Archive for July, 2009
Halfway Down The Stairs
A great example on how a basic concept can be quite powerful and poetically beautiful with the right person behind it.
From Season 1 of the Muppet Show, Here’s Robin the Frog singing “Halfway Down the Stairs”
Hercules
Essentially, I planned on doing a classic movie review on the Disney Hercules movie…when I went looking for the trailer, I ran into this…expect a review sometime in the future for this piece of cinematic magic.
Next Reviews
(500) Days of Summer
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The Hurt Locker
Posted by Joel in Movie Review on July 28th, 2009
Staff Sergeant William James: There’s enough bang in there to blow us all to Jesus. If I’m gonna die, I want to die comfortable.
James Cameron’s ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, has made some great movies in her time (Near Dark, Point Break, Strange Days), so where does her movie about the Iraq War fit in? Let’s look.
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THE HURT LOCKER
-Script: Really solid, varying from the intensifying bomb segments to the interactions between soldiers, it is truly writtenly richly. Everything is set up and executed perfectly. Character’s are fleshed out and environment is bearen. While watching it, you feel like your being watched, the feeling of being unsettled is always looming.
-Actors: Jeremy Renner is spectacular in this movie, he plays an adrenaline junkie who gets his kicks off of difusing bombs. Truly unpredictable. One of my favorite scenes is near the end, you get the feeling he’s lost, you’ll understand when you see it, what I mean. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are perfect in their roles as sergeant and specialist under Renner’s James. They try to act strong, but inside they are truly fragile, feeling the pains of the ensuing war. They feel threatened by Staff Sergeant James inexplicability in pursuing the rush and nearly getting them killed. All three actors act and feel real, they convey emotions that have you understand what they’re thinking inside, truly remarkable. Also, heads up for two really famous british actors who make cameos in the flick.
-Cinematography: Just intense, I found out online also that the bomb diffusing scenes were actually filmed simultaniously in a take. That just really sets the moood for applause! The camera work is beautiful and I wouldn’t expect any less from Barry Ackroyd (United 93, The Wind that Shakes the Barley)
- Action set pieces: Unpredictable, intense, and all around an awesome watch. I couldn’t pull my eyes from the scenes, it felt like if I blinked, i’d miss something. It will get you comepletly in the moment. It’ll suck you in.
-Iraq: Just awesome that they filmed so close to the actual battlefields and such, and it just sets the mood. You don’t know where the terrorists are, it’s a wasteland, how the people react. Also the film acknowledges terroristic brutallity, some of the stuff I couldn’t believe I was witnessing!
-Psychological: It deals with soldiers, their aspirations, their vulnerability, and their spirit. We follow Staff Sergeant James, a psychologically fractured human meat bag who is confronted with social issues. He fends for himself at most times and be friends a Iraqi child. As the film progresses, he finds himself not being able to link with anyone.
WHAT I HATED ABOUT THE HURT LOCKER
Nothing.
OVERALL
A perfect war movie set in the Iraq war. It’ll fall in line with Vietnam’s Platoon and Apocalyspe Now!, WWII’s Saving Private Ryan, and WWI’s All Quiet on the Western Front.
RATING: 5 OUT OF 5
The Ugly Truth
Posted by Joel in Movie Review on July 26th, 2009
“Mike: You’re all about comfort and efficiency!
Abby Richter: What’s wrong with comfort and efficiency?
Mike: Well nothing, except no one wants to fuck it.”
When it comes to romantic comedies, I become really picky. Either it’s so cliche that you can tell when something’s gonna happen (Sweet Home, Alabama), or it’s not funny (What Happened in Vegas), or it takes you completely by surprise and becomes such a great film (Annie Hall/When Harry Met Sally…). My friends wanted to go see The Ugly Truth, so I tagged along. Which category did it fall under, well let’s find out!
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THE UGLY TRUTH
-Gerard Butler: He’s HILARIOUS in this movie. Speaks vulgar, acts kind of vulgar, but obviously seeing he is the main love interest for Katherine Heigl’s character, he is obviously sweet somewhere in his body. He discusses topics in such a truthfully honest way that it justifies the film’s title…some people may find what he says to be kind of ugly. It seemed like they were pushing the boundaries of the typical romantic comedy, issuing words like Fuck this, and fuck that. I really enjoyed his character.
-The supporting cast: Really this is only revolved around John Michael Higgins and Cheryl Hines characters; Jay and Georgia. They are really funny, acting as a couple who host a morning tv series, kind of like the Today Show. They are pretty much at each other’s throats, or really really into each other. It’s just funny.
-Has it’s really good moments: I won’t spoil any moments, but there is one that was definitely funny involving: Panties, A Dinner Party, and a remote control.
-The atmosphere: This isn’t actually pointed right at the movie, this is pointed at the movie’s audience. Everytime I end up seeing a movie where there is a lot of women in the crowd, I find myself laughing at their reactions. Everyone Gasps, or Everyone’s like “He’s going to tell her he loves her” or everyone is going “Awwwwhhhhhh!” It really makes me laugh.
WHAT I HATED ABOUT THE UGLY TRUTH
-Katherine Heigl: Her character at the beginning irritated me, she reminded me a lot of psycho girls I’ve been on dates with, or a bad Friends imitation of a date gone horribly wrong. During one of the first scenes she goes on a date with a guy and has pretty much his life on paper in front of him. To me, I actually thought that the guy she went on a date with, was funnier then her. He wasn’t even ment to be.
-Hitch rip-off?: Reminded me of Hitch really, a better movie actually….not always a good way to go.
-Potential: I thought this movie had some potential for some good dramatic moments, maybe involving Gerard Butler’s nephew, something with the TV station, TV executives maybe trying to tone down Butler’s character/segment. Also, being a TV student, I realize that they sure make TV look like a slack job. Everyone in the control room is calm and the camera people know exactly when to move, and where. Not to mention that a moment when Gerard Butler moves out of the building and the producers are telling the camera man to follow him, they sure dismantled that camera pretty f@#%in fast if you ask me, but hey it’s a movie, who needs realism.
-Writing: Joke wise, it was pretty funny and smart. Everything else was typical rom-com style. Nothing exciting, nothing original, just run of the mill rom-com. Also, the film just ends, nothing special at all really, after our climax, the film just has one little itty bitty scene, then ends…fun.
OVERALL
Fun rom-com, but really it’s starting to run thin. Romantic Comedies should be unpredictable, realistic and a fun watch. Instead, they are really formulaic and average at best, but in the past year of rom-coms, this is close to the best of the bunch.
RATING: 2.5 OUT OF 5
Update
Posted by Joel in Uncategorized on July 23rd, 2009
Some more classic reviews on the way, Watchmen Director’s Cut review, Coraline review and some other neat things coming. If you’re wondering why I haven’t updated a lot lately, it’s because with a new job comes lot’s of new responsibilities, so i’ll do my best to try and update as much as I can!!
Joel D.
Gollum’s Song
I watched a video earlier in the day reflecting on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I couldn’t help but go on youtube and look up my favorite song from the Trilogy. The main theme of the second film in the trilogy depicts the character of Gollum/Smeagol as being coneiving and pitiful all at once. The lyrics are poetic and it is sung beautifully by Icelandic singer Emiliana Torrini. The song truly gives me shivers everytime I hear it, I actually bought the soundtrack for this song alone, that’s how much I love it. One of Howard Shores crowning achievements in the series (to me at least) is Gollum’s song from the Two Towers soundtrack, let’s take a listen!
Classic Movie Review: The Crow
Posted by Joel in Classic Movie Review on July 22nd, 2009
“Abashed the Devil stood and felt how awful goodness is”
Miramax had quite the time trying to appeal to major audiences, I mean Warner Brothers had the Batman franchise, and Orion Pictures had Robocop. Miramax needed money to stay a float during theses times where Blockbusters would destroy the box-office, leaving independent company such as Miramax high and dry for cash. So the company that brought audiences movies like:My Left Foot and Red, would have to try something drastic. In comes Alex Proyas’ “The Crow”, a pure early 90’s superhero flick painted in a gothic grungy overtone…so how does it fair? well let’s look.
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THE CROW
-The setting: Seemed quite gothic in nature, which was essentially what it was suppose to entail, a sort of Burtonesque cityscape, where villain’s run amock and terror is on the rise. Sharp Steeples on the churchs, dark mooded picture for a dark story to come.
-The Story: a true-to-form average everyday revenge story involving a immortal man….reminds me of Highlander and the Punisher, where a man is killed and the people he loves are killed and it’s up to him to take vengeance on thoses who have wronged him. I’m not saying it’s bad, quite the opposite, it’s a really cool concept for a film in the early 90’s for sure. Especially the circumstances that theses events take place, I mean the guy’s girlfriend is rape/beaten/stabbed/etc. He is shot, and thrown out of a 6 story window. The man deserves his vengeance.
-Alex Proyas: Really great director, and if you don’t know the name, well here are some of the films he has directed: Dark City (one of my favorites), Garage Days, I,Robot, and Knowing. He loves to dwelve into the sci-fi nature in a real world realm. The Crow isn’t truly essentially a real world kind of place, in some instances it is, but what he does with the surreal aspect is just fun and intense. He knows how to play around with the camera and gives the audience some well deserve thrills.
-The fact that they used Miniatures: My friend Scott knows all about this, as much as CG is a great tool, it shouldn’t be used to carry your film, unless it’s something like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, you know, when they have creatures and such (once I do my Event Horizon review, you’ll understand why It bugs me) but the fact that a movie like The Crow would use miniatures for their landscapes and such, it’s just smart filmmaking. Why use CGI, when sometimes it becomes dated, and doesn’t look as good as when it orignally released, when you could use real environment as backdrop to lure the audience in, and keep the real world feel. Miniatures last longer as backdrops then CGI does…George Lucas will understand that one day!
-The Acting: it’s basic 90’s acting, so nothing truly spectacular, but I will give it to Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee mind you) who does a pretty good job acting like a man in pain….too bad he died making this movie.
WHAT I HATED ABOUT THE CROW
There wasn’t much I disliked about the movie, but I do have a fiew points.
-Some of the character’s dialogue were kind of off: As much as I love a little nod to Poe’s “The Raven”, he pretty much intimidated a guy with a complete lyric. Also some of the character’s were kind of too off the wall, it’s fun to be off the wall, but when they are trying to be menacing, it becomes pathetic really, maybe that’s what Proyas was trying to convey, but it was a little turn off.
-It’s essentially a 90’s film: This is minor, and I know Scott is gonna be like “WTF man!” but it’s essentially true, a lot of film’s theses days cater to other film generations, for instance, a film like let’s say The Dark Knight, will be watchable 10 year’s from now and still seem like “Oh that could happen now, or , it feels present day, and not something made 10 years ago” but the Crow feels dated. It was made for a 90’s generation where people were into Grunge and listened to Nirvana on a daily bases.
OVERALL
The Crow is still a really fun action/superhero/revenge type film, but it does feel a little dated. It should still keep it’s cult status as far as i’m concerned.
RATING: 4 OUT OF 5
Classic Movie Review: Terms of Endearment
Posted by Joel in Classic Movie Review on July 22nd, 2009
Aurora Greenway: I just don’t want to fight anymore.
Emma Horton: What do you mean? When do we fight?
Aurora Greenway: WHEN do we FIGHT? I always think of us as fighting!
Emma Horton: That’s because you’re never satisfied with me.
1983’s Best Picture winner “Terms of Endearment” knows how to pull its punches, whether being a bittersweet narrative into a woman beyond her years attempting to re-enter the dating scene, or the terrible truth that some people will never succeed in impressing their parents. This film is underlined with emotion, varying from sweet and innocent to depressing and tragic. This is my look into the mother-daughter dramedy “Terms of Endearment”
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
-Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger: Beautiful acting from theses now veteran actors, both deserving in their nominations and ultimately MacLaine’s win. The movie starts off with a baby in a carriage sleeping and all we here is a man and a woman presumably downstairs of the house they reside. MacLaine decides to check on the sleeping baby and ends up coming to the conclusion seeing that the baby wasn’t moving that the baby had suffered crib-death. She pokes and prods the child until the baby starts wailing and crying. Just a perfect way to start a movie about a mother-daughter relationship that relys on the daughter feeling everything she does isn’t enough for her mother. Shirley’s character Aurora is the realisation of a parent who never seems impressed with her child. Spoiler Even in Emma’s dying breath, she seems to be reaching out for her mother’s approval, a heartbreaking moment if I ever saw one Spoiler end. Debra Winger’s Emma also delivers a quirky fun character who seems to be longing for more. She loves her mother to every extent and loves gossip. She is outgoing and even when she discovers that she is dying, she still continues with her optimistic view on life. The drama theses two go through is just part of the poetry that is life.
-Supporting Cast: Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow, and Lisa Hart Carroll are great stepping stones to the lives that theses two ladies lead. Jack Nicholson overcomes a lot of the actors, creating an eccentric “ladies” man who has a hard time coming to terms with his emotions. Truly a oscar winning performance.
-The Writing: You couldn’t write a better story. The themes of life, love, and tragedy are underlined with comedy and serious overtones. The script is witty and charming. The moment of death in the film hit me in the way it should have, in shock. I didn’t know how to feel at first, until Aurora began to freak out, I really couldn’t believe it. It felt like you grew up with the characters and seeing something as tragic as that really prevails to hit the heartstrings.
WHAT I HATED ABOUT TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
-I don’t think there’s anything I really hated about the film, but I think it would have been neat to see how they could have used DeVito as a love interest. He seems to be there just as a kind of stalker type, but never really gets a shot at Aurora. Also a little bit more with the Kids could have helped us feel more, especially for Emma’s youngest, Melanie. I guess if I had to complain, it would have to be with the way they present the film in the media or medium, as a kind of fun, chick flick, kind of romp, which will turn away a lot of viewers. That knocks off only half a point tho in the final score.
OVERALL
This film is great, truly a film deserving of the Best Picture status. Not a film for everyone, but if your a film lover like I am or you love character development, then this could be a film for you….Also this is essentially a chick flick (yes I know, at first I was afraid of what I was about to watch), but it’s truly a sweet drama.
RATING: 4.5 OUT OF 5