tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35110091168696735132024-02-06T18:35:01.496-08:00Erik Johnson Movie ReviewsI talk about the movies I've seen.Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-34442122361462420772012-07-10T08:20:00.000-07:002012-07-10T08:32:54.921-07:00The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)SPOILERS! (Beware)<br />
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I may be in the minority here as I did not like the movie. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it, and I'll do my best to explain why. Though this could take a while.<br />
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* I liked Peter initially. He’s a bit of loner with a touch of teenage rebellion. They did a great job establishing him as a tinkerer with understanding of cutting edge machines. The problem is that he's also kind of a jerk and far too often the solution to any given problem is handed to him rather than earning it.<br />
Examples; 1.) Ben tells him who Connors is rather than Pete looking it up himself. 2.) The cop tells Pete that the gunner had a tattoo on his wrist rather than Pete noticing it himself. 3.) The web fluid comes from an online store, rather than making it himself like he told the car thief that he did.<br />
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* I liked the montage of Peter skateboarding over gradually big objects and swing on chains to train his powers. It’s used to plug a corny song for the album, but its effective. However when he tests his webbing, the first thing he does is jump off of a skyscraper WHAT?! This Pete is supposed rebellious, not stupid!<br />
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* Martin Sheen is great as Uncle Ben who tries to play hero and go for the gun, practicing what he preached about responsibility. However, after Ben is shot, Peter hangs him over screaming "Call an Ambulance!" Even though we established two minutes ago that he has working cell phone in his pocket and could have called 911 himself at any time.<br />
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* Why did the cop tell Pete that the guy had a star tattoo on his wrist? That should have been something that Peter saw, and the camera would linger on enough for us to see. Otherwise it makes it sound like the cop is supporting his roaring rampage of revenge.<br />
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* Peter's new motive is revenge and not responsibility. We see that he's only hunting a specific kind of guy rather than be shown helping people in trouble. He gains some points back for saving the kid on the bridge, which is easily the best scene and is the only part that felt like it was from a Spider-Man movie, but its a little too late in the game for me to start really rooting for him.<br />
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*That there isn't any resolution to chasing/catching the criminal after this point feels like another dangling thread that they're saving for the sequel, of which there are too many in this film. Without that resolution its difficult to see how Peter becomes any better than the outlaw he is branded as by the police.<br />
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* Evil Indian Guy tells Connors that they're going to test the serem on veterans, and they're also shutting the project down. Hey moron, if fire the guy who made the serum and then shut down the facility making it, and it turns out that it doesn’t work, then you’ll have to start from scratch and things will be even worse! How did you make it to such an authoritative position with no common sense?!<br />
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* Captain Stacy grumbles about how thirty of New York's Finest can't catch one guy in a unitard. Yeah, one guy in a unitard who is incredibly fast, agile and can scale a building in under a minute without any sort of climbing equipment. That line just sounds wrong. It feels like its written from an outsider's perspective and ignores the events we have actually seen.<br />
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* The Dinner scene is probably the worst part of the movie for me. As Peter just seems to be there to aggravate Capt. Stacy's blood pressure. You'd think someone with 15 years of experience as a cop would be more calm and collected in explaining the details of police procedure to the public, especially around his own family. The fact that Peter can get under his skin so easily should be a red flag for Gwen.<br />
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* Speaking of Gwen, while Emma Stone is active and attractive, and easily the best thing in the movie, but this relationship with Pete just isn't going to last. He just dumps on her that he is Spider-Man. They've only know each other marginally beforehand, so this is really going to strain an already new relationship of any kind much less one with so many complicated feelings attached. They had some decent chemistry, but while Peter's inability to come up with the right words felt realistic, it really wasn't all that enduring. Its puppy love at best and wouldn't last more that a few months even if her Dad hadn't died.<br />
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* The Story feels fragmented in a lot of places. What happened to the mutant mouse? Did Pete kill it? Cage it? Or it just running wild?<br />
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Peter and Gwen swing off together after she mops up his chest. Where did they go and what did they do?<br />
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The plot with Peter trying to photograph the Lizard feels crowbared into the story to justify including the Bugle and Pete's shutterbug hobby.<br />
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* The Lizard’s Master Plan is a Doomsday Device with an audible countdown that of course can be stopped at the last possible second. That’s already cliche, made worse by Connor's rather limited motive. I'm pretty sure you can't stop a rocket from launching when its in its final minute of launch preparation. Plus you’d think that changing out the projectile would stop the countdown as a failsafe measure.<br />
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* Captain Stacy tells Peter he needs to keep at it. Wait what? He just yelled at him about how Spider-Man screwed with their sting operations and now he’s telling him to keep at it? Stacy won’t be around to tell the other cops to let Spidey have a free pass, so he’ll be in even more danger. Oh and then he dies, because after you have a magic countdown, you need to top it with an even bigger cliché.<br />
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* Capt. Stacy should have been kept alive to serve as a mentor role to aid Peter in become more effective at crime prevention, maybe even going were the law couldn't. Stacy would have the resources to help Pete find Ben's killer and what happened to his parents. Plus a closer relationship with Dad would have scored big points with Gwen. Adding allies to his cause would have helped Pete go from Outlaw to Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.<br />
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*The teacher says "There is only one plot, “Who am I?” Don’t get meta on me now movie, its too late for that.<br />
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So yeah, a lot of nitpicks. Maybe my opinion can be upgraded with a re-review on DVD. There were some parts I liked, but very few and far between. A few more drafts and rewrites could have truly made this an Amazing Spider-Man movie. The character's motives and relationships just weren't doing for me.<br />
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I give it a 2 out of 5.<br />
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<br />Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-52351375475589581972011-12-13T15:29:00.000-08:002011-12-13T15:29:48.971-08:00Trailer Trash: GI Joe RetaliationI only saw the first GI Joe because I heard so many reviews saying "Its so bad its good" or "Its the next best MST3K movie". Actually, it was a very milquetoast action movie, and nowhere near as outrageously stupid or as "in your face" as something like the Transformers series. The original's fundamental flaw in my opinion was just how it felt like it was poorly put together by an amateur novice, and I think a lot of that blame rests on the shoulders of the first film's director. It was a very typical of a mid August action movie, and I can't really pick on it any more than that because I can't really get mad at a movie when the project is already so defective from the start (ex: Twilight).<br />
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However, I guess it made enough money to warrant a sequel, but the producers wanted to protect their investment. Given that they knew they were going up against a summer destined to be ruled by "The Dark Knight Rises" they brought out the syringes of Adrenaline and Testosterone and pumped this movie up!<br />
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Dwayne Johnson is leading this time, and thank God. Dwayne has a more experience with action cheese and better screen presence. By which I mean he takes up most of the screen. It makes you wonder how the Cobra troops were able to miss a target that big when he was sitting completely still in the water. The power of badassery! Thats how!<br />
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Jonathan Pryce apparently didn't get enough of playing the villain in "Tomorrow Never Dies" because hes back at it again.<br />
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We've got an "A-Team" kind of set up (they should thankful this wasn't released last summer!) and these build up knowing that its our small little band versus the world. It was shocking to see a break-out character like Snake Eyes being incarcerated. But then the Cobra flag is raised at the White House and banners form the Cobra eyes. The impact of that hit like a punch to the gut. Its a sequence that is simple, iconic and powerful, and sets a stage of hopelessness for this "Empire Strikes Back" vibe they have going on.<br />
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There are plenty of unique action scenes on display. My favorite is the mountainside sword fight.<br />
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Bruce Willis' apperance at the end is akin to Josh Brolin's apperance at the end of the Men in Black 3 Trailer. If the action was the icing on the cake, Bruce is the sprinkles on top.<br />
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Trailer Grade: B+Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-36917555201660496392011-12-13T08:29:00.000-08:002011-12-13T08:29:31.444-08:00Trailer Trash: Men In Black 3<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IyaFEBI_L24" width="540"></iframe></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ah, Men in Black. I loved it as a kid and I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed it as an adult. I'd argue that it with the possible exception of "Jurassic Park" that this was the most creative and enjoyable "popcorn" movie of the 1990s.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I was younger, I was certain this would become the next "Adventure Trilogy" series in the vein of Indiana Jones. Sadly, such was not the case because </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Men In Black 2 was an abysmal disappointment, so I was surprised when I saw set photos for a third movie. After all it had been ten years since "2" and a decade is usually around the time a film franchise gets a reboot rather than a sequel.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As for the trailer itself, I think it shows us a bit too much. The fade to black/ fade in edit in trailers has become a big pet peeve of mine as it treats the audience like it doesn't have any attention span. "This image has been on screen for five seconds! Quick, cut to something new before they get bored!"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The "hook", and really all we need to establish in this trailer is the "save the future" plot and Josh Brolin as Young K. Incidentally, that is a brilliant casting choice and it sets up for some potential role reversal with J as the seen it all mentor and K as the new kid. Not the mention possibilities presented in the '60s setting. I guess the producers have been doing their homework by watching "Mad Men".</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bottom line, I think you could have cut thirty seconds worth of establishing shots, and put more attention on setting up the characters, the establishing the humorous tone that were the heart of the original rather than close up shots of gadgets. I suspect that the trailer is loaded with some many dramatic pauses to build this "mystery" and hide the fact that Tommy Lee Jones will likely have a smaller role. If it the trailer had shown more scenes of the two them together I think that it might have packed a bigger punch. But if Tommy's part is small like I suspect with an appearance at the beginning and the end with Brolin in the bulk of it in the middle, then you would just get people complaining about false advertising. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Trailer Grade: B</span></span>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-68582675950872696552011-12-13T08:12:00.000-08:002011-12-13T08:12:44.730-08:00Trailer Trash: The Three StoogesTheres no denying that in today's media, brand recognition is everything. In a world were we have seven different ways in instanteously send ideas to a dozen other people at the same time, you need something distinctly memorable to get peoples attention and hold on to it. Like it or not that means that remakes, reboots and revivals of older franchises are the front runners in entertainment, because they carry names that go back a ways in people's memories and make quick identification and easy marketing. As a result we get movies like "The Three Stooges".<br />
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I've got to admit I don't know what I was expecting. I had heard this was in development for a couple years, but I guess when I heard "Three Stooges Movie" I kept thinking back to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0214698/" target="_blank">that made for TV docudrama they about the guys who played the original stooges.</a><br />
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Having seen the trailer, I still don't know what to say. At first I was surprised that the film was taking place in the present rather than the Stooges original Great Depression setting, but then I remember that the Stooges had a C del trope That and Hollywood likes to have its cake and eat it too, mixing "classic" characters with modern styles and attitudes, often resulting in a mixed bag.<br />
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Best I can say is that the people behind the film did their homework, as the slapstick scenes feel like they're perfectly lifted right from the shorts, so its very much in the spirit of the original, for good and for bad. That and Moe gets to poke Snooki from Jersey Shore in the eyes. Bwhahaha! Yes, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg_3qEf3ahU" target="_blank">not since Curly dressed up as Hitler</a> have the Stooges provided such biting, edgy humor that is relevant to our current culture!<br />
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Trailer Grade: CErik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-67641383711373602762011-07-20T14:59:00.000-07:002011-07-20T14:59:55.541-07:00Trailer Trash: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_XayxMPrUP4" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The trailer begins with the establishment the disappearance of Peter’s parents , which may be another reason why we have a younger May and Ben. Why May gets her hair done by Helena Bonham Carter I'll never know.<br />
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There are also and many scenes that show Peter as an awkward loner, which would be more characterization than he received in the original trilogy with Tobey Maguire just playing him as “Nice Guy”… with no money. Again we’re seeking alternatives.<br />
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Gwen Stacy shows up many times in the trailer even though she isn’t named. Based on this plus the pictures in Entertainment Weekly I’m thinking she’ll be a close friend who gradually becomes the love interest rather than Mary Jane, the seemingly unobtainable girl who later becomes the love interest. The writers are likely putting this Gwen in the role MJ had in Ultimate Spider-Man comics. Again, different in a good way.<br />
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It looks like Pete steps into a reactor at a lab and is bitten by the spider, it makes me wonder if Peter will show off some science skills this time.<br />
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The Lizard is the Big Bad of this film even though we don’t see him in the trailer. Given that this is Spidey’s origin story too, I wonder if they will have parallel themes of transformation, or perhaps draw their powers from the same source.<br />
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The trailer closes with a POV shot of swinging across the city, which looks fantastic. The swining scene in the original was easily the weakest portion of that film (effects wise) so this new offering is refreshing and dynamic. It offers a satisfying big reveal for the costume reflected in the skyscraper. If they do this right, it will look amazing in 3D, and I never thought I’d say that.<br />
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Eagerly anticipating this Marvel movie moreso than the Avengers, who can get back to me when they've shot scenes of then the team in something other than a small room.Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-37715405636796583002011-05-17T10:51:00.000-07:002011-05-17T10:55:57.167-07:00Trailer Trash: Fright Night (2011)Some of my readers may recall my review of the 1985 horror film <a href="http://erikjohnsonmoviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/fright-night-1985.html">"Fright Night"</a>, and how I bad mouthed most of it. For as much as I didn't like the original, I do understand what the film makers were trying to do with it. It was a love letter to the Hammer Horror movies of the late 1950s with Roddy McDowell's character of Peter Vincent based heavily on Peter Cushing's Van Helsing Vampire Hunter. It was also an attempt to break away from the formulaic set up of the new and extraordinarily popular slasher films. Peter Vincent becomes the mouthpiece of the creators and makes no effort to disguise the disgust at this particular horror sub-genre that had over-saturated the market of the time. Hollywood is known as a land of copycats, so trying something fresh like this is something that I both commend and encourage, its just the execution, plus time, that I think is what prevented me from enjoying it more.<br />
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So now, like everything else, the film is being remade. I'm sure theres an executive somewhere in a Hollywood office with a catalog of properties that are already owned by his studio, biding time, waiting for the right moment to spring a remake on unsuspecting audiences. Likely this one was picked up in an attempt to ride the coattails of the sudden surge in vampires on screen over the past few years before the trend fades away completely. I'm not going to hold that against the new movie, I'm just pointing it out. It probably also helps that the film has a rhyming name, making easy for potential audiences to remember it during the fickle month of August when expectations for summer blockbusters have been severely diminished after all the razzle dazzle effects and explosions of the July releases. I can only hope that the makers of the new film don't see this as chance to rest on their laurels, but to put the same degree of passion on the screen that helped the original in order to break from the doldrums of tradition and expectation.<br />
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I'd like to touch briefly on the poster for the new movie before moving on the trailer because I saw the poster before the trailer and it helped form some of my attitudes towards this upcoming film.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfLDwgj3DS8B2MUQlo1aIDkVKtFIN0sLuwnT48MNNFmQiObNv6CIKlyKeRjaKriWuGD5xN9mepM4mIGcndFPSxijzYKIoTb9YWV0GAKqzTFz0jFxy0Og0MMovMFuzWbVsNjWegMMGebI/s1600/fright-night-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfLDwgj3DS8B2MUQlo1aIDkVKtFIN0sLuwnT48MNNFmQiObNv6CIKlyKeRjaKriWuGD5xN9mepM4mIGcndFPSxijzYKIoTb9YWV0GAKqzTFz0jFxy0Og0MMovMFuzWbVsNjWegMMGebI/s320/fright-night-poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br />
This isn't a great movie poster. It reminds me a little too much of <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/No_Country_for_Old_Men_poster.jpg/220px-No_Country_for_Old_Men_poster.jpg">the poster for "No Country for Old Men"</a>. But there is at least one thing I like about it, and that is surprisingly, Anton Yelchin. The protagonist stands defiantly at a profile, facing left rather than facing straight on or looking to the right, this helps guide our eye past the angle of the supporting background houses, down the text which lets us know the all important what and when. The distinct axe also breaks the silhouette and sticks out in our minds. We don't need to see his face, we just need to know that our hero is a small person stands guard in front of a small pass, facing up against overwhelming odds, but that he is prepared for action!<br />
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The biggest problem is the biggest thing in the poster; Colin Ferrell's floating head. Sure he's got red tinted eyes, but that really isn't scary. If his nose is going to take up this much space, at least make that facial feature somewhat frightening! What I'd like to know is why we don't see fangs on Ferrell in the poster. Two pointed fangs are a classic feature of vampires and excellent for use in graphic design, hence why they're being used in the title's text. So why not show us a hint of any in the part of his mouth that we do see?<br />
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Then there's the tagline. "You can't run from evil when it lives next door." Wordy, but it does tell you the film's plot.<br />
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Quick comparison to the original poster:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCYP2LGvDuHm7fu2C6jTPhlssB7Dv_IMHkYRoQJ-jRxU8EernoGII3s3ULVsIJGcZ_9cLDTgfBzPat2mz-x5pNNB71GSsZSDMk6IRi99d-zLCXWU47hIOnKfhwgDVvubVnsJXPBV-Xpw/s1600/fright_night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCYP2LGvDuHm7fu2C6jTPhlssB7Dv_IMHkYRoQJ-jRxU8EernoGII3s3ULVsIJGcZ_9cLDTgfBzPat2mz-x5pNNB71GSsZSDMk6IRi99d-zLCXWU47hIOnKfhwgDVvubVnsJXPBV-Xpw/s320/fright_night.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The tagline: "There are good reasons to be afraid of the dark" is a bit generic, but the with image beneath, it works. A wide eyed pale face strikes boldly against a dark atmosphere bearing an inhumanly wide mouth full of cruel, sharp teeth and cackles menacingly while commanding the clouds, harnessing the forces of nature itself to assume the shapes of demons to assault a dwarfed house with no neighbors to allies to be seen, just two pine trees, both easily victimized by the blitzing breeze. There is but one light on in the house outlining a human silhouette, and whoever this lone person might be, they are residing in the last outpost against a devastating devil.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay, let's start the show</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">* Establish Anton Yelchin's Charlie as a typical teen with the good life in what we later see in the big city of Las Vegas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">* Charlie's peers, rather than nameless periphery females are the victims. This makes the disappearances distinct, even if we never see them because there are in the same peer group as the intended audience. Though one could argue that the fanservice victims of the original are more memorable because they were just there for gratuitous breast shots then be killed to drive the plot forward. I'm sure its no coincidence that the one victim we do see in this trailer is a pretty blonde, scantly clad woman.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">* Speaking of which, theres a scene were Mom introduces us to Jerry, also provides Charlie's name, but only addresses his girlfriend as "His girlfriend". I guess that really is all we need to know about her, since the only things we see her do in the trailer is be threatened by Jerry and show off black lace bra , the latter being the official Hollywood code for "Let's Fuck". I'm going to go out on a limb a say she's going to be more of an archetype than an actual character.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">* "Evil" Ed resumes his role as Mr. Exposition, but here he's the one to explain the connection in disappearances and go to Charlie about it rather than having Charlie be the one to figure everything out. He also looks more like a simple high school nerd archetype, rather than the original's big haired goofy spaz. This makes his role in the film more recognizable in the trailer and it looks like this version will be far less annoying.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">* The shots in the last half focus on Charlie and Jerry going on the offensive, preparing for war and promising a greater level of violence and destruction than the original's "cry wolf" build up story.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">* Sadly, there are no shots of David Tennant as Peter Vincent. The only reason I'm at all interested in this movie at all is to see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Doctor">The Doctor</a> fight monsters on the big screen. If this is not delivered in a following trailer than I'm ready to write this off as a failure already.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It hits all the right notes for an action horror film, showcasing excitement and suspense, and catered to a young audience with a disposable income. Will it be any good? Well, we'll see soon enough.</div></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-66394222611164573292011-03-26T11:38:00.000-07:002011-03-26T11:38:20.377-07:00Trailer Trash: Age of Dragons, Three Musketeers<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome to Trailer Trash, were I trash trailers of upcoming films.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Age of Dragons - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">2011</span></span></b></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like the idea of taking the concept of Moby Dick and putting it into a different setting so that we can freshen it up and use the fantasy setting to revive certain elements that would seem over tread in a straightforward adaptation.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The idea of hunting dragons for their "fire" sounds cool, and there use in stories as dangerous predators make it sound more exciting then hunting whales, but this trailer doesn't scream "Excitement"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The setting looks so small, like we're on the location of wherever they shot "Stargate SG-1" in Vancouver. We don't get any wide angle shots of the supposed "harsh terrain", let alone the sky, you know, where the dragons are flying! Theres a scene in the end of the trailer were see them slowly climbing up a tiny hill (shot from a low angle to make it look bigger) in in fact they're walking slowly because they don't have that much hill to work with an have to fudge the shots to make it look epic.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rachel with her perfect cheekbones and shiny hair looks too good to be a huntress and her lone one facial expression renders her completely unappealing. Then we get some cleavage shots and a long look at her bare back and she actually becomes less attractive because she's clearly teasing, but hasn't given me a reason to care at all.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then theres Vinnie Jones, with his patchy beard to let us know that he's a tough, experienced outdoorsman who has braved the arctic chill. Oh please! My beard is thicker than that and its much warmer were I am than were he is supposed to be.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This also makes be wonder why dragons, cold blooded reptiles, would be flying around in this arctic circle of a place. Maybe there internal fire flips things around, I don't know.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can hardly be excited about the actual dragon hunt when their harpoon and rope both have the thickness and durability of a toothpick. How to you expect to injure and pull down a creature that weighs as much as a semi, with something so flimsy? You'd probably have better luck using a freshly sharpened pencil. Come back to me when you've got a double coiled rope, or enough world building were you can't be out done my a children's movie like "How to Train Your Dragon."</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Person Interest Zero, but my brother is a big fan of SyFy Channel Original Movies, and this certainly has that look and feel to it. Maybe I can use the Shakespearean speech of Danny Glover to introduce him to higher quality cinema.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Three Musketeers</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - October 14th</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uvHqXkUZaS4" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></span></span><br />
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<dd style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.25em;"><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.25em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The trailer starts with a Musketeer doing a James Bond Goldfinger-Ninja submersion stunt before killing someone with spring loaded 3-D shot weapon before jumping off the roof like Batman. Then we've got Milla doing her own action scenes and reminding us that corsets showcase cleavage.<br />
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Its clear producers are going the same route with the recent "Sherlock Holmes" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, trying to spice up a period piece with lots of action scenes that are cut just like modern blockbusters and raking in millions since young people with be attracted to fast moving stuff plus a recognizable name ever if they're never read the story before.<br />
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My problem with the trailer is that it seems to be selling three things: 3D shots, Lots of swordfighting, and a thin layer of sex. You might argue that theres humor, what with wisecracks about "Are you sure it wasn't 400" but that humor isn't very effective because I don't know the character or the situation. I think I only got one of the character's names and even less of what the actual story is about, which is kind of important if you want to make it endearing. Especially when you consider that many viewers will know the name and not much else.<br />
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What do were have of substance here? Um... Shot in 3D!!!! Might as well have called it "The Three-D Musketeers".</span></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.25em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade: </b>Originally I was going to say "Mild Interest", but then I learned Paul WS Anderson, director of Event Horizon, Alien Vs Predator and Resident Evil was behind this project, thus setting the bar at "Avoid like the Plague".</span></div></dd><br />
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</b></span></span>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-82550252801611212522011-03-26T11:31:00.000-07:002011-03-26T11:32:33.960-07:00Trailer Trash: Thor, Captain America<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thor</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - May 6th</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e07hmZ2NEjY" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first trailer for "Thor" showed Thor kicking ass and taking names before giving us his backstory about being exiled to Earth before cutting to action scenes in Asgard of Thor fighting monsters and it looked awesome!</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This trailer, not so much.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here we show more of Thor's arrival on Earth as opposed to before where Thor fighting soldiers was spliced with after the fact narration. Now that we can see things first hand, we're building up suspense, which is good.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's bad, is the character of Darcy, and how whenever she opens her mouth, all that tension just deflates when she says stuff like, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"What he was freakin' me out!" or "Oh this is going on Facebook!" Also, whenever she speaks the music comes to a halt, to let us know that the people whoever wrote the script thinks that line was funny.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we cut to the epic Lord of the Rings style action that I want to see, intercut with typical disaster movie footage of wrecking and running with "The Destroyer" rampaging through the city.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems the heads of marketing what this to blend "epic action" with "contemporary and relatable" for wider appeal. Hey if you want to appeal to me, make Darcy the first victim of the Destroyer and I'll be there opening night.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Diminished Interest. I'll likely wait for the reviews to weigh in. It just feels so divided.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Captain America: The First Avenger</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - July 22nd</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JerVrbLldXw" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are introduced to our underdog hero Steve Rogers, weak and frail, yet aspiring to greatness.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Personally I'm still a bit phased by the "Benjamin Button" technology used to put Chris Evans head on a scrawny body, but I should probably be grateful that at least they're showing some distinction in the Before and After of Steve Rogers unlike in the 70s and 90s Captain America movies were he was just as big and muscle bound before the super soldier program.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the title "The First Avenger", I hoping the story won't be polluted with all manner of tie ins to other Marvel Films like "Iron Man 2" was. I'm a little nervous since we have a shot of a young Howard Stark, with the actor playing doing his best Robert Downey Jr. impression, and while that's a fun tip of the hat to other parts of the franchise, we've got enough going on here that we need to get too involved with sequel hooks already.<br />
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Other than that it looks like a fun, pulpy, two fisted, "stop Hitler's jetpack soldiers" adventure movie.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Elevated interest.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-90718024591460914422011-03-22T19:06:00.000-07:002011-03-24T06:31:23.025-07:00Megamind (2010)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpq45rDocDMYG_BvYSklVHxpc0uhdiK__K3iBGgEJPrBcYLisFgy8n-YykYdtd2eVTeiuGMuiKOfHschNdO__DoPKnNXTlURWMr8wI13SK9ek-Az8pxl0IWY1aeXVkVsmvDOdSOxx78k/s1600/megamind_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpq45rDocDMYG_BvYSklVHxpc0uhdiK__K3iBGgEJPrBcYLisFgy8n-YykYdtd2eVTeiuGMuiKOfHschNdO__DoPKnNXTlURWMr8wI13SK9ek-Az8pxl0IWY1aeXVkVsmvDOdSOxx78k/s320/megamind_poster.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><br />
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Voices of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross and Brad Pitt<br />
Directed by Tom McGrath<br />
Action/Comedy<br />
Rated PG: Action Violence<br />
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<b>The Story:</b><br />
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Megamind, the notorious blue skinned evil genius finally succeeds in defeating his archnemesis, the square jawed hero Metro Man, and now suffers an existential crisis about what to do with his life, inspiring him to create a new superhero to battle against.<br />
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<b>My Thoughts:</b><br />
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Since there seems to be no diplomatic way of expressing this, I'll just say that I consider this movie to be better than “<a href="http://erikjohnsonmoviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/despicable-me-2010.html">Despicable Me</a>”. While the two films have an extremely similar story, "Megamind" is better structured.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">I think the pivotal moment in reaching this decision comes at about the halfway point in both films. In “Despicable Me” Dr. Nefario, a mumbling old man who has so far been there solely for comic relief, suddenly gains lucidity in order to set up a very convenient obstacle when we really have no idea who he is in the first first. Conversely, Minion has been with Megamind since the very beginning and has been pressed with the mission to “watch out for him”, so when he thinks something is wrong with Megamind getting too involved in something outside of "The Big Plan", you can see his passion and determination in preventing it. Then followed with the loneliness when they truly are apart, making Minion’s return in the end all the stronger.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Also, this movie has an actual “world”, its built on archetypes sure, but that just shows that tropes are not bad as I can at least understand how this world works with its reversal of the classic Superman-Lois Lane-Lex Luthor dynamic. We see reactions to Megamind’s villainy, although things go back to normal after a while during his reigme this is likely due to Megamind’s pettiness being directed primarily at Metro Man and at causing mayhem. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
Getting back to judging the film on its own merits;<br />
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I never know what to expect whenever I go into a Dreamworks Animated picture. The studio has made just as many movies that I've loved as I've hated or thought were only okay, so I didn't come into this film with high or low expectations which is something that is becoming rarer for me nowadays.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The movie starts off with the "Moments before my doom" scene were the protagonist talks about how he is about to die and then has a flashback to the proceeded events along with accompanying narration. This is starting to become a pet peeve of mine. The out of context image of a character we don't know about to die feels very exploitive and the direct narration towards the audience feels quite intrusive if not lazy. I understand that exposition is one of the most difficult challenges for a screenwriter, to have a voiceover infodump in the first third of a film only to never use or reference it again feels insulting to our intelligence.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I can't say I laughed much during the course of the movie, at best I got a handful of mild chuckles. Mispronouncing words; not funny, Code Obvivous; not funny, Obama Poster; its an overused gag now, The Marlon Brando impression; I get it, but its kind of annoying. The things that did get me going were things like Megamind and Minion wearing shower caps when neither of them have any hair, or Megamind in a giant robot suit playing with a car like a little kid. Subtle little sight gags like that, which were treated like the salt and pepper when they really should have been the bread and butter of the film.<br />
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The final battle between Megamind and the frightening homicidal man child "Tighten", is possibly the films greatest strength, causing mass destruction to the city and putting our leads in situations were we believe they could actually get hurt. There is also great back and forth use of deception with the hologram projection watch, which really engages the mind to pay strict attention. The movie ends with Megamind being proclaimed a hero by the city, for solving a problem he caused, and destroying half the city to do it. But hey, why worry about that when we can end on yet another Dreamworks Dance Number!!!<br />
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<b>Final Score:</b><br />
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3 1/2 out 5. Respectable.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AFJEw4hB7i4" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-59587003289456190492011-03-14T19:12:00.000-07:002011-12-23T17:25:46.506-08:00The Seven Per-Cent Solution (1976)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16Psg21QN9t-t9UlqsJI_KmmCKvAfdp_7TWrYKL8iHW_6ZpIji4cpipv83WrBoy4o1htFi1dXE-AnzcM4D0fGcWU-Zu9_PpjD7oQ3SHHudLDnPYLdUNqpeibsQbvmCgidpJWmKLTrH_I/s1600/seven_per_cent_solution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16Psg21QN9t-t9UlqsJI_KmmCKvAfdp_7TWrYKL8iHW_6ZpIji4cpipv83WrBoy4o1htFi1dXE-AnzcM4D0fGcWU-Zu9_PpjD7oQ3SHHudLDnPYLdUNqpeibsQbvmCgidpJWmKLTrH_I/s320/seven_per_cent_solution.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starring Alan Arkin, Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Laurence Olivier</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directed by Herbert Ross</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mystery/Adventure</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rated PG</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Based on the novel by Nicolas Meyer</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning: These reviews are highly opinion based and will contain spoilers.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Doctor Watson returns to find Sherlock Holmes on a cocaine binge, raving about his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty, whom Watson learns is a well to do professor who is frightened by Holmes persecution. Watson plots a scheme to lure Holmes into the care of Dr. Sigmund Freud in order to cure Holmes of his addictive obbession.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first act is well written and well filmed with some hallucinogenic POV shots to show Holmes struggling withdrawl, but its also painfully slow. The acting is great, Alan Arkin as Sigmund Freud steals the show with every scene he’s in. You can tell a lot of care was given to make his character feel authentic and historically accurate. Unfortunately he gets more character development than Holmes and serves Watson’s role for the later half the movie, sadly robbing Robert Duvall a chance to shine. Its odd that Freud is the one who has the heroic final confrontation with the villain and saves the lady, rather than Holmes. While Holmes isn’t especially known for these "action hero" traits, it only highlights how this isn't a really a Sherlock Holmes story.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of qualities associated with Holmes, the first half of the movie is about his recovery, we don’t actually get any sort of “mystery” until the one-hour mark, which also happens to be halfway through the film! There isn’t much suspense because the villain is established fairly early on, and his role as the bad guy couldn’t be more obvious. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things pick up in the third act. The railway chase is exciting because of the determination and ingenuity of the characters, but the final confrontation is a bit anticlimactic. Holmes has a sword fight on top of a moving train, which sounds good on paper, but with a dated rear projection effect, it looks a bit goofy. Freud is the one to who stares down the bad guy in a short, bloodless showdown that while efficient and in keeping with character, isn’t terribly exciting for the modern viewer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then comes the second conclusion. Freud puts Holmes into a trance and learns that everything about Holmes' life is do to his discovery that his mother was sleeping around with his tutor ,Professor Moriarty. Then Holmes witnessed his father shoot his mother out of revenge. This is why Holmes pursued a field that would allow him to “punish the wicked”, and is also why he thinks of Moriarty as his nemesis and views women as “untrustworthy creatures”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This reveal bothers me for a number of reasons. The first of which being that the incident molded Holmes' life to “punish the wicked”. It seems that in Hollywood, your entire life, especially your career choice is shaped by a single traumatic childhood incident. If you're a doctor in Hollywood, its because someone close to you died when you were young. Apparently no one goes into a field simply because they’re interested in it, or talented in a certain area of study. I always saw Holmes as someone who pursued criminology for the intellectual challenge since in his time it was still a developing field of science, rather than for the sake of justice. He has a keen mind, but he isn’t Frank Miller’s </span><a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/im-the-goddamn-batman" target="new"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Goddamn Batman"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there’s Moriarty. If his affair with Mrs. Holmes was responsible for her death, why would he still be in London? Wouldn’t he be haunted by the memory of the incident assuming Holmes Senior didn’t try to hunt him down? Also wouldn’t have his reputation be ruined by the scandal of being involved in an extramarital affair and a homicide? If he really did get away from the scene scot free, he should have changed his name and left the country. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, and perhaps most irritating, Holmes distrust of women, rooted in his mother sleeping around. In this interpretation, Holmes seems to be distrusting of women as a whole. This is very much at odds with Holmes' nature: to observe and to never assume, and yet here he has a predisposition against half the population.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bottom line, I like the way it is written with focus on character development as well as the depiction of historical figures such as Sigmund Freud as well as numerous references to other Holmes stories. I was not at all surprised to learn that this was adapted from a tribute novel because the pace lends itself better to a book than a motion picture. It is well researched, intelligently written and superbly acted, but the pace is glacial and the big reveal at the end unwound so much of the quality it had going for it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Final Score:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 1/2 out of 5.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VfiMnf5MMAk" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></span></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-15277283154419454162011-03-12T11:31:00.000-08:002011-03-12T11:31:21.431-08:00Trailer Trash: Super 8, The Smurfs and Conan<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome to a new segment called "Trailer Trash", were I'll be looking at trailers for upcoming attractions and giving my thoughts and grading how interested I am in seeing the full picture.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Super 8</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - June 10th</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wasn’t too hyped up for “Super 8” when I saw the original teaser trailer which made it look like Cloverfield 2.0. This new trailer is a step up, introducing us a wide-eyed child protagonist (no name given) who, from the information we're given looks like he’s just lost his mother and has a rough relationship with his father. He has a close group of Goonies style friends and a budding young romance and a hobby of making movies. Then some mysterious stuff starts happening, fast paced images evoking suspense, horror, destruction, and intrigue are aided by the "impending wonder" music. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steven Speilberg serves as producer and the movie feels like a project he would be involved in, the focus on children in the mid 1970s, their fascination with making movies, the "sight unseen" element with focus on people looking at "it",as well as the rocky relationship between father and son. Add to that the popular internet theory that aliens are somehow involved, and it feels like a loving homage to Speilberg's early work in the past brought to the present.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Interest Peaked.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Smurfs</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- August 3rd</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looks like the marketers are following the same strategy as those of “Alvin and the Chipmunks”, with animated creatures abusing our lead star. Neal Patrick Harris really needs to fire his agent. Being in “Beastly” was one thing, but this is just too much crap, even for him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We follow that up with a sexual innuendo joke with Smurfette. You Know… For Kids! Some dodging dangerous feet hijinks to give this movie some reason to be in 3D. Then we cut to the bad guy and his cat laughing before the music cuts off and he tells the cat that he’s overdoing the evil laugh, as if to look at the camera and say “See, we’re aware that our joke isn’t funny. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having the bad guy lampshade his own clichés came and went with Austin Powers, but at this point if you’re saying “We know this is cliché, but we’re going to reference it in an attempt to cover it up”, that is just lazy. We things up by saying “Smurf” in place of other words a couple of thing, and end with a gag were “Smart Smurf” gets thrown off a building screaming “Goodbye Blue World!”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So in the span of less than two minutes you have a man being abused by creatures that he caused no harm, jokes that the film admits aren’t funny, and concludes someone diving off a rooftop to what is presumably their death. If I had to actually watch this movie, I’m pretty sure I’d be tempted to do the latter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Avoid at all costs!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conan The Barbarian</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - August 19th</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Audio snippets mixed with faded images that barely establish anything and awkwardly stitched together with someone doing a terrible Don Lafontaine voice, (Sorry, but no one gets to say "In A World" other than the master) This would be lousy even for a teaser, but this is a full minute trailer, throw us a bone or something! To quote Tom Servo, "Visuals for a movie? Who needs them!"</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> If the marketing department can't get excited about this movie, how can they expect me to be excited about it ?!</span></span><br />
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</span>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-72518901273557267912011-02-28T19:53:00.000-08:002011-02-28T20:11:48.407-08:00The Grace Card (2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0oZmRvCKzqEbOl8n-ipRApTgQQJdYhOqHGNng0pNriG6QNKA9_tQJf6c3W_impNkwMwbGUFP6WIxHCiB5ToGjHjrrrJvmvW4lAj4XkamzNzoSTmt1Sk2g1HyF83juwuPpdfQQNEDAHJs/s1600/the-grace-card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0oZmRvCKzqEbOl8n-ipRApTgQQJdYhOqHGNng0pNriG6QNKA9_tQJf6c3W_impNkwMwbGUFP6WIxHCiB5ToGjHjrrrJvmvW4lAj4XkamzNzoSTmt1Sk2g1HyF83juwuPpdfQQNEDAHJs/s320/the-grace-card.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Starring Michael Joiner, Michael Higgenbottom and Louis Gossett Jr.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Directed by David Evans</div><div class="MsoNormal">Drama</div><div class="MsoNormal">Rated PG-13: Violence, Some Thematic Elements</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The film opens on a flashback to our protagonist, Bill “Mac” McDonald’s past, were we learn that a speeding car killed his son Tyler. We know his son’s name because he screams “Tyler!” after he bolts awake. Dreams are quite dangerous in the movies, aside of the risk of running into Freddy Kruger or Leonard DiCaprio in your subconscious, <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CatapultNightmare" target="new">apparently having a nightmare generates enough adrenaline in your body to propel your torso at near lethal velocity the second you regain consciousness. </a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well fifteen years later Mac is complete jerk, his morning conversation consisting of complaining how ethnics have moved into their neighborhood and yells at his living son Blake for being such a screw up and that Tyler never would have turned out like this. In fiction when your character is a jerk, it’s best to give them at least one redeeming trait so that we don’t completely detach from them. Mac is saddled with <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadLittleSister "target="new">Dead Offspring Syndrome</a>, so he gets a sympathy pass by association rather than by anything he does himself, as we see he’s a lousy husband and father, an outright racist, a bit of a sexist and a terrible police officer to boot. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We are then introduced to his new partner Sam Wright, whom the other police officers snidely call “Preacher”, due to his second job as a minister. Mac and Sam don’t get along, Sam getting the promotion to Sergeant over Mac, the latter convinced that the choice in candidates was due to race. Sam doesn’t really help matters by irritating his partner by signing verses from hymns during patrol. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdVXtPFqZlg" target="new">“A-MA-ZING G-RACE! Public domain we don’t have pay anyone! Hahaha.”</a> We’ve already established that he’s the religious one of the duo so this is really just overkill.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The film also contains Louis Gossett Jr. as “Grandpa George”. Gossett is best known for his award winning roles such as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in “An Officer and A Gentleman”, Fiddler in “Roots”, and as Calvin Bouchard in “Jaws 3-D” (the latter of which had him nominated for the Golden Raspberry, which is an award of sorts). Despite his name on the poster with our two leads, he doesn’t really “star” in the movie since he only shows up in three short scenes, only two of them with dialogue and are just used to advance the spiritual side of the movie and serve as wised old mentor for Sam. By the end he hardly seems worth the mention.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Home life for Sam and Mac is lacking in subtlety. The Wrights live in a warmly lit earth toned house with a family dinner, light hearted banter and conflicts that are quickly and easily resolved. Contrast with the McDonald’s, who sit their cramped claustrophobic dining space that’s parked right up against a wall, and is lit by only one small overhead light. Apparently they’re broken in spirit as well as shins, stumbling around, banging into furniture in the dark.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Things pick up later, while on patrol Mac shoots a burglar fleeing a scene, only to discover that the thief his just shot was his own son!<a href="http://www.dramabutton.com/" target="new"> DUN-DUN-DUN!</a> Mac’s reaction is so over the top that I nearly ruptured a lung laughing so hard. It turns out I’m not the only one to have grievous harm done, as Blake has been shot in the kidney and needs an urgent replacement.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mac’s character arc comes to a head as we reach his big conversion scene, were, with Sam’s help he gives his life over to God. Not much to say here, its par for the course as far as Christian films are concerned and I’d best leave it at that. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hope arrives just in the nick of time as it is revealed that Sam is an eligible donor for Blake’s needs and volunteers immediately, though he does take the time to have a flashback to all the moments he’s shared with Mac, that we’ve already seen in some poor attempt at pathos.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">During the operation, Sam’s daughter asks her mother how they know a kidney from a black man will work in a white boy. Mom replies that while we’re different on the outside, but on the inside we’re all the same. It’s true all right; permit me to demonstrate by vomiting up rainbows. As far as a film about race relations goes, this isn’t exactly <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kI_GkosWio" target="new">“In the Heat of the Night”</a>, heck, this movie doesn’t even begin to break a sweat. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We cut ahead six months later so that we don’t have to see any of the gradual change to the characters after such a shocking ordeal, though this may have been done intentional, so that none of the actors have to actually “act”. The conclusion is at Sam’s church, which is now packed to the brim with new members including the McDonald family who are all happy and smiling and everything seems A-Okay. Then things suddenly become tense when the man who killed Tyler walks into the church, and in front of the whole congregation asks Mac for forgiveness. Wow. No pressure. It’s the kind of ending that would seem ridiculous even if it were on a daytime soap opera. Well as you expect, Mac extends his “Grace Card” to the man, as well as a hand to shake before we cut to the credits.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Summation:<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I know I’ll probably receive flack for coming down hard on a Christian film and for measuring by the same standards I would use for any mainsteam Hollywood film, especially given the theme of grace in this particular movie, but I can’t think of any reason why I should do otherwise. The problems I have with this film have nothing to do with its Christian message of forgiveness and mercy, both values that I can firmly attest to, but rather how the story is portrayed. When it all comes down this movie is intended to coddle viewers rather than convict them. The drama simplified for the sake of it evangelical sub culture target audience. The race relation element of the film in particular fails to deliver because it is incapable of branching beyond its simple depiction of racism, so that the finale can easily resolve all the bad blood. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The direction relies heavily on communication through telling rather than showing in the actor’s performances because the characters really don’t have personalities. Instead the characters are used as blank slates to have problems projected onto them with no way of dealing with their situations on their own. They are written to have all their issues solved by giving themselves over to God, and presto change-o they are now completely different as a result! The filmmakers say “Take our word for it, and if you don’t believe, just look at the ending were Mac is backed into a situation were he can make no other choice except the one presented here.” There is no tension for them because they don’t feel like real people, especially when we don’t see them changed but are only told they have changed. The quality production values are really the movie’s only redeeming feature.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Final Score:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">1 out of 5. Dull and Toothless.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/H80uGG9zaY0" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-11254066501957378582011-02-21T20:07:00.000-08:002011-02-21T20:11:49.682-08:00Fright Night (1985)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieK1Tlz7F7eU5m4sMM3OfH7IZByEnKG4fHsF8T8iZmT4e-8xeGN_okEf6V3nVdOkEuUEvXlengRzYztYaP8311wD36NMaZ8wVLOXUEMN9tduHXKYDVp1kTKE5D7UqWAuXi-mPSZ8uy0ak/s1600/fright_night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieK1Tlz7F7eU5m4sMM3OfH7IZByEnKG4fHsF8T8iZmT4e-8xeGN_okEf6V3nVdOkEuUEvXlengRzYztYaP8311wD36NMaZ8wVLOXUEMN9tduHXKYDVp1kTKE5D7UqWAuXi-mPSZ8uy0ak/s320/fright_night.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starring Chris Sarandon,William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse and Roddy McDowell</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directed by Tom Holland</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Horror</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rated R: Violence, Brief Nudity</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Story:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Typical teen Charley Brewster suspects that his new neighbor may be a vampire in disguise, but no one believes him. He goes to Peter Vincent, an aging actor who once played a famous vampire killer in a series of movies for help, but he doesn't Charley either until the truth is final revealed and together Charley and Peter fight in monster in a haunted house showdown.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Thoughts:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first act has an absolutely terrible set up, Charley ignores the cheesy horror movie on TV as well as his girlfriend who has just admitted to being ready to “put out”, in favor of watching a coffin being moved into the house next door, which is somehow more interesting to him. We follow that up with some clunky TV News exposition at a place that looks like its supposed to be teen hangout from “Happy Days” and get to meet Ed “Evil” Thompson, Charley’s high pitched and highly annoying “friend”. Charley engages in “Rear Window” antics, monitoring his neighbor’s activities for some unknown motivation, alienating those around him with his strange superstitions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He calls the police, when he has little to no evidence to support his theory and plays the “vampire” card way to early so that absolutely no authority figure will believe, on top of that now the vampire knows you know about him. What an idiot. By this point my sympathy is with the vampire, because he shows just how clever he is, getting an invitation into Charley's house and sneaking around when Charley least expects it. However, when he tries to kill Charley, idiot it not, it crosses the line. Maybe if Charley were more charismatic I might have latched on to him more. The setting also love to remind us that he’s a teenager with the previously mentioned 1950s teen hangout, brief reference to school and studying, and the discarded Playboy pin ups alongside crushed Coke cans (I guess crumpled tissues would have been too racy) Speaking of sex, we’re also reminded that this is a teen movie in the eighties, as twenty minutes in we get a brief shot of bare breasts as an enticement to stay for the rest of the movie, a hallmark of a pre internet age of cinema.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of the internet, the exposition is handled rather clumsily. In an internet era I can either Google, Wikipedia or TV Tropes my way for a complete list of tell tale vampire signs, weaknesses and counter measures. Well, since Charley can’t do that, he relies on “Evil” to tell him about vampires, which is strange given that we see Charley watching movies about vampires on the Fright Night TV show that we see is on his TV every night. You’d think he’d be parked on his bed with one eye on screen taking notes while keeping one eye on the window. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a very “Eighties” movie. The dance club scene really doesn’t belong in any other era and feels crow barred into the end of the second act. Skipping ahead, Amy is kidnapped by Count Vampire because as per the law of Immortal Monsters be it Mummies, Vampires or Ghosts, their lost love is reincarnated into the next generation and looks exactly the same. This bit is never really explained though and the two of them have a Cinemax style love scene without any actual sex but plenty of over the top synthesized music.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The third act really does pick it up for me. The best scene for me is when Peter has his showdown with Evil, who is now a werewolf. Peter falls and fains over a broken railing so that Evil can do the “run and land on the impalement” trope, but the animatronics, makeup and most of all the acting, is what sell this scene as we see Evil recognizing his final death as he shifts from werewolf back to boy, his eye show remorse for his demise and convey thanks to Peter for releasing him as he slowly crumbles away, as Peter is petrified, his eyes welling with tears. Wow. Its a scene that I really wish had been in a better movie. If this footage this been used for the conclusion of "An American Werewolf in London", I would bumped my rating there to five stars easily.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charley and Peter make their last stand in the biggest dry ice production plant ever, by flashing crosses to ward off evil, but it has to be backed by faith, which Charley has in spades, but for some reason Peter doesn’t even though he got the cross to work on Evil before, and now in the last stand Peter when does believe and for some reason it doesn’t work. Also Amy is now a vampire with a Chelsea smile and rows of impossibly sharp teeth that are absolutely freighting (out of context they might have been comical) and they have to kill the vampire before dawn in order to save her. I never really understood how that works. It’d be like if your friend was choking on an olive, and you try and help by destroying the jar of olives that it came from rather than working to remove the offending olive itself. Either way the kill the head vampire at daybreak so I don’t really know if that counts as "before dawn". Plus that’d be a great sequel hook if Amy started showing sign of vampirism, the two of them slowly realizing it but not knowing what to do about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film pays homage to its processors, namely the Hammer Horror series, but seems to revel in its clichés with a lack of genre savvyness. Its most redeemable elements are the parts rather than the whole. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A remake is in development (no surprise), set for August 2011 and while Anton Yelcin as a teenager seems par for the course, but David Tennant as Peter Vincent makes this one a blip on my radar, an excellent actor returning as a returning action hero makes it all worth it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdnRJ8d08Tuar_KvfTwNoaWg-U9eTG1vlzANDTB3QY0DmAm8DczugJ02kJnxv0FLDgs7hONbTnMu62_bolcQCCi75C5ItohqRW-AbJkqiVHIRpwR7kET-P6DY8V1511VHfoSigiqjX2c/s1600/11570-6855.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdnRJ8d08Tuar_KvfTwNoaWg-U9eTG1vlzANDTB3QY0DmAm8DczugJ02kJnxv0FLDgs7hONbTnMu62_bolcQCCi75C5ItohqRW-AbJkqiVHIRpwR7kET-P6DY8V1511VHfoSigiqjX2c/s1600/11570-6855.gif" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I'm going to be played by Doctor </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">?"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Final Score: </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 ½ out of 5. Tolerable. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8MAL5VJVezQ" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></span></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-58957208786402122082011-02-11T22:11:00.000-08:002011-02-11T22:11:52.286-08:00Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi68SxJQjreD_RK2IfFkjP3ptns5Uiz4KmxhXHMKEZofwvAHbq4dAyE7oTNKMMUBODkTnx-EwkLo6BnFCxNRtgajj8xef5zrg-XJAQ5GaznRSXYZJEb-C7Yd_eXO_XZQMS6iXXeS9pnoPU/s1600/Legend_of_the_Guardians-_The_Owls_of_GaHoole_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi68SxJQjreD_RK2IfFkjP3ptns5Uiz4KmxhXHMKEZofwvAHbq4dAyE7oTNKMMUBODkTnx-EwkLo6BnFCxNRtgajj8xef5zrg-XJAQ5GaznRSXYZJEb-C7Yd_eXO_XZQMS6iXXeS9pnoPU/s320/Legend_of_the_Guardians-_The_Owls_of_GaHoole_8.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Voices of Jim Strugess, Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush</div><div class="MsoNormal">Directed by Zack Snyder</div><div class="MsoNormal">Adventure/Fantasy</div><div class="MsoNormal">Rated PG</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Story:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Young owl Soren and his brother Kludd, fall out of their tree and are abducted and forced into an into an army for an evil owl empire. Managing to escape Soren and his new friends seek out the ledgendary Guardians of Ga'Hoole for aid.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>My Thoughts:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">I cannot talk about this movie with stressing the beautiful animation and the astonishing level of detail. Each owl looks unique and each have their own expressive faces. The trouble is that it’s a bit hard to project yourself into an animal in a fully animated world built on fantasy world rules. Its also a little hard to swallow that the Guardians shrouded in myth so that none of the common owls are sure they exist, while conversely the Guardians believe that the evil Metalbeak is a myth too. Despite this, I really do like how they don’t sugarcoat or water down the situation for kids. Theres also a spotlight on the dark Cain and Abel plot between Soren and Kludd. They make a big deal talking about how war isn’t glamourous hero stuff and shows signs of the consequences of conflict. Only for our pretentious hero to receive glamourous rewards after an unlikely victory on the heels of a dizzying final fight with the big bad , which was only won because our protagonist "followed his heart".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Very fast paced, but hard to process in a hurry. Zack Snyder shows great visual skills and incredible special effects, but a rather generic fantasy story that is so speedy is hard to attach itself to, isn’t going to make much of impact in my mind in the long run, no matter how great the effects, though their groundbreaking status will add at least another point the final score.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Final Score:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">3 out of 5. Exceptionally Unexceptional.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IXNFA__uOJU" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-54244920285631123562011-02-11T21:45:00.000-08:002011-02-11T21:45:27.978-08:00The Omen (1976)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmr75jqVMQK1VCwIiOVLn-Cp3TGx48hjPwa7xisish-tHgxckVeFz7sSqaSf_SfUkJVQiB49fXdWSs19LBAhQEVIPfQwWRhRgBR3Sv0iDEouJCUhW37bv9xc_tZ2i7EILXWDJveA9tmo/s1600/the-omen-horror-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmr75jqVMQK1VCwIiOVLn-Cp3TGx48hjPwa7xisish-tHgxckVeFz7sSqaSf_SfUkJVQiB49fXdWSs19LBAhQEVIPfQwWRhRgBR3Sv0iDEouJCUhW37bv9xc_tZ2i7EILXWDJveA9tmo/s320/the-omen-horror-movie-poster.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><!--StartFragment--> <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner</div><div class="MsoNormal">Directed by Richard Donner</div><div class="MsoNormal">Horror</div><div class="MsoNormal">Rated R: Violence</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Story:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">The last time I put on a scary movie, it was “<a href="http://erikjohnsonmoviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/poltergeist-1982.html">Poltergeist</a>”, a film that had a plot motivated by the love for a child. Here we have a plot that is motivated by fear of a child. Ambassador Robert Thorne uncovers a conspiracy and the haunting realization that his son is the Antichrist.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>My Thoughts:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is a bit difficult to accept our leads at first for not recognizing the unsettling events around them. Though as a jaded viewer I am all too aware of the genre conventions to watch out for, so I may be biassed, because the opening scenes following the growing family, really do put you off your guard. After a series of grizzly deaths, Gregory Peck and Daivd Warner travel the world on a quest for the truth about the boy, Damien. This is quite easily the best part of the movie as the tension heightens with each discovery and the frights in this part are subtle and subconscious. The exhuming of the graveyard ruin caused me to squirm in my seat more than any of the film's many graphic decapitation scenes. This makes the urgent conclusion, seem a bit meek by comparison as it involves more traditional set ups of a stretch of silence before something jumps out of the dark corner. I suppose I should be grateful such an old trope was limited and saved for the end.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">By this time Gregory Peck is a weathered veteran, and tackles this part like the pro that he is, encompassing an uncertain hero with ease even after years of playing square jawed moral compass types. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Director Richarad Donner sets the grim atmosphere perfectly, using a series of unique shots and camera angles to convey alienation and claustrophobia to staggering effect.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Jerry Goldsmith’s score is one that really puts him through his paces. The ominous Latin chanting probably being the most memorable, but can also bend emotions by starting off with a sentimental sound only slowly introduce untuned instruments to render the scene unsettling.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It that respect its a hard film to rate because it succeeds so well at being so displeasing and uncomfortable to the audience and I base my scores on the quality of the film, I also temper that with how much I enjoyed it as a whole.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Final Score: </b></div><div class="MsoNormal">4 out of 5. Chilling.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3PuIBNLOeEU" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></div><!--EndFragment-->Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-88480416846188855352011-02-05T08:34:00.000-08:002011-02-05T08:34:41.375-08:00Poltergeist (1982)<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBgU8jHrMoPNvB2qSGSh8nRbVZWwzF61WVid6el1VHbPX_TUgdlTYdEvxB0FoyR6pWcD_5BE1UHT5EfUbjo81EayHddVa4NWQlmG1T1oj8KCV3A7FZy7uHgPOnwJoBObMCGD0xHZP1fE/s1600/Poltergeistposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBgU8jHrMoPNvB2qSGSh8nRbVZWwzF61WVid6el1VHbPX_TUgdlTYdEvxB0FoyR6pWcD_5BE1UHT5EfUbjo81EayHddVa4NWQlmG1T1oj8KCV3A7FZy7uHgPOnwJoBObMCGD0xHZP1fE/s1600/Poltergeistposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> </span><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBgU8jHrMoPNvB2qSGSh8nRbVZWwzF61WVid6el1VHbPX_TUgdlTYdEvxB0FoyR6pWcD_5BE1UHT5EfUbjo81EayHddVa4NWQlmG1T1oj8KCV3A7FZy7uHgPOnwJoBObMCGD0xHZP1fE/s320/Poltergeistposter.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Starring Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Heather O’ Rourke<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Directed by Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg (the latter uncredited)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Horror<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Rated PG: Frightening Images and Peril</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>The Story:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The Freeling Family lives uneventfully in a quiet suburban neighborhood, until strange things start to happen. Lights flicker, furniture begins to move by itself and before malevolent spirits abduct their youngest daughter, Carol Anne. Driven to their whit’s end, the Freelings hire a team of paranormal investigators to bring her back.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>My Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The pacing is perfect. The film baits us with small feats to feed our paranoia before delivering the big thrills then giving us time to breathe in lighter, quieter scenes that contain Spielberg’s lighter “life force humanity” moments guided by Jerry Goldsmith’s kind and twinkling score, before elevating back to excitement. Each fright we are presented with escalates over the previous. Even though the movie has some very well known scares like the monster tree, the killer clown or the cadavers in the swimming pool, they are still quite startling. But despite all the amazing technical elements, the backbone of the story is the shock and grief at the unexplainable disappearance of Carol Anne and the desperate need to see her returned safely. The danger is ever present, as is the reason to stay, a perfect Catch-22. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Every element works like clockwork. The identifiable characters, the frightening situations, the precise music and special effects that still look amazing after twenty years.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>Final Score:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">5 out of 5. Superb.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8hQkBLrd1rE" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-41693769842265249482011-02-05T07:46:00.000-08:002011-02-05T07:46:33.810-08:00Fantastic Voyage (1966)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvsKvkr_qUoRr5Kj9xVnNRjUUwpObAJRc0qCvuaMUDj4eDAr8AW-GL1sszuLl-FkOPUZjH7YyVGuogoW11DVwJnk47bw-v4AZMaaEjYyvyFHrV8IU6JZXmHlZf3N8myDWTvBPUu96gm0/s1600/fantastic-voyage-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvsKvkr_qUoRr5Kj9xVnNRjUUwpObAJRc0qCvuaMUDj4eDAr8AW-GL1sszuLl-FkOPUZjH7YyVGuogoW11DVwJnk47bw-v4AZMaaEjYyvyFHrV8IU6JZXmHlZf3N8myDWTvBPUu96gm0/s320/fantastic-voyage-poster.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">Starring Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Donald Pleasence</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">Directed by Richard Fleischer<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">Science Fiction<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">No Rating<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>The Story:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">When a defector from “The Other Side” of the Cold War barely survives an assassination attempt, a special team is sent in a miniaturized submarine and injected into his body to repair the damage against a ticking clock.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>My Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">It became clear very quickly that this film was about the setting and situations and not about characters. We only get brief glimpses at the people assigned to go on this dangerous mission, and not much beyond their role in the operation. Grant, serves as the squared jawed All American strapping hero we is reluctant to accept the call of adventure at first but quickly falls into line. He briefly hits on Cora, the token female whom the generals are against sending on the voyage, despite her implied technical expertise. While she has the deck stacked against her, really her primary purpose in the movie is to look good in a scuba suit, because she does little else. We have a surgeon and a sub pilot whose names have already escaped me because once again, they serve no purpose other than their assigned roles. Finally, theres Dr. Michaels, the claustrophobic navigator, whose character gets the most depth only because Donald Pleasence is the best actor of the lot and can contribute much to such a scantily written part. He also commits sudden yet inevitable betrayal by the end, which isn’t to surprising given his typecasting in villain roles combined with the fact that if you’d been paying attention at all you’d have seen right through him, so the saboteur subplot doesn’t have a lot of depth to it. In fact that’s one of the film’s biggest faults. There isn’t a whole lot of tension for when our characters are in danger, because we just don’t have any characters that we care about to be concerned over whether they live or die.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Because of the urgency of the scenario the crew don’t have time to be trained or familiarized with their equipment and have to have it explained and prepared for them as slowly as possible. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss the teams of beautiful super geniuses from the CSI dramas. At least there I can get a healthy serving of competence, science speak and inside the body camera shots. (Hat Trick!)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Once things get going, the crew seems to the encounter one obstacle after another. Each setback reads like the rapid-fire cliffhanger of an exciting Dan Brown novel, but in practice feels like a series of pit stops toward the ultimate goal. Each problem is solved with quick and easy MacGyver engineering with only small and limited consequences, so you’re just waiting for the next hurdle for them to jump over and then move on to the next one. The only time I was really shocked or scared was when Cora is attacked by antibodies and couldn’t breath (as she repeated tells us), but it wore off quickly when I saw their solution was to have four guys lean over her and start groping her chest. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The film is all about the voyage, and it’s an imaginative one at that, just not very well executed. The effects and sets are well designed and constructed, but haven’t aged well. You can see the wires in some scenes, but are fine otherwise so long as they don’t have too many shots of the crew standing in front of the rear projection windows engaging in dull surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>Final Score:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">3 out of 5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interesting, but sadly not fantastic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3o8vsU0Dw-4" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-61303851753796779632011-02-01T18:00:00.000-08:002011-02-01T18:00:29.923-08:00The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcWTxDx8zUGwizTsIoZDIZ_1OTZDVMMjmmdHHQMcEi_ipyJPgs7RR487fsz-t7a-SupF1cKcxORo_JcgZ9qSTYc-2A6C7EmHqAiX05hitI_BcCQ4uHXJ2C8vZdspmw0LpGOv-kNHIB48M/s1600/taking_of_pelham_one_two_three.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcWTxDx8zUGwizTsIoZDIZ_1OTZDVMMjmmdHHQMcEi_ipyJPgs7RR487fsz-t7a-SupF1cKcxORo_JcgZ9qSTYc-2A6C7EmHqAiX05hitI_BcCQ4uHXJ2C8vZdspmw0LpGOv-kNHIB48M/s320/taking_of_pelham_one_two_three.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Directed by Joseph Sargent<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Suspense<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Rated R: Language, Violence<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>The Story:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">A New York City Subway train is hijacked by four armed gunman who have taken hostages for a one million dollar ransom, now its up to traffic controller Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) to negotiate for the lives of the hostages.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>My Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw are excellent in their respective roles. Matthau’s lack of chiseled A-Star looks with his round nose and tired eyes makes him completely believable as a working class schlub, but there is more to it than that in the performance. The camera holds back so that none of the main characters swamp any of the shots or the story. Frequently there are cuts between the train, the control station, the mayor’s mansion, and various police officers and such to remind us of the scale of the story and all the parts involved in it. A lesser movie might have turned Gerber into the big hero with a big showdown with the bad guy in the end but the large cast fits perfectly with the New York setting and the big city’s gleeful cynicism it employs serves as perfect levity. A big story with lots of parts to play and each one performs like clockwork. Suspense is key, each action propels the next until the thrilling conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>Final Score: </b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">5 out of 5. Flawless.<o:p></o:p></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-65687151964668726032011-02-01T17:38:00.000-08:002011-02-24T19:40:28.139-08:00The Majestic (2001)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjscEpIn-dqfwpYVcmw7k5VokgglZL-uaOr4v3hYd-azwcZlvx4qfLBCddZPrfxo4Upx7AeSET7SZaE9FQI4BpuMfHqzpimw9i3iBZlYYZjIMti1Q-p7VmiKHJnjznokILnyVRI6jDSs2g/s1600/majestic_ver1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjscEpIn-dqfwpYVcmw7k5VokgglZL-uaOr4v3hYd-azwcZlvx4qfLBCddZPrfxo4Upx7AeSET7SZaE9FQI4BpuMfHqzpimw9i3iBZlYYZjIMti1Q-p7VmiKHJnjznokILnyVRI6jDSs2g/s320/majestic_ver1.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Starring Jim Carrey, Laurie Holden, Martin Landau<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Directed by Frank Darabont<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Drama<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Rated PG<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>The Story:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Jim Carrey stars as Pete Appleton, a Hollywood screenwriter working in B-Movies with high ambitions in the early 1950s. Things take a turn for the worse when Pete is blackballed on suspicion having Communist sympathies. After crashing his car, he winds up with amnesia, and wonders into the small town of Lawson were he is mistaken for Luke Trimble, an MIA war hero and favorite son of the town who hardly reacquaint him with his old life. He begins to accept it, until his past comes back to haunt him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>My Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The film begins with some very clunky expository dialogue and some awful close up shots. Carrey’s aids how much we need to be told rather than shown about the character through a voiceover explaining his life to whoever he thinks is listening I suppose. I’m generally of the opinion that if you use a voiceover narration it needs to be incorporated into the whole film you’re using it to lazily tell us about the character rather than let us experience him for ourselves. Pete gets drunk in the bar explaining how his beautiful actress girlfriend left him, which would have been something good for us to see, so that we could see his sorrow first hand, but again, we have to be told about it. After that he starts talking to a toy monkey to explain his emotions yet again. Then he bumps his head and gets amnesia and the telling finally stops.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Pete’s new identity of the heroic Luke is met with mounting praise. This is difficult to watch because we know hes not really who they think he is and everyone is suckered into it , making the inevitable “I always knew…” statements towards the end that much more painful.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Eventually Pete remembers whom he is and is dragged into court by a Communist Witchhunter who was only established early on but doesn’t have much stance as a bad guy since by this point we’ve all but forgotten about him. Carrey delivers a grand speech of “I stand for X and Y ideals” but it feels rather hollow and without weight or consequence, those present however, treat it with loud cheers, rounds of applause and slow tear drops. Carrey returns to Lawson with a crowd awaiting his return once again worshiping the ground he walks upon closing the film in a neat package.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The film is a homage to the sentimentality and triumph of the human spirit themes commonly found in a Frank Capra film such as “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Mr Smith Goes to Washington”. Using those themes here doesn’t work because we have to jump from Pete to Luke and back again so we don’t have a connection with the main character. The disappearing and reappearing antagonist makes this worse and the climax lacks any manner of subtly. Its hard to believe that this is from the director of “The Shawshank Redemption”, were all of Tim Robbin’s actions were subtle and quiet, building towards a greater purpose with a slow build up that generated tension and gave time to really get to know the main character. Here we are fed the line that Pete’s actions have greater meaning and are then told to applaud without really feeling the effects.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">It’s a good idea on paper, and Jim Carrey does a good job with the material provided, but it feels a bit to packaged and processed in to building a “feel good” movie that it has almost the opposite effect.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>Final Score:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">2 1/2 out of 5. “Modest” but not Majestic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C-1pPMliSck" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="480"></iframe></span></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-8808282242274703432011-01-28T16:57:00.000-08:002011-01-28T16:57:38.488-08:00Matinee (1993)<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9rtS0W-ioDqat1rCi-Ax7x3W-GAJ6WIom6ZwTGoIQ6s6oP7pQGKxJMYheSJb62S1koJNV_bV9UOVuG7iL24FNxezd9RMuiRf5gHuLyTKQV_r9YPjkJwJZVotaUkfGgENI6ut_pqCQJc/s1600/1516447h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9rtS0W-ioDqat1rCi-Ax7x3W-GAJ6WIom6ZwTGoIQ6s6oP7pQGKxJMYheSJb62S1koJNV_bV9UOVuG7iL24FNxezd9RMuiRf5gHuLyTKQV_r9YPjkJwJZVotaUkfGgENI6ut_pqCQJc/s320/1516447h.jpg" width="224" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starring John Goodman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directed by Joe Dante<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drama/Comedy<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rated PG<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Story:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gene and his little brother live with their mother on the military base in Key West, Florida while their father is deployed in the Navy in 1962 as the terror of the Cuban Missile Crisis begins to unfold. At the same time film producer Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) comes to town to promote his new monster movie “MANT!” Tension as the movies highly anticipated premiere approaches and development in Cuba grows grimmer as Gene learns about fear, both real and make-believe.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film as a whole is a love letter to popular culture of mid century America. We’re reminded early on about how different ideas and attitudes of that era were, such as the importance of red meat in every meal and the imminent threat of nuclear Armageddon. This look back at the era is interrupted by the introduction of the waifish Sandra. She is wise beyond her years as she recognizes the futility of the school’s nuclear drills is also a crusader for social justice of the period. It feels like a bit of a jerk out of this reality of the decade to be given a politically correct textbook definition of the time rather than let the audience see things play out and experience the era for ourselves.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gene’s story is hindered by the arrival of Woolsey, a film producer in the vein of William Castle, making movies into funhouse shows with gimmicks such as “Atomo-Vision” and “Rumble-Rama”. While we see his dishonest dealings used to promote his new movie, his encounter with Gene reveals just how passionate he is about storytelling and understanding the nature of fear serving as a psedo-mentor to the trouble teen. John Goodman steals the show with this performance.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everything comes together in the third act at the première of “MANT!”, were all the movie’s wide array of characters all happen to meet and their personal demons begin to intersect not only with one another but with the plot of the “MANT!” itself. I can’t really say much more without giving the ending away expect that Robert Picardo hams it up his role as the neurotic theater manager. It is easily the film’s funniest part, but it feels a bit distracting from the big picture at times. The climax may seem a little goofy to some viewers, but it seemed so in tune with the kitsch charm that I was grinning from ear to ear.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d like to briefly compare “Matinee”’s structure with another film, “The Sandlot”. Both features were set in 1962, and were released in theaters within mere months of one another. In “The Sandlot” we follow a boy named Smalls, who like Gene in “Matinee” is new to town, friendless and without a father. While we spend “The Sandlot” following Smalls, the movie isn’t about Smalls so much as it is Benny’s Story told from Smalls’ point of view. “The Sandlot” was about both nostalgia and people, which is why I think it has become such a beloved classic. “Maintee” conversely is about culture and ideas. Gene is there to learn from Woolsey, whom Director Joe Dante uses a mouthpiece for to explain his own passion for movies and moviemaking. It is well written, but in execution feels unbalanced in certain places.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film has all the elements of a classic coming of age movie. It is flawed, but funny and made with lots of affection and attention to detail.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Final Score:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 out of 5. Matinee is a Full Price.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0wwAH5vJq6g" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="480"></iframe></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-24879219325613791122011-01-23T19:38:00.000-08:002011-01-23T19:41:25.633-08:00Killers (2010)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnQ3KutX1rbTOhoxn8NrdkwvoUICz5zG2fCWafqGVbl6Y7k688jjUfWLtP00gmJ7aQRLeBa4uTvtlkSYgjVUdE9zn9Os1m2SxTWLqUPj8dwtxvEocJON9vSFPR4IPIcWO9pQSvPjjIBE/s1600/Killers-2010-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnQ3KutX1rbTOhoxn8NrdkwvoUICz5zG2fCWafqGVbl6Y7k688jjUfWLtP00gmJ7aQRLeBa4uTvtlkSYgjVUdE9zn9Os1m2SxTWLqUPj8dwtxvEocJON9vSFPR4IPIcWO9pQSvPjjIBE/s320/Killers-2010-movie-poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Starring Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Tom Selleck<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Directed by Robert Luketic<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Action/Comedy<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Rated PG-13; Violence.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Story: <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Jen discovers that her husband Spencer is a former CIA assassin, and now the two of them are on the run from other assassins that are trying to kill them.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>My Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">The film opens with Jen (Katherine Heigl) at center stage in between her parents (Catherine O’Hara and Tom Selleck) were they explain to her how she had a bad breakup and needs to get away from it all on a vacation to Nice, France. This scene establishes three things; First, that Katherine Heigl is the focus of this movie, and everything else is superficial. Second, that Mom is an alcoholic, and this is played for laughs. Its kind of funny the first time, but with repetition it gets old fast. Third, this is one of the worst ways to start a movie. Jen’s mom explains things to her that she already knows, and worse describes Jen’s character, rather than letting us see her act out her character and grow to know her. It feels like the director or the screenwriter just checked the box for establishing characters and decided to move on. This scene is nothing more than a teaser before the opening credits and the movie would have been stronger without it, but they need pad out the movie’s 95 minute runtime somehow. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once the trio gets to France, Jen meets the shirtless Spencer (Ashton Kutcher), who we the audience learn is a CIA assassin. This is established by having him climb a rope, knock out an extra and plant a bomb which makes an explosion that would be laughed out of a SyFy Channel original movie. None of this really helps build his character outside of his role. He tells Jen that he is a business consultant who travels all the time he just wants to have a have a normal life and settle down. They have a clichéd “falling in love” montage and three years later they’re married and have a house in the wealthiest suburban community in American and have the annoying characters from every 1960s sitcom as neighbors. Also Spencer’s last name is “Aimes”, and Jen’s maiden name is “Kornfeld”, as in “Aim” and “Cornfed”, just in case you wanted a sampling of the lack of subtly this movie sets for its sense of humor.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After that long, agonizingly cheesy opening, the plot finally starts when one of their neighbors turns out to be an assassin and tries to kill Spencer, shocking Jen, who after three years of marriage never bothered asking any simple questions about his past. Also it seems Spencer didn’t make any effort to formally retire from the CIA. The basic gist from here on out is that all of their neighbors are trained killers and are suddenly after them. Rather than say, traveling to exotic location like say France, were the movie started and have a elaborate thriller involving trying to figure out who would want Spencer dead, they drive around their quaint neighborhood and argue trivial marriage matters that drown out the big picture of their situation and are supposed to be funny. This is punctuated by one of their neighbors jumping out of the woodwork with an oversized weapon every now and then. Much like the “Mom is an alcoholic” gag, its funny the first time, but with overuse it is no longer shocking, surprising or suspenseful. The conclusion of the film is one big insulting punchline, especially when it sinks in how avoidable all the events that occurred could have been. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One the most unforgivable aspects of the film is Ashton Kutcher’s performance. He is bored and passionless throughout the movie. Halfway through when he reminds us that he’s a trained assassin, it really comes as a surprise because he is just that dull and unappealing. While watching this, I couldn’t help but flashback to the 1994 film “True Lies”, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. The plot is similar; a suburban husband, leading a double life as a government agent. While not a great movie, “True Lies” has fun fast paced action, comedy and most importantly characters we care about. “True Lies”, starts by showing Arnold as a James Bond style action hero with the fast guns, gadgets and post kill puns, its pure popcorn fun. We see his double life; his devotion to his job is contrasted with his love for his wife and daughter. He shows remorse at lying to his wife about were he is, remorse that he is missing out on his daughter’s budding teen years and the constant guilt of his elaborate cover stories to explain his behavior. When Ashton Kutcher acts suspicious when he thinks danger is afoot and Katherine Heigl calls him out on it, he shrugs and says “I’m fine”, when its obvious to everyone with a functioning brain that he’s not fine. When a 700 pound slab of walking beef is out-acting you, well, that just speaks for itself.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Bottom Line, it’s a juvenile comedy aimed at adults. The characters are dull and lifeless, with traits telegraphed to us rather than shown. The suburban setting and its situations are silly bordering on insulting, and even at less than two hours it feels long and droning.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Final Score:</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">1 out of 5. Joyless.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/k6SgvLYQV3s" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-56366133917662440242011-01-23T11:15:00.000-08:002011-01-23T11:15:12.194-08:00The Social Network (2010)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp83iwtWdBiU-YXXff3Y2nXX-69pUC_aChaotjbajvirwOp7Od8dk_KwafAOXj9o85Coo75pmjbxgeuIAiiBExr45K1cCTQXcAEnN0dgQSbDX8U5_IPEpBNm5ICxnDKVANrULW7ptMpxQ/s1600/The-Social-Network-movie-poster-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp83iwtWdBiU-YXXff3Y2nXX-69pUC_aChaotjbajvirwOp7Od8dk_KwafAOXj9o85Coo75pmjbxgeuIAiiBExr45K1cCTQXcAEnN0dgQSbDX8U5_IPEpBNm5ICxnDKVANrULW7ptMpxQ/s320/The-Social-Network-movie-poster-1.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake<br />
Directed by David Fincher<br />
Drama<br />
Rated PG-13: Drug, Alcohol Use, Language and Some Sexual Situations.</div><div id="in-story" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="tncms-region-ads" id="tncms-region-ads-in-story" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Story:</strong></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The film chronicles the rise of Mark Zuckerburg, founder of the social network website Facebook, and how it made him the world’s youngest billionaire, but also how it alienated him from his friends and loved ones.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thoughts:</strong></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The dialogue is this movie is very fast paced and abundant. I cannot stress this point enough. If you watch this movie without the subtitles on, chances are you will miss a lot of important information. This isn’t something to be viewed as a negative stigma, just a sign of how densely the film’s material is packaged. By the end of the movie, my brain felt like it had run a marathon with it’s relentless pace and unpredictable events layered with suspense and sprinkled lightly with dry wit.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, our lead, a brilliant, and ambiguously autistic computer programmer, though gradually we are introduced to a sea of characters involved in this Internet enterprise. Andrew Garfield as the business focused Eduardo is easily the most sympathetic character, while Justin Timberlake’s performance as the wily Shawn Parker, is a phenomenal breakout role. Each addition adds a new piece to the drama and it is easy to get caught up in the ever-expanding series of events.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The film has many parallels to the classic “Citizen Kane”, mainly use of a nonlinear narrative told through flashbacks. But probably most recognizable is in the film’s conclusion, when Mark finds himself lonely at the top, alienated from all his friends and looking to reconnect with his lost love.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Captivating in its composure, “The Social Network” is a film that actively encourages its audience to think, and consider the actions of the characters that can leave each viewer with a completely different perspective of the protagonist. </div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Final Score:</strong></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 5 out of 5. Intense.</div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-17795751304904249842011-01-07T18:34:00.000-08:002011-01-07T18:39:54.078-08:00Despicable Me (2010)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7N_I2-uU40LUfxxgcRerB6Q9lzuvbO9MwV1Hr3dYMqgYwBd-MRAZu_o_CrGQIxkUfYnzckGeo5mtajxrEN-_rG4FS8oCst8r8z915TVYhs520-WkM_OVJeHnQAdhEh8iIM5Zt8-EGpXI/s1600/Despicable-Me-Poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7N_I2-uU40LUfxxgcRerB6Q9lzuvbO9MwV1Hr3dYMqgYwBd-MRAZu_o_CrGQIxkUfYnzckGeo5mtajxrEN-_rG4FS8oCst8r8z915TVYhs520-WkM_OVJeHnQAdhEh8iIM5Zt8-EGpXI/s320/Despicable-Me-Poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559638241383491810" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Voices of Steve Carrell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand<br />Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud<br />Family/ Comedy<br />Rated PG</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Synopsis:</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Super Criminal Gru, seeks to become the greatest villain of all time by stealing the moon. He concocts a rather complex plan involving adopted three orphan girls in order to steal the necessary equipment from his nemesis, Vector, who has upstaged him at every turn. However, things go awry when Gru begins to bond with his new family.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Thoughts:</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Gru has a lot of Steve Carrell’s usual mannerisms his performance. While he does try to disguise it with a Hollywood foreign accent, a lot of elements he is known for come to the surface. When he talked about getting older or having to lay off some of his walking cheese puff minions, I really felt like I was watching an episode of “The Office”. This wasn’t necessary a bad thing, it was just something I found a little distracting from the actual story. I can understand that with this being Illumination Animation’s first feature film, that they tried to capitalize on as much star power as they could afford. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">On the other end of the casting spectrum we have Julie Andrews as Gru’s mother who makes only a few guttural noises in her limited amount of screen time. I just couldn’t help but think what a waste of potential that was. They managed to get Mary Poppins herself to be in their children’s movie, and did absolutely nothing with her. All the while I just couldn’t help but think of how ironic it would be if instead they had cast her as the intimidating mistress who runs the orphanage. I just think it would have been fun to cast against type like that.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">One of the things that are hard to understand about this movie is the setting. Our two leads, Gru and Vector are supervillains who steal landmarks Carmen Sandiego style, and are both financed by an evil bank and are part of society of bad guys. There don’t seem to be any superheroes or secret agents to oppose these threats. The people we do see react don’t really seem to do anything. This is rather unfortunate as one of the movie’s funnier moments was at the beginning when we see the nations of the world going ludicrous precautions to safeguard their landmarks. I kind of wish there had been more scenes like this.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It is a bit hard to understand this setting when there really have any “rules” laid out. There’s a bit of contrived coincidence that the plot hinges on, were Gru builds a rocketship out of scrap parts to fly to the moon, so that he can steal it with his shrink ray. It just so happens that Gru can only launch his rocket on the same day as his new daughter’s dance recital. If you can build a rocket out of spare parts and use it to fly to the moon, and zap it with a shrink ray to hold it for ransom, then I’m sure you can launch on a day when you aren’t otherwise committed. The senile Dr. Nefario, has suddenly regained lucidity to exposit this bit, delivers this plot point. I don’t understand who this guy is that he can tell Gru what to do. Isn’t it Gru’s plan after all? Besides, the good doctor didn’t speak up that we know of during any of Gru’s other failings, so why now all of the sudden? There is no reason, other than because the plot depends upon it.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The animation is excellent. I am eager to see what comes out of Illumination Animation’s following films. The plot is contrived, and the situations with the kids fairly predictable. However, it is peppered with some good comedic moments but they are rather few and far between.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Final Score:</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">3 out of 5. Commonplace.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ueY6Jic8rUg?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ueY6Jic8rUg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-65914003566250513882011-01-07T18:28:00.000-08:002011-01-17T17:43:23.529-08:00Ramona and Beezus (2010)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAAdXhrpbeqGT3heGLgqrqVz9gvX8EZ8QZx8rix7kDe0Ao8-244Gq9EJyrRt4CFFBqXpDV2-I0Mg5EAdNsWLGWkuttVWNg5yZmceXoNkYHSRidGOBjlLAEs49WycXMZJ643PzeGRMiAA/s1600/Ramona-and-Beezus-Movie-Poster.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559636416208561778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAAdXhrpbeqGT3heGLgqrqVz9gvX8EZ8QZx8rix7kDe0Ao8-244Gq9EJyrRt4CFFBqXpDV2-I0Mg5EAdNsWLGWkuttVWNg5yZmceXoNkYHSRidGOBjlLAEs49WycXMZJ643PzeGRMiAA/s320/Ramona-and-Beezus-Movie-Poster.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 214px;" /></a><br />
<div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Starring Joey King, Selena Gomez<br />
Directed by Elizabeth Allen<br />
Family/Drama<br />
Rated G<br />
Based on the books by Beverly Cleary</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Synopsis:</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ramona Quimby is an adventurous third grader who offer a unique perspective on the events around her and her family, such as her father losing his job, her Aunt Bee's budding love life and antics with her older sister Beezus.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b>Thoughts:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When I first heard about this movie I thought it would pitch the source material out the window and just try and be over the top cutesy. The proceeding trailer for “Marmaduke”, a movie which suffered such a fate, wasn’t exactly encouraging. Marketing is something that can really mess with your expectations. Selena Gomez’s size on the poster, fame from the Disney Channel and original song on the soundtrack made me think that she was the star and that the movie is about sibling rivalry. No, the title is truth in advertising as Joey King as Ramona is this film’s main attraction. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The first thing I noticed is that the movie isn’t an adaptation of any one book in the series but rather it just cherry picks bits of stories from each of the books. Which I suppose makes sense, after all the books were really just a string of vignettes strung together by a thin overarching plot and the movie does the same thing. Despite how many plot threads the movie has, the script does a very good job if introducing a lot of ideas and then quickly tying the knot so that the story isn’t too cumbersome.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The most glaring problem for me was that none of the 9-year old characters talk like they’re 9 years old. Ramona's independence seems more in line with a 13-year old than her actual age. It’s a bit hard to believe that Ramona can’t spell “delicious”, when she uses words like “individual” or “embellishment” on a regular basis. In something like “Peanuts” or “Calvin and Hobbes” the fact that children speak with such articulate vocabulary is because it is meant to be satires of adult behaviors, but in a world that tries to pass off as a real life their dialogue sounds unnatural and feels like a punch in the stomach every other time one of these kids opens their mouth.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Selena Gomez does a good job in role as Romana’s big sister Beezus, but her role in this movie really just feels like window dressing. In fact, I could say that for a lot of people. This movie has a lot of periphery characters each with their own subplots that we cut away from Ramona to follow every here and now. It can be a little distracting, but it helps to establish a world bigger than just our lead character and gives the events that much more dimension to their reality. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Because of the way the plot picks and chooses from various sources and introduces loads and loads of characters the story has a lot of peaks and valleys to it, but in the end, I think it balances out well. Even if you know the books well, there is genuine interest in wondering how it will work out in the end.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The movie has a tightly executed script and surprisingly good acting. While it can waffle at times between clichés and cuteness, it comes out all right by the end. If they could have tweaked the children’s dialogue it might gotten a higher score. Bottom line, it serves as a good example of family entertainment that doesn’t try stooping to the lowest common denominator.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Final Score: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3 1/2 out of 5. A cut above the rest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cs6fGjgoF3E?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cs6fGjgoF3E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></span></div></div>Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511009116869673513.post-77428087829091799432011-01-07T14:18:00.000-08:002011-01-07T14:33:45.899-08:00The Blob (1988)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClhbM0cSnmshZjtCegFGzsgJrIPuO8VX-vQP-lU5MrHkqQczl6i3FJmPOgEqo22O_58rsQXTY4P1hXutBuVVULPOR2CsEYcNefBjMVVG1poYkoiByYjPuZhzqbQWzgf3zq9nGlvyYi3A/s1600/blob_poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClhbM0cSnmshZjtCegFGzsgJrIPuO8VX-vQP-lU5MrHkqQczl6i3FJmPOgEqo22O_58rsQXTY4P1hXutBuVVULPOR2CsEYcNefBjMVVG1poYkoiByYjPuZhzqbQWzgf3zq9nGlvyYi3A/s320/blob_poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559572992495424706" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Starring Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith<br />Directed by Chuck Russell<br />Horror<br />Rated R</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The movie opens with a decent from space to shots of a small, empty town in Anywhere, USA. There is foreboding music in the background to help establish the dark tone.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Aside of a few details, the story is the same as </span></span><a href="http://erikjohnsonmoviereviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/blob-1958.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the original 1958 “The Blob”</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, with a Blob monster falling from outer space, consuming unsuspecting victims and its up to two teenagers to try and stop it from destroying the town.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The best thing about this film is how efficiently it uses the first act to establish its characters. Each person has a little bit of dimension and development so that they all seem important to a certain degree and results in all the more surprise and shock when a character becomes a victim of the Blob. It really helps the audience to care about trying to stop the situation and really invests us in the story more so than your average monster run amok type of movie.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Instead of just being regular teenagers, our lead characters are Brian is a juvenile delinquent with authority issues and Meg, a goody-good cheerleader from a wealthy family. They have decent chemistry but nowhere near as much charisma as Steve McQueen and company in the original.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Blob effects in this version are decent. It should really go without saying that this is a bloodier and gorier Blob, so we get to see it tear apart and digest its victims, getting redder as it eats more, colored by the blood. While this Blob has more onscreen kills than the original, the actual deaths we do see are so brief that the shock sticks to our subconscious and comes across as more terrifying in our minds.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The problem is that the menace of the Blob is undermined by the introduction of a human antagonist, the corrupt government scientist Dr. Meaddows. While it first he comes across as an eleventh hour savior to stop the monster, his wooden and exposition heavy dialogue really give him away. He brings the story to a halt as he explains that the Blob is a biological weapon that he has designed and how he’d rather let the entire town be destroyed that have his experiment be lost. He’s just relishes in what a two dimensional bad guy he is and it really upstages the motiveless Blob. He death by the creature he created is far more satisfactory to the viewer than the destruction of the Blob in the end.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Speaking of which, the climax occurs when a “Jaws”-style tank explosion. Meg suddenly starts acting like Sigourney Weaver from “Aliens” and spewing typical monster killing dialogue firing multiple shots from an assault rifle trying to hit the Liquid Nitrogen tank that will freeze the Blob.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That would be the end of it, but right before the end we see a demented priest go on and on about how the Blob is a sign of the end of the world in a manner that’s beyond cliché.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A very well written script up until the third act, were we are sidelined by clichés. The Blob effects are good, but are starting to show their age. It is well made, but nowhere near as fun or as memorable as the original.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Final Score:</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3 out of 5. Effective Horror.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/On3UO5VG5OY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/On3UO5VG5OY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> <!--EndFragment-->Erik Johnson Illustratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com0