tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7768934873439571702024-09-10T17:13:37.863-07:00Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-28921350377391704552016-07-26T15:54:00.000-07:002016-07-26T15:54:22.791-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOcutCIbLaWydi9gfxLUsFXux5ROAVIigSG_TQqsMvC5X1fQFxz_9Pxr3fy_woJ5zacLcJFzEzSl2FCnWuh09714zLx5GhQ_USpPYE_X9QJGjaB0EiB4G4yoTWmSndnSymLZjT9mtCY701/s1600/Star-Trek-Beyond-poster-1-hq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOcutCIbLaWydi9gfxLUsFXux5ROAVIigSG_TQqsMvC5X1fQFxz_9Pxr3fy_woJ5zacLcJFzEzSl2FCnWuh09714zLx5GhQ_USpPYE_X9QJGjaB0EiB4G4yoTWmSndnSymLZjT9mtCY701/s400/Star-Trek-Beyond-poster-1-hq.jpg" width="256" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Directed by: Justin Lin</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660888/?ref_=nv_sr_1">IMDB Page</a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Star Trek 3: Beyond the Fast and the Furious 8 is the latest Trek Film in the rebooted JJ-verse of faster-er, more explosion-y, screamy, punchier Star Trek films. In this film, bad man wants revenge. Enterprise and co. are sent to stop the bad man. The enterprise is destroyed, leaving Kirk and the rest of the crew to stop bad man before he does bad thing, because revenge.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> (Note: Don't get mad at me about spoilers, the trailers already gave away everything. There will be one spoiler I'll stick at the very end )</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> But seriously this time. Star Trek: Beyond follows the crew as they are left marooned on a planet. Their ship is destroyed, leaving the crew with their wits and scrounging abilities to escape captivity and stop an evil alien terrorist before he attacks a Starfleet base.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Star Trek: Beyond was an enjoyable film on a very superficial level. I like to judge these new Trek films as just generic space action movies, because you'd never be able to sell a "real" Trek movie that wasn't an over the top, supercharged action film. So on those merits, it works. Although this entry sometimes feels like its trying to do two things: Be an action movie and be an actual Star Trek movie. There's all of the action, punching, screaming, revenge-y bad man, and explosions that we've come to expect in this new series. And then there's some actual moments and images that feel like Star Trek. Like the look of the alien planet that the crew finds themselves marooned on. It looks like a supped up version of some corny alien planet right out of the 60's TV show. Shots of all of the colored uniforms on the planet when the crew was imprisoned looked cool. &nbsp;There was lots of more neat and funny character moments. More of Bones and Scotty, whom I like way more than Kirk and Spock in this new series. They do try to tack on a scene where Sulu is revealed to be gay in this universe. It feels silly and pandering, something <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-takei-reacts-gay-sulu-909154">George Takei has even given the film criticism fo</a>r.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The rest is... Well, the same as the last two films. It was kind of laughable of how the villain was just another random guy with anger problems who wanted revenge against Starfleet for some reason. Nero, the villain from the first film, was a random guy who was angry and wanted revenge. Totally not Khan who ended up being Khan was a random guy who wanted revenge, except it was dumb that he did because Kirk and co. never met him before in this rebooted universe like they originally did in the TV series. In addition to Revenge man, they have also added a Marvel style <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin">MacGuffin</a>&nbsp;to prod along the plot in the first few scenes. This movie also tries to do a plot twist that is both stupid, lacks any weight or consequence, and was literally given away in the trailer. It even has a laughably bad enhance, ENHANCE, E N H A N C E scene.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The action, while well shot and visually good looking, is tiring after even just the first third of the film. However, just having good looking action shouldn't get you props these days. Its normal for a $175 million blockbuster to have good looking effects and action. But, it gets tiring. Every punching fight has to last 10 minutes. Every character appears to be some kind of martial arts expert. Fights lack any real weight to them and feel overly choreographed.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>Bottom line- 3/5-</b> It had more good character moments and more fun than the last entry, but its so, so stupid.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>SPOILER BELOW&nbsp;</b></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> I never thought there would be anything more stupid than Jeff Goldblum using his old timey Windows laptop to destroy an alien fleet. This movie destroys an alien fleet/swarm with the Beastie Boys. They literally play the Beastie Boys really loud and all of the alien ships explode. They plug a boom box into the ship, turn on the Beastie Boys, and alien ships start exploding in sync with the music.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fwMc17cBs8oLlqi1uTZbv83xBNkdNwNvTyjfuJG6FlkfmPl7xP7pXv1OgE-D3iWVZlgT4AfrPKcJcR3SPYXnpvXiayv2j1qIxtTPjBin2w0fsgAF49RKsRU_m3H8mOr4DaF5d8IHxMQI/s1600/d7ad9dc9f53153c37a5ac6811c0b8757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fwMc17cBs8oLlqi1uTZbv83xBNkdNwNvTyjfuJG6FlkfmPl7xP7pXv1OgE-D3iWVZlgT4AfrPKcJcR3SPYXnpvXiayv2j1qIxtTPjBin2w0fsgAF49RKsRU_m3H8mOr4DaF5d8IHxMQI/s320/d7ad9dc9f53153c37a5ac6811c0b8757.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>"You're welcome"- Tim Burton</i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <br />Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-90616844601698788582016-07-26T13:01:00.000-07:002016-07-26T13:01:31.209-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeV9mwFUSxTpqLelbcPfGAcZN0B5Ig-weAslvrtolFQPP3FpE6Z9DCB-hgQVB7tuN1MQa5E6kFTFjjS7Htgtf4oCe-EkiZoXihQ6IiQKOmhXZpsrklCTN5mVPnnUkRwMPdxJ_j7DZg1mgJ/s1600/-font-b-District-b-font-font-b-9-b-font-movie-font-b-poster-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeV9mwFUSxTpqLelbcPfGAcZN0B5Ig-weAslvrtolFQPP3FpE6Z9DCB-hgQVB7tuN1MQa5E6kFTFjjS7Htgtf4oCe-EkiZoXihQ6IiQKOmhXZpsrklCTN5mVPnnUkRwMPdxJ_j7DZg1mgJ/s320/-font-b-District-b-font-font-b-9-b-font-movie-font-b-poster-b.jpg" width="214" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Directed By: Neill Blomkamp</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/">IMDB Page</a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> I know I've reviewed this movie in the past. I've re-watched it recently and had some more feelings I'd like to mention. You can read <a href="http://fronksreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/district-9-2009.html">my 5-year-old review here</a> if you want to hear me just gush about it. My feelings have changed slightly. I still like it, I like it a lot and it remains in my top five movies.<br /> <br /> My new thoughts have more to do with the director than the film itself. After seeing D9 for the first time I was super excited with what Blomkamp would do in the future. He's done two more films, as you're probably aware, Elysium and Chappie. <a href="http://fronksreviews.blogspot.com/2013/08/elysium-2013.html">Elysium was somewhat disappointing if meh/ok</a> action movie. <a href="http://fronksreviews.blogspot.com/2016/05/chappie-2015.html">Chappie was kind of a mess</a>. I went back into watching D9 with these other two films in the back of my mind. What flaws there were in D9, kind of a simple main plot, hollow villains, social commentary as subtle as a sledgehammer to the forehead, some odd character choices, all were much more apparent to me than the first few times I saw D9. When the main villain proclaims with a maniacal laugh that he "loves watching prawns die" I groaned when I'd never groaned in that spot of the movie before. &nbsp;I noticed these same issues on a larger scale in his other two films. I tried hard to think of why D9 worked and Elysium/Chappie didn't. So what I did whatever any other self respecting <strike>loser</strike>&nbsp;movie nerd would do: I went and watched all of the behind the scenes special features.<br /> <br /> District 9, like many films by first time directors, was made on a modest budget with a lot of guerrilla style film making involved. Lots of location shoots, lots of improv on part of the main actor and his co-stars, and lots of budget limitations that limited the overall scope. I noticed Blomkamp commenting in one of the special features that D9 was a very stressful shoot because of the lack of planning and concrete script. He later says that he would "never make a film like that again". That "everything would be planned out". And then I was disappointed.<br /> <br /> Sometimes, the best film making comes out of adversity. Making a new, original idea on a modest budget forces you to make compromises. It forces you to listen to others ideas, consider other options and change things on the fly. Imagine if George Lucas had already been <strike>a sellout hack fraud</strike> a famous, successful director before he decided to make Star Wars. Imagine if James Cameron had conceived and filmed The Terminator in 2009 on a $240 million budget. They would have been totally different movies. They were shaped by time in which they were made and circumstance as much as they were by the writers and directors.<br /> <br /> Blomkamp seems to be a visual director. He makes excellent use of special effects in his films. The CGI creatures and tech in D9 blow me away even today; on a budget of pennies compared to Hollywood blockbusters that manage to churn out dull, cartoonish, suspension of disbelief shattering CGI garbage every summer. His other two films share the same visual language and good effects. Dirt, realistic looking robots, interesting world building. But the story, message and characters seem to have fallen apart.<br /> <br /> I know I'm arm chair quarterbacking to the max here, I have no experience in film aside from watching them and offering my non solicited opinions. But I hope Blomkamp can pair with a good writer/producer team that has him making good movies again. Who knows, maybe he'll be the next Ridley Scott, who manages to turn out at least one OK movie for every three they do. We (I) can only hope.Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-34713380937305925652016-06-14T13:07:00.001-07:002016-08-05T16:49:21.552-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cSJV0b3wT40CakHTQoKv8CAXn1YsGRP7KRn4a4Sly_ZP6pC-1b7x0MXCNFdV9SaWSEDaQKmTM0lZlq6BaYxjBlyqiu7T61bNbdE5WREcK-EC7A-P9osB9_BmLxJmkQgR4YH2443aftGL/s1600/download+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cSJV0b3wT40CakHTQoKv8CAXn1YsGRP7KRn4a4Sly_ZP6pC-1b7x0MXCNFdV9SaWSEDaQKmTM0lZlq6BaYxjBlyqiu7T61bNbdE5WREcK-EC7A-P9osB9_BmLxJmkQgR4YH2443aftGL/s400/download+%25282%2529.jpg" width="269" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663202/">IMDB Page</a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> The Revenant will probably be remembered as the picture that finally won Leo an Oscar for his realistic and challenging portrayal of a betrayed frontiersman. Which, in my opinion, is kinda disappointing. The Revenant contains some of the most beautiful cinematography I can recall seeing, and its a shame that film-making gets overshadowed by the A list stars that partake in it. While the cinematographer and director both got Oscars as well, no one (except movie nerds) knows or even will talk about them. In the end, a private industry awards night doesn't, and shouldn't, influence what you like about movies.<br /> <br /> The Revenant is a bleak tale that is Based on True Events*** about Hugh Glass (Leo), an 1820s frontiersman who is tasked with helping a fur trapping party navigate Native American controlled wilderness. They are attacked and forced to flee, leading to a sequence of events where Leo is mauled by a bear in an excessive 15 minute scene. He then is betrayed by one of his fellow pelt traders (Tom Hardy) and left for dead. The film has a couple of other meandering plot points, but in the end becomes just a simple revenge tale.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">*** There once was a Guy name Hugh Glass and he wrote a letter about being attacked by a bear.&nbsp;</span><br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><b><u> What I liked :</u></b><br /> <br /> <b>The visuals.</b> Early after its release, I heard all about how the budget ballooned and production was delayed due to the director's and cinematographer's insistence to only shoot in natural light. This sounded like a gimmick to me at first. Just because a film was difficult and challenging to make does not elevate it to high art. After seeing the film, I can say that it has a unique visual style I've never seen before. It almost feels like you are watching some type of nature documentary, not a fictional Hollywood production. During the opening shots I almost felt I could reach out and stick my hand into the flowing water on the screen. Seeing actors silhouetted by a setting sun during and extended, one take action sequence is enough to make you marvel at film making again. &nbsp;Seeing it in HDR and 4K is also quite the treat.<br /> <br /> <b>The World Building</b>. The Revenant is just as much a <strike>revenge death and misery genre piece</strike>&nbsp;period piece as it is a revenge story. The world building here is excellent. It gives a great impression of a frontier that hasn't yet been conquered. There is money to be made but only if you're willing to endure every day as a struggle to survive. Costumes and locations are spot on.<br /> <br /> <b>Tom Hardy. </b>Deserved the Oscar more than Leo did.<br /> <br /> <u><b>What I'm Not Sure I Liked</b>:</u><br /> <br /> <b>Hey, Film Academy, look at my long takes. Aren't they impressive? Giv Oscar Pls.</b>&nbsp;I'm a sucker for long, unbroken takes. What makes me appreciate them even more is when they're hardly noticeable. They become annoying when the director seemingly draws attention to them in order to show off at how good of a director he is, which happens a few times. There is also some digital-editing trickery where the camera does a fast "woosh" movement to blatantly hide a cut. That kind of thing makes me roll my eyes a bit. It pulls me out of the movie more than just a standard cut would have done. If you're going to do long shots, doing them subtly is more impressive (this does happen a few times and the director deserves props for that.)<br /> <br /> <b>ATTACK OF THE BEAR. </b>The CGI bear was pretty impressive. Not sure Leo needed to be mauled for 10 minutes straight for us to get the point though.<br /> <br /> <b><u>What I Didn't Like:&nbsp;</u></b><br /> <br /> <b>Leo. </b>While he's a perfectly fine any competent actor, I just never bought his character. I get his desire for revenge. I just don't get him as a character or person. Many of the supporting cast feel more lively in comparison, while Leo is just Leo with a funny accent that sometimes is there and sometimes isn't. "But!" I hear you cry "He ate real raw fish and deer liver! And hes a vegetarian! He's so committed!" Cool. I don't care. Like I said above, just because something is physically challenging does not automatically elevate it to high art.<br /> <br /> <b>The Son/Wife Flashbacks.</b>&nbsp;They were kind of silly and really didn't flesh out Leo's character at all. You could have saved 20-30 minutes in run time and made this a leaner, faster paced revenge story. I feel that these sequences throw off the pacing a bit and bloat the run time.<br /> <br /> <b>Bottom Line: 4/5</b>&nbsp;Its a competently told, beautifully shot revenge story that was over-hyped with Oscar buzz and <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/12/leonardo-dicaprio-the-revenant-bear">conservative bloggers claiming that film contained a bear-rape scene.</a><br /> <b><br /></b> <b><br /></b> <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-34493741417073438852016-05-08T18:29:00.001-07:002016-05-08T18:29:29.368-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rE0rNP9h363DyPFGKeNgZNmdchCunchpLDK2kr8jNLXOyVygao8Ds5-Wpgl2LYTOGs6jMhw8TZVIMYLUW97vPsbcXOJBQfz4yJ_yW9DvzV4tWSgJJSLmsP5QiSbH-bFW44ZVa0AY6xPW/s1600/Chappie_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rE0rNP9h363DyPFGKeNgZNmdchCunchpLDK2kr8jNLXOyVygao8Ds5-Wpgl2LYTOGs6jMhw8TZVIMYLUW97vPsbcXOJBQfz4yJ_yW9DvzV4tWSgJJSLmsP5QiSbH-bFW44ZVa0AY6xPW/s400/Chappie_poster.jpg" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1823672/">IMDB Page</a>&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Never before have I written about a movie that made me feel so conflicted. Neil Blomkamp has made only one film, District 9, that has been an overall critical success. His others, Elysium and now Chappie, have been generally critically panned. Chappie follows those two films with a very identical visual language and theme. I wanted to like Chappie desperately, but it ends up being more of a hot mess than an enjoyable film. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Chappie follows the story of a robot designer, Deon (Dev Patel), working for an international arms company. That company has hit it big selling mechanized “scouts” to augment South Africa’s fledgling police force. Crime is falling, and large sums of money in the form of government contracts are rolling in. It feels very Robocop, right up to the giant two-legged robot laden with a bunch of guns that still doesn’t quite work right. Deon wants to focus his efforts on creating the world’s first true artificial intelligence but is rebuffed by his corporate boss. Hugh Jackman plays a bad guy this time, and seems to enjoy being cartoonishly evil for a change. Sigourney Weaver also shows up to read lines <strike>and collect a paycheck</strike>. Eventually, the AI robot does get made, but things go awry when he is kidnapped by two gangsters looking for a means to pull off a big heist.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">We’ll start off with the good. One thing Neil Blomkamp does well is style and atmosphere. His movies always have a certain level of industrial grit to them. Two of them take place in inner city slums of South Africa, while one takes place in a futuristic slum of Mexico that looks just like a modern day slum of South Africa. The tech looks really neat, the robots in this film have a great design, even if they feel a bit recycled from Elysium. (I imagine that there’s some credence to the idea that all of Blomkamp’s movies take place in their own shared universe). The effects for the robots are also fantastic. Its nearly impossible to tell if they are CGI or some type of practical effect at any given time. Some of the action scenes are fun. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately, that’s about it. My biggest issue with the film was the South African rap duo Die Antwoord, which play two gangsters that kidnap Chappie the robot. They have a huge role in the film, and are mostly just really super obnoxious. Every scene they are in is cringe worthy. I can imagine some others being forced to turn this movie off. Not to mention <a href="http://uproxx.com/filmdrunk/ninja-from-die-antwoord-was-allegedly-a-huge-pain-in-the-ass-during-chappie/">they were apparently a huge nightmare to the cast and crew</a>, resulting in rewrites after certain actors refused to film scenes with them. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The plot, while trying to pretend it’s trying to do something interesting, really isn’t. It’s like a backwards <i>Robocop</i>: A police robot gains sentience, and must discover his humanity through conducting crimes. Or, if you will, a more violent South African remake of <i>Short Circuit</i>. I also wasn’t sure why an AI had to behave like an infant or child. I can understand having to learn to understand human motivation, but to have the robot start out like a literal babbling baby was an odd choice. There were a couple odd plot devices as well- Chappie is able to interface with a computer using a neural helmet designed for a human. If he doesn’t have any brains, how does it work? Why doesn’t he just plug himself into the computer? Are we supposed to believe it’s a “soul” detecting helmet? There’s some other head scratching scenes as well, including the silly computer code typed on a keyboard that makes the AI program run. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bottom Line- 2 out of 5</b>- Mostly style over substance, and mostly just loud noise instead of any type of intelligence. It’s a fun type of dystopia until you really meet your main characters. If you liked Blomkamp’s other films it’s at least worth a rent, but it’s the least strong out of the bunch.</span></span></div> Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-89569957886043891182016-05-07T21:06:00.003-07:002016-05-08T09:33:59.730-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ88Yw4vVxdWiEPdEzC8QN7qrXDql0zYPWQCg-FwKeGGSVfqnFOq4qjmr8nhb_0MFgUBgh38JitVuTYr_-8prItMSEZ_9Nh8cGMn8SYr_7JOo5s1ShgZ0bnTZgI1QVF67ZKD2cFHSU61KA/s1600/poster-big-hero-6_hi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ88Yw4vVxdWiEPdEzC8QN7qrXDql0zYPWQCg-FwKeGGSVfqnFOq4qjmr8nhb_0MFgUBgh38JitVuTYr_-8prItMSEZ_9Nh8cGMn8SYr_7JOo5s1ShgZ0bnTZgI1QVF67ZKD2cFHSU61KA/s400/poster-big-hero-6_hi.jpg" width="300" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2245084/">IMDB Page</a>&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Like most movies these days, it takes me too long to get round to seeing them. Or it takes me too long to getting around to writing about them. In this case, it was the former. Its a fun, beautifully animated, and surprisingly emotional picture that deserves the praise it got. Big Hero 6 is a Disney adaption of a Marvel comic book. Which blows my mind, considering it there have been no solid sequel plans announced. Usually anything Disney multiplied by Marvel results in a spreadsheet of sequels and spin offs planned for out in detail for the next 15 years.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Big Hero 6 takes place in the fictional city of&nbsp;San Fransokyo; a futuristic blend of two already visualy interesting cites. Young prodigy Hiro (Ryan Potter) is pulled away from a career of back alley "bot fighting" by his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney). After tragedy strikes, Hiro sets out on an adventure aided by the robot Baymax.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> I shouldn't have doubted the ability of a Disney animated picture to make be feel feelings, but it did. The trailers portrayed it to be fairly light hearted but it makes a pretty serious emotional turn right off the bat. (Note: I cried at the end of Toy Story 3). It manages to be the best of both Disney and Marvel; combining a fun adventure with plenty of heart and fun action. The animation and art direction are also fantastic. Baymax really steals the show, pulling plenty of heartstrings and providing plenty of the film's laughs.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The plot isn't overly complex, and a lot of the beats in the third act can be predicted before they happen. However, the heart of the characters and the overall beauty of the visuals make up for this.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Bottom Line- 4 out of 5- The best parts of a Disney animated pictured blended with the best action hero action Marvel has to provide.&nbsp;</div> <iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ac&amp;ref=qf_sp_asin_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=frosrev-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00O4ZC57I&amp;asins=B00O4ZC57I&amp;linkId=OUM7KLBZBJUN2BEL&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true"> </iframe> <iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ac&amp;ref=qf_sp_asin_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=frosrev-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B00TYBB7D0&amp;asins=B00TYBB7D0&amp;linkId=VDT43UOGHRJUAYIU&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true"> </iframe>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-64440368048520468282016-05-07T19:22:00.001-07:002016-05-08T18:52:27.228-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8G3oKNm8ckk-NQA1h4MzT4jdfTt6gmjPzaSF56hF6tOKDgIBiQVkwEVDyU3tgVILN_KuyMC-CuY_T8abopq8V6h-oe-KcNCGm_OC62EKrSzkqx5MiOHg3Og5vuu9Nk6h10k2FCT_YWCKi/s1600/659b64dc43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8G3oKNm8ckk-NQA1h4MzT4jdfTt6gmjPzaSF56hF6tOKDgIBiQVkwEVDyU3tgVILN_KuyMC-CuY_T8abopq8V6h-oe-KcNCGm_OC62EKrSzkqx5MiOHg3Og5vuu9Nk6h10k2FCT_YWCKi/s400/659b64dc43.jpg" width="266" /></a></div> <br /> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381249/?ref_=nv_sr_1">IMDB Page</a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation is the 5th outing of crazed, rich cultist Tom Cruise as secret agent Ethan Hawke. This time, Hawke is up against another secret evil organization, only this time its secreterer and evilerer than before. Can Cruise (and friends) complete the mission?&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Well, yes, because that's how things work in these kinds of movies. What follows is a series of loosely connected set pieces that are enjoyable, but not nearly up to the level of sheer fun as the last entry in the series.<br /> <br /> The plot is... well, typical for this type of movie. Bad thing happens. Secret agents get blamed. Secret agents must battle both good guys and bad guys to clear their name and stop more bad thing from happening. Set piece in exotic locale. Set piece in another exotic locale. Product placement! Another exotic locale. Motorcycle chase. Expensive underwater set piece. Climax. More product placement. Resolution.<br /> <br /> In fact, the main thing that I noticed about this movie was all of the shameless product placement. Some of the things I noticed (Full list taken from <a href="http://brandchannel.com/2015/07/31/apple-mission-impossible-073115/">brandchannel</a>)<br /> <br /> Airbus (A400)- The plane Tom Cruise dangles from on the poster.<br /> BMW- Make sure the logo is in focus at all times<br /> Dell- Lots of Dell Monotors and laptops with logos perfectly visible and centered in frame.<br /> Microsoft Windows- Close up on screens, gratuitous. Shots that linger on surface tablets with large Microsoft logos for long amounts of time.<br /> Nokia- Windows phones!<br /> And plenty of others that I can't really remember. The biggest one do I remember, that I'm not sure many others would have noticed, is the Zoll X Series Cardiac Monitor/Defibrillator. Its used to revive Tom Cruise in one scene, and to knock out another character in the same scene. These big studio franchises are a big business, and I understand that. However, there is a point where the product placement becomes groan worthy and stands out a bit too much.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrArldT2n8GYFNbhy1L9QhKXEWgrET4KYH964pMN6bVgd6JTj8mHWmE_IREb97MxL67R1QYPhEmTQTaUUWURZ5AuZsIEuu0soDie1SHoivZ6_u-3ZpqQFSFMufpka1tCWfXlWHpVUVKBc/s1600/X_DV_ST_black_CPR_HR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrArldT2n8GYFNbhy1L9QhKXEWgrET4KYH964pMN6bVgd6JTj8mHWmE_IREb97MxL67R1QYPhEmTQTaUUWURZ5AuZsIEuu0soDie1SHoivZ6_u-3ZpqQFSFMufpka1tCWfXlWHpVUVKBc/s200/X_DV_ST_black_CPR_HR.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>Revive your own action hero, starting at $15,358 MSRP.&nbsp;</i></div> <br /> <br /> The mission impossible films, at least the last two, really survive on their unique tone. Its somewhere in between the Jason Borne modern, dark spy thriller; and the old-school, wacky 1970s era James Bond adventures. It keeps itself serious enough to keep us invested in the plot and its consequences, while at the same time being just tongue-in-cheek enough to keep the action fun and entertaining. While this outing was less fun than the Brad Bird directed Ghost Protocol, its still a serviceable outing. The main set piece, this time inside of a giant, water cooled computer core, certainly is thrilling. But its still no comparison to the Burj Khalifa sequence in the last film. While I'm sure it involved Tom Cruse risking his life in some kind of giant underwater pool it still ended up looking like a video game with all of the CGI spliced in. In contrast to the Burj Khalifa sequence, where the only thing that CGI was used for was to erase the wires holding the studio's <strike>$50 million plaything</strike>&nbsp;Tom Cruise in the air.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /> <b>Bottom Line- 3 out of 5</b>: An enjoyable action film, especially if you like <strike>millionaire cultists</strike> Tom Cruise. Worth a rent, but not as fun as the last outing.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-16014952866921324952016-05-04T17:18:00.000-07:002016-05-08T09:40:15.407-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1huOGxsR_pMiwRZMxvE7THm5zpou9W-rW6jBqV0-wf-pMZXB0d0-5FHoPSOvNWL957nFW2Fhw91xUzKyOMt5B9GrurWTVmQhZEM4J2MnHrhRBUJ9C28A4NCuIPMPSHwxyrhyphenhyphenn_E0kvpW5/s1600/sicario-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1huOGxsR_pMiwRZMxvE7THm5zpou9W-rW6jBqV0-wf-pMZXB0d0-5FHoPSOvNWL957nFW2Fhw91xUzKyOMt5B9GrurWTVmQhZEM4J2MnHrhRBUJ9C28A4NCuIPMPSHwxyrhyphenhyphenn_E0kvpW5/s320/sicario-large.jpg" width="215" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3397884/">IMDB Page</a></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> Sicario is Spanish for “hitman” or “assassin”. I learned this from watching the trailer. For the majority of the film, I was waiting to find out what its significance was. It paid off in a very slow, tense, and anxiety ridden way that subverted the usual type of plot twist that tries way too hard to “blow your mind”. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> Sicario starts out by using tropes we’re very familiar with in crime dramas or police procedurals. Some examples: <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> -Rookie FBI agent recruited for extra special secret dangerous mission. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> -Sassy partner/sidekick. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> -Super clean, futuristic government offices with glass walls, glass tables and lots of flat screen monitors. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> -Viewing security cameras in the back of an unmarked van. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> -Black government SUVs with tinted windows. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> -Mysterious, unconventional mentor. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> -Don’t touch that, it’s going to- Yep, it blew up. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;It uses those tropes very well, though, and drops most of them by midway through the film. Emily Blunt stars as Kate, an up and coming FBI agent working the drug trade routes along the southern border. She is recruited by the unconventional (He wears flip flops in the office! So unconventional!) government agent Matt, played very well by Josh Brolin. The real star is Benicio Del Toro, who is a shady government “consultant” working on the team. I won’t go much more into plot details, because its best if you go in fresh, but the overall plot is relatively simple. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> Where Sicario really shines is pacing and the building of tension. The score is extremely minimal, and gives a sense of dread the minute it starts. The type of tension is also something that’s rare now-a-days; it’s not “edge of your seat” in the “wow this is an exciting, fun adventure” sense, its edge of your seat in the “wow I’m scared, I feel sick to my stomach and am actually sweating right now” sense. Director Denis Villeneuve has demonstrated with great skill how he can impart a sense of pure dread on an audience. <o:p></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> My one and only gripe with the film is that the main character felt relatively flat up until the third act. She just goes along for the ride, literally, for the first 40 minutes of the film. This is explained away in the end but sort of feels unrealistic to add an FBI agent to your team just to have them do nothing. Blunt plays the character very well, and an arc is apparent by the end of the film. Josh Brolin does a good job in his role, but is overshadowed by Benicio Del Toro. Del Toro’s performance starts out benign and kind of mysterious, but slowly morphs into something you’d check under your bed for before going to sleep at night. <o:p></o:p></div> <br /> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <b>Bottom Line- 4 out of 5</b>: Like I said, the plot and overall lesson of this film has been done many times before. How far will you go to stop the bad guys, will you risk resorting to immoral means to win, etc. Where Sicario really shines is in pacing, tone and casting. Overall a very good crime thriller that subverts some genre tropes to make for a memorable experience.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div> <iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ac&amp;ref=qf_sp_asin_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=frosrev-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B018GVHDW2&amp;asins=B018GVHDW2&amp;linkId=6JOJCQQA7HULOGVJ&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true"> </iframe> <iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ac&amp;ref=qf_sp_asin_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=frosrev-20&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B01638AYR6&amp;asins=B01638AYR6&amp;linkId=7NSOCDTZDQ4Y7AVL&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true"> </iframe>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-47029201168774562792016-03-14T14:00:00.002-07:002016-03-14T14:00:29.402-07:00If you follow at all (and you probably don't), you know my posts here happen with the frequency of a lunar eclipse. I'm hoping to change that and begin posting more often again.<br /> <br /> I'll also be including a slight format change in how I rate movies. It will still be in a 10 point scale, but this time I'll be splitting the 10 points into two different categories. The first will be the technical quality of the film- cinematography, editing, and effects to name a few. The second will be story, pacing, and characters. I don't think this will change the overall ratings I hand out, but it will help you differentiate between a film's technical failings and things that are just my opinion.Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-39234034062410302072015-08-07T18:59:00.000-07:002015-08-07T18:59:47.314-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyFoj8Li_EwIELmrOQoxuMxMqPKO2Pcf8-514oVJKW3mAhj1QFii5ZKrqdwODyqSVB-APFSs35VkySybTO2FKqyir94IsTD6H2z5AJ6fQvCDL-A16tFu25OAhyphenhyphenn0cmvd9K-SIW5Zsi2_F/s1600/Trainwreck-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyFoj8Li_EwIELmrOQoxuMxMqPKO2Pcf8-514oVJKW3mAhj1QFii5ZKrqdwODyqSVB-APFSs35VkySybTO2FKqyir94IsTD6H2z5AJ6fQvCDL-A16tFu25OAhyphenhyphenn0cmvd9K-SIW5Zsi2_F/s400/Trainwreck-poster.jpg" width="252" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3152624/?ref_=nv_sr_1">IMDB Page</a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> Directed By: Judd Apatow</div> <div style="text-align: center;"> Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader (many other celebrities)&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> I'll start out my review of Trainwreck by saying this: Its not usually my type of movie. You can look back at my older reviews full of sci-fi/action/corny remakes to realize that. I had no intention of going to see it, but was invited by some friends to a showing. So if rom-coms are your deal, maybe you'll appreciate it more than I did.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Amy Schumer is a very funny standup comedian. <a href="http://www.cc.com/shows/inside-amy-schumer">Her show on Comedy Central</a> is pretty funny and equally insightful. Trainwreck, on the other hand, is peak mediocrity.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://static2.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/3/9/8/large2/8930707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static2.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/3/9/8/large2/8930707.jpg" height="227" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">This stock image lady feels the same as I do. Three "mehs" out of five.&nbsp;</span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Trainwreck follows the sexual exploits of Amy (Amy Schumer). Taught by her father that monogamy is unrealistic, she leads a life of one night stands.<span style="font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span>Trainwreck is played out as a "reverse" rom-com in the sense that its the promiscuous female that needs to be tamed by the noble male, not the other way around. Working for a magazine, Amy is assigned to do a story on a high profile sports medicine physician (Bill Hader). It quickly progresses into a one night stand instigated by Amy. The good doctor wants something more, so he seeks to tame Amy's wild streak and form a more serious relationship.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Many of the promos marketed this as a "different" romantic comedy. Besides the role reversal I mentioned above, it is about cliche a rom-com you can get. Two unlikely souls meet. Fall in love. Fall out of love. Both have moments of somber introspection. Both realize they were meant for each other. Roll credits. To me, its a flaw. To others, it could just be a normal rom-com genre plot. Like I said, not usually my type of movie.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> But is it funny? Sometimes. Its usually funniest at its raunchiest, I could not have enjoyed this movie in the slightest if it had gone with a PG-13 rating. (If you ever wanted to see a 98% naked John Cena, this is your flick) Where the funny bits fall flat are the bit celebrity parts. Some of the cameo roles are not actors and it shows, big time. Other celebrities, actual actors, feel shoehorned in and serve no purpose, kind of rendering the scene pointless (I'm looking at you, Mathew Broderik). The presented style feels odd too, like they couldn't settle on the style of comedy they wanted to do. Sometimes its played straight, sometimes there's a narration, sometimes theres fourth wall smashing jokes that did nothing but make me confused.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Honorable mention: Even if it was a bit part, I was surprised to see comedian Mike Birbiglia as Amy's Flanders-esque brother in law. He was pretty funny.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>Bottom Line- 5/10:</b> Those who are die hard fans of Amy Schumer and rom-coms will appreciate this flick. Otherwise, its just another tired, if a bit raunchier than average, romanic comedy fare.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-247942615533237552013-08-24T11:41:00.001-07:002016-05-08T18:33:35.612-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPu7AyjxcEf5B4-QCs5fWyK2WtzYhIeYinn7oOc31cd_P0sJYarZWzbSupZKaE9wgH_x2veJeLZE_2qsP8WypOpamQ3GucfBclrn1kChDWc-Qadjq3-OvLDOYTiivGT5Q8sk6Vd6p4MjbR/s1600/elysium_ver2_xlg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPu7AyjxcEf5B4-QCs5fWyK2WtzYhIeYinn7oOc31cd_P0sJYarZWzbSupZKaE9wgH_x2veJeLZE_2qsP8WypOpamQ3GucfBclrn1kChDWc-Qadjq3-OvLDOYTiivGT5Q8sk6Vd6p4MjbR/s400/elysium_ver2_xlg.jpg" width="268" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/">IMDB Page</a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Directed By: Neill Blomkamp</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga</div> <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: left;"> <i>Elysium </i>is director Neill Blomkamp's second chance at directing a feature film. His first was 2009's <i>District 9</i>, <a href="http://fronksreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/district-9-2009.html">which still remains as one of my favorite movies of all time</a>. <i>Elysium</i> seems to share a lot of traits with D9: a gritty/dirty setting, a not-so-subtle political message, and badass looking future tech. So, now that Blomkamp has had a chance with a bigger budget and Hollywood star power; did he pull of another sci-fi masterpiece?&nbsp;</div> <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: left;"> <i>Elysium </i>is set in the year 2154. The earth has become a desolate wasteland, with future LA taking center stage looking like a sprawling third world slum. The ultra-super rich have retreated to a space station called Elysium. They have robot servants that cater to their every need, and space magic medical beds that can cure any aliment in seconds, including severe cases of "exploded off face". Mat Damon stars as Max, a reformed car thief and thug. Max suffers an accident at work, leaving him with only days to live. Rather than die in a slum on earth, max decides to enlist the help of his old gangster friends to get him to one of Elysium's magic medical beds.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Elysium gets a few things right- Blomkamp comes from a visual effects background, and it still shows. All of the future tech is incredibly cool looking. Not only does it look slick, but it looks feasible; from the cobbled together tech of the gangsters that live in poverty, to the shiny (and scary) looking security droids of Elysium. You can tell a lot of attention to detail went into creating this world. The action scenes are also well done, even if they don't last that long.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Apart from that, Elysium falls into a deep pit of mediocrity. The villains in the film, both the rich soulless bureaucrats and the evil mercenaries that protect Elysium, are totally one demential. There is more substance in the average Scooby Doo bad guy. Jodie Foster seems totally out of place as Elysium's defense secretary, it almost feels the only reason she was cast was so they had another cool name to put along side Matt Damon on the poster.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The bad guys aren't the only ones that suffer from poor character development. Max, the main character, is little more than a blank slate. He has no arc, remaining totally flat throughout the entire film. He never has any kind of revelation or change of heart, and never really faces any difficult decisions. This rings true for the other protagonists as well. The film' message and conclusion is just as hollow as the characters.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>Bottom Line- 6/10- </b>Blomkamp's second film is far more forgettable than his first. It has the same fun visuals and action, but fails on the most important things that make a movie: characters and story.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <br />Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-82492952955151361892013-07-22T14:24:00.001-07:002016-05-08T18:39:54.390-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Xv-ZqLxluvp_yCr6qKSw0HkgjEv6hEF_F7AqRBJY9y_ET-W8QYUkMH06Rd0posd2i-7XyvSkGI0tUWs193qzJhxaLmNudXfHHPcgsuLvv4jJoVzru9YtftCJsJ303uRRdCG-TZlJuRrL/s1600/pacific-rim-poster4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Xv-ZqLxluvp_yCr6qKSw0HkgjEv6hEF_F7AqRBJY9y_ET-W8QYUkMH06Rd0posd2i-7XyvSkGI0tUWs193qzJhxaLmNudXfHHPcgsuLvv4jJoVzru9YtftCJsJ303uRRdCG-TZlJuRrL/s400/pacific-rim-poster4.jpg" width="268" /></a></div> <br /></div> <div style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663662/?ref_=sr_1">IMDB Page</a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Directed by:<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">&nbsp;</span><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: inherit;">Guillermo del Toro</span></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Starring:&nbsp;<span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #f6f6f5;">Charlie Hunnam,&nbsp;</span><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #f6f6f5;">Idris Elba,&nbsp;</span><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #fbfbfb;">Rinko Kikuchi</span></span></div> <div> <span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <i>Pacific Rim</i>&nbsp;is a rare film considering its competition this summer. Its a big budget summer action film that manages not to be a reboot, sequel, remake, or a haphazard adaption of a novel. Yes, it is inspired by the giant monster movies of the past, but it manages to feel quite&nbsp;original&nbsp;and refreshing. So, what do you get in Pacific Rim? Just what the trailers have shown you: giant robots punching the shit out of giant monsters, and vice versa.</div> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td><a href="http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/40/3166987-50037-pacific-rim-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/40/3166987-50037-pacific-rim-101.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/40/3166987-50037-pacific-rim-101.jpg">Image Source</a><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">'Nuff said</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> The plot in&nbsp;<i>Pacific Rim</i>&nbsp;is a fairly simple ordeal. Monsters, dubbed kaiju, are coming through an inter&nbsp;demential&nbsp;portal at the bottom of the sea. After cities are destroyed, the nations of the world pool their resources to create jaegers; giant, 250 story tall humanoid robots operated by two&nbsp;pilots&nbsp; All of this is explained in the first 5 minutes of the film. This is one of the good things about the&nbsp;<i>Pacific Rim</i>. It doesn't get bogged down in&nbsp;unnecessary&nbsp;backstory, nor does it try to make up too much fake science to explain how it's fictional technology works.<br /> <br /> After years of fighting the war against the kaiju, the jaegers start to loose their effectiveness. The nations that fund them start pulling out of the project to&nbsp;pursue&nbsp;other options. What was once an army of robots is reduced to a handful, stretched thin trying to push back the increasing number of monsters. Instead of continuing the war of&nbsp;attrition they decide to take the fight to the monsters, and collapse the portal that is delivering them to our world.&nbsp;<i>Pacific Rim</i>&nbsp;is&nbsp;definitely&nbsp;a movie that requires the suspension of disbelief. However, its not a movie that will insult your intelligence, like some other popcorn-entertainment&nbsp;flicks.<br /> <br /> In the character department,&nbsp;<i>Pacific Rim</i>&nbsp;is a mixed bag. Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) is our main&nbsp;charter,&nbsp; a washed up jaeger pilot. He is a pretty blank slate, which is a normal story telling technique to allow the audience to insert themselves into the story. He is a bit too blank, and comes off as bland and forgettable. Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) is a rookie pilot with an interesting back story that doesn't get fleshed out enough. The one that really leads the cast is Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), who is a veteran pilot and in charge of the jaeger program. Never since&nbsp;<i>Independence&nbsp;Day</i>&nbsp;have such corny, cheese filled lines been delivered with so much fervor. Other times, I'm not sure which accent the British actor is trying to use.&nbsp;<strike>J.J Abrams</strike>&nbsp;Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are a fun addition as the pair of kaiju researchers attached to the jaeger program.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td><a href="https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7623295232/h451F15A5/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7623295232/h451F15A5/" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7623295232/h451F15A5/">Image Source</a></td></tr> </tbody></table> Of course, you wouldn't be able to have this movie without copious amounts of CGI. Overall, it works, with the effects giving you a good deal of how freaking big these monsters and robots are. During the battle scenes there are a few neat moments that bring everything back down to average human level. One in particular involves a robo-fist plowing through an office building. The action scenes were excellently filmed, and the shaky cam is kept at a minimum. If you see it, you'll want to see it on the big screen. I get the feeling it won't be the same on a home TV screen.<br /> <br /> &nbsp;<b>Bottom line- 8/10.&nbsp;</b>Overall, Pacific Rim manages to be a quite entertaining action flick, with a fair amount of heart to go along with it. Those who complain about their inability to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy a film about giant robots vs monsters may want to skip it. It has plenty of action/disaster movie tropes and cliches, but also does something a little new, and has a few genuinely emotional moments.Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-50067638159894217912013-01-19T18:59:00.001-08:002013-01-20T07:48:34.536-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7J7E0BsNwTVT4g9J0v7RVE3Qrp28NoQFk1Ydn25RvESqeReu1nYV0Y0Lv2ST8EVZpzELcMsVvA6e70zK7aFWZZxa_8GDAUYoKuXUDYYJg6B5F0cPRzhoQGn6WFnlpZOGduWEp4ER4fzI/s1600/looperposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7J7E0BsNwTVT4g9J0v7RVE3Qrp28NoQFk1Ydn25RvESqeReu1nYV0Y0Lv2ST8EVZpzELcMsVvA6e70zK7aFWZZxa_8GDAUYoKuXUDYYJg6B5F0cPRzhoQGn6WFnlpZOGduWEp4ER4fzI/s400/looperposter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> Director: Rian Johnson</div> <div style="text-align: center;"> Release Date: 28 September, 2012</div> <div style="text-align: center;"> Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt</div> <div style="text-align: center;"> IMDB Page</div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <i>Looper</i> is... Hard to describe. Its a very interesting take on the very tired time travel genre. Even if you get a&nbsp;gist&nbsp;of its&nbsp;premise&nbsp;from the trailers and&nbsp;description; the plot manages to surprise on more than one occasion. It isn't a time travel movie, but more a movie about the what happens when time travel exists. If that makes any sense.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQe87CSpQNP9Y9ypPRlz8efC7tMtFzs1fSj1lprd1O6LTK4oVVoA9NDd28fWskY6b2aipKFSqNX5kCsGsHpIhOJ_prrlhF3kgIL4juK8icmF5CRTKZ4B362hmKf_oq1E6Uxjb7nShefWBk/s1600/tvhcast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQe87CSpQNP9Y9ypPRlz8efC7tMtFzs1fSj1lprd1O6LTK4oVVoA9NDd28fWskY6b2aipKFSqNX5kCsGsHpIhOJ_prrlhF3kgIL4juK8icmF5CRTKZ4B362hmKf_oq1E6Uxjb7nShefWBk/s400/tvhcast.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>Much, much more sense than this.&nbsp;</i></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Joe, a looper. Loopers are special&nbsp;assassins&nbsp;hired by the mob to eliminate targets without leaving a trace. You see, the mob has access to illegal time travel devices in the future. When they want to wipe someone out, the victim sent back in time, bound and with a hood obscuring their face, where a waiting looper executes them and destroys the body. They're paid very&nbsp;handsomely&nbsp;for this morbid task. The only catch is that, eventually, they'll have to "close their loop". They must execute their future self to eliminate any evidence of time travel being used. The reward is a huge payout and 30 years to live as they wish.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Of course, it doesn't go as planned. Joe becomes increasingly concerned as many of his fellow loopers are retired. Rumors go around that the mobsters in the future are planning on getting rid of all of the loopers. Eventually, Joe is brought face to face with future Joe (Bruce Willis). For some reason future Joe isn't bound or hooded, and quickly over powers young Joe. He escapes, intending to kill a future murderous gang leader only known as "The Rainmaker" while he is a child. Young Joe must hunt his future self down or become a target of the mob himself.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Heres where the plot could have become very cliche. I was expecting future Joe and young Joe to eventually team up together to take down the gang. But that never happens. There's no "good"or "bad" Joe either. They both have an end goal they wish to&nbsp;achieve&nbsp; and are willing to go to any means to get it. This leads to a&nbsp;showdown&nbsp;that completely caught me off guard (in a good way).&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Plot and story aside, Looper comes together pretty slickly. The future world has a very dirty "tech noir" feel to it that harkons to films like<i> Blade Runner</i>. <i>Looper</i> is fairly violent, but doesn't revel in the violence. It would have been easy for them to erase the blood, half second of visible breasts, &nbsp;and a handful of F-bombs to get a PG-13 rating. But the mature and complex themes remain, which I don't think would appeal to a PG-13 audience. The film looks great, with some pretty impressive action sequences. They're not grand in scale where everything explodes leaving half of the world scorched. The set&nbsp;pieces&nbsp;are smaller, but the action is more tense because you actually care about the characters and their world.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2eXvMnnFMvFaCoHSpa25nc_KVFLBn-a6WEZVfIHWLtidLPJ_eMdrKQ3KxoclcyOfzFQ1rdKbK-iLKWGn1aU1ezCDM_SSecP7oJ5I9s43Kr91XUvx2qpD8j1MiKAo9xCVcqn_A_bK0GwfQ/s1600/5658946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2eXvMnnFMvFaCoHSpa25nc_KVFLBn-a6WEZVfIHWLtidLPJ_eMdrKQ3KxoclcyOfzFQ1rdKbK-iLKWGn1aU1ezCDM_SSecP7oJ5I9s43Kr91XUvx2qpD8j1MiKAo9xCVcqn_A_bK0GwfQ/s1600/5658946.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <i>"Yes, I know pages 37-90 are blank. Thats where all the CGI robots and fake boobs go."</i></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> The characters and actors are great. Willis and Godon-Levitt make a great pair and their chemistry with each other is great. Pierce Gagnon has a role as a youngster that puts most of the grown up actors in this movie to shame. He plays a character that is too spoiler-y for me to talk about here, but the performance deserves serious recognition.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> There is some silly makeup that Gordon-Levitt wears to make him look more like a younger version of Willis that looks pretty awful from some angles. It is something the film could have totally left out and it wouldn't have made a difference. The film ignores the time travel paradoxes that could potentially bog it down, which keeps it somewhat not confusing. That being said, the plot may be had for some to follow.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <b>Bottom Line: 9/10-</b> <i>Looper</i> is a surprisingly entertaining sci-fi film. It is a shining example of what sci fi should be. Introduce an amazing technology and ask a simple "what if?" question. <i>Looper</i> isn't about shoving as much shiny computer generated future on the screen as possible. <i>Looper</i> is about how the world can shape a person. Its about how even one person can become two completely different people, willing to go to completely different means to get what they want.&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-28637201282379405452012-08-12T16:02:00.000-07:002013-01-19T19:01:57.562-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggixIBL2SXN1Uxa3-c3YDSuM_6pDqGWHPaFzhgZwMf_xCGgKdL_lIYl2ssCHFu6HU2CLO586NqtvvJN3FKe-xjY8LiU3ORPk-wjMakrNEJ2mY-Wr3wRK2xBi1ldiOyOi1oGWVvzCqcQ2fr/s1600/the-dark-knight-rises-teaser-poster1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggixIBL2SXN1Uxa3-c3YDSuM_6pDqGWHPaFzhgZwMf_xCGgKdL_lIYl2ssCHFu6HU2CLO586NqtvvJN3FKe-xjY8LiU3ORPk-wjMakrNEJ2mY-Wr3wRK2xBi1ldiOyOi1oGWVvzCqcQ2fr/s400/the-dark-knight-rises-teaser-poster1.jpeg" width="270" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Release Date: July 20th, 2012</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Directed&nbsp;By: Christopher Nolan</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Starring: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy,&nbsp;Joseph&nbsp;Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/">IMDB Page</a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i> is arguably one of the most anticipated films of 2012. With the huge fan base and comercial&nbsp;success&nbsp;of <i>Batman Begins</i> and <i>The Dark Knight</i>, its easy to see why. That also meant it had big shoes to fill. While it manages to create a&nbsp;fulfilling&nbsp;end to Nolan's gritty and dark Batman&nbsp;trilogy, it doesn't quite live up to its&nbsp;predecessor.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBMUB190PIbudTE0MTvWJFXqeXkd8btzv5kVInojzcYp6lH1vnDeP_xSHe8qiySIHdSBSDDz5JAjGeq9Lt-zjv0kk15xr5XDiD2h_G9yo3E2kazjr_gZ60wjPBLtPWlG9y-tVAgP1Pdbs/s1600/2480781-the_dark_knight_rises2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBMUB190PIbudTE0MTvWJFXqeXkd8btzv5kVInojzcYp6lH1vnDeP_xSHe8qiySIHdSBSDDz5JAjGeq9Lt-zjv0kk15xr5XDiD2h_G9yo3E2kazjr_gZ60wjPBLtPWlG9y-tVAgP1Pdbs/s400/2480781-the_dark_knight_rises2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>Even with the box office boosting addition of scantily clad women.&nbsp;</i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>The Dark Night Rises </i>takes place 8 years after the events of the <i>Dark Knight</i>. Batman/Bruce Wayne (Bale) has been in exile the entire time after taking the fall for the murder of Harvey Dent/Two Face and a few others. But things in Gotham look like they're turing around; organized crime is on the run, and things appear to be calming down after the caos that The Joker caused. Batman is soon brought out of his self imposed exile by a new threat, Bane (Hardy). As Batman is dragged out of hiding, there are a few more characters introduced. Among them are Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman, who is a very capable thief that attempts to steal from Bruce. While she's never&nbsp;referred&nbsp;to as "Catwoman", its pretty darn obvious once she dons her night vison goggles that flip up to form a pair of ears (see above). Also introduced is Gotham police officer John Blake (<span style="text-align: center;">Gordon-Levitt)</span>. Its later revealed that his first name is actually Robin. While he never becomes Batman's sidekick, but does serve a pretty important role in the film. Which is a good thing, because it keeps the film from becoming full of the cringe worthy silliness that was 1997's <i>Batman and Robin</i>. Also because Christian Bale refused to take the role of Batman if Robin ever appeared.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lAP5LfHzche6_f2-u3RNULIxJmJFAoHK5JklTj9eRDx3pg-7Hj8OucWT7IVAU-oCtr9R6KgLNgyIWFm0jwUw_O3Fv_69o7l1qCSeHXAQYoiQ2Rhm4MY1xc1lTRrcsPxm9et3bXK7t4B_/s1600/arnold_schwarzenegger_as_mr_freeze_wallpaper_-_1024x768.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lAP5LfHzche6_f2-u3RNULIxJmJFAoHK5JklTj9eRDx3pg-7Hj8OucWT7IVAU-oCtr9R6KgLNgyIWFm0jwUw_O3Fv_69o7l1qCSeHXAQYoiQ2Rhm4MY1xc1lTRrcsPxm9et3bXK7t4B_/s400/arnold_schwarzenegger_as_mr_freeze_wallpaper_-_1024x768.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>In case you needed to be reminded.&nbsp;</i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Bane is a ruthless mask wearing&nbsp;terrorist&nbsp;that seeks to destroy Gotham. He certainly is an excellent movie vilan, but doesn't quite match The Joker from <i>The Dark Knight</i>. &nbsp;He is ruthless and menacing, and turns out to be Batman's first true match. I was mainly concerned about not being able to understand his&nbsp;dialogue, as he wears a mask that obscures most of his face for the entire film. I had no problems with this, his lines were clear and totally understandable. My biggest gripe with the character was that he wasn't as fleshed out as I would have liked it to be. That, and [SPOILER ALERT, skip to the next paragraph if you don't want a minor spoiler] his death was totally anticlimactic for such a menacing&nbsp;villain.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Although it is excellent, it does have a few flaws. For a film that is the last in its trilogy, there are an awful lot of new characters introduced. It may be difficult to follow all of them without a second viewing. It also runs long, coming in at two hours and forty five minutes. There are a few plot holes that show up in the last act that are rather&nbsp;distracting. It would have been easy to explain them away, so it makes me wonder why they were left there.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Bottom Line: 8/10- The Dark Knight Rises is a fine end to Nolan's Batman trilogy. It doesn't live up to The Dark Knight, but nearly matches it. Even on its own it manages to be a fine action film with dark dramatic overtones. Oh, and it looks amazing in Imax.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-29854991830153935482012-06-08T20:32:00.001-07:002012-06-08T20:32:35.236-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9slrlOE6Wwwi7EUrf-4D87_ZDsJi42Lm6DQziPX6QCNToDbyHKUTYRjKitNU5RCAl1tKj7R0tEicMINhAGWy6YBrUqlmRcOiN17Bo-aQPcxeDBVU0I0qda5mIp9dAqB8EUAgKF2SWuHzW/s1600/prometheus_movie-wide-195x110+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9slrlOE6Wwwi7EUrf-4D87_ZDsJi42Lm6DQziPX6QCNToDbyHKUTYRjKitNU5RCAl1tKj7R0tEicMINhAGWy6YBrUqlmRcOiN17Bo-aQPcxeDBVU0I0qda5mIp9dAqB8EUAgKF2SWuHzW/s640/prometheus_movie-wide-195x110+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Release Date (USA): June 8th, 2012</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Directed By: Ridley Scott</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Starring:&nbsp;Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/">IMDB Page</a></div> <br /> <br /> <i>Prometheus</i> marks director Ridley Scott's return to the universe of the <i>Alien</i> films; the first of which he directed. <i>Prometheus</i> isn't another <i>Alien</i> film, although it shares some plot points, its a very interesting (and at some times disgusting) exploration in to the origins of the Xenomorph we all know and love. Oh yeah, and that origin of human kind thing too.<br /> <br /> <i>Prometheus</i> follows the story of&nbsp;archaeologists&nbsp;Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Tom Hardy look-alike Logan Marshal Green) as they search for the origins of human kind. After discovering a similar star chart among numerous ancient cultures, the team is recruited by the Weyland corporation to form an expedition to the stars.&nbsp;Meanwhile, Ancient Aliens guy finds his&nbsp;favorite&nbsp;movie ever.<br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ry_scXpSkioUSSipUMWXjNhOUhxzshIfESIkpdoJXkYshgU2Bwc7NJ7pbZp_3hS4B8Xry_CB_GNW2q9QmAwVeJzv4RFxSndmoKS7_6VV846GAE81GYvRv9RBDbaNhcG2GGEnCA05T1ak/s1600/ancientaliens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ry_scXpSkioUSSipUMWXjNhOUhxzshIfESIkpdoJXkYshgU2Bwc7NJ7pbZp_3hS4B8Xry_CB_GNW2q9QmAwVeJzv4RFxSndmoKS7_6VV846GAE81GYvRv9RBDbaNhcG2GGEnCA05T1ak/s320/ancientaliens.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> On board the spacecraft, Prometheus, we meet other members of our crew: Michael Fassbender steals the show as creepy android David, Charlize Theron is a hard line corporate executive, and a handful of other cliched characters that serve very little purpose other than to be killed halfway into the film.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySxdWrjs27jTj1oOCGqxdiZSRNthv8wQVyxVHu-tnf7Pz9STJx7Oj578oKCp0tfy1pKrMMvNTgjKmL0bQ8mtBFujx1hF17gMWL5HGQuFwSJhVOCZ6bkd8jjA2CRSRa0WGk9tF-BjjYUxw/s1600/Prometheus-Movie-Image-HR-412-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySxdWrjs27jTj1oOCGqxdiZSRNthv8wQVyxVHu-tnf7Pz9STJx7Oj578oKCp0tfy1pKrMMvNTgjKmL0bQ8mtBFujx1hF17gMWL5HGQuFwSJhVOCZ6bkd8jjA2CRSRa0WGk9tF-BjjYUxw/s320/Prometheus-Movie-Image-HR-412-12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>My name is grouchy-guy-with-mohawk. Yes, I die.&nbsp;</i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i>Prometheus&nbsp;</i>does start off at a slower pace. This isn't bad, its done just right. Its just enough to tug you into the story line. Scott's&nbsp;attention&nbsp;to detail is obvious, with almost every beautiful set being planned out to the tiniest detail. The second half of the film is considerably faster, as the action and&nbsp;gruesome&nbsp;on screen deaths speed up. The team discovers some interesting life forms, and things quickly go to hell. Bones are snapped, various bodily fluids are splashed about, faces are melted, and bodies are burnt to a crisp. They say that the&nbsp;original&nbsp;<i>Alien</i> film had a pretty obvious rape subtext, with the whole "man being violently impregnated" plot point. If <i>Alien</i> is about rape, <i>Prometheus</i> is a rape inside a rape, with a side of rape garnished with self administered abortion.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76shc20Gq2O4vZochJ7JC9a42b8-LHQuvrDcFElPgDvl4i1B-UailyfZ8NZYODJHOj3VGvOHuNP51-GB94OnCAIqw5V1QZupZsf05cfa7aiRJUWkrSUeAZ9PpnebJddphbPcEZbIhLads/s1600/Kids-summer-movie-series.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76shc20Gq2O4vZochJ7JC9a42b8-LHQuvrDcFElPgDvl4i1B-UailyfZ8NZYODJHOj3VGvOHuNP51-GB94OnCAIqw5V1QZupZsf05cfa7aiRJUWkrSUeAZ9PpnebJddphbPcEZbIhLads/s320/Kids-summer-movie-series.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>They came to see Madagascar 3. They didn't know they were in the wrong theater until it was too late.&nbsp;</i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The 3D effect in <i>Prometheus</i> is very easy on the eyes. It added depth to the film, but not much else. There was no gimmicky things that flew out of the screen at you.The focus was good and&nbsp;didn't&nbsp;cause any headaches.<i>&nbsp;</i>Its what 3D is supposed to be: an addition to the film that&nbsp;isn't&nbsp;obnoxious or over used.<i>&nbsp;</i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>Bottom Line: 8/10: </b><i>Prometheus</i>&nbsp;looses some points due to a bland supporting cast. That, and the last 30 seconds where it is painfully obvious they're setting up for a sequel. Everything else is pure gritty, violent sci-fi goodness. If you go into <i>Prometheus</i> expecting a direct prequel to the<i> Alien</i> films, you may leave a bit&nbsp;disappointed. <i>Prometheus</i> is very much its own film, with a few clever tie ins to its parent franchise.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <i><br /></i></div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-84057828295988411702011-11-25T19:47:00.001-08:002012-06-08T20:34:29.097-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy_Utuc13Kqx3lwaRk8hS_4gsfiVYkL0Kq5_4W-gcxEVhK11rgQhOHJO580UIicKC1ILhp4DyDhoYG04Ndh830fPwLTLP2gqt7sW-jYqucIrJepMQeh5cTRuzQEM0hgfn-FWIHNaCRZ_j/s1600/sucker-punch-baby-doll-poster-character1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy_Utuc13Kqx3lwaRk8hS_4gsfiVYkL0Kq5_4W-gcxEVhK11rgQhOHJO580UIicKC1ILhp4DyDhoYG04Ndh830fPwLTLP2gqt7sW-jYqucIrJepMQeh5cTRuzQEM0hgfn-FWIHNaCRZ_j/s320/sucker-punch-baby-doll-poster-character1.jpg" width="219" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Directed by: Zack Snyder</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Starring: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/">IMDB Page</a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> So I have to admit: I'm no fan of Zach Snyder. I didn't really enjoy 300, and I couldn't finish Watchmen. The Dawn of the Dead remake was enjoyable, but not what I'd consider one of my favorites. This, combined with mixed reviews from friends, prevented me from going to see Sucker Punch while it was in theaters. Even after it arrived from Netflix, it say around for a while until I forced myself to watch it. So you've probably gathered this by now: I'm not a huge fan of Snyder's work. But the surprising thing is, while it wasn't what I'd consider a great movie, I found it pretty fun to watch.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> Sucker Punch follows the story of Baby Doll (Emily Browing). Her family is torn apart by the death of her mother. After being framed for the additional death of her sister, she is sent to a mental&nbsp;institute&nbsp;for women. Which turns out to be a brothel... Or something. Anyways, Babydoll and her&nbsp;comrades&nbsp;come up with a plan to escape from&nbsp;their&nbsp;prison. In order to execute their plan, they need to obtain a few objects that will aid them; like a map to find their way out, a key to unlock doors,&nbsp;etc.<br /> <br /> This is where suckerpunch turns from a Life Time made for TV movie into a kickass over the top action flick: Each one of these objectives is represented by some crazy fantasy mission. Like a trench battle fighting steampunk nazi-zombie robots. Or a quest to steal a crystal from a firebreathing dragon. You get the idea.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKPPac6w3LZib8jkCbTZXkpxI1DkYhXhA7tGr72n27NhmQIZ1NgQbB3Fly2rdAi7V-Cfb9p5NFslEUZhnVmXFPy6yUd0rRZdAjKhEVeiOLfeCdKCH9NG1i07hwEHXo_QUQ9Ksbmz4AV9V/s1600/nazis2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKPPac6w3LZib8jkCbTZXkpxI1DkYhXhA7tGr72n27NhmQIZ1NgQbB3Fly2rdAi7V-Cfb9p5NFslEUZhnVmXFPy6yUd0rRZdAjKhEVeiOLfeCdKCH9NG1i07hwEHXo_QUQ9Ksbmz4AV9V/s320/nazis2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <i style="text-align: center;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Steampunk-nazi-robot-zombies. Also what Zack Snyder calls "subtlety".</i><br /> <br /> Suckerpunch's best feature is probably its dense visuals. The fantasy scenes are always visually&nbsp;beautiful.&nbsp;The&nbsp;battle scenes also kick some serious ass. While there is definitely some very heavy use of CGI in these parts, it doesn't take away from the impact of the scenes. It actually helps with the campy, comic book style of whats going on. I found my self excited for what the next sequence would be, and&nbsp;disappointed&nbsp;when I knew they were all over.<br /> <br /> But besides the visuals and stunning action&nbsp;sequences, there are quite a few flaws. The biggest being that the film probably won't appeal to a whole wide range of people. If you're not someone who likes this style of film, you'll most likely end up with a headache before its over.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7L_HZ6nzDlp450XdGbLKzdv4t8oy9QtPD8t1qxrR4ZtAsPdmvSxkKul-RwrD7KCfHSX0vYAS7s8wI8tTEUrEJIGaoRMjqiI2oayFvK78k6BQWcey9QOKfx0fstArH13KSzNGiC4EC2uj/s1600/sucker_punch_image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7L_HZ6nzDlp450XdGbLKzdv4t8oy9QtPD8t1qxrR4ZtAsPdmvSxkKul-RwrD7KCfHSX0vYAS7s8wI8tTEUrEJIGaoRMjqiI2oayFvK78k6BQWcey9QOKfx0fstArH13KSzNGiC4EC2uj/s320/sucker_punch_image1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>"We're sorry about your&nbsp;migraine.. Perhaps more explosions will make you feel better?"&nbsp;</i></div> <br /> Another flaw that bothers me, the biggest thing that keeps me from really liking Snyder's movies, is that it tries way too damn hard to be cool. It seems that literally every five minutes there is another slow motion montage of the action happening on screen. It feels like the film is just constantly reminding you "<i>Hey. Look over here. See this? Steampunk-nazi-robot-zombies. Yeah. That's cool, huh? Look. You don't understand how freaking cool this is. Look. Look&nbsp;again. Look in slow motion. Isn't this hip? The kids are gonna love me. You old folks? You have no idea, cause you're lame. Guess what else? Freaking dragons. Look. Look at the damn dragon in slow motion. Look. Are you looking?&nbsp;Isn't&nbsp;it cool? Here's some more slow motion."&nbsp;</i><br /> <i><br /></i><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiU-gKvRf-vHoxDTaR6QznkJuRo_sOtrff-6GXdMciZ0-9LsaSjpwhTXz-uvWj7dbxhhYtYpppt4uksGgtXRi7AmZQE2ve1l5V8sg5Eb83wrCtQyAvbwBDRVtAf9ywtcAfHZ4qMLy7AsZn/s1600/social_media_douchebags.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiU-gKvRf-vHoxDTaR6QznkJuRo_sOtrff-6GXdMciZ0-9LsaSjpwhTXz-uvWj7dbxhhYtYpppt4uksGgtXRi7AmZQE2ve1l5V8sg5Eb83wrCtQyAvbwBDRVtAf9ywtcAfHZ4qMLy7AsZn/s320/social_media_douchebags.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>If Suckerpunch were a person, it would be one of these guys.&nbsp;</i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The acting was also another low point. By no means was it terrible, it just seemed flat compared to the&nbsp;outrageous-ness&nbsp;of all the action going on. Take the main&nbsp;character, Baby doll. She has the same facial expression for what feels like 90% of the movie.&nbsp;</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhWLg5G-5GF4rQ401HkTrhgbYKRrrzj6SZJMr98WWyHPx918gguhmnMotsRhslopJniCXRm0QV0Pu7nwESpTlptiIKiSLbFMssMEdGZ5ET6DwqpASTTT2QQ6ddFyXtdqI8mMZx8jrhZIj/s1600/nervous.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhWLg5G-5GF4rQ401HkTrhgbYKRrrzj6SZJMr98WWyHPx918gguhmnMotsRhslopJniCXRm0QV0Pu7nwESpTlptiIKiSLbFMssMEdGZ5ET6DwqpASTTT2QQ6ddFyXtdqI8mMZx8jrhZIj/s320/nervous.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_ZkaAYhMLKxY7z7c11OEQTGDI-GhgVSy2OaoqstY05xmcg1qZhAMDL60SHCAbB0fnCQzRmB5YNL_02NRLzqe_tYVZsFN79ocVu461fHj4pPRlFPciR5iAm-FP0n6CkmL92VmeyLfwWN0/s1600/Babydoll-Sacrifice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_ZkaAYhMLKxY7z7c11OEQTGDI-GhgVSy2OaoqstY05xmcg1qZhAMDL60SHCAbB0fnCQzRmB5YNL_02NRLzqe_tYVZsFN79ocVu461fHj4pPRlFPciR5iAm-FP0n6CkmL92VmeyLfwWN0/s320/Babydoll-Sacrifice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_njdGBMo10nW14KhyJ14gXfaWEc9FbVzcedmjZjFPAE-2T4f9Rq0QpGm2fvfQi9Wl5sc30Ia3HF3t_eBKYoXSQ2TEJYFCiE5KZdgy3qr5pLUKqHWcKnpJY8FxYzURSvRpQ4PVRU64vatk/s1600/Sucker_Punch_image-40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_njdGBMo10nW14KhyJ14gXfaWEc9FbVzcedmjZjFPAE-2T4f9Rq0QpGm2fvfQi9Wl5sc30Ia3HF3t_eBKYoXSQ2TEJYFCiE5KZdgy3qr5pLUKqHWcKnpJY8FxYzURSvRpQ4PVRU64vatk/s320/Sucker_Punch_image-40.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtht8Ltb16sbnHp5eI4jUSLr2p_1V_anGtOzekN02TPo0ptNpPfCgGJnRHz30JlzreTMwpjKXcLPHpyBnmWTmwgrwbkIQAXgvqg5A0C7-aK03eKvMdFoe0GbX7OWsqZRD5LT9sR9UVgL8Q/s1600/sucker_punch_nine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtht8Ltb16sbnHp5eI4jUSLr2p_1V_anGtOzekN02TPo0ptNpPfCgGJnRHz30JlzreTMwpjKXcLPHpyBnmWTmwgrwbkIQAXgvqg5A0C7-aK03eKvMdFoe0GbX7OWsqZRD5LT9sR9UVgL8Q/s320/sucker_punch_nine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i>Zack Snyder calls this "consistency".&nbsp;</i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>Bottom Line: 6/10:</b> Its a fun, no-brain-needed action flick, not much else. I may just be biased against Snyder, I'll admit that, but I found the same flaws here that I found in his other stuff. Suckerpunch has some pleasing visuals and impressive action sequences. It lacks in the character and story departments. And&nbsp;there is&nbsp;just way too many slow motion sequences.&nbsp;</div> <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;"> <br /></div> <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;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <i><br /></i>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-58603119352046818322011-07-22T19:32:00.000-07:002011-07-22T19:32:34.098-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifK6g9YRxLvLeP7s7K5G2sAXiS1K0KSKBeaUEXNTeD00upG-sh6K8NZ5lsQFxB_RtUJDvBIyMxmbq-yreP9tipkSJ-PpiC9XnKIGoPfeq1TAKxJTW49snR_Nww_2KfvLkorC2IXg9cpnSl/s1600/red-poster-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifK6g9YRxLvLeP7s7K5G2sAXiS1K0KSKBeaUEXNTeD00upG-sh6K8NZ5lsQFxB_RtUJDvBIyMxmbq-yreP9tipkSJ-PpiC9XnKIGoPfeq1TAKxJTW49snR_Nww_2KfvLkorC2IXg9cpnSl/s400/red-poster-8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: Robert Schwentke</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Bruce&nbsp;Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Hellen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245526/">IMDB Page</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The film industry is lucky &nbsp;Red came out &nbsp;shortly after The Expendables. (Read &nbsp;my review of that train wreck <a href="http://fronksreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/expendables-2010.html">here</a>) If it had not, I might have given up on going to the movies all together. Red managed to redeem the film industry of The Expendables' mistakes, and made me believe in campy-throw-back action movies again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZvtV5L63xPBMVgFNQZKqxxe3oMoBG3g3lXlJozGo-ZJ6hAXJY_2OOixhiW_FXEakgZRcAuf9hPgUU1BeFJc585HUEwzKDhEAFYhbH8zr5x_EUiuJZFdS9gyIHJQ9lxFSkLzKXETr2lYt/s1600/600full-sylvester-stallone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZvtV5L63xPBMVgFNQZKqxxe3oMoBG3g3lXlJozGo-ZJ6hAXJY_2OOixhiW_FXEakgZRcAuf9hPgUU1BeFJc585HUEwzKDhEAFYhbH8zr5x_EUiuJZFdS9gyIHJQ9lxFSkLzKXETr2lYt/s320/600full-sylvester-stallone.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>This is how douchebags say "thank you".&nbsp;</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div>RED is actually an acronym; Retired, Extremely Dangerous. Bruce&nbsp;Willis&nbsp;stars in the lead role as a retired black-ops CIA super spy. He lives in boredom and mediocrity, with the only joy he gets coming from telephone conversations with a woman who works in a pension office. Rather quickly , his is attacked at home by a band of government thugs. After kicking a few asses and taking a few names, he leaves to find out why the government he worked for is now trying to kill him. Along the way, he pulls a few of his old counterparts out of retirement.<br /> <br /> The story isn't horribly&nbsp;original, and it can get pretty confusing, especially in the third&nbsp;act. Red makes up for the weak story line with&nbsp;lots&nbsp;of awesome characters. Of course, Willis is the usual wise&nbsp;cracking&nbsp;badass. Nothing new for him here, but he's good at it. Mary-Louise Parker gets a few good laughs as his reluctant love intrest. Morgan freeman and Helen Mirren are great as another two ex-agents pulled out of retirement. &nbsp;Karl Urban does very well as the initially cold and calculating government agent sent to stop the REDs, whatever the cost. Out of all of this, my favorite character was played by John Malkovich. He is a mentally disturbed ex-operative, mostly due to the fact that he was fed LSD&nbsp;daily&nbsp;for 11 years when he worked for the CIA.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfeMLDh3Fir13DAbuYxXydNY9UYMgTG_p9hVUEyo_peqhQ6sccdLmBnNNUUMlcouxrwo6bo-C6220-OhqNn5YRgVkBPZQLJdWWaxYmsv5BLZWaotdX0U5sc-mfxGyKiktEgxlb7zRM9wH/s1600/red-john-malkovich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfeMLDh3Fir13DAbuYxXydNY9UYMgTG_p9hVUEyo_peqhQ6sccdLmBnNNUUMlcouxrwo6bo-C6220-OhqNn5YRgVkBPZQLJdWWaxYmsv5BLZWaotdX0U5sc-mfxGyKiktEgxlb7zRM9wH/s320/red-john-malkovich.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Seems perfectly stable to me...</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 8/10: </b>Red has its flaws, mostly in the story&nbsp;department. But it sure as hell is fun, with plenty of campy action and fun characters to go around. If you're into action films, don't let this one slip past you. Even if &nbsp;you thought The Expendables had ruined the gene for you.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /> </i></div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-42417141250564833372011-07-01T20:28:00.000-07:002011-07-01T20:28:14.959-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHxNP3jhT1Szj_V5rxvYlel14QO-eYlGbFUqchtJNxPT3ZkUK6uo6bIpx2qLbGzDf7YEME-auvT_XBk6cLKl93TcZpYfDrqkWuscOGs8kd1ZLpjB26cHKTt0a-GtfDhly2ZK_k0pQWagC/s1600/Repo-Men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHxNP3jhT1Szj_V5rxvYlel14QO-eYlGbFUqchtJNxPT3ZkUK6uo6bIpx2qLbGzDf7YEME-auvT_XBk6cLKl93TcZpYfDrqkWuscOGs8kd1ZLpjB26cHKTt0a-GtfDhly2ZK_k0pQWagC/s400/Repo-Men.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Alice Braga</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: Miguel Sapochnik&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053424/">IMDB Page </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Repo Men is a sci-fi film that has a lot of good ideas. It starts out with a very interesting "what if" question, as many good sci-fi films do.&nbsp;The&nbsp;unfortunate thing is, thats the only thing it does well. Almost everything else about Repo Men is mediocre at best.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Remy (Law) and Jake (Whitaker) work as&nbsp;repossession&nbsp;officials for a large corporation called The Union in the not too distant future. The only thing is, this&nbsp;company&nbsp;sells&nbsp;insanely expensive&nbsp;artificial&nbsp;organs to the sick and wounded. When people get behind on their payments, the repo men are sent out to recover the organs... In some of the most disturbing ways possible.&nbsp;From here, the story takes some very predictable turns. It manages to pull off one surprising twist, but everything else is&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">cliché</span></span>. It ends up being very&nbsp;disappointing&nbsp;because&nbsp;there is so many directions they could have gone with this- Instead of going for pure shock when organs are harvested in disgusting ways from innocent people.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpY0T4H2tUsBNyRZ4RKmVZVnaQeKf1nx0nzr4QR12KfrwwxCqWDfoDDgrq7LFVQ_xHDEG4lxpgQQkGtZCUvHwP8hwNsK0uMHsWWXVVQ2ZLZp4HhTJb5lrB13x3DtwPVCDVFsE0kO_XdHL/s1600/repomen-judevictim-660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpY0T4H2tUsBNyRZ4RKmVZVnaQeKf1nx0nzr4QR12KfrwwxCqWDfoDDgrq7LFVQ_xHDEG4lxpgQQkGtZCUvHwP8hwNsK0uMHsWWXVVQ2ZLZp4HhTJb5lrB13x3DtwPVCDVFsE0kO_XdHL/s320/repomen-judevictim-660.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Should have gone with the PPO.....</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The acting is another problem here. Its&nbsp;incredibly&nbsp;inconsistent. Sometimes Jude Law does a&nbsp;fair&nbsp;job, other times his lines come of as stilted and hollow. Whitaker just seems out of place in this whole film.&nbsp;Some&nbsp;of the secondary actors are much better than the lead cast, however, there are still no&nbsp;outstanding&nbsp;performances&nbsp;in this film. Some scenes are just pure awkward. One in particular involves lots of&nbsp;semi-nude making out, while the two characters slice each other open to scan their artificial organs. It just reeks of some really odd sexual fantasy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIC3GyzHH4K4O_kc6VVFMyt45sV57w9o1m0FkKmTrOR296TxFTbZz0l61K6PN9YwxTZYs8j2lLromYBPTbfqvB1MXPB5bYOpZZBrVum1C09uY0Q-Zm9UUE_F6FN5KiBgnWlDTzqSJRe7_k/s1600/0626_tarantino_toes-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIC3GyzHH4K4O_kc6VVFMyt45sV57w9o1m0FkKmTrOR296TxFTbZz0l61K6PN9YwxTZYs8j2lLromYBPTbfqvB1MXPB5bYOpZZBrVum1C09uY0Q-Zm9UUE_F6FN5KiBgnWlDTzqSJRe7_k/s320/0626_tarantino_toes-1.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Tarantino's foot fetish suddenly seems a lot less weird.&nbsp;</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 4/10:</b><i> </i>It starts off with a good idea that is marred by bad everything else.&nbsp;The&nbsp;story can hold your attention if you're not too grossed out by the gore.&nbsp;There&nbsp;is a plot twist, which I'm not sure was&nbsp;intelligent&nbsp;or cheap...I'll just say it was interesting. Lots of questions are left unanswered, like why it seems that 80% of the population has needed an organ transplant. Don't go for this one unless you really want to... Unless you're a die hard sci-fi buff, chances are you won't enjoy Repo Men a single bit.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /> </span></div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-50956021784570162112011-06-11T17:14:00.000-07:002011-06-11T17:14:59.759-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8VpluzEqXQ7g5u9hNrvOYsnh23rKlM90vraVVuNfoC8lRptrfi1g7lWiZa_ZMl32pW3rcXfYTWM4fpfrKfPjwVjlUKpYbVpwczNJdMUWISQT3RjJvM6yHK4oQlZ7r3p9_wAZ15KZG48WO/s1600/social+network.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8VpluzEqXQ7g5u9hNrvOYsnh23rKlM90vraVVuNfoC8lRptrfi1g7lWiZa_ZMl32pW3rcXfYTWM4fpfrKfPjwVjlUKpYbVpwczNJdMUWISQT3RjJvM6yHK4oQlZ7r3p9_wAZ15KZG48WO/s400/social+network.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: David Fincher</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/">IMDB Page</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Without a doubt, Facebook has changed the landscape of the internet ever since its debut in 2003. Its even changed what happens when you meet new people, usually you'll hear a "Facebook me" instead of a request for a phone number. Its now become somewhat socially taboo when someone tells you that they don't use Facebook for any variety of reasons. As it turns out, the creation and first few years of the worlds most popular of social network were a rather&nbsp;turbulent&nbsp;affair. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood would manufacture a dramatized version of that story.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyjxWWUH_-39kMl0S_uXuofeIMAk0idDt73vGO3ntOulxvmWtPGhvCDC6qaxbSpiu8yGqlkzGkh5jku4yyHvVYz12trYbdUxWOo-Xqf2GqhUbYEJ7n1jDvWt00uOrS1ZIO3Ggt80ktGVa/s1600/michael-bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyjxWWUH_-39kMl0S_uXuofeIMAk0idDt73vGO3ntOulxvmWtPGhvCDC6qaxbSpiu8yGqlkzGkh5jku4yyHvVYz12trYbdUxWOo-Xqf2GqhUbYEJ7n1jDvWt00uOrS1ZIO3Ggt80ktGVa/s320/michael-bay.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Don't worry, not <i>that&nbsp;</i>dramatized.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jesse Eisenberg fills the shoes of the site's creator, Mark Zuckerberg. He's a somewhat awkward college student with a knack for computer programming. After being dumped by a girlfriend, he goes on a drunken blogging rampage about his recent ex. He also creates a simple site, called Facemash, meant to demean female students.&nbsp;The&nbsp;site quickly gathers so much traffic that it crashes the&nbsp;university's computer network. Zuckerburg and a couple friends soon realize how a social networking site could catch on. Along with some (alleged) inspiration from a pair of twins trying to start their own site, Mark and his friends soon create "The Facebook". It becomes wildly popular, and the rest is history. Oh, and Zuckerburg's former friends and&nbsp;business&nbsp;partners file millions of dollars in lawsuits against him for&nbsp;intellectual&nbsp;property infringement and for selling off most of one of the founder's stock.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The film is presented by cutting back and fourth between disposition for the&nbsp;lawsuits, and&nbsp;pivotal&nbsp;events in Facebook's history, and events relevant to the lawsuit. Its a simple format, but its very well done. The disposition scenes only make up a small percentage, but the film would have felt completely different without them.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The biggest thing The Social network has going for it is the cast. All of the lead actors are&nbsp;superb. Andrew Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin, one of Mark's early&nbsp;business&nbsp;partners. Justin Timberlake is good as the smarmy Sean Parker, founder of the controversial Napster music sharing site who moved on to Facebook. Jesse Eisenburg's Zuckerberg is&nbsp;definitely&nbsp;an interesting character. At first, the self&nbsp;righteous college student kind of gets on your nerves. By the end of the film, you feel a little better about him, but still can't help but thinking he a bit of a jerk.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 8/10:</b>&nbsp;The&nbsp;Social Network is an interesting film about the people who changed social networking forever. The real life versions of these characters have seen the film, and have&nbsp;said&nbsp;that the events and characters were altered a bit. I can't say its 100%&nbsp;accurate as&nbsp;to how Facebook came to be and its&nbsp;struggles&nbsp;along the way, but it sure is&nbsp;entertaining.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B0034G4P7G&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B0034G4P7Q&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-38874656437761603492011-05-10T20:06:00.000-07:002011-06-13T19:38:06.123-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxq-riBN4XTT_9vcpwWel5fSXOFpXUDGsYkXSkamyInXMyCZeYJu7sSaTIwznIbiObp7BwlrAVFgo14wugnlF2AXcbMBYPbcAKwCZR-jt8gqGQTWnCaAo-Tyi9UU78SP40muy45QKOLQK/s1600/macgruber-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxq-riBN4XTT_9vcpwWel5fSXOFpXUDGsYkXSkamyInXMyCZeYJu7sSaTIwznIbiObp7BwlrAVFgo14wugnlF2AXcbMBYPbcAKwCZR-jt8gqGQTWnCaAo-Tyi9UU78SP40muy45QKOLQK/s400/macgruber-poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: Jorma Taccone&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1470023/">IMDB Page </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I didn't go into <i>MacGruber</i> with awfully high expectations. It is, after all, a film based off of a Saturday Night Live sketch, and therefore should be graded on a curve. Even with that taken into consideration, <i>MacGruber</i> manages only to be slightly better than terrible.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvF1-7w_qWPMK0QySlS2raPTxCi1qzk-QDEQ0sK0Xw6H5QjQIENuN3vmCyrfSpEktfrTyrTaVSrUxFUAxtOySZaW79bBf2LXxCHDwt6w25tskTNO2vr01FKnfNTTflw-JrQKmab_IikgMq/s1600/pat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvF1-7w_qWPMK0QySlS2raPTxCi1qzk-QDEQ0sK0Xw6H5QjQIENuN3vmCyrfSpEktfrTyrTaVSrUxFUAxtOySZaW79bBf2LXxCHDwt6w25tskTNO2vr01FKnfNTTflw-JrQKmab_IikgMq/s1600/pat.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Sorry, Pat... You're still in last place. But it was close.</i>&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>MacGruber</i>, on its face, is a parody of 1980's TV action shows. Once you start watching, you'll notice the only things it draws from this source material is the main character's looks, and something to name the film. MacGruber (Forte) is an ex secret agent, skilled (so they say) in making weapons out of everyday objects. He is approached by the US government to stop a terrorist, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) who has stolen a nuclear weapon. MacGruber is reluctant to take the mission, until he hears that the terrorist behind the plot is the same man who killed his wife years earlier.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The&nbsp;humor is low brow, and usually consists of&nbsp;copious&nbsp;use of the F-word, and various instances of bathroom humor. Not that I have a problem with bathroom humor or cursing, its just that this film uses them as a&nbsp;substitute&nbsp;for actual humor. I could have pitched this to a group of third graders, and they could have told me I was a dumb ass and come up with something&nbsp;substantially&nbsp;better themselves. &nbsp;The film managed to make me chuckle&nbsp;only&nbsp;a couple of times. And when it does find a joke that doesn't fall flat on its face, it repeated it multiple times until you are sick of it. Even the jokes that don't work are repeated more than once.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDw2VcKX5XYtUL2NTNs7YmRjrVBt3bM8qLwzaFnPmNcwQGvblJHltXJH5ZExxBxYWTWz-e7FmueoJf1a-E53ED8afpbVdZDZSKZFVWB2QJ3dqI9ycO2rPdh9YbpctcWMijbAwADf1CFLmU/s1600/macgruber11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDw2VcKX5XYtUL2NTNs7YmRjrVBt3bM8qLwzaFnPmNcwQGvblJHltXJH5ZExxBxYWTWz-e7FmueoJf1a-E53ED8afpbVdZDZSKZFVWB2QJ3dqI9ycO2rPdh9YbpctcWMijbAwADf1CFLmU/s400/macgruber11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Guys, guys.. Get this. We'll do the&nbsp;celery&nbsp;up the butt bit, not once -pay attention now- but <u>twice</u>.</i>&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 3/10:</b> &nbsp;Most of the jokes aren't funny, the characters can be annoying, and the story is downright dull. Watching <i>Macgruber</i> was only slightly less painful than having a&nbsp;vegetable&nbsp;shoved in your rear.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B002ZG98B4&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-66782974858447743222011-05-04T19:05:00.000-07:002011-05-04T19:05:58.979-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggfIJ601SCsz2d5f2Q_8WSzvj98uAuCi2HqDjaTfFeGWvV1jpDlYNCgKIw9Q3-eKYnNJgoe5jna13YNxqY2z5bcXrY5M9oFl2tUPP83Z2S4ihEJU2D8vaBD-25aTQYsUtqoSrjemh19tsP/s1600/Predators+Poster+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggfIJ601SCsz2d5f2Q_8WSzvj98uAuCi2HqDjaTfFeGWvV1jpDlYNCgKIw9Q3-eKYnNJgoe5jna13YNxqY2z5bcXrY5M9oFl2tUPP83Z2S4ihEJU2D8vaBD-25aTQYsUtqoSrjemh19tsP/s400/Predators+Poster+2.jpg" width="271" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directted by: Nimr</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; line-height: 31px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ód Antal</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; line-height: 31px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 31px;">Starring: Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Laurence Fishburne</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 31px;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424381/">IMDB Page</a></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.33384078182280064" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from </span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.33384078182280064" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Predators</i></span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.33384078182280064" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. After the disasters that were the two </span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.33384078182280064" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Alien VS Predator</i></span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.33384078182280064" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> films, I didn't think there was much life left in the series. Luckily the creative team behind this film thought the same as I did about the AVP films, and decided to ignore that storyline altogether. They drew most, if not all, of their inspiration from the first film. &nbsp;Predators is a fun, no-brainer action movie, that gives a slick 2010 feel to the 1987 classic. </span><br /> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We open on our main character, Royce (Brody), as he is in freefall. &nbsp;His parachute opens and he lands less than gracefully in a jungle. There, he meets up with a few other people who have fallen in the same fashion he has. Most of them are all killers of some kind (save for one doctor): Special forces, mercenaries, mass murderers, and gang hit men. They soon realize that the're not on earth anymore, and that something is hunting them. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XcDvpc6mAyyvI9fmPNGaCNlZxw5NpsuDxkYYk2hJwIEnpPZPFPcf_4WqyJLgZ1PHFlSMzS4UY3zsWfPh5qVJm8c48gT2DfsnAON56hIFiVetoSJmolRBHPYUMvWMmFqMQ1zPU-PWdWC5/s1600/predators-wallpapers_19670_1920x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XcDvpc6mAyyvI9fmPNGaCNlZxw5NpsuDxkYYk2hJwIEnpPZPFPcf_4WqyJLgZ1PHFlSMzS4UY3zsWfPh5qVJm8c48gT2DfsnAON56hIFiVetoSJmolRBHPYUMvWMmFqMQ1zPU-PWdWC5/s320/predators-wallpapers_19670_1920x1200.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the best thing that Predators does well is the casting. Adrien Brody is perfect as the impromptu leader of the group trying to survive. Alice Braga does well in her role as the tough Israeli soldier, who reluctantly follows Royce in their attempt to get off the planet.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, there are a couple of cast members that don't totally fit in. Laurence Fishburne is Roland, a crazy soldier that has been trapped on the predator planet for years. His acting is great, I was just surprised at how small his part ended up being. It seems as though the character was tacked on just so they could get another big name actor in the credits. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><s>Eric Foreman</s></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Topher Grace also feels awkward as a seemingly harmless doctor. Its another role that doesn't seem like it has a lot of purpose to it. Intentional for the character or not, Topher just seems out of place in a gritty action film. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiv4eH4ZuiVccS_94Pe7RJEjLHkCTK9EZloyGABZC-pzJNpZ9LaX-LK07HHsaJssuh1-bmBZBt2RtGGxcnbIZxv8ydua_4nyQAsUWz3N8K6SbsCzossXQiTPCcgy2kWajfMYF-LD5ndPrz/s1600/Predators-Topher-Grace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiv4eH4ZuiVccS_94Pe7RJEjLHkCTK9EZloyGABZC-pzJNpZ9LaX-LK07HHsaJssuh1-bmBZBt2RtGGxcnbIZxv8ydua_4nyQAsUWz3N8K6SbsCzossXQiTPCcgy2kWajfMYF-LD5ndPrz/s400/Predators-Topher-Grace.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>"I'll never be typecast all the way out here in the jungle."</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 8/10:</b> Predators is one of those no-thought-required action films. It managed to hold my attention from beginning to end, while capturing the feel of the&nbsp;original&nbsp;1987 film. Best of all, it pretended like the AVP films never happened.&nbsp;</div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B0040YFR1Y&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe> <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B002ZG98LO&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span></span></div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-57436885789501484972011-05-01T18:01:00.000-07:002011-05-01T18:01:40.388-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKj2MFnav3Mizlo2OPq6LHJH-nAyTT7uwVMQhfk0ls_fVTBTF2ox4VJQkV7NPHsr52gfPJUTq6uMJj1zE8FUlDlKzDdJu6zQ5AM9lhyphenhyphen2VN2IBUsgBvnj6NTb7Iv7O0zHvZLBmWLm2ltela/s1600/mystery-team-one-sheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKj2MFnav3Mizlo2OPq6LHJH-nAyTT7uwVMQhfk0ls_fVTBTF2ox4VJQkV7NPHsr52gfPJUTq6uMJj1zE8FUlDlKzDdJu6zQ5AM9lhyphenhyphen2VN2IBUsgBvnj6NTb7Iv7O0zHvZLBmWLm2ltela/s400/mystery-team-one-sheet.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: Dan Eckman</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Donald Glover, D.C. Pierson, Dominic Dierkes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1237838/">IMDB Page</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Mystery Team is a raunchy film from the guys at Derrik Comedy.&nbsp;They&nbsp;have gained a pretty big following on YouTube, and their increased popularity has allowed them to make their first feature length film. The humor is low brow, some of the jokes fell flat, and the acting can be a bit shaky in some areas. However, that didn't stop me from laughing out loud on more than one occasion.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our three main characters, Jason (Glover), Duncan (Pierson) and Charlie (Dierkes), are a trio of high school seniors, who seem to be stuck in their elementary school years. They venture around the neighborhood, solving "mysteries" for much younger kids. They mostly stick to&nbsp;juvenile&nbsp;"crimes" to solve, but still wish to &nbsp;move on to become big league detectives some day. Most of their peers and elders are frustrated with them, seeing them as a bunch of&nbsp;naive&nbsp;losers. (Which they are.) Soon,&nbsp;The&nbsp;Mystery team gets a chance to prove themselves. A little girl&nbsp;commissions&nbsp;them to find out who killed her parents. Right from the onset, the team is dragged into a world of hired killers, gentlemen's clubs, and drug dealers.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJFqp2JOfBjGmEGDb4G0h_tURRefBTL3VXypkC7NRy_jGY0-dng5tNhfeAl6Ea3lgDQrJ79wTy1mtx2WsZMxv7TywwmvDEmvDc0UEpjcQkLoMKGDwblCl5lCD2MsyDHn69KwK9KrtW4sS/s1600/the_mystery_team_movie_image__2_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJFqp2JOfBjGmEGDb4G0h_tURRefBTL3VXypkC7NRy_jGY0-dng5tNhfeAl6Ea3lgDQrJ79wTy1mtx2WsZMxv7TywwmvDEmvDc0UEpjcQkLoMKGDwblCl5lCD2MsyDHn69KwK9KrtW4sS/s320/the_mystery_team_movie_image__2_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>"Hi, we'd like&nbsp;to&nbsp;buy some cocaine."&nbsp;</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most of the humor is low brow, with a few clever puns tossed in here and there. I didn't have any problems with most of the jokes, but I can still&nbsp;appreciate&nbsp;fart jokes. A few of the gags do fall flat, but the film doesn't dwell on them. It moves past them so quick and hits you with a new joke that you soon forget the one that didn't work so great.&nbsp;There&nbsp;are a few points where the film can get&nbsp;pretty&nbsp;disgusting- involving vomit and a scene inside of a seedy strip club bathroom.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The acting, for the most part, is pretty solid. Glover steals the show with this one, while Pierson is close behind. Dierkes struggles in some places, and its pretty obvious, but he still manages to supply a good amount of laughs.&nbsp;The film&nbsp;manages&nbsp;to look pretty good considering it's low budget. Granted, there aren't any major action sequences or big special effects.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 7/10:</b>&nbsp;Those&nbsp;who appreciate sophisticated humor should look elsewhere. For those who like bathroom humor, The Mystery Team may be perfect for you. The jokes fly at you non stop, the story is interesting, and the characters are enjoyable. I hope to see more from these guys in the future, it would be cool to see what they could do with more&nbsp;resources&nbsp;available.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B0035LCV12&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-70531195834135151192011-04-30T12:50:00.000-07:002011-04-30T14:48:50.316-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyrCCze4BJa5yZGvNbbXMk5BGbN72F8_OWQXae3zWeCTvTWAmnL0dEvVsr2KPsT9vMZ4o8kDFv1ZCqODgPFxKvyMGY7GpTfD3cCrxVIIMUHMoI7Egl2qHWwGFz-wgnWoHCaFrbK3G5Ezjw/s1600/the-mist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyrCCze4BJa5yZGvNbbXMk5BGbN72F8_OWQXae3zWeCTvTWAmnL0dEvVsr2KPsT9vMZ4o8kDFv1ZCqODgPFxKvyMGY7GpTfD3cCrxVIIMUHMoI7Egl2qHWwGFz-wgnWoHCaFrbK3G5Ezjw/s400/the-mist.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: Frank Darabont&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Thomas Jane, Nathan Gamble, Marcia Gay Harden</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884328/">IMDB Page </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Mist</i> is a horror film adapted from a Stephen King novella. I haven't read the book (Who reads those anymore?), so I can't say how accurate it is compared to its source material. I can say its pretty dang scary and equally depressing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Mist</i> takes place in the state of Maine, like a lot of Stephen King stories do. (Well, I haven't read much from him, but he is from Maine.) &nbsp;David Drayton (Jane) is an accomplished artist, living in a nice house with his son, Billy (Nathan Gamble). After a rather turbulent storm, the two join their arrogant lawyer-neighbor, Brent (Andre Braugher), to venture into town for some supplies. After reaching the supermarket, the town is covered in a thick mist. Things turn even more strange after a bloodied man runs into the store, yelling about there being "things in the mist". The store is locked down as more odd events start to happen. Soon, it is&nbsp;relieved&nbsp;that there are truly "things" in the mist, as one of the store employees is dragged away by a couple spike laden tentacles. More and more creatures of various types begin to attack the store over the course of the night. David must soon put himself and his son at risk once the survivors' mob mentality turns out to be as&nbsp;dangerous&nbsp;as the creatures attacking them.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OluF9YYBeoq_qqfsoMIeI-nEsHMGWrgoVUooIHxA04vQkiQmaDe70S8FMoAYUGFD1HTf_gaF1qDIud6GL4crPJh30lSe0-XL6QQdWJwGfSvppUZ7ydI7DcK6JM8uV55D3wKkU93Lw6c1/s1600/mist2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OluF9YYBeoq_qqfsoMIeI-nEsHMGWrgoVUooIHxA04vQkiQmaDe70S8FMoAYUGFD1HTf_gaF1qDIud6GL4crPJh30lSe0-XL6QQdWJwGfSvppUZ7ydI7DcK6JM8uV55D3wKkU93Lw6c1/s400/mist2b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Your&nbsp;local&nbsp;forecast: Highs in the mid 50s with mostly cloudy skies. Low visibility with a 90% chance of being eaten by giant tentacle monsters.</i>&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Mist manages to be a pretty frightening film.&nbsp;The&nbsp;various monsters are downright terrifying. There are the giant tentacle&nbsp;monsters, which you never really see in their entirety. There are football sized fly like creatures, that have a lethal bite.&nbsp;There&nbsp;are mutant&nbsp;pterodactyl&nbsp;creatures that eat the fly creatures, but will still eat your face. Also:&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6hp2l6F107_7iTNqKJCoRtlO95M66uCJi-6G8KCrU2uMM6mwHCktXNYKWX_wZ8vl50_ADvSTK4S01WERtKnTXSn2hfQMmNPmOpQTX_0PCsdkeZOzh_EI20ZzgXWqVA3VcLiAUZgZeY5As/s1600/spiders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6hp2l6F107_7iTNqKJCoRtlO95M66uCJi-6G8KCrU2uMM6mwHCktXNYKWX_wZ8vl50_ADvSTK4S01WERtKnTXSn2hfQMmNPmOpQTX_0PCsdkeZOzh_EI20ZzgXWqVA3VcLiAUZgZeY5As/s320/spiders.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>AHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE GET A FLAMETHROWER!&nbsp;</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Spiders. Too many spiders.Millions of little spiders.&nbsp;Spiders that shoot acid web. &nbsp;Four foot tall giant spiders. Medium sized spiders, that like to jump on top of your head. If you have any degree of&nbsp;arachnophobia, you might want to watch this film with a change of undergarments ready. Or put the television in the bathroom, so you can watch from atop the throne and not have to worry about cleanup.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGtAcrLO10nJX2QoKV9MjO_iynzGzC4xjd2ON5kqEROkROCGUjSWxG4mabP3y6vpGSjYxa7_ayjVhGUIajvqx-sgVaZdNAtOXXc4NMBF9U_qIXLxgxUlla_G1wg9tBeeHzvonGzOrtA0B/s1600/mist1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGtAcrLO10nJX2QoKV9MjO_iynzGzC4xjd2ON5kqEROkROCGUjSWxG4mabP3y6vpGSjYxa7_ayjVhGUIajvqx-sgVaZdNAtOXXc4NMBF9U_qIXLxgxUlla_G1wg9tBeeHzvonGzOrtA0B/s320/mist1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Forget the flamethrower, I'm skipping right to the thermonuclear bomb.&nbsp;</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Apart from the fact it managed to scare me, there are a few things wrong with The Mist. First of all, the acting can seem a bit over the top and&nbsp;clichéd at times. (Although the only black guy isn't the <i>first</i> one to die.) I remember a couple scenes were ruined by an odd or over acted&nbsp;reaction&nbsp;from one of the characters. Not all of the acting is bad, there are some parts where the terrified murmur of the crowd as a monster or dead body comes into view will send a chill down your spine.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgnkfwW5ag09faUoT6o_sOHNmS4gEc-wDC0p8QjKcGxQeip5Vwt0AgRPVUn5QY7WxqL7LrpGqlfpmoxDdPV3fXM9DnYFSv4yB9KkQsH6jg4WfWeezE5UUcZj1fdm8EFTo36Biy_Bry0sx/s1600/kite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgnkfwW5ag09faUoT6o_sOHNmS4gEc-wDC0p8QjKcGxQeip5Vwt0AgRPVUn5QY7WxqL7LrpGqlfpmoxDdPV3fXM9DnYFSv4yB9KkQsH6jg4WfWeezE5UUcZj1fdm8EFTo36Biy_Bry0sx/s320/kite.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Thats not a kite on the other end of that rope...&nbsp;</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My biggest beef was with the way the religious zealot is&nbsp;portrayed. She serves as another&nbsp;villain&nbsp;along with the monsters, destroying the logic of the trapped people as they try to make a plan for survival. I'm not very religious to begin with, but I think the way they hammered the bible thumping types was a bit too over the top. The fact that people actually listened to her insane rants, even going as far to kill someone by throwing them out of the store, seemed a bit odd to me.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>(Minor spoiler below. Don't read the next paragraph if you haven't seen the film yet.)&nbsp;</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Those looking for a happy ending might not enjoy this one either. The film's conclusion is deeply depressing. I don't want to give too much of it away, but the actions of the main character seemed pretty hasty considering what he did. It just didn't seem like a normal person would choose to do what he did with almost no hesitation.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 6/10:</b> The Mist is a truly scary film. Its held back by only a couple things, mostly I didn't like the ending. Its a well put together film, I enjoyed watching it, but wouldn't opt for another viewing. It just left a bad taste in my mouth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B001AR0D4A&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-3199266981995393012011-04-29T15:40:00.000-07:002011-04-30T14:49:35.031-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHmM8yZivt41p5XUcwZUVo1sE_3O5OTdejreW-GhHUxlvzVXNwtetn9QrRo95z_ejaH-B3RDxtLlxQKcqALSHD_fRyW5HTime_Ebe8N3KgobrhXpEvsk3Do0anEK1-8ROdRWnvafWm_bJ/s1600/dead_alive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHmM8yZivt41p5XUcwZUVo1sE_3O5OTdejreW-GhHUxlvzVXNwtetn9QrRo95z_ejaH-B3RDxtLlxQKcqALSHD_fRyW5HTime_Ebe8N3KgobrhXpEvsk3Do0anEK1-8ROdRWnvafWm_bJ/s400/dead_alive.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: Peter Jackson</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver, Ian Watkin</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/">IMDB Page</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Browsing Netflix instant watching options one lazy afternoon, I stumbled onto a zombie category. Being a fan of zombie films, I quickly started looking through. I had never seen <i>Dead Alive</i> (Known as "<i>BrainDead</i>" to overseas audiences) before, thinking it was going to be awful. It had relatively good reviews on Neflix, and it claimed to be the "The goriest fright film of all time", so I figured "Why the heck not?". While it might not be very frightening, it sure keeps its promise of being "the goriest".&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1taGt5WN9oiUyCfUro2PimGxYW5jKUpFNEEmuEbnuXTQHXgQPREFsRhuHY8YVPTqa_fWi0H01BqJJOJCJz6jIlw0Uh0gdBTIK38eblXEAKe-cnUj6G_VSq6Gnkg9LmE1_PkeL7QNn89EX/s1600/legs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1taGt5WN9oiUyCfUro2PimGxYW5jKUpFNEEmuEbnuXTQHXgQPREFsRhuHY8YVPTqa_fWi0H01BqJJOJCJz6jIlw0Uh0gdBTIK38eblXEAKe-cnUj6G_VSq6Gnkg9LmE1_PkeL7QNn89EX/s320/legs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Clam down, its only a flesh wound.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dead Alive is less of a scary movie, and more of a dark comedy; with a very, very, very sick sense of humor. &nbsp;Its a story about Lionel (Balme), a socially awkward mama's boy, who is constantly being controlled by his evil overbearing mother. His mother is soon infected after being bitten by a strange creature at a zoo, and begins slowly turning into a zombie. Lionel tries&nbsp;desperately&nbsp;to hide what is happening to his mum, as a few more zombies are created in the process. Eventually, he has to fight through an entire horde of the living dead in order to save the girl of his dreams. Also, lots and lots of blood.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Dead Alive</i> isn't very scary at all, but it is a shock film. The gore is so&nbsp;insanely&nbsp;over the top, its not realistic in the slightest. However, that doesn't mean it isn't stomach&nbsp;turning. I found myself grossed out several times over the course of the film, and that is saying something. Some of the ideas for killing humans and zombies are as brilliant as they are disgusting. The effects are well done, on par with films like <i>The Thing</i>. The folks behind this picture have some very active imaginations... And maybe a bit of mental illness as well. Zombies are torn to shreds, impaled,&nbsp;disemboweled, ground up, pummeled to death, and hacked to&nbsp;pieces. &nbsp;To hammer the point home, have a look at this tidbit taken from the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/trivia">IMDB trivia</a>&nbsp;page:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i>"During the lawnmower scene, movie blood was pumped at five gallons per second."</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHhk5jjgnAHr9y2wWGbm65zHF4Yc1ISQN6eBSEDs7xuC5UZhXkYKPANOJLNdqLR9hb2ybWGDeK39WpS4uJ0dlNtjoQ0nRB6ERvmWnGllJpxQDjoTdwlVLqM4VNNDJa5LaRMJ7AXMh2fql/s1600/lawnmower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHhk5jjgnAHr9y2wWGbm65zHF4Yc1ISQN6eBSEDs7xuC5UZhXkYKPANOJLNdqLR9hb2ybWGDeK39WpS4uJ0dlNtjoQ0nRB6ERvmWnGllJpxQDjoTdwlVLqM4VNNDJa5LaRMJ7AXMh2fql/s320/lawnmower.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>You now want to watch this movie.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the most surprising things about this film is the director: Peter Jackson. Yes, the same guy who directed the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> films and the upcoming<i> Hobbit</i> films made a film that features two zombies having sex, and a reanimated pile of guts complete with farting anus.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 7/10: </b>Its not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. There's not much to the story, but that isn't what this film is about. You're here to watch a man get his entire ribcage torn from his chest and to see a disembodied head mashed into a running blender, not for a deep and interesting plot. There's enough wit and&nbsp;tongue&nbsp;and cheek gore here to keep any horror or zombie fan&nbsp;entertained. Just make sure you don't have a weak stomach. I'll leave you with one last tidbit from the IMDB trivia page:&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i>"The rental in Sweden (and probably other countries as well) came with supplemental vomit bags."</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /> </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=157362408X&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /> </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-84857517768507255092011-04-28T13:48:00.000-07:002011-04-30T14:49:58.149-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaKlIjlHFds0ep53DV535wGluggmqiWENa47j5YoAeW-ExXXOF2SWk77dRywQit0l1M-3jqzk62QeiUJx-2ac_63cVx1Fik0wi504C1cwwyyR3D3aVhnXT_XEjWHifhjLXW41bZ7tGLNJ/s1600/v-for-vendetta-20051116013922669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaKlIjlHFds0ep53DV535wGluggmqiWENa47j5YoAeW-ExXXOF2SWk77dRywQit0l1M-3jqzk62QeiUJx-2ac_63cVx1Fik0wi504C1cwwyyR3D3aVhnXT_XEjWHifhjLXW41bZ7tGLNJ/s400/v-for-vendetta-20051116013922669.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: James McTeigue</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, John Hurt</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/">IMDB Page</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From the writers behind the Matrix&nbsp;trilogy, V for Vendetta is an amazing imagining of a not too distant future. Aside from being politically relevant, it wraps a great plot, characters, and action scenes into a rather kickass package.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Great&nbsp;Britain&nbsp;is now a&nbsp;fascist&nbsp;state.&nbsp;The&nbsp;people are spied on at all times.&nbsp;The&nbsp;government's henchmen, called "fingermen", assault civilians on a whim.&nbsp;Constant&nbsp;propaganda is blasted over the television sets. Any kind of dissent gets you whisked away in the middle of the night, never to be seen again.&nbsp;The&nbsp;film&nbsp;definitely&nbsp;draws from influences like Orwell's 1984.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is on her way back from work at a television station that Evey (Portman) runs into a couple of the government "fingermen". Just before they are able to have their way with her, she is saved by a mysterious masked vigilante, who only calls himself "V" (Weaving). V wears a mask bearing the image of Guy Fawkes, a man who attempted to blow up the British parliament hundreds of years earlier on the fifth of November. &nbsp;The two part ways, only to be reunited later. V attacks the television station that employs Evey, broadcasting a message asking the citizenry to join him in one year's time, on the fifth of November. This time, Evey prevents V from being captured by the government. He rescues her, taking her to a place away from government eyes.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't want to give away too much more, because V for Vendetta is one of those films best&nbsp;enjoyed&nbsp;when you go in not knowing too much of what will happen. However, I will say that I have barely scratched the surface with this description.&nbsp;The&nbsp;plot is very deep and complex, but not too convoluted. It is a story of personal revenge,&nbsp;revelation, as well as a story of revolution.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another area where the film shines is in the acting department.&nbsp;Natalie&nbsp;Portman is absolutely perfect in her role, showing true emotion all the way through. If anyone deserved an Oscar for best actress in 2006, it was her. Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith from the Matrix films, for those looking to put a face to the voice.) &nbsp;is equally good as V. His role has an added level of difficulty: He wears a mask&nbsp;throughout&nbsp;the entire film, allowing him to only emote with his voice and body language. John Hurt has a rather ironic role as the tyrannical Chancellor Sutler, who is always seen on large video screens angrily spouting off propaganda. His role is ironic because John Hurt played the opposite role of the film adaption of Orwell's 1984, as the citizen constantly being watched by a government figure on a television screen.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhg46fNdlwPW03ylvTsHoXv5dyyUOxWCcmguYds8kxG4SkuhygwyE3Xyu5fvRw5n1XXZpv0RWiHLcjWccIDHbkMKiIlexhmN5mCr8haBONL0qbXEG0PwL2hHcr0gzeUboPe8riEUIuCv8p/s1600/chancellor.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhg46fNdlwPW03ylvTsHoXv5dyyUOxWCcmguYds8kxG4SkuhygwyE3Xyu5fvRw5n1XXZpv0RWiHLcjWccIDHbkMKiIlexhmN5mCr8haBONL0qbXEG0PwL2hHcr0gzeUboPe8riEUIuCv8p/s320/chancellor.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stephen Rea also turns in a memorable&nbsp;performance. He plays a detective tasked with tracking down V after the attack on the television station. As he slowly uncovers a vast government conspiracy, his feelings about the "terrorist" he is supposed to&nbsp;apprehend&nbsp;change.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bottom Line: 10/10:</b> V for Vendetta is one of my personal favorites. Its very easy to make political connections between the world in the film and the world we live in today. This may be a turn off for some, but its not a movie that hammers you <i>too </i>hard with a political message. Its a well done drama film, with some truly moving moments and characters. Theres even a couple of well done action scenes thrown in, but don't expect non-stop bullets and explosions.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B000PC0U1W&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776893487343957170.post-49570606959906075562011-04-24T11:49:00.000-07:002011-04-30T14:50:22.130-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVumXpJvz4kBtDDz6fAr9gIPXfgfllEZ_a_uKr_LTT2Vl7dIt6BYbqdY6c_gA1wyjxXJCfNju4mrI-bqWHkbRiRAhkcfwiQ8T3nslnFY1a2aqA-AKN0OZWO9lBAELiaZL4TaDIoTPSCmC/s1600/The_Other_Guys_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVumXpJvz4kBtDDz6fAr9gIPXfgfllEZ_a_uKr_LTT2Vl7dIt6BYbqdY6c_gA1wyjxXJCfNju4mrI-bqWHkbRiRAhkcfwiQ8T3nslnFY1a2aqA-AKN0OZWO9lBAELiaZL4TaDIoTPSCmC/s400/The_Other_Guys_12.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by: Adam McKay</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386588/">IMDB Page</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div>Yet another Will Ferrell movie from director Adam McKay and.... Will Ferrell. Don't know who Adam McKay is? Name a Will Ferrel movie, and chances are he's directed it. (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers) All of those films manages to be slightly better than mediocre, with a few good laugh out loud moments. The Other Guys follows that formula, having quite a few genuinely funny moments, while being held back by copious amounts of bathroom humor. And Will Ferrell screaming.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHvuI93hGzEKkx9-4Q-xXbtP-O8F07LQLQ2ge4t_yJCpHYMZuo7JpiDXEbQRcrWkpB08885-guZHHipbAYksZkaF_QaGW3u2WXJCPvflaIOS-RsdA0vK0v6_R3N51g-Tfz7iFED2KYKwL/s1600/scream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHvuI93hGzEKkx9-4Q-xXbtP-O8F07LQLQ2ge4t_yJCpHYMZuo7JpiDXEbQRcrWkpB08885-guZHHipbAYksZkaF_QaGW3u2WXJCPvflaIOS-RsdA0vK0v6_R3N51g-Tfz7iFED2KYKwL/s320/scream.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>He has to, its in his contract.&nbsp;</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /> </div>Allen Gamble (Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg) are two NYPD officers living in the shadow of another pair of detectives, P.K. Highsmith and Christopher Danson (Samuel L Jackson and Dwayne Johnson). Terry is looked down upon by the rest of the department because he accidentally shot Derek Jeter at a Yankees game, and Allen is just an office dwelling loser who enjoys doing paperwork just a little too much. When the two prodigy officers are killed in the line of duty, its up to the other guys to step up and take down the corporatist&nbsp;villain.<br /> <br /> The best thing about The Other Guys is the casting. Ferrell isn't venturing into any new territory with his role, he still plays the loser who tends to&nbsp;raise&nbsp;his voice at&nbsp;inappropriate&nbsp;times. Wahlberg has great chemistry with his costar, with Wahlberg providing a real world "ground" for some of Ferrell's&nbsp;ridiculous&nbsp;actions.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwcyjY4iBaDjPHKhiOeQ4aV3Khx1lmmPdH7N67x0LCT6b5UuI5-ZJuzeZBoOwz3zyq1AGY-Ky2DLBq7mUxhbnM-RA3x9shclkIrlQosPkELe2-EZaagOnpRgsRUHLx2lXuj8L-2ZCKSRR/s1600/TheOtherGuys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwcyjY4iBaDjPHKhiOeQ4aV3Khx1lmmPdH7N67x0LCT6b5UuI5-ZJuzeZBoOwz3zyq1AGY-Ky2DLBq7mUxhbnM-RA3x9shclkIrlQosPkELe2-EZaagOnpRgsRUHLx2lXuj8L-2ZCKSRR/s320/TheOtherGuys.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Scream one more time... I dare you.&nbsp;</i></div>&nbsp;Michael Keaton has a role as captain Gene Mauch, the guy in charge of our two main characters. There is also many smaller roles that provide good laughs, including a&nbsp;hilarious&nbsp;cameo by Derek Jeter that I mentioned above.<br /> <br /> There are a few problems with the Other Guys. It is your typical Ferrel romp, so if you arn't a fan of his other movies, this one will be no different. A lot of the humor rests on Will Ferrell doing Will Ferrell things, so at some points it can feel like the jokes are repeating themselves. I found myself not even paying attention to the main story, which wasn't too bothersome for me. It involves taking down some rich&nbsp;businessman&nbsp;involved in some kind of ponzi scheme. Its&nbsp;certainly&nbsp;a relevant story in todays age of government bailouts, but it took a backseat to the jokes here. The end&nbsp;credits&nbsp;are very&nbsp;interesting, featuring some impressive graphics and animations about today's Wall Street world. But they feel like they belong in a Micheal&nbsp;Moore&nbsp;movie, not a Ferrell comedy movie.<br /> <br /> <b>Bottom Line: 7/10</b>: About on par with other Ferrell/McKay films, although its not as quote-able as Anchorman or&nbsp;Talladega Nights. A few great laughs with a great cast, but nothing memorable.<br /> <br /> <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=film006-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B002ZG99H2&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Dr. Fronkensteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804193389751839567noreply@blogger.com0