what some were guessing, I
still maintain that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> is a work
of cinematic art that should be seen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the lush alien world
of Pandora live the Na'vi, beings who appear primitive but are highly evolved.
When his twin brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully (Sam
Worthington) decides to take his place in a mission on this<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>distant world of Pandora. There he learns of
greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's (Giovanni Ribisi) intentions of
driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the
precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. Because the
planet's environment is poisonous, human/Na'vi hybrids, called Avatars, must
link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora. Under the direction
of Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), an exobiologist and head of the
Avatar Program, Jake becomes mobile again while inhabiting one such
"Avatar" body. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his
legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by
gung-ho Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), while simultaneously attempting to
infiltrate the Na'vi people with the his Avatar body. While Jake begins to bond
with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien
Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless
extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in
an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Enough cannot be said
about how completely mind blowing these visual effects are. The detail in the
ecosystem of Pandora is simply incredible. Every plant, creature, and Na'vi
character is created with highly detailed computer-generated photorealism. From
the texture of Na'vi character's skin, to the lush, verdant foliage, to the
bioluminescence inherent to many creatures on Pandora, everything looks
positively gorgeous. It's such a visual feast for the eyes that you can't take
it all in fast enough. Everything was so beautiful that some audience members
reportedly felt some mild form of depression after seeing the artistic beauty
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> and then contrasting that
with their real lives. That seems a bit silly to me, but with how picturesque
and gorgeous Pandora is made to look, I can't say it's without basis.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Na'vi characters,
themselves, are computer generated. They are about 10 feet tall humanoids, have
blue striped skin, pointed mobile ears, tails, and large catlike noses and
teeth. While taller than humans, they have narrower proportions in body frame.
Cameron<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>created these computer
generated characters with new motion capture animation technologies that he had
been developing for fourteen months leading up to when the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>filming started. Improved methods of
capturing facial expressions enabled a full performance capture, so every little
twitch and eye movement you see in the Na'vi, was actual movement captured from
the actor playing that character. It made these digitally generated character
believable and engaging.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The story of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> can't be said to be weak, it's
fairly complex with interwoven storylines and subplots, and an interesting
array of characters. However, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar </i>got
a lot of flak for being a rip-off of other well established stories and themes.
In that regard, if you haven't actually seen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i>, you can probably already say you've seen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar.</i> It has a strong resemblance to
movies like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dances with Wolves</i>,
Disney's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pocahontas</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">FernGully: The Last Rainforest</i>. The
theme has been explored in other movies, too;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hayao Miyazaki's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Princess Mononoke</i>
comes to mind. Is it really so bad that the story is similar to other movies?
If that's the worst thing that can be said about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i>, I'd have to argue that it's still a good movie. In terms of
story, audiences shouldn't expect too much that is unique and new, but that
isn't to say it's boring or even identical to the other stories out there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I found the themes to
be engaging. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> is an
action-adventure journey of self-discovery in the context of imperialism and
deep ecology. There's an overt message of environmentalism in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar,</i> and the highly common trope of
greedy corporate types plotting to destroy landmarks or natural environments in
order to gain profits. That's not so new. There's some interesting subtle
comparisons in the term "avatar" about which Cameron said, "It's
an incarnation of one of the Hindu gods taking a flesh form. In this film what
that means is that the human technology in the future is capable of injecting a
human's intelligence into a remotely located body, a biological body." The
blue skin of the Na'vi was an intentional connection to Hindu deities, further
drawing on that definition of "avatar." All of the humans in the
movie have their own "Avatar" of sorts, kind of an alternate body
that depicts who they are inside. Jake and Grace have their Na'vi avatars
representing their connection to, and interest in, the native people of
Pandora. Quaritch has this mechanical battle suit armed to the gills with
missiles and guns, representing his lust for war and violence. There's a
friendly pilot who helps our protagonists who is useful by herself but is truly
in her element in the cockpit; she was born to fly. Parker's "avatar"
is more subtle; he spends most of his time in the corporate office and command
center. This is his avatar, and it's not until we see him outside of his
element there that we see what a weak individual he is. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Avatar</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
broke several box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all
time, surpassing Cameron's previous movie, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Titanic</i>,
which had held those record for twelve years prior. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars: The Force Awakens</i> has now become the highest-grossing
movie in North America; it hasn't yet been released worldwide as of writing
this review. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Titanic</i> still hold the top two spots for
highest grossing films worldwide. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar </i>was
nominated for no less than nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best
Director. It ended up winning three, for Best Art Direction, Best
Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. The achievements that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> earned for itself is an indicator
of how good the movie was. I still maintain it's a work of art that should be
seen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Avatar</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling,
but it reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing film
making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> showed us something that we have never seen before and
reminded us of what movies can do, what they are capable of, and what an
experience movies can be. It would be a full-fledged masterpiece if judged
solely on its technical merits. While it wasn't the most original narrative, it
serves the film well, even if it was merely a template for Cameron to show us
this gorgeous world and its landscapes. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar
</i>didn't have the lasting cultural impact that I assumed it would; I haven't
heard of Na'vi-themed weddings the way I've heard about Klingon-themed
weddings. But for awhile, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> was
a hot topic of discussion everywhere you went. If you haven't seen<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Avatar</i> you're missing out on an
incredible cinema experience of technical and visual splendor. Just don't get
your hopes up too high about a unique story. I recommend seeing this movie;
it's also worth owning a copy of to bask in its beautiful artistic expression
every now and again.<br />
<br />
Ever since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avatar</i> came out, there has
been talk about three additional movies. Where do you think these movies could
go in terms of story? Would we explore more biomes on Pandora? Fight off
invading human corporations wanting to mine for resources? What would you like
to see happen? Comment below and tell me all about it!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-34368277572805339612016-01-15T13:02:00.001-06:002016-01-16T03:33:38.692-06:00Time Bandits Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZV4HpJ7XOAtPms2_rZKKe7-z8osrbBptrxGuENNsXjeoIYoqScdkvIEYxvhe6nMCCjz9_4H6WcV1QTN2_AmHxqK3cl0uNrbYUcP6hmpmFlOfil5dPGRs-vGwS7b1_kKDwHoRmmMzF28/s1600/Time-Bandits-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZV4HpJ7XOAtPms2_rZKKe7-z8osrbBptrxGuENNsXjeoIYoqScdkvIEYxvhe6nMCCjz9_4H6WcV1QTN2_AmHxqK3cl0uNrbYUcP6hmpmFlOfil5dPGRs-vGwS7b1_kKDwHoRmmMzF28/s320/Time-Bandits-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Director Terry Gilliam
is known for creating some truly spectacular visuals in a time before digital
special effects were possible. He's done a number of bizarrely fascinating
movies including most of the Monty Python movies, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brazil</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twelve Monkeys</i>, <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-brothers-grimm-review.html">The
Brothers Grimm</a> and <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-adventures-of-baron-munchausen.html">The
Adventures of Baron Munchausen</a>. One of these strange movies, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time Bandits</i> (1981), which seems to be
aimed at kid audiences, was also bizarre enough that I couldn't take my eyes
from it. Yet there wasn't enough actually going on to hold my interests
otherwise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Young history buff
Kevin (Craig Warnock) can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his
closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson),
they've purloined a map charting all of the holes in the fabric of time and are
using it to steal treasures from different hist<span class="dgc">orical eras.
Taking Kevin with them, they variously drop in on Napoleon (Ian Holm), Robin
Hood (John Cleese) and King Agamemnon (Sean Connery) before the Supreme Being
catches up with them. But, in the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness lies Evil
(David Warner) who is also after the map and wants to use it to redo all of
creation in his own dark image.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There
are a variety of celebrities making appearances here, including Peter Vaughan,
Shelly Duvall, and Katherine Helmond, among others. Sean Connery received top
billing in the movie even though he, like most of the other celebrities,
appeared only appeared for maybe twelve minutes all together. They did make fun
characters, even if they were small parts.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
visuals are absolutely fascinating. The special effects are highly detailed and
all were done without computers. So many of the special effect heavy scenes
were mesmerizing. I couldn't take my eyes away and kept wondering how they
actually did some of the effects. The way some of the special effects were done
was a bit obvious, but others were so bizarre I can't for the life of me
imagine how they were done without computers. Even when there aren't abstract
special effects, the structure of the camera shots were also highly detailed.
It makes the whole movie experience hard to look away.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
story here is pretty simple and frankly repetitive. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Basically,
it's just a kid and six dwarfs racing breathlessly through one set piece after
another, shouting at one another. There's not really a well established goal
other than avoid the Supreme Being and Evil. The story is episodic; most of the
segments of the movie could be put in just about any order. In the hands of a
less detailed and meticulous director, I doubt this movie would have done as
well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the surface, this
seems like a pretty kid friendly movie. Our main protagonist is a kid, the
characters are wacky and fun, there's no crudity or vulgarity, in fact it
remains safely in its PG rating. However, I think the bizarre visual effects
and surreal fantasy elements might make <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time
Bandits</i> a bit too creepy for young kids. Even innocuous scenes such as when
Kevin and the Dwarfs are trapped in a cage with literally no background other
than a black void in all directions would have been a bit difficult for my six-year-old
self to wrap his brain around. Some of Evil's henchmen were tall figures with
flowing black robes, horned animal skulls for heads and large hook-shaped arms;
the costumes were simplistic, but would probably be too scary for some young
viewers. I don't necessarily think this is something that should be kept from
kids, but maybe wait until they're a little older and can handle creepy
imagery.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Time
Bandits</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a remarkable time-travel fantasy whose fantastic
set design and homemade special effects create a vivid, original universe, but
left me feeling ambiguous. It has a great cast, but a weak characters. It has
incredible visual effects and camera work, but a flimsy story in which they are
framed. It seems to be intended for kids, but looks like something that would
creep out kids rather than entertain them. Apparently enough snooty film
critics thought that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time Bandits</i> was
important enough to add to The Criterion Collection, a video-distribution
company which specializes in licensing " important classic and
contemporary films" and selling them to film aficionados. I recommend
seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time Bandits</i> only because the
visuals are so fascinating, not so much because it's good. If it sounds too
weird for you, then it probably is and you're probably better off not seeing
it.<br />
<br />
What is the weirdest movie you've ever seen as far as visuals go? Comment below
and tell me about it!</span></div>
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<![endif]-->SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-62547318833745711252016-01-08T13:47:00.000-06:002016-01-10T00:06:47.439-06:00The Ridiculous Six Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8T4K1WgiHTQY4wAlP-Z_uQamUwkUxywoAJY0m2AK8tc2__XQmITbCUnJX10lAa-AAhS-VBYDujRCqM9sLbKrkB7MXUKk1tnsMzqt-nGMb0qtHZ-2uzaaiSLKhtrOXtPcm7YAQwKH2ck/s1600/The-Ridiculous-6-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8T4K1WgiHTQY4wAlP-Z_uQamUwkUxywoAJY0m2AK8tc2__XQmITbCUnJX10lAa-AAhS-VBYDujRCqM9sLbKrkB7MXUKk1tnsMzqt-nGMb0qtHZ-2uzaaiSLKhtrOXtPcm7YAQwKH2ck/s320/The-Ridiculous-6-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Netflix has been
cranking out original material for a while now. They've produced and
distributed their own television series a season at a time for subscribers to
binge watch all at once. Most of them have been critically well received. Just
recently Netflix released a movie also exclusively on their streaming service. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ridiculous Six</i> (2015) is an Adam
Sandler movie, so it didn't perk my interest until I saw a headline stating
that "<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/movies/adam-sandler-ridiculous-six-making-history-netflix-003126774.html">Adam
Sandler's 'Ridiculous Six' Is Making History for Netflix</a>." That
article made me think I should check it out. I now wish that I hadn't bothered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the Old West era, a
calm man named Tommy Stockburn (Sandler) is raised by Native Americans, where
he is named "White Knife", due to his tendency to use knives. He is
soon going to marry his fiancé, Smoking Fox (Julia Jones). As the wedding day
nears, Tommy is approached by his long lost father (Nick Nolte) who tells Tommy
that he needs $50,000 or he'll die at the hands of his former gang. Tommy sets
out on an ridiculous journey to find the money to save his biological father
discovering on the way that his promiscuous father has fathered five half
brothers each with different mothers. Wanting to help save their father, Tommy
is joined by Chico (Terry Crews), Herm (Jorge Garcia), Lil' Pete (Taylor
Lautner), Ramon (Rob Schneider), and Danny (Luke Wilson) all of whom have
nothing in common other than a similar biological father. The six brothers
become an outlaw gang called The Ridiculous Six, stealing money from other
outlaws as they race against time to save dear old dad.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am of the opinion
that Adam Sandler has never made a good movie, and has relied almost
exclusively on asinine, juvenile gags that primarily appeal to young teenage
boys who themselves have incredibly juvenile sensibilities. If you have matured
beyond the level of thirteen-year-old boy I can't imagine any Adam Sandler
movie appealing to you at all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Having said that, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ridiculous Six</i> is breaking Netflix
records for watched movies. There is virtually an all star cast, some of whom
are decent actors and comedians. The trailer made the movie look like it had
potential. I'd been hearing from some outlets that "<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Ridiculous Six</span></i> was
the most-watched Netflix title in history." The specific article I
mentioned above said that this was erroneous reporting and clarified that the
case was actually that "it’s the most streams ever in 30 days of
release." That makes a lot more sense because this movie was absolutely
terrible. Apparently, all of the thirteen-year-old boys from around the
territories Netfix operates in are responsible for this statistic that was
later so misconstrued.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Ridiculous Six</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is considered a slapstick western
comedy. Well, it certainly was a western, but it was too insultingly immature,
tasteless, and stupid to be considered a comedy. I didn't crack a smile once
during the entire two hour movie and kept looking at the remaining run time to
see how much more of this drivel I had to endure. I tend not to like modern
comedy films since they tend to mistake loud, annoying, and bombastic
characters for funny characters and confuse crude jokes and innuendos for
humor. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ridiculous Six</i> is a
classic example of why I don't care for modern comedies. It lacks wit, comedic
timing, irony, or even witty wordplay. More often than not, punch lines involve
a donkey having explosive diarrhea, a middle aged woman mentioning the various
places in a room that she has had sex, or onlookers misinterpreting something
as fellatio. Granted, in the hands of someone who is actually funny, such
scenarios could be delivered in such a way that could be witty enough to be
humorous. Incidentally, this is Adam Sandler's writing and he has yet to prove
to me he has ever had comedic talent at any point in his career. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are a number of
actors in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ridiculous Six </i>who have
been in comedies that I enjoyed. There's a fairly solid cast here, including
Steve Zahn, Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, and Jon Lovitz to name a
few. American rapper "Vanilla Ice" even appears for a small role as
Mark Twain which is just as cringe worthy a thing as you might imagine.
Interestingly, Adam Sandler isn't the usual loud, annoying, and bombastic
character he usually plays. He's counter- typecast as a straight man and allows
everyone else to deliver the funny material (such as it is). Sandler's lack of
flailing around in a vain attempt to convince us he's funny makes this the best
Adam Sandler movie I've seen to date. Furthermore, I've only seen Taylor
Lautner in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twilight</i> film series
where he (and everyone else) was just terrible. He's again counter-typecast
here as a loud, obnoxious, halfwit hillbilly which wasn't nearly as irritating
as his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twilight</i> role. So, this is the
best Taylor Lautner movie I've ever seen, too. That's not saying much, since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ridiculous Six</i> received a rare 0% on
Rotten Tomatoes. Even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Battlefield Earth</i>,
considered one of the worst movies of all time, got 3%.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I feel entertainment
press manipulated me into watching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Ridiculous Six</i> through misrepresenting statistics and facts about it. It's
yet another markedly not-funny movie from Adam Sandler. It's every bit as
lazily offensive as its cast and concept would suggest. The writing was bad.
The acting was decent for what it was, including some noteworthy
counter-typecasting. This comedy movie was completely devoid of humor; the
jokes are often juvenile and gross, unsophisticated and insensitive. I am of
the opinion that juvenility, grossness, or insensitivity shouldn't by any means
be outright removed from the comic tool kit; the way these comic tools are used
here just isn't good at all. This movie just isn't good by any metric. <i>The
Ridiculous Six</i> is standard couch fare for Adam Sandler fanatics and
must-avoid viewing for film enthusiasts of every other persuasion.</span></div>
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<![endif]-->SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-75019762867542493002016-01-01T13:29:00.000-06:002016-02-13T00:24:19.639-06:00Antboy Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I keep seeing this
superhero title appear on Netflix. It looks delightfully ridiculous, and I
finally got around to seeing it. <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Not
to be confused with Marvel's </span><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/07/ant-man-review.html">Ant-Man</a><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> which hit theaters last year, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antboy</i> (2013) is a low-budget,
kid-friendly Danish superhero film<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">
which has a bizarre charm, a few worthwhile laughs, and tons of geeky comic
book references. I can't honestly call it good, but it is enjoyable in a
strange sort of way.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">12-year-old Pelle
Nøhrmann (Oscar Dietz) is bitten by a genetically altered ant and develops
superpowers. Aided by comic book nerd Wilhelm (Samuel Ting Graf), Pelle creates
a secret identity as superhero Antboy. When a super villain, The Flea, (Nicolas
Bro) enters the scene, Antboy must step up to the challenge.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the charming
things about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antboy</i> is that it's very
kid-centered. Many of the contemporary superhero movies revolve around
adult-themes which are interesting, but not things kids could relate to so
much. For example, Tony Stark in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iron Man</i>
is constantly having to deal with the problems of running a multi-million
dollar tech industry and stopping government interference. Scott Lang in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ant-Man</i> is basically trying to get a job
and earn custody of his daughter before getting mixed up in superhero stuff.
Clark Kent in <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/06/man-of-steel-movie-review.html">Man
of Steel</a> is searching for a sense of identity and moral restraint. These
are more grown-up issues which give these superheroes depth. Pelle is simply
trying to fit in at school, make a friend, and maybe earn the affection of the
prettiest girl in school. The kid's only 12, and has a good, healthy home life.
Making friends, gaining popularity, and maybe getting a girl's attention is
about as deep as most 12-year-old's issues get under such circumstances. But at
the same time, that's the kind of thing kids are concerned with. It makes this
kid-focused story relatable to the kid-targeted audience. There's an amusing
scene early in the movie where Pelle enacts his superhero fantasies with
stuffed animals, which is another kid-thing you'll never see the likes of
Batman doing. Humorously, the comic book style "sound effects" that
appear on screen as Pelle fights his teddy bear heralds back to Adam West's
Batman.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a Danish film,
and the version streaming on Netflix is dubbed in English. That's helpful since
I doubt younger kids could read subtitles fast enough to keep up with the
dialogue. However, even though I prefer subtitled movies in their original
language, I imagine anyone would find the dubbing in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antboy</i> annoying. Not so much because the dialogue is out of sync
with lip movement, but because the English voice actors are pretty bland. They
seem bored at times and their vocal inflections seemed a bit off, given what
the actor was doing or saying; such as sounding more excited or subdued than
what the actor was emoting. Annoying as the dubbing was at times, it still gave
the movie a weird sort of charm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Marvel's Ant-Man
character has the ability to shrink down to ant size, has super strength, and
can control/communicate with ants. For more on why that actually is cool, go
read my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ant-Man </i>review. Antboy,
however, has powers that sound more along the lines of what one would expect
from a superhero who has "ant powers." He can bite through just about
anything, has an incredible sense of smell, can lift fifty times his own
weight, and can crawl on walls. Since ants excrete corrosive fluids, Antboy has
also gained the ability to urinate acid. He pees on a door to get through it at
one point. Sadly, there will not be a scene wherein Antboy tactically pees on a
foe; it's a PG film after all. But Antboy's powers are finite; since they are
fueled by sugary foods. As such, Antboy's utility belt is stuffed full of soda
and candy bars; another humorously kid-centric idea. There's a scene later in
the movie where Antboy has to break into a vending machine and chug all the
sweets therein to continue fighting his arch-nemesis. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Antboy</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
is very safely in the realm of PG. The violence that occurs in the movie
happens largely off-screen; no punches or anything else land on camera. Antboy
himself deals out no physical violence. However since this is a foreign film it
features a few things that are not something you'd ordinarily see in American
films. The kid peeing acid for example. I mean, we see nothing other than a
urine stream, but urinating is something that is implied in US films, not
shown. Also, when we learn about The Flea and his history and powers it's a bit
on the dark side. It's not unlike supervillain clichés we all know and love,
but it's a bit dark for a PG-rated kid movie. Nevertheless, I wouldn't have any
issues with showing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antboy</i> to young
kids. I'd be curious to see how they'd like it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Antboy</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
is a lot like a low-budget retread of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spider-Man</i>
on the surface, but is a bit off-kilter on some details, leaving one pleasantly
baffled. The kid-friendly drama is overall pretty lame, but the execution is amusing,
awkward, and charming in its own way. It's a considerable shlock-fest, but it's
kind of a fun shlock-fest. The acting (and voice dubbing) might be substandard,
but it looks like the crew probably had a fun time making <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antboy</i> and they achieved what they set out to do; make a wacky,
kid-friendly superhero movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. I probably
won't go out of my way to see it again, but I enjoyed it for what it was worth.
It's not a bad way to spend a little over an hour if you have Netflix's
streaming service.<br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antboy</i> seems to have done well for
itself. There is a sequel that was made and a third installment is due out
later this year. I'll be on the lookout for those.<br />
<br />
Can you think of other good Independent superhero movies that aren't big-budget
films based on well established comic books? Comment below and tell me about
it!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-53766705412271419662015-12-25T19:53:00.001-06:002015-12-25T19:53:38.959-06:00Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2WIkKXElVg-AASKLlGzIBKQhanZbFWM33Kjz4_6gKiFJ8C3pzVwC39c2MugFbPBUd25LHuW_jfCl2j9e2Us2BXoWwBJm4kQaYlIJn_ccIy57eN6rolpv_-HiAlxtaZLILYr-dCJs0o4/s1600/Stars-War-The-Force-Awakens-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2WIkKXElVg-AASKLlGzIBKQhanZbFWM33Kjz4_6gKiFJ8C3pzVwC39c2MugFbPBUd25LHuW_jfCl2j9e2Us2BXoWwBJm4kQaYlIJn_ccIy57eN6rolpv_-HiAlxtaZLILYr-dCJs0o4/s320/Stars-War-The-Force-Awakens-movie-poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, in case you've been
living under a rock for the past several months, there is a new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> movie out! Being respectful of
all my fellow geeks on the internet who have begged the rest of the internet to
avoid spoilers, I will avoid being too specific here and describe my
impressions. Apart from a broad synopsis in the following paragraph, I won't
reveal anything you haven't seen in the trailers you've probably seen 147
times. Of course, if you want to go in to the movie fresh with nothing but the trailers on your mind, I wouldn't read beyond this paragraph. I will say here, though, that this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star
Wars</i> movie feels more like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i>
than all the prequel trilogy movies combined. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars: The Force Awakens</i> (2015) is a good, solid film.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thirty years after the
defeat of the Galactic Empire, the galaxy faces a new threat from the evil Kylo
Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order. When a defector named Finn (John Boyega)
crash-lands on a desert planet, he meets Rey (Daisy Ridley), a tough scavenger
whose droid contains a top-secret map. Together, the<span class="dgc"> young duo
joins forces with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to make sure the Resistance receives
the intelligence that could potentially turn the course of the ongoing fight
against the First Order.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There,
see? That wasn't too spoilery, was it? Honestly, I'm doing my best not to
tarnish your experience seeing this movie.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
was legitimately worried about this movie when it was announced; the last time
I got excited about a new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i>
release it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">SUCKED</i></b>. That abominable prequel trilogy tarnished <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> with abysmal storytelling,
insulting characters, flimsy plots, blatant self-promotion for merchandise,
twisting established rules of the setting, too much CGI and poor green screen
execution, iconic characters (like Yoda) behaving in completely contrary to how
they were previously established, a lack of impacting significant scenes, and
too much unrealistic lightsaber madness. If any of that had appeared in this
new Star Wars movie, director J.J. Abrams would forever after by referred to as
"Jar-Jar Abrams" and lost his credibility as a director. Thankfully,
gratefully, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force Awakens</i> makes
genuine effort to shake <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> from
its slumber, and reconnect the series with it's much pined for past. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force Awakens</i> is what we were hoping
for when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Phantom Menace</i> was
announced, and it is good.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
loved this new cast. We've got new a great set of characters who are interesting
and dynamic as well as some solid actors playing them. I'm glad we're getting
some more diversity in the cast; the original trilogy featured two female
characters and one token black guy. Here, we've got a couple of new female
characters and a black lead character who isn't just there to be a token
support cast member. Rey is a spunky, self-reliant young woman with a charming
accent who both wants to leave her situation, but is determined to stay and
stick it out. Finn has a disquieting past and a sheltered upbringing; a lot of
the universe is new to him and we get to experience the unfamiliarity of this
new story along with him. Kylo Ren is a complex antagonist; he is an
intimidating force to be reckoned with. He is dangerous and unpredictable, but
clearly feels morally justified in his motives. You very quickly enjoy
disliking him, but the more we learn about him the more empathy we feel for
Kylo Ren. I loved these characters and am truly looking forward to seeing them
in action in the future!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was a sheer joy to see Han Solo again. I've seen several of Harrison Ford's
more recent films and much as I love the guy, he is showing his age. However,
it's been awhile since I've seen Ford look this energetic and spry in a movie.
This 73-year-old actor not only takes on the mantle of his legendary, iconic
role again, he very clearly enjoyed doing it! There are a couple other
appearances of some familiar faces, but Han Solo as a major character (rather
than a cameo) genuinely gave this movie a fun and deeply nostalgic aspect.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Vague
as my synopsis above was, I'm sure it sounds familiar if you are a fan of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force Awakens</i> seemed to borrow several elements from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A New Hope</i>. This is both good and bad.
On the one hand, structurally, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force
Awakens</i> almost seems like we're repeating the past on some level. But on
the other hand, there are enough new locations, events, and characters, that
the two movies don't quite compare. It almost seems like a remake of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A New Hope</i> with so many creative
liberties taken that it's effectively a completely different movie, but still
rings true to the original enough that it fits perfectly in to the franchise's
chronology without repeating itself.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Star Wars</span></i></span><span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
has notoriously challenged itself in fight scenes in the past. For example,
take the battle on Hoth in at the beginning of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Empire Strikes Back</i> against the Empire's AT-ATs or the battle
on the verdant moon of Endor in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Return of
the Jedi</i> with the high speed chases through the trees. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force Awakens</i> does this as well. In one scene (shown in the
trailer; not a spoiler) there is an aerial dogfight between TIE fighters and
X-Wings close enough to the ground that the ships reflections are seen in the
lake nearby, while in close proximity our heroes fight off stormtroopers on the
ground. This was amazingly choreographed and was fascinating to watch. There
are other dogfights in space between the First Order and the Resistance toward
the end of the movie which are intense, creative, and exciting!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
prequel trilogy had basically nothing but lightsaber fights when two characters
were going head-to-head. Sure, we all love lightsabers but having every fight
involve lightsabers cheapens their impact. In<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> The Force Awakens</i> we have some lightsaber fights, but they are
reserved for the major, climactic fights. They are easily among the best
lightsaber fight scenes. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A New Hope,</i>
choreography wasn't well established and looked more like two people waving
glowsticks at each other, even when it was an iconic confrontation. In the prequel
trilogy it was over choreographed to the point that it looked like </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltkp4dpeVB1r03eggo1_500.gif">dancing
with glow sticks that rarely even hit one another</a><span class="dgc">. In this
movie, the lightsaber fights strongly resembled real sword fights. Kylo Ren's
lightsaber resembled a heavy broadsword and he moved like it had a lot of
weight. His opponents clearly lacked experience fighting with lightsabers and
it showed in their technique. They end up being some of the most
realistic-looking lightsaber fights in the franchise.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a beautiful
subtlety to new material and to the references of previous films in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force Awakens</i>. In the Prequel
trilogy the movie practically asks, "Okay, stop everything. This is where
we are going to find out where C-3P0 came from. Just look at how much effort
went into the puppet for this character." The original trilogy didn't stop
everything to tell you how important a new character will be; it didn't stop to
tell you who Obi-Wan Kanobi is or what a lightsaber does. It just shows you the
amazing new concept or character, and if it's important it shows you what it
does along the way. There are new crazy weapons that stormtroopers use (again,
we see this in the trailer; not a spoiler) and we see it in action just long
enough for that one fight to occur. Characters develop gradually along with the
story over the span of the movie, giving them depth. We don't stop everything merely
to show off something new, it's just part of the movie and we watch in awe as
we take it in. It's beautifully subtle and makes for a smooth-flowing story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Star
Wars: The Force Unleashed</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a good, solid movie. It's
everything we had hoped and dreamed of back in 1999 before getting the rug
pulled out from under us by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Phantom
Menace</i>. It's got a good story packed with action and populated by both
familiar faces and fresh blood. This movie successfully recalls the series'
former glory while injecting it with renewed energy. It has a solid beginning,
middle, and end but leaves some questions unanswered which will inevitably be
addressed in future installments. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Force Awakens</i> begins another epic chapter in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> Saga in the best possible way. This is absolutely worth
seeing in theaters, and I urge you to do so. This is the quality of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> movie we want to see in the
future, so please help make sure it does well in the box office. This is also
well worth the investment to own when it is available on home video.<br />
<br />
What were your impressions of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars:
The Force Awakens</i>? Comment below and tell me about it, but kindly avoid
spoilers for anyone who may not have seen it yet.</span></div>
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<![endif]-->SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-14884755027394906942015-12-18T23:19:00.003-06:002015-12-18T23:19:30.398-06:00Krampus Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3_wzRrkX7FmCyBGBRez8rH3x7zxBd8XFRzXu_PzUnKiX4wlRAMAwP7nhidF-_WXiblJ8b4AEXpOJeNtHWOLCjTKGNrN_CYYbYsJbSoViEsF7EVjsdDV4MkDdwEiYIYeYjpIy3YOpIro/s1600/Krampus-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3_wzRrkX7FmCyBGBRez8rH3x7zxBd8XFRzXu_PzUnKiX4wlRAMAwP7nhidF-_WXiblJ8b4AEXpOJeNtHWOLCjTKGNrN_CYYbYsJbSoViEsF7EVjsdDV4MkDdwEiYIYeYjpIy3YOpIro/s320/Krampus-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a Austro-Bavarian
Alpine folklore character called Krampus, a horned, anthropomorphic figure who
punishes children who have misbehaved during the Christmas season, in contrast
with Saint Nicholas who rewards the well-behaved with gifts. Frankly, I'm
surprised this demonic folklore figure hasn't been used as a horror movie
villain before now. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Krampus</i> (2015)
features an ironic take on Christmas in general, features B-movie camp, and
disappointingly little Krampus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While the holiday
season represents the most magical time of year, ancient European folklore
warns of Krampus, a horned beast who punishes naughty children at Christmas
time. When dysfunctional family squabbling causes young Max (Emjay Anthony) to
lose his festive spirit, it unleashes the wrath of th<span class="dgc">e fearsome
demon. As Krampus lays siege to the Engel home, mom (Toni Collette), dad (Adam
Scott), sister (Stefania LaVie Owen) and brother must band together with their dreadful
visiting relatives to save one another from a monstrous fate.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So,
it seems that the Krampus character has popped up increasingly in pop culture,
including the Christmas episode of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American
Dad</i> TV series in season 9, where I first heard about it. When we hear about
Krampus in the movie, he is referred to as "The shadow of Saint Nicholas."
It seems to represent the bad qualities of Christmas that many people are
becoming cynical about these days. This cynisism was beautifully <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Krampus</i> starts with Bing Crosby singing
"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Chrismas" while we see Black
Friday shoppers trample store employees. beat each other up over merchandise, kids
getting into fistfights in the middle of Christmas pageants, stressed
housewives trying to make elaborate dinners, huge messes of holiday wrapping
paper. This ironic opening scene was just beautiful; it captured the essence of
the unpleasantness that Christmas can bring when we become materialistic, mindless
consumers, and spiteful towards other people and family members during a season
that claims to be about love, sharing, and kindness. It's this sort of attitude
in part that draws the attention of Krampus.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
had really hoped the movie would go on to explore this lack of Christmas Spirit
during the Christmas season, but it dosen't delve into it nearly as much as it
had potential to. So many Christmas movies and TV specials try to sell
"The True Meaning of Christmas" by having some grouchy Scrooge
character or busy professional have a sweet change of heart and learn to love
or some scientifically inclined intellectual experience the "magic"
of the Christmas season and suddenly believe in Santa Clause or some such
tripe. Here I was hoping to see Krampus terrorize people into a state of
humility and gratitude that forced them to understand the love, personal
sacrifice, and kindness that they claim they have but obviously didn't. There
was tons of potential to do an ironic and scary "True Meaning of
Christmas" thing. It started out that way, but quickly devolved into a
Christmas themed home-invasion horror story with very little Krampus. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Krampus
has hoards of ironic Christmas themed minions that he keeps sending into the
house to abduct and terrorize the Engel family and their houseguests. There are
killer Gingerbread men, a many-toothed teddy bear, a creepy angel, and a monstrous
worm-like creature inside of a jack-in-the-box clown, to name a few. It's a
more mature juxtaposition of Christmas and Halloween than was used in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-nightmare-before-christmas-movie.html">The
Nightmare Before Christmas</a></i>. The family ends up fighting off these
creatures repeatedly; Krampus doesn't really appear until near the end. He's
the titular character and we see a disappointing lack of this him. He's not
really even a presence until the end. By that point he had hardly been
established as a central villain and we didn't have a whole lot of reason to be
afraid of Krampus specifically other than he looked kind of creepy.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With
all the Christmas irony crammed into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Krampus</i>,
it can be considered a horror/comedy. There's quite a bit of irony playing on
Christmas special tropes, but that dies off rather early on. There's still humorous
gems of dialogue strewn throughout the script. The relatives that come to visit
Engel home are akin to the Cousin Eddie's family in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation</i> with none of the charm. Angry
with his hosts, Uncle Howard complains to his wife, "We should have gone
to stay with my brother!" "Your brother lives in a barn!" she says.
"Jesus was born in a barn!" Later </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"I
just got my ass kicked by a bunch of Christmas cookies!" proclaims Howard
after one of the more comical attack scenes. Some eerie remixes of ordinarily
cheery Christmas songs make their way into the background during action scenes
which add to the surrealism and irony of the scenes.<span class="dgc"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
horror bits were kind of fun and creepy, but it feels like the movie held back
a lot on the violence. When there is an opportunity for gore, it mostly happens
off screen. The monsters are kind of scary and creepy, but not terribly grotesque.
There are a number of scenes when it sounds like the characters are about to
drop an F-bomb, but are either interupted or the dialogue sounds similar but is
obscured with loud sound effects in hopes that audiences wouldn't notice there
was a lack of profanity. This is all fine and dandy, but seems to be a watered
down version of what the movie had in mind</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. The movie
stays safely within its PG-13 rating, it just seems like the movie is holding
itself back, which ultimately weakens what the movie was aiming for. It's as if
it's trying to be really scary without letting itself be properly frightening.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Krampus
</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is
an ironic and down-to-earth spin on the normally whimsical and saccharine sweet
Christmas movies and TV specials that we are bombarded with around this time of
year. It's got funny bits, but the horror aspect takes center stage more often
than not. There's funny dialogue, B-movie horror schlock, and doesn't get
preachy about what it thinks you should think about Christmas. There is little
interaction with the movie's titular monster, which is a big letdown, and it doesn't
explore the potential for commenting on how awful some people are around the holiday.
It feels restrained and didn't allow itself to do all it wanted to do, which
keeps it from its full potential. It starts out strong, but has a weak, vague,
and disappointing conclusion. It's almost like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gremlins</i> meets <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National
Lampoon's Christmas Vacation</i>, but isn't nearly as good as either one. I
can't recommend seeing this in theaters; it's just not worth the price of a
movie ticket. If it does sound interesting enough for you to want to see, I'd
wait to rent it from RedBox or something.<br />
<br />
Are there other obscure mythological figures associated with holidays that
you'd like to see star in a creature feature? Comment below to tell me all
about it!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-77780452965916060312015-12-11T22:36:00.001-06:002015-12-11T22:36:43.366-06:00The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlbkKgBUD74cI-En0oqL2EMe-cjOaIUNvR8PEqNAH25XyjZcKe5bSGic7MSIzh9VD0jEt9n1sk-xBeCiQKVEqQ9RfEbtLh8tn1WjtxcEpAg4oHCArMj6HNhIZ-lu_Y6kmJugWCMWWi5A/s1600/mockingjay-part-2-poster.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlbkKgBUD74cI-En0oqL2EMe-cjOaIUNvR8PEqNAH25XyjZcKe5bSGic7MSIzh9VD0jEt9n1sk-xBeCiQKVEqQ9RfEbtLh8tn1WjtxcEpAg4oHCArMj6HNhIZ-lu_Y6kmJugWCMWWi5A/s320/mockingjay-part-2-poster.jpeg" width="210" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, we were left with a
cliffhanger at the end of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-i.html">The
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I</a></i>, and a year later we finally get to see
the conclusion in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay Part II</i> (2015). It's been an exciting series and this final installment
lived up to expectations set by previous films. This one got really intense in
some scenes, but felt lacking in some way in other scenes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After young Katniss
Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) agrees to be the symbol of rebellion, the
Mockingjay, she tries to return Peeta to his normal state, tries to get to the
Capitol, and tries to deal with the battles coming her way. Katniss teams up
with her closest friends, including, Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Finnick (Sam
Claflin) and a now unstable Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) for their ultimate mission.
Together, they leave District 13 to liberate the citizens of war-torn Panem and<span class="dgc"> assassinate President Snow (Donald Sutherland), who's obsessed with
destroying Katniss. What lies ahead are mortal traps, dangerous enemies, and
moral choices that will ultimately determine the future of millions.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I never miss an opportunity
to praise Jennifer Lawrence for her acting chops. She's simply fantastic here;
she's the caliber of actress who improves the quality of the film she's in just
by her presence, even if the movie is bad (take <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2014/10/house-at-end-of-street-review.html">House
at the End of the Street</a>, for example). Katniss a fantastic female
protagonist. She's a somewhat oblivious but totally hardcore heroine who
sometimes responds in stereotypically feminine ways but, more often than not,
breaks convention. She’s a breadwinner and protector, quick to anger,
emotionally damaged, confused, and heroic. Katniss is brave and strong, skilled
and smart, and, always, distinctly a teenage girl. She's the kind of character
I'd want my daughters to model. Josh Hutcherson was fantastic as well. By this
point in the story Peeta is significantly damaged and has been driven mad, and
Hutcherson plays that incredibly well and convincingly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There were two scenes
in the book that I was worried would be left out or downplayed in the interest
of time; seeking asylum from a person living in The Capital whose cosmetic
surgeries and fashionable alterations made her look inhuman, and the "true
or not true" game. The surviving members of Katniss's group seek refuge
from a fashion clothing designer named Tigris in The Capital, her body
alterations made her strongly resemble a tiger. In the book she was depicted as
a tragic character to show that the beauty obsessed Capital was cruel to even
their own citizens who nearly destroyed their bodies in the interest of keeping
up with expectations to the point that they were no longer themselves and then
discarded. It's a small, but poignant role that backed up the theme. Sadly this
was downplayed to just being a weird character that randomly helped our heroes.
That wasn't unexpected, but I'm glad she at least appeared briefly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the previous movie, Peeta's
memories were tampered with and was conditioned to think that Katniss was the
cause of all the war and fighting. He actively tries to kill Katniss because he
believes that's the right thing to do. After some reconditioning in District
13, he understands that his memories and personality have been altered. In
order to help Peeta sort out true memories from fabricated ones, he and Katniss
play this "true or not true" game where Peeta describes something
according to his skewed recollection and Katniss tells him if it's accurate or
not, which is confirmed by others since Peeta doesn't trust Katniss. Not only
is this a fantastic bit of character development, it's also something that
could legitimately be used for helping people with anxiety. This was incorporated
perfectly into the movie and I was highly pleased to see it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The action here is
intense! It still remains within its PG-13 bounds, but wow, parts of it was
intense. There are insane, sadistic traps our heroes encounter and try to
survive. Some are really cool and lend themselves to some amazing action
scenes. There is one part, however, that really set me on edge. In the tunnels
under The Capitol, the team encounters some terrifying monsters. I knew it was
coming, but I did not expect what happened on the screen. All our heroes were
on edge hearing something creepy in the dark, you just know something is going
to jump out of the dark for a big scare, but the anticipation lingers for a
long time. So long, in fact, that I was feeling genuinely distressed and
fidgety. Something is going to scare me, I just know it. The scene ends up
going just long enough that I started to doubt that event was going to happen
yet, at which point I jumped out of both my seat and my skin. It was followed
by an insane action scene that was also highly intense. It was really good! Thematically
the movie gets very grim and dark, so much so I wonder if some younger viewers
would be okay watching it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In my review of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingjay Part I</i>, I complained that
there was a lot of down time which hurt the pacing of the movie. That was less
of an issue in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Part II</i>, but it still
lacked something. The first two movies were both exciting and dramatic, and
that made them incredibly good. I think the problem with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingjay Part II</i> is that it's mostly just exciting. The action
was great, the effects were stunning, the tension was palpable, and the
characters were good. I think where the problem lies is in parts of the aftermath
and conclusion. I'll avoid spoilers here, but there's a vague sense of betrayal
between some of the characters which deserved a bit more exploration or at
least allusion. A death of a certain character could have been more impactful.
The personalities and importance of some secondary characters were lost in the
transition from book to movie (like Tigris). I think that if these few bits had
been given more gravitas, it would have made <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingjay Part II</i> even better. The decision to turn a 390-page
book into over four hours worth of screen time (and a bonus payday for the
studio) has resulted in a patchy end to a franchise that started so
promisingly. It's still good, but the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingjay</i>
story was weakened by stretching it out further than was necessary. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tragically, Phillip
Seymour Hoffman passed away during the filming of both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingjay</i> movies in February 2014. He played an outstanding Plutarch
Heavensbee, but this was his last appearance after a long career in film. All
but two scenes involving Hoffman were completed by the time of his death. Regarding
Hoffman's scenes, Lawrence commented that, "He had two substantial scenes
left and the rest were appearances in other scenes. We had no intention of
trying to fake a performance, so we rewrote those scenes to give to other
actors… The rest, we just didn’t have him appear in those scenes. There’s no
digital manipulation or CG fabrication of any kind." It was an honorable
way to pay respects to the actor and his accomplishments.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> comes to an exacting
and somewhat satisfying ending. Overall, the series of films is good, even if
the two <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingjay</i> films suffered
from being divided into two movies and lacked significant impact during the
conclusion. It was still usually poignant when it needed to be and highly
exciting. This last movie takes a remarkably dark tone even by comparison to
its predecessors, some of the action and tension might get to be a bit too much
for younger audiences, but it's positively riveting. If you can still catch
this in theaters, I'd say go for it. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Hunger Games</i> movies are worth owning copies of, and pulling out once in a
while to relive the legacy of Katniss Everdeen again and again.<br /><br />What other Young Adult novel trilogy would you like to see made into a movie in the future? Comment below and let me know!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-76176594079578735432015-12-04T20:37:00.001-06:002015-12-04T20:37:48.067-06:00The Good Dinosaur Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiza6zUhC2b39njC_KogjTDUrouH9uSQd8spPi4wUShoJR_AdKr3SQ8iW6gLz33NWPxui67pDo5_9zCUdEV10vgiOgyzDXeZHgJKHipXU6ghjPnXnbEB0SumcvXYJP-tDyWpM9BSwDDFb4/s1600/The-Good-Dinosaur-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiza6zUhC2b39njC_KogjTDUrouH9uSQd8spPi4wUShoJR_AdKr3SQ8iW6gLz33NWPxui67pDo5_9zCUdEV10vgiOgyzDXeZHgJKHipXU6ghjPnXnbEB0SumcvXYJP-tDyWpM9BSwDDFb4/s320/The-Good-Dinosaur-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I, for one, think it's
highly interesting that Pixar has released two feature films in the same year.
That's a gutsy move when you consider the fact that the two movies will
therefore be in competition against each other for Best Animated Feature for
the upcoming Oscars. This second Pixar movie, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good Dinosaur</i> (2015), ended up being above average. It hasn't
quite lifted the movie studio out of their slump of mediocrity, but it is a
step in the right direction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Luckily for the young apatosaurus
named Arlo, his parents (Jeffrey Wright & Frances McDormand) and his two
siblings, the mighty dinosaurs were not wiped out 65 million years ago. When a
rainstorm washes poor Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) downriver, he ends up bruised,
battered and miles away from home. Good fortune shines on the f<span class="dgc">rightened
dino when he meets a Neanderthal boy whom Arlo names Spot (Jack Bright) who
offers Arlo help and friendship. Together, the unlikely duo embark on an epic
adventure to reunite Arlo with his beloved family. </span></span></div>
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<span class="dgc"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
wasn't sure what I was getting into with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Good Dinosaur</i>. The trailer mostly boasted Pixar's usual stellar animation,
but didn't give us much of a hint at the story. This is usually a bad sign. The
last thing I was expecting was a prehistoric western. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good Dinosaur </i>is structured like a western, but doesn't make
it's character so human-acting that it's obviously a western. Arlo's family
works on a farm growing crops to keep themselves fed during colder seasons, but
they don't have farm equipment per say; they kind of work the fields tilling
the ground with their nose, build a silo out of rocks and mud, and they live in
a cave; it is still the stone age, after all. Arlo is a farm boy who gets lost
after a storm and meets what is functionally a stray dog and the two help each
other out as they face the wilderness together. They meet a psychotic cult of pterodactyls
who worship bad weather and lead by Thunderclap (Steve Zahn). They also meet
Butch (Sam Elliott) and his family of cowboy tyrannosaurus whose
"ranch" is full of prehistoric longhorns. Arlo and Spot help fight
off a pack of </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">cattle
rustling velociraptors. Along the way Arlo learns the meaning of courage on his
way home. The story of <i>The Good Dinosaur </i>is a prehistoric frontier
survival saga and something of a vision quest. That alone is a neat concept
which was expertly executed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most kids movies are
fast paced, but surprisingly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good
Dinosaur</i> is slower, almost poky in its non-frantic pace. Many Pixar movies
hold dearly the values of manic verbal humor and elaborate chase sequences, but
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good Dinosaur</i> favors some very
straightforward and classy storytelling which also heralds back to old western
movies. There is a profound charm and beauty to the wordless stretches in the
movie. Moments like these are when the humor is predominantly physical and the
striking prehistoric scenery takes precedence. I could see some viewers
(possibly even kids) being put off by this more relaxed pace and the simplicity
of the direct story, but I found the straightforwardness and the more leisurely
paced film to be refreshing. This isn't to say that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good Dinosaur</i> is boring or even slow; it just doesn't move at a
manic pace nor is it a complex tale. It still boasts some emotional heft to it,
even with simple characters like Arlo who is basically defined by little more
than how he recoils from and then confronts his crippling fears. Like most
Pixar films, it caused me to tear up on more than on occasion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pixar has always set an
unprecedented high standard for their animation, and this one was no different.
The prehistoric background - mountains, valleys, forests, and rivers - are
animated with such realism it practically looks like it was shot with a video
camera rather than animated on a computer. Yet the characters are given
cartoonish proportions and movements which gives the movie an almost surreal
quality. The characters are still highly detailed and beautifully animated.
Everything from the gentle bob of an animal's breathing to the fluid shifts in
Spot's facial expressions was clearly, lovingly rendered. There are even
incredibly designed scenes (which I won't detail here for the sake of avoiding
spoilers) that make the sky itself resemble shark-infested waters. The
animation is positively amazing and is sure to impress and awe.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Good Dinosaur</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> delivers some incredibly beautiful
animation and worthy story. Even if it doesn't quite live up to Pixar's lofty
standards, it still ends up being a charming, family-friendly movie. There are
echoes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lion King</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bambi</i>, and many other timeless Disney
classics in this simple coming-of-age story. It is a good movie, but pitted
against the previous Pixar movie from this year I'd place my bet on <a href="http://dustinoffthereels.blogspot.com/2015/06/inside-out-review.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inside Out</i></a> for Best Animated Feature.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good Dinosaur </i>is worth seeing in
theaters, and probably worth owning on Blu-Ray eventually. Dinosaur-loving kids
will likely love this movie to pieces. <br />
<br />
Can you think of another "metaphorical western?" Something that isn't
literally a western sort of genre, but has a lot of similarities to it? Comment
below and let me know!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706649753643414192.post-50335203748791512372015-11-27T18:47:00.000-06:002015-11-27T18:47:23.239-06:00Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A good twelve years ago
Disney threw us a curveball of a movie. No one seemed to know it was coming
until the trailers hit the internet, and no one had seen a movie quite like it,
so there were no preconceived notions or expectations to live up to. Not only
did this movie wow us with a great deal of fun and creative action, it
reignited interest in pirates and once again made them a romanticized notion
that people surprisingly flocked to. I am, of course, referring to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pirates Of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl</i> (2003).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Captain Jack Sparrow
(Johnny Depp) arrives at Port Royal in the Caribbean without a ship or crew.
His timing is inopportune, however, because later that evening the town is
besieged by a pirate ship lead by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). The pirates
kidnap the governor's daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), who's in
possession of a valu<span class="dgc">able coin that is linked to a curse that
has transformed the pirates into the undead. A gallant blacksmith, Will Turner
(Orlando Bloom), in love with Elizabeth, tentatively allies with Sparrow in
pursuit of the pirates.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As far as I can tell,
this was the first time Disney had attempted to make a feature film based on
one of their park rides. There have been other attempts which can best be
described as bad. I suspect part of the appeal of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Pearl</i> was to see exactly how a notorious kids theme park ride
transitioned into a movie. Really well, as it turns out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are lots of nods to the ride in the
film, but none are so overt that they beat you over the head with them. For
example, the ride's song "Yo Ho "A Pirate's Life for Me" was
sung three times in the film; twice by Elizabeth and once by Jack in the final
scene. The jail scene where prisoners try to tempt the Prison Dog who held the
keys to their cells with a bone is taken directly from the ride. Even Jack's
line, "the dog is never going to move" referenced the fact that the
dog in the ride never actually moves. If you know what to watch for, you can
see many actors behaving like the puppets do on the ride for a second or two on
screen or in the background. This movie was so influential that it sparked
interest in going on the Disneyland ride. Kids who grew up watching the movie
ended up disappointed by a trip to Disneyland when they didn't see Jack Sparrow
in the ride. Disney ultimately had to change the ride up a bit to resemble the
movie due to its popularity. The ride now features Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, and
Davey Jones (who appears in later films).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This was the first time
in ages a legitimate sea epic had been filmed. Parts of the sea-faring scenes
were actually filmed on location in the Caribbean oceans. Real sea ships were
used in many of these scenes, while meticulously decorated barge "stunt
doubles" with computer-generated imagery filling in the details were used
in other scenes. This gave the movie a realistic feel to it that wouldn't have
worked as well if it were all CGI visual effects. But what CGI effects were
used were fantastic! Even twelve years after its release, it still looks good;
the movie has aged very well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Objectively, the story
here isn't great. It's decent and fun, but isn't great. I truly don't think
this movie would have done nearly as well with anyone else cast as Jack
Sparrow. Johnny Depp was encouraged to adlib and improvise a lot in this movie,
and he does. Depp's outstanding, unforgettable, and charismatic character often
takes center stage and steals scenes he's in. He effortlessly shoves the cliché
love plot out of the way and makes the film his own. Jack Sparrow is so
charming, funny, and likable that you can't help but enjoy the movie as a
whole. I'm not sure how the cast and crew were able to keep a straight face
when Depp was hamming it up as the character he created. Even Jack Sparrow's
catchphrase, "Savvy?" was improvised by Depp.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
is a great movie. It's not perfect, but there truly is very little that can be
said about this film in a negative light. It is clever, witty, and sharp. One
of the true achievements, however, is that it isn't <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">too</i> witty and sharp; it knew its boundaries, unlike the sequels.
The seriousness of the situations these characters were put in feel real, which
caused us to care about what was happening to them. This movie became an
instant cult classic and reignited film fans' love of pirate adventures. The
fact that it had no expectation contrasts with its sequels, which is why it was
probably so successful. The movies that came after this first one had their
good and bad attributes, and even with a fifth installment coming out in 2017,
I cannot for the life of me imagine it topping <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Curse of the Black Pearl</i>. In fact, I can't see any pirate film
surpassing this landmark film for some time to come. This is absolutely worth
owning a copy; I've got my own copy already comfortably resting on a shelf next
to some of my other favorites. If you haven't seen this movie, you're missing
out. If you have seen it, it's high time you saw it again.<br />
<br />
If another theme park ride (Disney or otherwise) were made into a movie what
would you like to see? Comment below and let me know!</span></div>
SuperDustin83http://www.blogger.com/profile/09713257877513964105noreply@blogger.com0