Everything said by everyone about Her is exactly true. I loved it so much that it dethroned my original #1 of the year, Gravity, and pushed it to #2. I felt every feel in my body.
I watched Gravity a few nights ago, and it was pretty good (orbital mechanics notwithstanding). I'll definitely watch Her when I have the time, but Twelve Years a Slave was Schindler's List quality (albeit slightly less emotionally powerful because it didn't happen to people who are still alive right now, as my girlfriend's Holocaust-surviving grandmother can attest).
I finally got round to watching the second part of Up! First time I couldn't get through it all. This time I watched the first ten minutes, then skipped to the place I walked out last time.
The end isn't too bad, but doesn't make up for the fact that it's very minor Pixar fare. It seems like warmed over Star Wars tribute, even to the inclusion of a Wilhelm Scream WHICH IS OLD NOW GUYS RIGHT STOP DOING IT NOT FUNNY CLEVER OR ANYTHING
Philomena is a great movie. I was a bit concerned over how it would be since it's such a smaller film than the other Oscar movies, but it has unbelievable execution. If there's anything I really loved about it, is that Steve Coogan really knows how to play his hand. Because as they find out more and more about the history of the adoption, the stakes get raised and it gets progressively more and more interesting. Judi Dench and Steve Coogan are really good, but they are sort of playing their archetypes. I don't see it as Anti-Christian, just "Fuck these nuns in particular."
Mud. A very good movie. I enjoyed almost everything about it.
Except the music. It was very intrusive, and the electronic ambient feeling clashed (to me) with the southern rural vibe of the movie itself. I have a feeling that the music will not date very well at all. I kept thinking back to the electronic soundtrack of Apocalypse Now, which is the only thing about the movie that doesn't hold up.
Mud. A very good movie. I enjoyed almost everything about it.
Except the music. It was very intrusive, and the electronic ambient feeling clashed (to me) with the southern rural vibe of the movie itself. I have a feeling that the music will not date very well at all. I kept thinking back to the electronic soundtrack of Apocalypse Now, which is the only thing about the movie that doesn't hold up.
I absolutely adore Mud, but you are spot-on. The first scene when Ellis is taken into town to sell fish, and then the music is singing about "Sittin'...in your small town" or something to that degree, took me out of the movie. I've seen that movie twice and both times, the music has irked me.
Today I watched through the most recent DVD release of Kiki's Delivery Service (released in 2010) for the blog. When I watch something for review, I usually watch it dubbed with the Japanese subs on (presuming there are not too many differences between the two). I know a lot of people really hate that dub, myself and gomidog included, but I was very pleased to find that they fixed the dub up perfectly! Jiji does not talk nearly as much anymore (they even took out the part where Jiji talks at the end), it is not as chatty over quiet parts, and they have restored the original music at the beginning and end as opposed to the garbage pop they once had. I am very happy Disney fixed everything and made a now watchable dub.
Dumb, plot holes everywhere, stupid action, ludicrous characters... and a lot of fun. If you're going to do stupid superhero action, you might as well make it light, fluffy, and not take it seriously at all.
I don't think it was as good as the first Thor, as in that I enjoyed the "god accidentally in small town America" element, with Thor not knowing how to act. This time, with Thor in London, it lost some of that charm.
Also I hope Loki isn't over-used in the future. I think he should be kept back for a nemesis role, not main villain role.
Finally: FUCKING HELL; STOP PUTTING BAD GUYS IN WHITE ROOMS WITH GLASS WALLS!
A quick google later, it turns out I'm not the first to get annoyed with this one:
We're The Millers is actually funny and good fun. Most comedies don't pass that test these days, for me anyway, so I guess that's high praise. It was better than I'd been led to believe.
This is kind of a realistic action film. The director (Paul Greengrass) was able to give me a perfect protagonist (I have issues with these kinds of characters) and a grey antagonist.
I'm not sure if this is exactly how the events occurred especially the conclusion but the acting was good enough that it completely carried me through the movie and let me believe what was going on.
It was very much in the vain of United 93 however it didn't feel forced and I would watch this film again but not many more times than that.
On reflection however, the 2 things that I think this movie missed on delivering was that Captain Phillips should have been portrayed as less of an angel and more of a company man. Such as when he interrupts the coffee breaks and also sailing closer to the coast to save time and fuel for the shipping company (thereby endangering his crew).
The other thing that gnawed at me was the reasoning for so many resources being placed on retrieving Captain Phillips. It should have been more apparent that the US news stations were following the situation thus pressuring the Government to pull out all the stops to save the individual.
I watched the CGI Beowulf movie. I only watched it because Netflix is now streaming 3D movies.
I have to say that the stream was good and the 3D acceptable for watching. My only complaint about the movie would have to be how visually dark it is. Even with Contrast and Brightness maxed out I found a lot of the scenes to be too dark to view.
We're The Millers is actually funny and good fun. Most comedies don't pass that test these days, for me anyway, so I guess that's high praise. It was better than I'd been led to believe.
I was recommended it by a friend and watched it a few months ago but I really didn't enjoy it however my friend's praise may have given me an unfounded expectation.
So, I watched the Lego Movie today. It surpassed my expectations, despite those expectations being based on a 90%+ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Everyone who played with Legos as a kid should watch it.
Low points: a large portion of the humor is fairly lowbrow, and there's an entirely pointless romance plot shoehorned in, as usually happens in kid's movies.
High points: really clever gags and plot points based upon the fact that it's a LEGO movie, unexpected celebrity appearances, and it really is a damn funny movie.
I think it's going to become one of the most definitive children's films for this decade. I'd even say it was better than any animated film last year. It's so clever with great jokes, plot points and even characters. This is the type of movie that captures what we all want for a movie based on an intellectual property. The characters are memorable and have great voices behind them.
Everyone should see this movie. I have no problems with it at all. And to cap it off, it's absolutely sincere and genuine.
I think Marvel is very much aware that they have a Loki problem, in the sense that Tom Higgins is an excellent actor and plays such a good Loki that the temptation is there to over-use him, but that would severely stunt the growth of the other Marvel franchises they are trying to build up. One of their lead producers was quoted saying something similar a while back, so I think we can assume he won't be seen again outside the Thor series.
Oh, and I'm seriously considering seeing the LEGO movie. Once I found of it was made by the people who created Clone High (one of the most underrated shows I can name).
The Lone Ranger wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. It wasn't good, but it was far from terrible, in a general movie-making sense. Morally I found it either misguided or unbalanced. As a tribute to or extension of the old TV show, it felt weird too. If the actors were the same, doing the same stuff, but with slightly less problematic violence and racism, it could have been really good.
I watched it on a flight down here to Argentina. The airline had bleeped the bad language. Considering this bad language was mostly "hell" and "damn", the bleeping made it worse, because I only imagined them saying "fuck" and "cunt" and such.
Watched Frozen yesterday. Really good film and really good fun. It had a pretty cool twist on some parts and had interesting characters. Also man it looked beautiful, one of the prettiest films that I have seen for a while.
Also watched the Breakfast club recently. Yep not much more I can say. With both of those films I found myself wanting more. Not because it was missing parts or ended badly but that I enjoyed it so much that I wanted more, like Bebop.
Yes, yes, the LEGO Movie is pure perfection. I'm not quite sure what humor Linkigi remembers as "low brow", as it all was executed in a really smart way. The animation was also FREAKING ME OUT. I mean, I know it's all mostly CG, but jesus it looked so freaking good it was like my eyes were being injected with candy.
It woulda been nice if they had more than 2 ladies in the picture, but I'm not bent up about it. Go see The LEGO Movie if you haven't, yet.
For the Month of Ghibli series of essays I am writing for my site, Media Manse, I popped in Pom Poko which I had not seen until today. I did not care for it at all. The message that Pom Poko is trying to spread is to not pollute the environment and to take care of nature, which are admirable ones, but it fails due to two problems: it is overly preachy and is very boring. It clocks in at 2 hours and the story could have been told in an hour (and a half). Of the Ghibli films I rewatch often, I most likely will never watch Pom Poko again.
The new Robocop is neither great nor awful. If you're a fan of the name or the idea of a cybernetic law enforcement officer, see it in theaters. If you're less than that, Booray/Netflix it. It's totally watchable.
Last night I watched The Aviator. It's a really good film! But it was loner than I expected, and I started pretty late, and I kept wondering if it was the right time to pause it and get some sleep. In the end I watched it through to the end.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was beautiful and atmospheric, but structurally a complete mess. I don't think that movie makes much sense (aside from the basic plot about the mole) unless you've read the novel.
The movie had entire characters and settings that were given zero context and didn't link with anything else in the movie. The flashbacks were to recent history (meaning all of the characters looked basically the same), making it very difficult to tell what happened when.
It wasn't clear that a certain character wasn't dead. It wasn't clear that another character was married (or that this would matter) until halfway through the movie.
I'd say only watch that movie if you've read the novel already.
I watched Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy twice, because movies like that are usually my jam, but I couldn't untangle it either time. Haven't read the book.
Comments
2. Everything else
I watched Gravity a few nights ago, and it was pretty good (orbital mechanics notwithstanding). I'll definitely watch Her when I have the time, but Twelve Years a Slave was Schindler's List quality (albeit slightly less emotionally powerful because it didn't happen to people who are still alive right now, as my girlfriend's Holocaust-surviving grandmother can attest).
The end isn't too bad, but doesn't make up for the fact that it's very minor Pixar fare. It seems like warmed over Star Wars tribute, even to the inclusion of a Wilhelm Scream WHICH IS OLD NOW GUYS RIGHT STOP DOING IT NOT FUNNY CLEVER OR ANYTHING
Except the music. It was very intrusive, and the electronic ambient feeling clashed (to me) with the southern rural vibe of the movie itself. I have a feeling that the music will not date very well at all. I kept thinking back to the electronic soundtrack of Apocalypse Now, which is the only thing about the movie that doesn't hold up.
Dumb, plot holes everywhere, stupid action, ludicrous characters... and a lot of fun. If you're going to do stupid superhero action, you might as well make it light, fluffy, and not take it seriously at all.
I don't think it was as good as the first Thor, as in that I enjoyed the "god accidentally in small town America" element, with Thor not knowing how to act. This time, with Thor in London, it lost some of that charm.
Also I hope Loki isn't over-used in the future. I think he should be kept back for a nemesis role, not main villain role.
Finally: FUCKING HELL; STOP PUTTING BAD GUYS IN WHITE ROOMS WITH GLASS WALLS!
A quick google later, it turns out I'm not the first to get annoyed with this one:
This is kind of a realistic action film. The director (Paul Greengrass) was able to give me a perfect protagonist (I have issues with these kinds of characters) and a grey antagonist.
I'm not sure if this is exactly how the events occurred especially the conclusion but the acting was good enough that it completely carried me through the movie and let me believe what was going on.
It was very much in the vain of United 93 however it didn't feel forced and I would watch this film again but not many more times than that.
On reflection however, the 2 things that I think this movie missed on delivering was that Captain Phillips should have been portrayed as less of an angel and more of a company man. Such as when he interrupts the coffee breaks and also sailing closer to the coast to save time and fuel for the shipping company (thereby endangering his crew).
The other thing that gnawed at me was the reasoning for so many resources being placed on retrieving Captain Phillips. It should have been more apparent that the US news stations were following the situation thus pressuring the Government to pull out all the stops to save the individual.
I have to say that the stream was good and the 3D acceptable for watching. My only complaint about the movie would have to be how visually dark it is. Even with Contrast and Brightness maxed out I found a lot of the scenes to be too dark to view.
The only saving grace was Nick Offerman.
Everyone who played with Legos as a kid should watch it.
Low points: a large portion of the humor is fairly lowbrow, and there's an entirely pointless romance plot shoehorned in, as usually happens in kid's movies.
High points: really clever gags and plot points based upon the fact that it's a LEGO movie, unexpected celebrity appearances, and it really is a damn funny movie.
I think it's going to become one of the most definitive children's films for this decade. I'd even say it was better than any animated film last year. It's so clever with great jokes, plot points and even characters. This is the type of movie that captures what we all want for a movie based on an intellectual property. The characters are memorable and have great voices behind them.
Everyone should see this movie. I have no problems with it at all. And to cap it off, it's absolutely sincere and genuine.
There was a part that hit me in the feels too. Fun movie with a seriously GREAT lesson about creativity.
EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!
I watched it on a flight down here to Argentina. The airline had bleeped the bad language. Considering this bad language was mostly "hell" and "damn", the bleeping made it worse, because I only imagined them saying "fuck" and "cunt" and such.
Also watched the Breakfast club recently. Yep not much more I can say. With both of those films I found myself wanting more. Not because it was missing parts or ended badly but that I enjoyed it so much that I wanted more, like Bebop.
The animation was also FREAKING ME OUT. I mean, I know it's all mostly CG, but jesus it looked so freaking good it was like my eyes were being injected with candy.
It woulda been nice if they had more than 2 ladies in the picture, but I'm not bent up about it. Go see The LEGO Movie if you haven't, yet.
The movie had entire characters and settings that were given zero context and didn't link with anything else in the movie. The flashbacks were to recent history (meaning all of the characters looked basically the same), making it very difficult to tell what happened when.
It wasn't clear that a certain character wasn't dead. It wasn't clear that another character was married (or that this would matter) until halfway through the movie.
I'd say only watch that movie if you've read the novel already.