I have just gotten back from seeing Peter Jackson's latest film, The Lovely Bones. I knew that when I saw the trailer, I thought that this film had a lot of promise. I never knew that this was based on a book (which I may want to pick up), so I didn't know what to expect. When I went to look up some reviews, almost every single review just panned it relentlessly which really surprised me and took me off guard.
Undaunted, I decided to go see it anyway. I was very very pleasantly surprised; I really, really liked it a lot. It has a pretty good story, great acting, a large and temple-crushing amount of pressure during the suspenseful moments, and breathtaking visuals (maybe not Avatar-level but who cares about that) which hearken back to Jackson's older film, Heavenly Creatures. The performances that really added to my enjoyment were that of Stanley Tucci (who played Susie's murderer and gave an ultra-creepy and disturbing role) and Saoirse (sur-shuh) Ronan who played Susie Salmon. In particular, I will be watching the latter with much attention as I think she has a very promising career in the future.
That isn't to say I don't have any criticisms about this film. There wasn't a whole lot of dialogue which irked me a little and when there was it wasn't the greatest, but I'm willing to give it a slight break due to the performances and mood of the film. There are some parts that are sorta dragged out, that I feel could have been trimmed a little to speed things up.
Overall, I really feel the critics were being way too harsh on this film and were really nit-picky about it and they should chill out. I give this film a 7.5 out of 10, whatever it gets right, it gets right; and whatever it gets wrong, it's not on purpose or terribly bothersome. It is also very touching, cerebral, and emotional. If you have any reticence or doubts, give it a try, and I'll let you be the judge on this.
Sort of feel the same way as when I watched Southland Tales after being blown away by Donnie Darko.
Did you see his latest, The Box? GOD. Things have NOT gotten better. >< "Oo, look at me as I turn this relatively simple morality play into a steaming pile of pretentious, meaningless bullshit that no one cares about by the end of the film. And use bad-looking CGI water. That worked in Donnie Darko, didn't it?"
Aw, I really enjoyed The Brothers Bloom. Don't get me wrong, they totally overdid it in every respect, but I get off on that kind of silly post-modern, self-aware, wink-at-the-camera bullshit like Paul Chapman gets off on old, low-budget action movies.
Just watched "Returner" for the third time. This is the first time I've watched it after discovering anime, so I watched it subbed. I'm positive it would make a great 26 episode anime.
I checked out The Book of Eli this weekend, which is a far better concept than film. The action sequences are cool, and since it's essentially just two hours of Denzel Washington being a cold, hard badass, it's hard to complain. But not impossible. The style vastly outweighs the substance, the latter of which is limited to "Denzel's got a book, Gary Oldman wants book, Denzel stabs people with a leg-length knife." There are long stretches of silence, close-ups and nondescript events (like people sitting) that just completely kill the good vibes. The slow start sets a great tone, then it picks up with a great fight scene, and promptly plummets into more soulless, pace-killing directing.
It's easy to bag on, but I still enjoyed it. It's harsh and brutal, and it's actually a pretty noble quest regardless of your religious beliefs (if you can't guess what the titular book is already, well...) that raises a lot of interesting questions about faith and manipulation.
I watched "Sherlock Holmes" yesterday. I foudn it very predictable, The only thing that surprised me was that the theet from the main villain were croocked at the begging and then while doing his big speech his frontal theet were straight. I am not sure if it was a mistake while doing the movie or does it really has something to do with a possible sequel for this move.
Watched "Peaceful Warrior" last night. Though the movie is mostly meant to be philosophical, I didn't really glean much from it that I didn't already know, but I still greatly enjoyed the film. Well acted and well shot. It also helped that men's gymnastics is one of the few individual-based sports that I like watching, mostly because of the sheer feats of strength those guys can do.
I watched Encounters at the End of the World last night, and it far and away exceeded my expectations. Any suggesting for what documentaries to go to from there, preferably from Herzog?
I haven't watched nearly enough Herzog docs, but Little Dieter Needs to Fly is very good. The kid who got me into Herzog says his favorite film is The White Diamond, so you should probably check that one out too.
I re-watched (for the umpteenth time) one of my favorite movies (and stage plays) last night: Inherit the Wind (1960 version). Apparently Adam had never seen it, so it was fun watching him react to it. The direction is fantastic on many, many levels, but on this viewing I paid particular attention to camera angles and movement - man Stanley Kramer should could frame beautifully. The acting is mostly brilliant, though it can be ultra stylized per the methods of the time and keeping the feel of the stage production. The movie is so great for quotes that most of the dialogue could be quoted independently, but on this viewing, I really savored the following:
"Mr. Brady, it is the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
"As long as the prerequisite for that shining paradise is ignorance, bigotry and hate, I say the hell with it."
I watchedDr. Strangelove (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb). Fantastic movie, absolutely wonderful.
This. If you can play three roles at once in a movie, and your name is Peter Sellers, you are the coolest comedian ever.
I watchedDr. Strangelove (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb). Fantastic movie, absolutely wonderful.
I know everyone likes that film, but I always get bored halfway through and zone out.
I can understand what you are saying here as that sorta happened to me the first time I watched it. However, I suggest you try it again sometime without zoning out, because in the end, it is a worthwhile endeavor.
Saw Avatar in 3D tonight. DAMN, did I love that movie.
To cut the film a break...I think people shouldn't really of said that Avatar is a rip-off of "so-and-so" (Though I won't ignore the moments of Ferngully or Last Samurai). How many movies out there are about the same premise? From the couple that hates each other, to the man child who grows up, to the disaster film, to the struggling underdog sports movie...how many clones of those have we all seen? While I wasn't impressive by the story, I did appreciate that they went into depth with fighting, looking at both sides of the situation, the scientific information.
Great Things: -Seeing it in the 3-D was amazing. I couldn't believe the amount of depth and creativity that went into it with the world of Pandora. Each creature itself had wonderful detail and I was just astonished at looking at several different animals. -Acting was good. Stephen Lang was a great villain and very intimidating and Sigourney Weaver was really good.. No one was terrible or stuck out. I did think it was funny though that Joel David Moore (Neil) always appeared in such crappy movies, and he plays a pretty cool role in this one. -The last 3rd had marvelous action. That fight at the end? Oh, so over-the-top and had you on the edge of your seat. -It really made you feel emotions for the Na'vi when you watched the army start to attack. You really feel for Neytiri just because her character convenes so much emotion towards her people and the planet. I think the fact that they gave off more scientific detail made me sympathize for them more.
Annoying Things: -Biggest Issue: (Spoilers) Unobtainium, the ultimate mcguffin. Honestly? I can understand how they would want something like this because it was so expensive, but they COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT after they showed it off. It's like, it wasn't said why that particular item was important to the Na'vi, it feels like they could of taken that giant deposit of unobtainium and no one would of cared. They never brought it up after that, and it made the "initiate-war" moments more frustrating than they were going to be. -Dialogue was bad at times. Not super cliched, but a tad too much. -Some of the characters were stock. Stephen Lang, as good as he was, was typical. As was Tsu'Tey and even Sam Worthington's character to an extent.
This was a fantastic movie. I'd say it's as good as District 9, but they are better to each other in different ways. Avatar definitely appeals more in that fantastical, genre-stunning, true theater experience way, while District 9 is much more cerebral, original, character-driven, and also the action is just as good.
I watched Deathproof the other night, as it was the only Tarantino film I'd not seen, and Inglourious Basterds was really good, so I was in the mood for more. I wasn't disappointed!
Death Race is a movie where Jason Statham drives a car and kills people.
You can pretty much say that for almost all of his movies. I recommend the Greatest Movier EVER! episode about it. The special co-host is Darryl Surat. Actually, I think all of the reviews that have Jason Statham in the movie, Darryl co-hosts the show. They are quite enjoyable.
Death Race is a movie where Jason Statham drives a car and kills people.
You can pretty much say that for almost all of his movies. I recommend the Greatest Movier EVER! episode about it. The special co-host is Darryl Surat. Actually, I think all of the reviews that have Jason Statham in the movie, Darryl co-hosts the show. They are quite enjoyable.
It is a great podcast, but I wish they would fix the problems in their iTunes feed.
It is a great podcast, but I wish they would fix the problems in their iTunes feed.
Well it's probably because Paul Chapman switched to Libsyn, as he explained on the Crank/Crank2/Gamer Podcast. I haven't had any problems, but then again, I haven't tried getting any older episodes. Your best bet would be to just delete everything and start over again.
I just saw Moon and thoroughly enjoyed it. It has all the trappings of a traditional hard sci-fi but manages to avoid all the cliches. Additionally, Sam Rockwell's performance is immensely impressive.
I just sawMoonand thoroughly enjoyed it. It has all the trappings of a traditional hard sci-fi but manages to avoid all the cliches. Additionally, Sam Rockwell's performance is immensely impressive.
I'm going to have to check this out. Hard Sci-fi is so hard to do right.
Adam and I decided to watch some bad movies for fun. We watched The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Gabriel. All of these movies were bad, but they were each enjoyable on some level.
Comments
Undaunted, I decided to go see it anyway. I was very very pleasantly surprised; I really, really liked it a lot. It has a pretty good story, great acting, a large and temple-crushing amount of pressure during the suspenseful moments, and breathtaking visuals (maybe not Avatar-level but who cares about that) which hearken back to Jackson's older film, Heavenly Creatures. The performances that really added to my enjoyment were that of Stanley Tucci (who played Susie's murderer and gave an ultra-creepy and disturbing role) and Saoirse (sur-shuh) Ronan who played Susie Salmon. In particular, I will be watching the latter with much attention as I think she has a very promising career in the future.
That isn't to say I don't have any criticisms about this film. There wasn't a whole lot of dialogue which irked me a little and when there was it wasn't the greatest, but I'm willing to give it a slight break due to the performances and mood of the film. There are some parts that are sorta dragged out, that I feel could have been trimmed a little to speed things up.
Overall, I really feel the critics were being way too harsh on this film and were really nit-picky about it and they should chill out. I give this film a 7.5 out of 10, whatever it gets right, it gets right; and whatever it gets wrong, it's not on purpose or terribly bothersome. It is also very touching, cerebral, and emotional. If you have any reticence or doubts, give it a try, and I'll let you be the judge on this.
It's easy to bag on, but I still enjoyed it. It's harsh and brutal, and it's actually a pretty noble quest regardless of your religious beliefs (if you can't guess what the titular book is already, well...) that raises a lot of interesting questions about faith and manipulation.
Have you seen Aguirre The Wrath of God?
The movie is so great for quotes that most of the dialogue could be quoted independently, but on this viewing, I really savored the following:
"Mr. Brady, it is the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
"As long as the prerequisite for that shining paradise is ignorance, bigotry and hate, I say the hell with it."
To cut the film a break...I think people shouldn't really of said that Avatar is a rip-off of "so-and-so" (Though I won't ignore the moments of Ferngully or Last Samurai). How many movies out there are about the same premise? From the couple that hates each other, to the man child who grows up, to the disaster film, to the struggling underdog sports movie...how many clones of those have we all seen? While I wasn't impressive by the story, I did appreciate that they went into depth with fighting, looking at both sides of the situation, the scientific information.
Great Things:
-Seeing it in the 3-D was amazing. I couldn't believe the amount of depth and creativity that went into it with the world of Pandora. Each creature itself had wonderful detail and I was just astonished at looking at several different animals.
-Acting was good. Stephen Lang was a great villain and very intimidating and Sigourney Weaver was really good.. No one was terrible or stuck out. I did think it was funny though that Joel David Moore (Neil) always appeared in such crappy movies, and he plays a pretty cool role in this one.
-The last 3rd had marvelous action. That fight at the end? Oh, so over-the-top and had you on the edge of your seat.
-It really made you feel emotions for the Na'vi when you watched the army start to attack. You really feel for Neytiri just because her character convenes so much emotion towards her people and the planet. I think the fact that they gave off more scientific detail made me sympathize for them more.
Annoying Things:
-Biggest Issue: (Spoilers) Unobtainium, the ultimate mcguffin. Honestly? I can understand how they would want something like this because it was so expensive, but they COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT after they showed it off. It's like, it wasn't said why that particular item was important to the Na'vi, it feels like they could of taken that giant deposit of unobtainium and no one would of cared. They never brought it up after that, and it made the "initiate-war" moments more frustrating than they were going to be.
-Dialogue was bad at times. Not super cliched, but a tad too much.
-Some of the characters were stock. Stephen Lang, as good as he was, was typical. As was Tsu'Tey and even Sam Worthington's character to an extent.
This was a fantastic movie. I'd say it's as good as District 9, but they are better to each other in different ways. Avatar definitely appeals more in that fantastical, genre-stunning, true theater experience way, while District 9 is much more cerebral, original, character-driven, and also the action is just as good.
P.S. His podcast remains among my favorites.