Up

broderic on June 10, 2009

Up continues Pixar’s strange movie tales. After Cars and the chastisement they got for writing a most conventional, kid-friendly animated film, the boys (emphasis on the male) at the studio decided to create strange stories. First came Ratatouille then Wall E, stories that on the surface seem to be childish, but are pretty sophisticated. It’s this sophistication that makes them a darling of critics everywhere. Yet, I can’t but help wonder if they’re too cool for their own good. That’s what becomes of a contrarian.

The movie opens with a news reel describing the adventures of Charles Lindburgh, er some explorer dude. It’s 2D, not the 3D I saw it in. Weird. Then they introduce the main character as a young boy. Fascinated with the explorer, he grows into wanting to follow him to the ends of the earth.

He meets a girl who’s equally fascinated.

They fall in love.

And that was the movie I wanted to see. I think reading too much shoujo manga and watching shonen anime romantic comedies I wanted to watch another love story. One that blooms rather than one that is memories. I loved the growing old together vignette. It moved me and I thought that was a more fascinating subject for an animated tale. More daring. In fact, it would’ve been more because the woman he falls in love with is really interesting. I almost thought she was tsundere, but she’s more dere-dere and almost no tsun-tsun. I would’ve like to have gotten to know her and of their story.

But the movie followed the adventures of the old man as he explored the world outside his house for the first time. Needless to say, he does find adventure, and his hero who’s now a villain, and he becomes a stand in father for his sidekick. Adventure that is pretty standard for all animated summer films in the US. For all the sophistication, Pixar can’t help but follow rote US standards in story telling.

The movie is fine. I just am wishing for more. John Lasseter loves Miyazaki. Can he get his studio to do something as awesome and daring as Miyazaki?

3 of 5 stars.

Drag Me To Hell

broderic on June 2, 2009

I went to see Drag Me To Hell Saturday night by myself, because all my
friends were previously engaged. As it was, I sat in a half-filled
theatre next to an african-american lady laughing at all the frights
being displayed on screen. Laughing? Yes, because Drag Me To Hell was written and directed by Sam
Raimi, who, before he made Spiderman, was renowned as a schlock-horror
meastro with his Evil Dead series. Drag Me To Hell is a return to form.
Now my laughter was the type of laughing I do when faced of some
frights. I cringed at the scares — the evil face showing up, the cat
jumping into frame, etc. I averted my eyes from watching the gore. I
blurred my vision to avoid the shocking. So I laughed afterwards to
relieve my stress. The african-american lady knew it and told me that
afterwards. She was laughing at me while I was chuckling about it
because that's the way I roll on scary movies.But still the horror is outrageous in Drag Me To Hell. What Sam Raimi
flick isn't without it's bursting eyeballs? Or it's slime? Not this
one. If you like the Evil Dead movies, you'll definitely appreciate
this one.Seeing it amidst a lively Saturday night crowd was all the more
enjoyable, but I wish I wasn't cringing so much from the frights. The
only reason I watched it was it being a Sam Raimi flick and his scares
are more hilarious than scary. If it was an actual horror flick, I
doubt I would've gone and watched. I did, and I got home not the least
bit scared. Of course I didn't go upstairs.Things of note. The cute cat gets its due and that is funny. The sound
design harkens back to Raimi's Evil Dead of creaks and groans and
rattling chains. Story ending was very predictable — that return to
sender ain't going to work out exactly as planned. Grave digging in the
rain equals Poltergeist. The funniest bit was when our heroine was
deciding on who to pawn off her troubles. The african-american lady
next to me said, "That's cold." I was laughing my ass off. "Oh, no she
doesn't!" 4 of 5 stars.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127180/

Terminator Salvation

broderic on May 29, 2009

Terminator Salvation. Even the title doesn't make sense.There are at least several movies residing in the latest Terminator
flick. There's the story of the new cyborg, Markus. Is he a terminator
or man's salvior? There's the story of John Connor. How does he become
the great leader he is made out to be in the previous movies? There's
the story of Kyle Reese. How did he become the cool, crafty veteran
that made John Connor send him back to the first movie? Then there's
the story of humanity after judgement day. How did we survive and what
are we doing to win? These would be interesting stories in and of
themselves. They would make perfectly good movies. But mash them into
one film and you have a mess.Terminator Salvation wants to tell it all, and in so doing, tells us
nothing. It's very disjointed. First, we meet Markus, a condemned
prisoner, before judgement day. Then we're off to John Connor who
wasn't even the leader of the resistance. He finds something or other
and blah, blah, blah, we're needing to go follow this yadda-yadda-yadda.
(I still don't know what that was all about!). Next comes Kyle Reese
and his meet up with cyborg Markus. He's just a kid! Finally, we get
explosions in a factory harkening back to all the previous Terminator
movies — melt then freeze then crush. In the end, it's all about
heart.Wait for this movie on sci fi network.1 of 5 stars.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438488/

Star Trek

broderic on May 13, 2009

I’ll go ahead and say it, “Star Trek was fun.”

There were space battles. And worm holes. And Vulcans. And Romulans. Big space ships from the future and the Starship Enterprise. There was sexy Uhura and ninja-tastic Sulu. Scotty, his pal, and their tribble show up. Bones McCoy came as the curmudgeon of the group while a young Checkov exhibited the youthful exuberance of a young Checkov. And Winona Rider.

But Star Trek is Kirk and Spock. They take center stage in this movie as it explores how these ambitious and talented Starfleet officers became rivals and then friends. Yes, at first, they are rivals in the way they command a ship to the woman they bed. Kirk, all cocky and brash, makes a joke of the Kobyashi Maru excercise which Spocked programmed. He beat it, but misses the finer the point of the lesson. Kirk, all cocky and brash, thinks that he can woo Uhura, then he finds out she’s got a thing for Spock. D’oh! Both of theses officers may be the best that Starfleet has produced, but neither one will budge on who should be the leader.

In the end it that leader is Spock, but not of this movie, our Spock whom imdb lists as Spock Prime. (Like Earth Prime of the DC universe). Spock is that leader. As the universal ambassador in our universe, he tried to save the Romulus only to have sparked a time conundrum which kicks off our movie. So, the acts in this film are not done in the same universe as what we’ve watched in the last forty years. It is an alternative which may spark some interesting stories.

What makes this film fun is the introduction of old friends. It may not be the way true diehard Star Trek Trekkies know how each character came to be, but for us simple Trekkers it’s okay as we meet our good friends at a much younger and adventurous time. This film doesn’t foolishly retcon new backstories to the characters, but re-imagines their lives in this alternative univers. It’s like they are given a different face, but remain the same person as they always were.

This new Star Trek is pretty geeky, but accessible. I think I want to see it again in the theatre.

5 of 5 stars.

Monsters vs Aliens IMAX 3-D

broderic on April 2, 2009

What’s old is new again.

Last Saturday, I needed a pick me up so what better way than to catch mindless drivel at the local movie emporium. Of course, by local, I mean something within a 20 mile drive. In the middle of breakfast, I decided I wanted to catch Monsters vs Aliens in three dimensions. So I drive to the local IMAX three dimension movie palace and join the morning crowd. Supposedly, all showings before noon should’ve been $5, but the premium that is IMAX cost be the same price as a regular ticket. Was this worth it?

Three dimensions is a farce. It doesn’t add anything to the film. It’s a gimmick to get you into the theatre. It worked. The depth of field is pretty cool. They did use the hokey “it’s coming at you” shots, but overall you don’t notice too much overt third dimension hokeum. Yet, I can’t but think that this doesn’t add much to the movie going experience. Sometimes it distracts when scrolling too fast.

The character design of Ginormica was freaky. I like manga, shoujo manga, with creepily big eyes, but Ginormica was disturbing. Must be because I she also reminded me of the girl in Bolt. Do studios share the same computer file for every woman character out there?

As far as story, I really dig the science fiction aspect. You had to be familiar with all the 50s monster movies to get all the monster references: the creature from the black lagoon, the blob, the fly, and Mothra. And Mothra… errr Insectasauros was pure fun. The story reminded me of The Incredibles. The writing reminded me that at least DreamWorks toned down their need to reference pop culture and made a movie that will transcend this day and age.

3 of 5 stars.

Watchmen

broderic on March 16, 2009

Watchmen is a movie. And it’s a comic book, or in a more haughty phrase, a graphic novel. It’s one hell of film though.

It’s an adaptation of one of the most revered comic books. It sticks to it very much. There’s a lot of talking. Not much action which is funny for a comic book movie. Yet, it was trying to capture what the comic book was all about.

Who was a hero? Rorschach, looking for the killer, but is too indebted to his honor system and world of good-bad, black-white, is done pretty well. The Comedian is plenty fascistic. The Night Owl finds himself grows from sad sack to kick ass. Dr. Manhattan and his blue organ blow shit up. Silk Spectre is pretty bad ass herself. Ozymandias is effeminate and cruel.

It’s a good movie I’ll admit, but I am a geek at heart.

The music was incongruous. It got in the way because it wasn’t period.

4 of 5 stars.

The Interanational

broderic on February 24, 2009

The International (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963178/) shows us how
evil banks are. We don't need a movie for that just look at the
headlines of newspapers. They want their cake and they want to eat it,
too. They also want your cake, and they'll eat it off your fork, too.
They feed off of us making use of our money for their own nefarious
ways. It's no wonder that in today's troubling economic times bankers
and financiers make for the perfect Dr. Evils. They are just that: pure
evil.The Interanational is a Tom Tykwer film. It has none of the pulse
pounding drive of his famous, Run, Lola, Run. It's as if he
deliberately meant to throttle down his style and make a mellow film.
Almost too mellow at times. The film's style follows the need to make
a thriller that harkens back to thrillers and intrigues from the 70s.
Those films were more focused in telling a gripping tale. The
International tries to be gripping, but in this day and age of flash and
movement, the thrills don't come across as much. You have to expect a slow boil until the plot is exposed. The film
takes too long to get the plot anywhere and, once exposed, the plot is
rather flimsy of a caper. I didn't understand what it was about. Just
go to the governments and get your bailout money. Forget about being
found out as plainly evil. Just pretend you're incompetent and you'll
get as much money as humanly possible thrown your way.The shootout in the Guggenhiem though blows this whole notion up. Slow
boil? BANG! BANG! BANG! I dug this too. Lately, most movies when
set in Europe have a look to them that screams Bourne Identity. Wasn't
Clive Owen in the Bourne Identity? Didn't he save the world in Children
of Men? Then let's make the film look Euro — modern archtecture,
cities, glass and steel. And the Gug is modern. One ramp up and down.
BANG! BANG! BANG! It was shot like a shootout from the Bourne films.
Loved it. Also, I love how Naomi Watts looked in this. All lawyerly. And those
sexy boots. And that grey scarf mixing in with her blonde hair. Mmmm.
She can be my international anyday.3 of 5 stars.

Coraline

broderic on February 23, 2009

Coraline is a girl who finds out that life in a fantasy world where everything is better than her reality isn’t better at all. The pitfalls in the fantasy world are just as deadly, and the love isn’t love but smothering. So she grows up and accepts her reality, and that is just how things go.

I dug this animated film. I’m a little bit sick and tired of CG animation, because that’s what the animation industry for feature films will become. Coraline is stop-motion animation. It gave a tactile feel to the works — a little bit of 3D. The herky-jerky motion also was fun as it was a reminder that we’re watching a film. I wish for more diverse forms of animation from Hollywood, but know that I won’t get it the way I like it.

3 of 5 stars.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

broderic on February 1, 2009

Marge texted me yesterday if I wanted to go catch Paul Blart: Mall Cop, since I told her that I had wanted to watch it to see what all the fuss was about (tops B.O. 2 weeks in a row?!).

I’m sorry. It was the worst film I’ve seen in years. I really wanted to leave, but Marge kept me there. ;P

I need to post this review for posterity: “Shit sandwich.”

1 of 5 stars. (1 star is the floor. I don’t posts zeroes.)

The Wrestler

broderic on January 31, 2009

Selfish acts of self deception happen throughout The Wrestler. They are performed by Mickey Rourke in another come back role as the eponymous wrestler. These acts affect the woman he likes a lot and the daughter he doesn’t know. Rourke after a near death experience tries to fade away into a ignominious retirement reconciling with his daughter and falling into the arms of an old stripper, but it’s not him.

He can’t be what is not him. A lover? A father? An employee? Not at all, for the siren song of the square ring calls. He wants to be good, because he’s so lonely. Life outside the glorious and somewhat non-glamorous wrestling circuit beats him down. He was never meant to be anything but “The Ram” head-butting his way through his opponents. The ring makes him happy and any attempt to distance himself from it is just as fatal as returning to it. Lead a sad existence behind the deli counter or bask in adulation on the top turnbuckle? He must choose.

I liked this movie a lot for the wrestling. It reminded me of the days of the NWA and WWF when the wrestling federations were more regional and the stars battled with the nobodies. In the end, everyone is a nobody.

Rourke is good, but Marisa Tomei is fearless. She struts her stuff in a way that I don’t think any actress has done in a long while. It helps that she has a kickin’ body. These two ground a decent story and they’re diverging paths make it a little sad. Love may conquer all, but a “ram jam” always wins out.
4 of 5 stars.