So I saw the lego movie tonight and concur that everything is indeed awesome. A must see in 3D, and this is coming from someone who can not stand bad 3D.
I havnt read the novel. I just... Tried to follow and enjoyed kinda getting it. Same way one enjoys watching a game played at a level higher than ones own abilities where the game being payed is at perhaps the limits of even being able to fathom for how skillful and deep the players' interactions are. So you appreciate the events and could stop to think for a moment and the extract the motives behind a move but then you would miss the fun of seeing it unfold.
Or perhaps not at all like that really... I suppose it was confusing more or less the whole time on some level. It did have a neat car though, my then-girlfriend loved their little car.
I know that there must have been some artistic liberty taken to attempt for the audience to understand and find how they could relate to the protagonist. Although I think they tried to hard the ending of the movie resonated just as much as the events of the images captured on cell phones as a police officer killed a guy at a train station in front of a commuter crowd because he asked what he was being arrested for.
What resonated further was that the white cop that was eventually arrested for first degree murder served 11 months in jail for manslaughter.
Another reason I'm happy to live in the countries that I have so far. I just have to remember to not take the train in Bay Area when I visit.
Today, for the Month of Ghibli articles I'm writing at Media Manse, I had to watch one that I was very worried about watching again: Princess Mononoke. For years and years, I have always been an outlier in saying that this was my one of my least favorite Miyazaki movies and I thought it was overrated. Today I watched it in its native language for the first time (I have seen it multiple times dubbed and I was always left cold each time) and it all finally clicked with me; I fully understand why so many people revere Mononoke. I finally realized that the dub was what got in the way of my enjoyment for all these years; it took liberties with the script and was badly cast (e.g. Billy Bob Thornton as Jigo). I have made a complete reversal on Mononoke and now I love it.
Hobbit 2. Decidedly meh. The lack of songs was a sin so grievous that even Smaug's awesomeness could not counterbalance it.
1. Where is Bilbo? He's barely in the movie. 2. How many fucking orcs do they need to show elves gracefully killing? 3. Love triangle involving TWO characters not in the book?
The first Hobbit movie was great with a few minor problems. The second was mediocre with a few redeeming qualities.
I don't want a completely faithful adaptation. I like some interpretation and addition. My issues with the second movie have more to do with execution than principle.
Mostly, it needed Tolkien songs, and it needed to actually be about Bilbo...
I'm okay with some changes, but at the same time, it still needs to be an adaptation.
The original Hobbit book is lighthearted, fun, not too serious, not too heavy on the reasons for things happening or explanations for everything, and ultimately for kids.
The movies feel very bland, very homogenized, and like clones of the LOTR films. This is frustrating, because The Hobbit has a very different tone from those books, and it doesn't translate into the same type of movie. You can try and make it a bit more epic or extend it out, but adding in the world-building and setup for LOTR just kind of takes away what makes The Hobbit a fun story.
Due to the I, Frankenstein movie coming out, I thought I'd watch a classic version of the story with Young Frankenstein. I remember seeing parts of it years ago and not being impressed, but it's got such a good reputation I thought I'd give it another go.
It's fucking awful. Just terrible. The jokes aren't only not funny (but for two or three exceptions) they are all strained beyond belief. The resolution of the monster and love stories revolves around monster-on-human-lady rape, and due to the monster's cock being huge, the rape victim gets into it and enjoys it. Maybe in 1974 that was cool, but now it's really hard for me to watch and enjoy.
While it looks good, the low rate of jokes per minute makes it draaaaaaag.
Due to the Lego Movie thread, I discovered 21 Jump Street was directed by the same guys. And they made Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs too, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I'd passed on 21 Jump Street before, due to it being based on a TV show I'd never seen. This was a big mistake. It's fucking hillarious! After the laugh-free zone of Young Frankenstein, this is exactly what I wanted. I don't care if some of the jokes miss, because the joke per minute rate was so high a new one would be along in a minute. I know I probably missed quite a few jokes due to laughing at others. Just as importantly for a comedy movie, it's more than just funny. The music and editing where really tight too. Just the end credits sequence had me in hysterics.
Of course, after watching Young Frankenstein, I'm sure there are many aspects that will sit uncomfortably in 40 years time. But that's the nature of comedies. Very few hold up for the next generation.
Inside Llewyn Davis was the last Oscar movie I wanted to scratch off the list before I made my big list for 2013. And with the Oscars in a week, I figured I could cover it.
I can say it's a good movie, but I wasn't too entertained. I give credit to Oscar Isaac, as the Coen Brothers will turn him into a name for his performance for being this really jaded folk singer. He flip-flops back and forth from being empathetic to a total ass. This movie suffers from the issues of the Coen's later movies, where it wanders a lot in this man's life without all that much development. A lot of interesting stuff happens, but you are really unclear over what the movie was trying to say or accomplish.
But I'm curious to see if I'll like it a lot more the next time I see it, as many Coen Brothers films are like that. If anything really shines with this movie, it's the original music. It has so many unique portrayals of folk with beautiful singing and composition that it really carried the movie along. Seeing this made me want to see the movie as quickly as possible. I can cautiously recommend it to normal people, but I think Coen fans will really get into it.
Watched The History of Future Men recently. That was a weird fun little film. I liked how there was no music but for the music scenes, but they fucked that up at the end.
The full trailer definitely decreased my hype level from where it was based solely on the teaser trailer. Still, semi-hype, which is more than almost every other movie lately. I did like the bit about nuclear tests in the pacific not actually being tests.
Re-watched Inside Llewyn Davis again. It turned from me liking it to loving it. Similar to what O Brother, Where Art Thou? does to Bluegrass, this does to Folk Music, but with a great bit of criticism. And I saw much more depth in Llewyn Davis himself this time.
Also, the Oscars are coming out tonight. So I'm going to list my Top 10 and Bottom 5 for no reason.
Top 10 Movies of 2013
1. Her 2. 12 Years a Slave 3. Mud 4. The Wolf of Wall Street 5. Philomena 6. Blue Jasmine 7. Pain and Gain 8. The Spectacular Now 9. Gravity 10. This Is The End
Worst 5 Movies of 2013
5. CBGB 4. The Wolverine 3. My Little Pony: Equestria Girls 2. Movie 43 1. Grown Ups 2
On a plane journey home I watched The Thin Man. I'd previously seen the sequel, After The Thin Man. They are comedy whodunit movies front the early 30's, from before the Hayes code came into power. Which means Nick and Nora, the husband and wife detective team, spend the entire running length of both movies mostly drinking. It's funny to see that the movie is rated R, and I can only presume its due to the excessive alcohol consumption without any consequences.
The Thin Man isn't quite as good as After The Thin Man, but both are well worth watching as examples of comedies that hold up after many decades (see previous comments about Young Frankenstein for context).
The Heat. Perfectly acceptable cop buddy comedy. After watching 21 Jump Street I miss the high rate of jokes and laughs, but hey, not every movie is going to be a winner.
Juliane and I also watched The Blind Side, as it had been on our to-see list for a while. And due to Oscars and stuff. It's a super predictable movie both in terms of plot and how we both said the next line in the script two seconds before the characters on screen many, many times over. The acting was good all round, though I thought the young son actor seemed to think he was in a different movie. I've only seen one other best female actor oscar nominated role from the year Bullock won, and she did a more interesting job than Meryl Streep in Julia and Julia. So I guess that's cool. I don't know who else is up for best performance by a female actress this year, but I expect Gravity to win the director or best movie awards rather than anything to do with acting (though bullock was very good in it).
For the continuing kung fu movie night with friends:
Drunken Master! Sooooo good. Jackie Chan is just awesome in this, both with his martial arts, his physical prowess and his physical comedy. The fights are epic and intricate at the same time. It's probably my top Jackie Chan movie in terms of one-on-one fight scenes (others have better group fights/juggling/stunts).
White House Down is a lot of fun. I'd say it's a dumb movie, but it really isn't. The overall concept is dumb, but it's a rare movie that isn't filled with huge plot holes and stupid characters. There's one point I had tears in my eyes when the President looked into the eyes of a child and said... well, what I always want to happen in a hostage situation.
It's not a great movie, by any means, but it's a solid action movie. And Channing Tatum kicks ass. Even though he looks 23 and is meant to be 33 in the movie.
Holy shit, I just looked at his wikipedia page and Channing Tatum IS 33. He's a few months older than me!
The new Studio Ghibli movie, The Wind Rises, was typical Ghibli excellence.
Maybe it's because the last couple of Ghibli movies have been so light and family friendly, that this one really stuck out as not aimed for kids. The movie isn't violent, and there's no nudity, but the topic isn't kid friendly. I can't imagine children or even young teens enjoying this movie.
Baytown Outlaws, I was going to post a trailer for the movie, but the ones I found spoil some stuff and are way too long. Good action/comedy flick, it's kind of a kidnapping road trip movie with rednecks and scantly clad girls.
I watched a documentary called Helvetica. It's about Helvetica. The typeface. It's pretty good, though by the end I was sick of the mono-paced montages of Helvetica signs to (seemingly) the same piece of music over and over again. I'd recommend the film to anyone who... well, to anyone.
I watched a documentary called Helvetica. It's about Helvetica. The typeface. It's pretty good, though by the end I was sick of the mono-paced montages of Helvetica signs to (seemingly) the same piece of music over and over again. I'd recommend the film to anyone who... well, to anyone.
That was a good movie, I admit. My wife in particular loved it, but she's a professional graphic designer, so that naturally puts it right in her wheelhouse.
Watched the new Total Recall film. Looked pretty and that was about it. Tons of dumb stuff that made no sense but other wise fairly harmless to watch if you don't want to think.
Comments
I havnt read the novel. I just... Tried to follow and enjoyed kinda getting it. Same way one enjoys watching a game played at a level higher than ones own abilities where the game being payed is at perhaps the limits of even being able to fathom for how skillful and deep the players' interactions are. So you appreciate the events and could stop to think for a moment and the extract the motives behind a move but then you would miss the fun of seeing it unfold.
Or perhaps not at all like that really... I suppose it was confusing more or less the whole time on some level. It did have a neat car though, my then-girlfriend loved their little car.
I know that there must have been some artistic liberty taken to attempt for the audience to understand and find how they could relate to the protagonist. Although I think they tried to hard the ending of the movie resonated just as much as the events of the images captured on cell phones as a police officer killed a guy at a train station in front of a commuter crowd because he asked what he was being arrested for.
What resonated further was that the white cop that was eventually arrested for first degree murder served 11 months in jail for manslaughter.
Another reason I'm happy to live in the countries that I have so far. I just have to remember to not take the train in Bay Area when I visit.
1. Where is Bilbo? He's barely in the movie.
2. How many fucking orcs do they need to show elves gracefully killing?
3. Love triangle involving TWO characters not in the book?
Well, a lot. Too much.
I don't want a completely faithful adaptation. I like some interpretation and addition. My issues with the second movie have more to do with execution than principle.
Mostly, it needed Tolkien songs, and it needed to actually be about Bilbo...
The original Hobbit book is lighthearted, fun, not too serious, not too heavy on the reasons for things happening or explanations for everything, and ultimately for kids.
The movies feel very bland, very homogenized, and like clones of the LOTR films. This is frustrating, because The Hobbit has a very different tone from those books, and it doesn't translate into the same type of movie. You can try and make it a bit more epic or extend it out, but adding in the world-building and setup for LOTR just kind of takes away what makes The Hobbit a fun story.
(I love Hobbit 2!)
It's fucking awful. Just terrible. The jokes aren't only not funny (but for two or three exceptions) they are all strained beyond belief. The resolution of the monster and love stories revolves around monster-on-human-lady rape, and due to the monster's cock being huge, the rape victim gets into it and enjoys it. Maybe in 1974 that was cool, but now it's really hard for me to watch and enjoy.
While it looks good, the low rate of jokes per minute makes it draaaaaaag.
I'd passed on 21 Jump Street before, due to it being based on a TV show I'd never seen. This was a big mistake. It's fucking hillarious! After the laugh-free zone of Young Frankenstein, this is exactly what I wanted. I don't care if some of the jokes miss, because the joke per minute rate was so high a new one would be along in a minute. I know I probably missed quite a few jokes due to laughing at others. Just as importantly for a comedy movie, it's more than just funny. The music and editing where really tight too. Just the end credits sequence had me in hysterics.
Of course, after watching Young Frankenstein, I'm sure there are many aspects that will sit uncomfortably in 40 years time. But that's the nature of comedies. Very few hold up for the next generation.
I can say it's a good movie, but I wasn't too entertained. I give credit to Oscar Isaac, as the Coen Brothers will turn him into a name for his performance for being this really jaded folk singer. He flip-flops back and forth from being empathetic to a total ass. This movie suffers from the issues of the Coen's later movies, where it wanders a lot in this man's life without all that much development. A lot of interesting stuff happens, but you are really unclear over what the movie was trying to say or accomplish.
But I'm curious to see if I'll like it a lot more the next time I see it, as many Coen Brothers films are like that. If anything really shines with this movie, it's the original music. It has so many unique portrayals of folk with beautiful singing and composition that it really carried the movie along. Seeing this made me want to see the movie as quickly as possible. I can cautiously recommend it to normal people, but I think Coen fans will really get into it.
Also, the Oscars are coming out tonight. So I'm going to list my Top 10 and Bottom 5 for no reason.
Top 10 Movies of 2013
1. Her
2. 12 Years a Slave
3. Mud
4. The Wolf of Wall Street
5. Philomena
6. Blue Jasmine
7. Pain and Gain
8. The Spectacular Now
9. Gravity
10. This Is The End
Worst 5 Movies of 2013
5. CBGB
4. The Wolverine
3. My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
2. Movie 43
1. Grown Ups 2
The Thin Man isn't quite as good as After The Thin Man, but both are well worth watching as examples of comedies that hold up after many decades (see previous comments about Young Frankenstein for context).
The Heat. Perfectly acceptable cop buddy comedy. After watching 21 Jump Street I miss the high rate of jokes and laughs, but hey, not every movie is going to be a winner.
Juliane and I also watched The Blind Side, as it had been on our to-see list for a while. And due to Oscars and stuff. It's a super predictable movie both in terms of plot and how we both said the next line in the script two seconds before the characters on screen many, many times over. The acting was good all round, though I thought the young son actor seemed to think he was in a different movie. I've only seen one other best female actor oscar nominated role from the year Bullock won, and she did a more interesting job than Meryl Streep in Julia and Julia. So I guess that's cool. I don't know who else is up for best performance by a female actress this year, but I expect Gravity to win the director or best movie awards rather than anything to do with acting (though bullock was very good in it).
Drunken Master! Sooooo good. Jackie Chan is just awesome in this, both with his martial arts, his physical prowess and his physical comedy. The fights are epic and intricate at the same time. It's probably my top Jackie Chan movie in terms of one-on-one fight scenes (others have better group fights/juggling/stunts).
It's not a great movie, by any means, but it's a solid action movie. And Channing Tatum kicks ass. Even though he looks 23 and is meant to be 33 in the movie.
Holy shit, I just looked at his wikipedia page and Channing Tatum IS 33. He's a few months older than me!
Maybe it's because the last couple of Ghibli movies have been so light and family friendly, that this one really stuck out as not aimed for kids. The movie isn't violent, and there's no nudity, but the topic isn't kid friendly. I can't imagine children or even young teens enjoying this movie.
Overall though, it's still a great movie.