The Conjuring

broderic on July 27, 2013

I should be writing this review of The Conjuring in bright daylight, but a rainshower has just rolled through darkening the evening sky. Hopefully, it doesn’t put shadows in places where I dare not look.

The Conjuring was about one of the scariest cases of the paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren. They were the investigators responsible for the Amityville case. At the start, they are investigating a haunted doll. That doll is the most frighteningly evil doll you will ever see. I hate dolls.

The Warrens eventually are asked to investigate a haunting at the Perron house built on the plantation of a former Salem farmer. Yeah, it’s not an Indian burial ground, but it is the cause of the evil.

The Conjuring then mixes up several better scary movies. There’s the Poltergeist style investigation when the Warrens set up camp in the house awaiting the paranormal activities to commence. There’s The Exorcist style exorcism to exorcise the evil from the house.
You would think the movie is derivative. It’s not. It mixes these other films in the best way for a different effect.

Supposedly, The Conjuring was rated R because of it being to scary. I wasn’t scared enough, and that is saying something. I squirm when watching scary movies. I did squirm during this one, but later at night I didn’t get scared of the dark. And by the next day, wasn’t scared of anything at all. Does this make it terrible because it failed to make me scared? No. I still loved getting creeped out. I still loved the setting and the pacing. The ghost was okay (The Woman In Black still creeps me out to this day), but overall it did its job.

4 of 5 stars.

Grown Ups 2

broderic on July 23, 2013

I saw two movies this past weekend. One of them was the most scariest thing I’ve seen in the theatre in a long time. The other one was The Conjuring.

Grown Ups 2 is the quickie cash in from those fellows in the original Grown Ups. Nothing can prepare you for the horror. The original at least had a semblance of a story — its sequel nada. I didn’t laugh once. Okay, maybe a few chuckles but not hard or loud as the crowd of 13 year olds did. They even clapped at the end! Sadly, those kids are our future and they all are knuckle heads.

Don’t watch this movie even if it comes on cable. There is nothing redeemable about it. I want to gouge my eyes out. I can’t believe I saw this.

Afterwards, I thought about the failure of Hollywood. This is what they are offering now. Unfortunately, they probably have more of the same. The action has gone to television. They tell stories there and not spectacles. They are more creative and not creatively bankrupt. They tell stories you want to see. Movies not so much.

1 of 5 stars.

Mental Note

broderic on July 22, 2013

Do not, I repeat, do not cut and paste from iOS Notes app to the blogger app. The style sheet will be copied as well making your post ugly.

Doesn’t anyone know the beauty of plain text?

She Was

broderic on July 22, 2013

Fresh dream about S. 

Not sure if it was at Ocean City or in Spain. 
Started like any other dream: we were on vacation. I met up with her at our condo or villa. She was much older but she was still beautiful. There were a ton of us. She was studying or doing some school but she decided to come over and hang out. Then we suddenly had a bright idea to go out to Camillo and Gigi’s place. She didn’t want to go, but went any way. I drove a bus. 
There was plenty of drinking and fun times.  We were out late. S had a conversation with my mom. 
Then it was time to go home. I woke her up by tickling her feet. I said did she want to go home. Yes. Then I woke up everyone else.  I was going to drive the bus.  I woke up Cousin Bob who was passed out in a garbage bag rain coat. Cousin Ness was shaking her head with how late it was. We were heading back to the Condo or the Villa. 
Before we left, I asked S what her plans were for the next night. I wanted to ask her out on a date.  She said she had to study. She went out tonight, but she didn’t expect to have been out all night. My date question was not asked. I was too scared she’d turn me down. 
While driving back. We discussed the deaths of our fathers. She was looking as old as we are. I remarked about the passing of my father. She said that in the conversation with my mom that she looked like her father. I said were. She goes to show me up close. Her eyes? No, she pulls up her hair. I noticed her age. She’s still as pretty as I thought she was 17 years ago. She says her forehead. I smile about that. 
We get back. Everyone runs out the bus. I have to drive some guys back to another place. I’m driving the wrong way. I take crazy paths just to make a u-turn. 
This dream started in Gilman as a senior in the new senior room with new lockers. It progressed through chapel at church.  Then it got me onto the beach where S was. Darnit she was so pretty. 

Pacific Rim

broderic on July 14, 2013

Pacific Rim was my most anticipated summer movie. I was so gung-ho for it since catching the teaser trailer last winter. Giant robots versus kaiju? Sign me up. I’m there.

Now it’s in theatres as we speak, but will it live up to the build up?

HELL YEAH!

Pacific Rim is about monsters from space attacking earth. In the beginning, these monster, or kaiju — from the Japanese ‘strange beast‘ — were tough to put down. Yet, earthlings fought back forming a Pan Pacific Defense Corps composed of giant robots, or jeagers — from the German ‘hunters.’ They beat back these monsters, but after awhile the monsters evolve and gain the upper hand. This forces the shutdown of the PPDC and the earthlings to build giant walls to keep the monsters at bay. In a last desperate attempt, the few remaining jaegers are thrown into the Breach to shut down the monster portal. It’s a plot out of an anime!

If you compare Pacific Rim to an anime, you’ll find it wanting. When you have 13-26 episodes (6-12 hours), you can fill it with characterization. You can make your characters, troubled high school kids who also must save the world. With a movie of 2+ hours, you’re left with shallow characterizations summed up in cliché: the father son team, the washed up pilot and the newbie. There’s no characterization, but these labels. The characters are defined by them and they live up to them.

But what you want in a movie with giant mecha and kaiju? Big, loud battles! You get them. And more. If you ever wondered what a Voltron slash would look like, it’s here. If you ever wanted to see the missiles released from giant mecha, it’s here. Pacific Rim lives up to it’s billing in the fights. That’s what we want, it’s what we get. Satisfying.

I won’t let the shallow characters ruin it. After all, for 2 hours with tons of mecha versus kaiju battles, I would rather see that than the characters. Let television and anime have it. Just give me giant robots!

4 of 5 stars.

Notorious

broderic on July 14, 2013

A hidden gem in Hitchcock’s oevre? It’s never mentioned as one of his greatest, but it’s a great early film from the master.

"We are canceling the Apocolypse!"

broderic on July 12, 2013

Quick thoughts on Pacific Rim, which was awesome. And also with some reservations. 

I came for kaiju blood. I got kaiju blood. I came for mecha. I got mecha. I came for kaiju bearing up on mecha. I got mecha beating up on kaiju. Pacific Rim came through in that regards. Unfortunately, it missed out on character and story. More about this later. But let me tell you, 13 episode anime ruins you for characters, storylines, and monster battles.