Update: Summer of Movies is being put on hold, the copy we got from Netflix is more messed up than The Shinning, and the next movie has yet to come in, so you'll be without the daily reviews until further notice.
Today's movie is one I've been excited for. A movie that would hopefully put my faith back in Pixar after that disaster of a film from last year, a film that continues the trend of strong female protagonists for this year, and Pixar's first female hero. This movie is...
Let's Begin
PLOT
In a kingdom that is based on fate and tradition, Merida sticks out like a sore thumb. She's a princess destined to rule her kingdom as queen, but she acts anything but. She hardly wears princess like clothes, she's a master archer, and never, NEVER, acts lady like. Her mother tries her hardest to guide Merida toward the path of a princess, but Merida is always defiant. All Merida wants is to change her fate, luckily she finds a way. But because of this selfish act, her fate changes in the worst possible way. Now she must deal with the consequences and set things right before it's too late.
PROS
Since this is a Pixar movie, the animation is absolutely gorgeous. The character designs are great, and so are the sweeping vistas which are breathtaking. And, since this is Pixar, there has to be one new breakthrough in animation technology, this one being Merida's hair. It flows and moves naturally and seems so real you could touch it.
The relationship between Merida and her mother is great and really keeps the film going. The best moments are always between those two.
Something I'm pretty sure no one noticed, but the movie has a few songs that are sung in a natural Irish brood, and it works. The songs are nice with real instruments and it fits into the Irish/Scottish feel.
CONS
The movie doesn't feel like a Pixar movie. While not as bad as Cars 2, it still skews young and rarely has anything for the adults to grasp.
The humor, while funny at times, relies too much on bad slapstick and being "cute". The biggest culprits being Merida's three younger brothers, who are just there to be comic relief and to look cute. I feel they failed at being funny and cuteness can't hold an entire film.
You may have noticed the plot summary was very vague about how her fate had changed, well the reason being that it's considered a twist and I didn't want to spoil it. But I could have done without the twist. What I mean is that I didn't like where the twist went and I wished it had gone more dark and mature, not childish and safe. While it did work out in the end, I just wish it was handled differently.
CONCLUSION
Overall it's a good kids movie, which is the problem. It's just a good kids movie, not a great movie like Pixar has and can still do. They needed to bring in the big guns after last year, and while I won't say they didn't deliver, I won't say they blew me away either. Still, it's a great movie for moms to bring their daughters to.
Today's spotlight is being put on another favorite game company of mine, a company that has a devoted cult following. This company's also shown just how much the fans can give back in fundraising. I'm praising...
Double Finewas founded in 2000 by Tim Schafer, who had a big hand in such adventure game classics as The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, and Grim Fandango. All of those games were created at the interactive division of LucasArts, which he left to create Double Fine. He had a small team that he had already worked with and they started on a demo for their first game. That game was Psychonauts, an extremely creative action-platformer.
The creative and weird cover of Psychonauts
Psychonauts tells the story of Raz, short for Razputin, who is a very gifted psychic. He decides to leave his circus family and breaks into a summer camp made to train young psychics into becoming Psychonauts, secret agents with powerful psychic abilities.
The gameplay consisted of mostly platformining and action. It's most notable for its creative setting, memorable characters, and hilarious clever writing, which have been stables of Tim Schafer and of the company as a whole. The game released in 2005 to almost unanimous praise from critics and fans alike.
Sadly though, the game never sold very well and is seen as a failure. But, it has since grown a strong and devoted fan following and massive interest and request for a sequel. Me personally? I love this game, it's in my top three favorite games, and I suggest it to anyone who will listen. If your interested, the game is rare and a new copy goes for a hefty price on Amazon alone. Luckily, there are alternatives. If you have an Xbox 360, you can buy it on "Games on Demand" for $20, or for the PC users, you can buy it on the free service Steam for just $10 (which if you don't have Steam and play games on the PC, you NEED this service, it's free so there's no reason for you not to have it).
While the game was a failure, and Double Fine did loose its publisher, they moved ahead with their next project, a heavy metal inspired open world, hack-n-slash, Real-Time-Strategy game that would hopefully be their huge hit. The game? Brutal Legend. It had an original art style and story, an all-star voice cast including Ozzy Osborne, Tim Curry, and Jack Black playing the main character and accidental look-alike, Eddie. Did it do well? Let's not get ahead of our selves, and instead talk about the game itself.
Brutal Legend''s hectic game cover
The story is about roadie extraordinaire, Eddie, who is the roadie for an awful "heavy metal" band. He's saved, sorta, when a bit of his blood gets into his belt buckle, which unleashes a metal demon that kills the band and knocks out Eddie. He wakes up in a heavy metal fantasy world that is under oppressive rule from the evil Doviculus. He soon joins a rebel force against Doviculus and helps them rise up and take back their world. The gameplay is a mix of an open world-hack-n-slash-Real Time Strategy game. It also had 107 heavy metal songs from 75 different bands.
The game released in 2009 to, once again, glowing reviews, which praised the presentation and criticized the gameplay. Sadly, once again, the game had what was considered bad sales, but has since sold 1.4 million copies as of February 2011, 4 months after its initial release. My opinion? I like it, while it could've done without the RTS sections, it's still a fun and funny game that's somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me.
One interesting thing that came out of this was the experimental moral booster called Amnesia Fortnight. During the development of Brutal Legend, the game had to change publishers after Activision acquired the rights after buying original publisher, Vivendi Games, and stopped development of the game. They eventually went with Electronic Arts, or EA for short.
During this time, Tim Schafer was inspired by a moral boosting activity originally done by Asian film director Wong Kar-Wai, who took his film crew to Hong Kong during the three year filming of Ashes of Time and shot footage for fun, but this lead to the creation of the films Chungking Express and Fallen Angels, which are considered the director's best movies. So Schafer split his staff into four teams for two weeks. They were instructed to forget all about Brutal Legend (where the "Amnesia" comes from) and develop a prototype for the other groups to review. All four games were praised by the groups and the whole thing was such a success that they did it again near the end of development of Brutal Legend and made four other prototypes.
After the team was told to stop production on Brutal Legend 2 by EA, Schafer started looking at the success of downloadable games such as Geometry Wars, he also started thinking about those eight prototypes. He decided to, once again, split the company into four groups, but this time they had the intention of making full fledged downloadable games with the best received prototypes. They all found publishers, Costume Quest and Stacking went with THQ, Iron Brigade (originally called Trenched, but changed due to legal problems) was picked up by Microsoft, and the fourth game was picked up by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and turned into a game for the Xbox 360's Kinect. The game was Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, it originally had nothing to do with Sesame Street, but the team felt that the show fit well with the idea.
Schafer having a serious meeting with Cookie Monster
All of the games, except for Sesame Street, released on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network and all of them released to good to glowing reviews from critics and are all seen as successes. Sesame Street was the surprise stand out from critics and is seen as one of the best games for the Kinect. The games were so successful that THQ, publisher of two of the games, said they would publish any of the teams other projects. I would go over each of them individually, but we'd be here for too long. I'll just say that the only ones I've played, Costume Quest and Iron Brigade, are well worth a buy and have that same Double Fine quality.
Now, to talk about the big news. Back in early February, Double Fine teamed up with 2 Player Productions, who had filmed the documentary on the smash hit game Minecraft, and started a fundraiser through the website Kickstarter. The idea behind it is to make a traditional 2D adventure game, reminiscent of Schafer classics like Secret of Monkey Island, it would be self published and developed by Double Fine, since adventure games were considered a niche genre and no publisher wanted to release that type of game. 2 Player Productions would film the whole process of making the game and make a documentary of it. Over all, their goal was $400,000, 100,000 for the film crew, 300,000 for the game, which would be released on mobile devices, PC, and Mac. $300,000 is the smallest budget Double Fine has worked with, and Schafer thought that would be the minimum they could make a game with. If you are at all confused, or want a good laugh, you can watch the video Schafer made to get people to donate to the project right here.
Was it a success? Well, the project reached its goal in just nine hours. How much did it make after the first day? Over $1,000,000. In just 24 hours. This caused a media firestorm, everyone was talking about the amazing success of the project, speculations were thrown all over the place and from everywhere, and tons of Kickstarter projects were made, and a lot of them failed. What a lot of people failed to realize was that Double Fine was so successful because it had a built in and devoted fan base of not just the company, but of the Adventure game genre itself. The fundraiser closed March 13 with a total of $3.3 million dollars from more than 87,000 backers.
This showed just how successful Double Fine has become, with devoted fans who would donate over $3.3 million just to see a game from the company, and they deserve it. They've been making games for over a decade and have never made a bad or uncreative game. They're masters of comedy, gameplay meshing, and delivering on promises. The future looks bright for Tim Schafer and gang, with not just the Double Fine Adventure coming out, but a new adventure game called The Cave, which had a well received showing at this years E3. I hope they do well, and I will continue to support and love Double Fine, like I hope you will too.
After a short break, Summer reviews are back baby! ...I'm sorry, that was too corny. Anyway, today's film is a 60's classic that's still surprising today, a film so popular that it got a remake with Denzel Washington. This is...
Let's Begin
PLOT
Raymond Shaw is a Korean War hero. He single handily saved most of his company from enemy capture behind enemy lines and his whole company has nothing but nice things to say about him, in fact, they all the say the same thing. All of the men in the company start having terrifying nightmares where Raymond is brainwashed by Communist and kills the two men supposedly K.I.A. The fact is. Raymond is brainwashed by the Soviets so he can be a political assassin. The only one who can help him is fellow veteran Major Bennett Marco.
PROS
Everyone does a great job, especially Laurence Harvey as Raymond Shaw. He gives a very powerful performance halfway through the film and never lets up. Frank Sinatra as Bennett Marco is also good, considering he was a singer.
The film after all these years still holds up. It has many twist and turns that keep you guessing 'till the end. I was always throwing out theories that just about every time were proven dead wrong. And even though it was made back in the 60's, there's not too big of a gab in sayings or technology.
The ending is very brave in being bitter-sweet. It honestly surprised me and made me love the film even more, even better, it seems like the only way they could have ended it, and any other way would have seem like a cop out.
This movie is a smart thriller. There are little to no action scenes, no big explosions or over-the-top car chases, it's all about the characters and plot. The film's also slow, yet never feels like it, thanks to the great performances.
CONS
The passage of time in the film is very sporadic. One scene, it'll be the end of the Korean war, the next, it's six months later with the only way to tell is a passive line of "It's been six months since..." Now, I'm not sure if I missed something or what, but it still bothered me.
Janet Leigh plays as Frank Sinatra's love interest, but she never really does anything. Her character really had no point to the story, even though she seems like she'd be an interesting character or has a secret background, but they never go anywhere with it.
CONCLUSION
Even though the movie isn't perfect, it's still a great thriller that'll leave you on the edge of your seat. It's exciting and surprising until the bitter end. I loved this movie and it was a needed hit after three mediocre films in a row.
Finally! A break from world renown films that peer pressure you into liking them, one day to watch a film without huge expectations, I can rest easy for a day. So who directed these films? ...The Coen Brothers... They both have over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes... Their first films... Crap! Yes, today's films are two of the Coens' first before Fargo. Both have noir elements and violent deaths, yet still retain that Coen brother's charm. Today's movies are...
Let's Begin...
Blood Simple
PLOT
We open with a man and a women, Ray and Abby, who both confess their love for each other and hook up. The problem? Abby is married to Julian Marty, who owns the bar Ray works at. Marty knows this and hires a private detective to kill them both. One faked picture and double-cross later, and Marty is dead with Ray left to deal with the body and the consequences. From this point on, the simple story becomes anything but.
PROS
Even with their first film, the Coens still have their iconic style and dark humor. The dialogue is great along with the memorable characters, while not as quirky as later works, it's still here in some fashion.
The actors do an awesome job, the stand out being Frances McDormand, who later plays Marge in Fargo. She may not seem like much at the beginning, but the finale really cements her as a great actress and character.
There is some very interesting camera work here, and it's not hard to see knowing their influences. I recently found out that the Coens are friends, have worked with, and are influenced by Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-man and Evil Dead trilogies. Raimi is a master at the inventive and cool camera shot, and the Coens don't disappoint here. One great shot is when there's a close up of McDormand falling, as she's in mid fall, the background seamlessly changes to her bedroom, ending the fall onto her bed.
The film is very tense, some scenes being down right scary. After the faked death, almost every scene is full of tension and fear. You never know what's going to happen next. There's one very tense scene that almost entirely resembles the dead body pulling scene from Fargo, except how the scene ends is different.
I've never really noticed this about the Coens' films, but each of them have a very distinct score and soundtrack, and this one does not disappoint. The score in particular is very creepy and tense.
CONS
All of the cons I can think of are mostly insignificant nit-picks. Oh well.
CONCLUSION
This is not only a great film, but absolutely amazing for first time directors. It's also short, clocking in at just over an hour and a half, but they use the time to it's fullest. This thriller is just that, a thrilling experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the exciting end. I highly recommend this.
RATING
WALK TO
Miller's Crossing
PLOT
Tom Regan is a trusted adviser for powerful prohibition-era crime boss Leo. Leo is soon finding new competition with wannabe crime boss Johnny Casper, who turns on Leo after he refuses to kill a bookie named Bernie. Tom tries to convince Leo to reconsider, but looses his trust in the process. When he tries to join with Casper, Tom's first task to show loyalty is to kill Bernie. Tom lets Bernie go and gets involved in a crime war he never wanted.
PROS
Once again, this film has the same style on script that the Coens are famous for. The dialogue is sharp and snappy, the characters are memorable, and it has some of that good ol' fashioned dark humor.
Again, the actors are great and do amazing jobs all around. This films stand out is John Turturro as Bernie. His character seems out there and wacky, but half way through, he has a major tone switch and really sells it.
The action, what little of it is there, is very exciting while still being realistic.
I would put more, but I would just be rehashing what I said in the Blood Simple review. So read that again.
CONS
The plot was a bit confusing. They speak so fast and with many different accents that's it's sometime hard to tell what's happening or what character their talking about. Upon further research, I did find that I was close in understanding what was going on, but a lot of it was guess work. I appreciate that they don't want to hand-hold you through the movie, but this was a bit much.
CONCLUSION
Even though the movie has some plot problems, over all it's a very good film that's hard not to enjoy. It's a classic, lovable gangster story with a Coen brothers twist. Highly recommend it to everyone.
Today's movie was hard to get through, but well worth it. One of the most well known Asian movies in the U.S, it was so well known that it has an equally good remake called The Magnificent Seven. A movie that created and mastered what have become modern cliches. Today's film is...
Let's Begin
PLOT
In 1587, during the many civil wars of Japan, a village of farmers is being terrorized by a group of bandits, and they've had enough. They decide the only way to defend themselves is by hiring a samurai. They hire one old but very skilled samurai who helps them hire six more. Once back in the village, the samurai teach the villagers how to defend themselves and help to fortify the borders. This all leads up to a battle against 40 bandits.
PROS
You probably read the plot summary and thought "Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before". But, what you don't understand is that while this movie is full of cliches, this film either invented or refined the cliches into what we know tham as today. While I was predicting a lot of the twists, they still had unexpected elements to them, and the film is full of surprises over all.
The characters are great and well defined. While I won't say they're three-dimensional, they all have enough development to have you care and sympathize with them.
The stand out character, and actor, is Toshiro Mifune who plays the cocky and crazy Kikuchiyo. The movie, while enjoyable, is slow until his character is introduced in a great, funny, and yet tense scene when he's drunk. He's bouncing all over the place, changing emotions every few minutes and never has a dull scene. But, he's still likable and has a mysterious yet never fully explained past.
This is more of a pro for the DVD copy, but the subtitling is very good, and whether not the dialogue is a direct translation, it all makes sense and never looses you.
The movie is very slow and at a staggering 3hr and 28min running time, but it makes sense why it's slow. It gives the movie more than enough time to develop the characters and the village itself, and, surprisingly, it never lost my attention. While I do wish they had found a way to shave off at least 30 minutes, I just can't seem to find anything to cut from the film.
The tone is a near perfect blend of comedy, action, and drama. The first half is much more focused on the comedy and drama, but the battle, while not action packed, still keeps you on the edge of your seat while mixing in a bit of laughter or character development.
Speaking of the battle, I wasn't going to include this, until I started to think about it more. The battle is a big pay off for the whole 2 hours of preparation. The battle feels real and long, but it's nice to see the tactics and training in action.
CONS
They're are a few moments of bad or over the top acting, and strangely enough, it's mostly from the female actors. They're always yelling or screaming or crying. While I know it's probably because of the time period the film is set in or because of the time the movie was made, but it is a little hard to get over in modern times.
While I did praise the movie for it being slow, it is still a problem. The battle alone has to be more than and hour and a half of the whole thing. While it's not too big of an issue, this may turn some people off.
CONCLUSION
I really liked this movie. I'd always heard it was great, and was not disappointed. The fact that it's entirely in Japanese with just subtitles should not turn you away, this is a classic that still somewhat holds up. I really enjoyed it, but probably not see it again for a long time, or if I have 3 hours to spare.
Today's movie, #96, is the first film appearance by one of the world's biggest, if not THE biggest, band in existence. A film that is considered a ground-breaking comedy, if you know the band you've probably already guessed what it is. IT'S!...
...Monty Python's Fly-
Sorry, wrong opening. IT'S!...
Let's Begin
PLOT
It's a day in the life of the Beatles. That's it, simple and to the point.... Um... Moving on.
PROS
All four of the Beatles are surprisingly good actors. While not on the level of Marlon Brando, they're never bad and always find a way to charm you.
The comedy in the film is spot on. It's lightning fast and clever. Going back to the acting, The Beatles have pitch perfect timing and delivery. I never went more than five minutes without at least a chuckle and at most falling out of my seat.
Do I even need to say the music is good? It's The Beatles, of course it's good!
There are some very cool camera shots and camera work in general. The director choose to do most of shots with a handheld camera, or at least in that style, and it makes you feel like your're actually there. The reason it works? It never gets excessive. This style really adds life to the movie as a whole.
CONS
This is more of personal con, but since this is a British movie, the accents are very thick and from all over the U.K. It can be very hard to understand what anyone is saying sometimes. Tack on the fact that it has the sound quality from the early 60's, and you have a sometimes jumbled mess of dialogue.
CONCLUSION
The movie over all is cute. Don't get me wrong, it's very good and well made, but I'm questioning whether or not it's of the 101 best. I feel that this is one you just had to be there. You had to be in the time when Beatles were bigger than anything and every song on the radio was either Beatles or crap. Once again, don't get me wrong, it still holds up, but I think it's more for the big fans of the Beatles,which is not me. For the last time, don't get me wrong, I love the Beatles (at least what I've heard), but not enough to watch an hour and a half of them just doin' stuff.
Welcome back! Sorry for the break, but, once again, we're using Netflix to get these movies. Expect a break every two or so reviews. But, back to the task at hand. Today's film is one of the few to be nominated in all of the top Oscar's (Best picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay) and loose each category. Another movie to show off a city, or at least what's left of it. I'm talking about...
Let's Begin
PLOT
Lou is an old, washed up, low level mobster whose life never went anywhere. The most mobsterish thing that happens to him is taking peoples lottery numbers. It all changes when he falls for a young casino worker named Sally. Sally's life isn't too great either. Her husband (technically ex-husband, but they never officially got a divorce) and his new pregnant wife, Sally's scatterbrain sister, come to town to sell some stolen drugs. But, Sally's husband is killed and leaves the drugs and money with Lou. Lou and Sally are now sorta on the run from the mobsters who's drugs were stolen.
PROS
Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon are amazing in this film. The stand out being Lancaster. He really conveys the unfullment in this old man's life and almost seems like a real person. While Susan Sarandon, as always, is very good in her role.
The movie has a very "nostalgic" feel to it. There are a lot of scenes of people reminiscing about the good ol' days of the city or of their life. It's almost like Midnight in Paris without the lesson of "living in the present" at the end.
The film is realistic, never sugar coating, but never showing you anything outrageous. It never goes over the top, and sticks with the tone and atmosphere.
The characters and dialogue are very memorable. One great character is Sally's sister, who seems like a hippie that never realized Woodstock ended, has a great line when she explains why she doesn't "believe" in seat belts. Her reason? She "doesn't believe in Gravity". I literally died laughing. I'm pretty sure I missed a couple lines of dialogue just thinking about it.
CONS
The movie never really goes anywhere. It has an interesting beginning, an exciting middle, and an abrupt ending. It just left too many loose ends. I honestly think they could have added at least 10-15 min.
The movie always tells and never shows, which is one of the deadly cinema sins. You have to listen to the dialogue to get anything out of the movie, while it is great dialogue, it just slows the flow of the film to a halt.
CONCLUSION
I was really enjoying this film, until that ending. It ends so abruptly and weirdly that it left me hanging. It also has such a good, well thought-out back-story, but never does anything with the present. It just never did anything for me. You may like it, or I may have to watch again, either way it's a good movie with too much lost potential. Please, if I'm missing something about the movie, tell me.
Yes, I missed last week, but I'm making it up today. I wasn't going to do a review until I saw this movie. I and many other people have been excited for this ever since it was first mentioned. The film that has had 50 trailers, 75 teaser trailers. and 100's of teasers for the teasers trailers for the trailers! The sorta, kinda, maybe prequel to "Alien". I'm ecstatic to finally talk about...
Let's Begin
PLOT
Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway have been on the hunt for the origins of man kind, and believe they've found the true origin; a planet in a solar system that has very close conditions to our solar system and planet. Peter Weyland, founder and owner of the Weyland corporation, believes in the project and gives them the funds to send a team to explore the planet. Once there, they soon realize that this discovery was best left untouched.
PROS
The performances from Noomi Rapace (who played Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" movie), Idris Elba, and Charlize Theron are outstanding. Noomi's character of Shaw is almost like a new age Ripley, but has enough to stand out from the crowd. Idris Elba becomes one of the few crew members you actually care about, and Charlize Theron, for the second week in a row, plays a great villain.
But Micheal Fassbender as David, the latest in android technology, steals the show. His performance and character are great and really help to keep the movie going. David is the most interesting character in the whole film.
The film looks gorgeous. Ridley Scott still knows how to wow you. The cinematography is amazing, and so are the special effects.
Speaking of special effects, Scott choose to use practical effects in most scenes involving the aliens (I don't mean the ones from "Alien", these are new aliens not yet seen in this film universe). While there is some obvious Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) for the more dynamic scenes, it still looks very realistic.
Say what you will about Ridley Scott's modern career, but he still knows how to make you cringe. The film halfway through goes into "Horror" mode and has scene after scene of "HOLY CRAP" moments. The one scene that everyone is talking about, the most "HOLY CRAP" moment in the entire film, left me literally shaking long after it happened. This film is not for the faint of heart.
But don't think this is all gore and violence, the movie is true, slow, thought-proving Sci-Fi for the first half, and the last 20 min. or so. It raises many questions and takes its time bringing them up.
CONS
The crew, as in the side characters, aren't that interesting. They just seemed boring and two-dimensional. I never cared for any of them because they never do anything with them.
The film raises a ton of questions, spends time wondering about them or gives you a lot of time to do the same, and ends with more questions then answers. Now, I feel that either this was done to make way for a sequel (hopefully called "Prometheuses"), or that was the point. The point being that we as humans will always pose and seek out answers to questions, no matter how irrelevant they seem. Either way, it really does leave you hanging.
The biggest and most glaring problem with the film is that it's a prequel to "Alien". What this means is that the filmmakers have to put random little nods and connections throughout the whole film that pull you out of the cinematic world and back into reality. The references feel really tacked on, which makes me think that this wasn't the original intent. Someone working on the film may have hinted on the "Alien" connection and too many fans got the wrong idea. The worst part is that they had to tie it in at the end with a completely unnecessary scene. You think the movie's over, but then they almost ruin the whole thing with the "Alien" connection. I think the best way to have done this was to set it in the "Alien" universe, but have only small. background references to "Alien".
CONCLUSION
This is an awesome movie. It gets back to true Science Fiction while also including the horror elements that fit well in the film. I loved this movie, and I know why I did. Because I went in there not expecting an "Alien" prequel, but an awesome Ridley Scott movie, and that's what I got. So if you hear the phrase "It was disappointing" or "It's not as good as the other 'Alien' movies", don't listen. This is a movie that should have been judged on its own merits, but was almost ruined by the hype. If you go see this film, just remember, it's better if you don't think about "Alien".
Today's film is considered one of the best movies released during the year of great movies, 1999. A movie that proved you could market and make a form of entertainment for adults and be successful. One of the most mature movies I've ever seen. I'm talking about...
Let's Begin
PLOT
Lester Burnham is seriously depressed. He lives in suburban hell with his perfection obsessed wife, Carolyn, and his also depressed, self-loathing, confused teenage daughter, Jane. And worst of all, he has Rodney Dangerfield syndrome, he "Get's no respect." Lester goes through a mid-life crisis once he meets Jane's friend, Angela Hayes, who he becomes hopelessly infatuated with. He then starts working out, taking authority in his home and in his life. The family's already troubled life starts to spiral out of control when the status quo is disrupted.
PROS
Their are no stand out performances, because all of them are amazing in their own ways. Kevin Spacey never ceases to surprise you with his range, Annette Bening's character is a horrible person, wife, and mother that you still sympathize with from time to time, Thora Birch is perfect as the teenage daughter, who is more believable than any teenager put to film, and so many more that if I put them all down, this section would have to fill another post.
The film deals with Mature subjects...maturely. What I mean is that it never starts acting so "mature" that it becomes immature. The tone is not always serious, in fact, there are some down right hilarious scenes, and they never try to appeal to multiple demographics. The movie was made with a mature purpose for mature people.
The score is like a parody of suburban life. It's very lighthearted and "normal", it sounds like something you'd hear in a phony commercial trying to convince you what they're advertising is wholesome and safe. And, strangely, it fits. While I still think the stand outs go against this type, the score still fits.
Speaking of music, the soundtrack (songs not made for the film) is very diverse. Lester starts listening to hard, classic rock that really embodies his new rebellious spirit, while Carolyn listens to old lounge, jazzy music that's boring and perfect for the background. It really shows each characters personalities without shoving it in your face.
The script by Alan Ball is perfection. The characters are realistic and so is the situation, people do things that are justified in their current state, and they say things that never go against character.
The final speech of the film, heck, the whole last 30-40 minutes, the "last day", is one of the most powerful and perfectly crafted scenes in cinema history. It left me sitting in the dark of my room with the only light coming from the credits, thinking and absorbing what I had just seen. The only time that's ever happened with me was after watching Black Swan.
CONS
Fourth times the charm? Nope. And I'm pretty sure you agree with me if you've seen the movie.
CONCLUSION
This is an amazing movie. I realized this when I watched the movie a second time, and not even halfway through I knew what I wanted to say about it, I knew what I had gotten out of it, yet I kept watching. It immersed me back into it's world, I just couldn't turn away. This is the perfect "discussion" film, a movie that starts a discussion about it's themes and what it was all about that could never, ever, ever, ever, ever end, and that's 4 evers. This is a must see for people (preferably adults) who want a movie made for them, a movie that never talks down and only tells it like it is. This is a new favorite of mine and one I'll happily watch again and again.
Welcome back to Summer of 101 Movies. Today's film is one that changed the way films were made, it changed what type of movies were made in the 90's, it made careers and brought back dead ones. It's one of the most quotable and iconic films of all time, it's the most successful "indie" movie of all time, and it's a film buffs dream. I'm of course talking about...
Let's Begin
PLOT(S)
Pulp Fiction tells four stories that are told out of order and interconnect through characters and events. The first story is about two hitmen, Vincent and Jules, who are on a hit from their boss, Marsellus Wallace. Story 2 is about Vincent taking out Marsellus's wife, Mia Wallace, to show her a non sexual good time. Story 3 is about Butch who failed to lose a boxing match and is now on the run from Marsellus Wallace. And finally, story 4 is about Vincent and Jules adventures after the hit at the beginning of the film. Each story is filled with comedy, drama, and kinetic energy that never stops for even half a second.
PROS
Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta are amazing in the film. They both have great chemistry and have their own moments to shine. Also, this is the movie that made both their careers and made Jackson the king and rightful owner of the F-bomb.
Tarantino is a master of dialogue, and this is his writing at it's best. This movie should be slow, boring dialogue driven, but the dialogue is so good and the actors are also so good that it never becomes dull or boring. The dialogue feels natural and like a conversation you'd have with one of your buddies.
Even though the movie is 2 and half hours long, it never feels like it's slow or like its been going on too long. You're so engrossed with the characters, the stories, and the world that you never notice the time fly by. I always felt the film ended abruptly because it left me wanting more, in a good way.
The soundtrack is phenomenal, always adding and never subtracting from a scene. Weather it be a jazzy song or classic funk, it feels right at home in the movie. It's said that Tarantino chooses the songs he wants to use before he even starts shooting the movie!
The film is violent without showing the violence. That may seem confusing, but let me explain. The movie, when it originally was released, was considered to violent and needed so serious censorship. But, without counting the "Shot Marvin in the face" scene, the movie is pretty tame. One great example is when Bruce Willies cuts a guy with a katana sword, you see the first cut (which realistically bleeds, unlike Kill Bill), but the camera pans up and you see Willis stab the guy, but you only see the sword move, not the sword penetrating the skin. It leaves the more gruesome parts up to your imagination, which is always better in my opinion.
CONS
Did you seriously expect me to find some serious flaws with this movie? That my friend, is like trying to find someone who doesn't like or appreciate the Thriller music video. Simply impossible.
CONCLUSION
When I first saw this film, I was afraid it wouldn't hold up, that it was a novelty of it's time. I'd heard all my life how it had "Changed films forever" and that "You haven't lived 'till you've seen Pulp Fiction." Well, I was happy to see that not only did it hold up, but it was accessible to any and everyone without even trying. I've probably seen the movie over five times, and it never gets old. If you have not seen this masterpiece, see it. Rent it, record it, buy it, steal it if you have to. ( Do not actually steel this or any film, that was a joke that should not be taken seriously, stealing is wrong.)
Welcome back to Summer of 101 movies. Today's movie is a classic that almost became a hidden gem. A movie that everyone loves, but haven't seen more than once. One of my favorite movies, and one I've seen more than I care to count. This is...
Let's Begin
PLOT
Andy Dufresne is a young hot shot banker with a beautiful wife and a bright future ahead. That is, until he's convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Andy is sentenced to 2 life terms, one for each victim, at Shawshank prison. While in there, he soon befriends Red, an old con man whose been there his whole life. We follow Andy through his life at Shawshank and all the great, horrifying, and amazing times it entails.
PROS
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman shine in this film. They're both great individually, Robbins portraying the calm, cool, somewhat snooty Andy, and Freeman portraying the charming con man of Red. But they're also amazing together, portraying one of the most believable friendships on film.
The movie never sugar-coats prison life. It sucks to be at Shawshank, and this film will show just how much it sucks. Instead of going for shock value, it makes it realistic and most of it's left up to your imagination to fill in the gaps. This makes it more disturbing and, sometimes, hard to watch.
The directing is very impressive for Frank Darabont's first time. If you don't know who Darabont is, well he's only the director of "The Green Mile", the first and best episode of "The Walking Dead", and he was also the producer and main reason the show was made.
We're never told up front weather or not Andy actually committed the crime. While, yes, there is a lot of evidence to support that he is not guilty, we still don't get a clear answer. The film never takes sides and let's the audience make up it's own mind.
CONS
Once again, nothin'.
CONCLUSION
This was already one of my favorite movies of all time, and this just made it all the more apparent. If you are one of the 5 people who have yet to see this movie, do anything in your power to see it. This is a classic that will never be forgotten.
It's what you've been waiting for, what you've been teased since last Sunday, the review event of the Summer. It's... THE SUMMER OF 101 MOVIES!!!! Yes, this is my first Summer event, and I hope this goes well so I can do another one next year. Now let me explain. For my birthday, I received a book called "The Greatest Movies Ever: The Ultimate Ranked List of the Best Films of All Time." It contained 101 movies I loved, wanted to love, or had never heard of but was willing to love. Then I was given an idea, why not watch AND review all of these movies over the summer? I hadn't reviewed any of these, and I did want to see most of them. Why not?! So now this is what I'm doing this summer. Now, to clear some things up. No, these will not count as regular reviews, I consider these reviews as "Special" reviews. You'll still get your regular review every week-end and you may even get some YMNKS' as well. This is not my opinion of the best movies, so I shall critic without a biased opinion. Also, don't get angry if YOUR favorite movie of all time is not on here. And lastly, I will not be able to review all the movies by the end of the summer and I will not be able to have a review up each day, We're getting the movies through Netflix mail order, so yeah. Now that's out of the way, let's review #101, a comedy classic...
Let's Begin...
PLOT
Phil is a cynical, self-loving, jackass weather man. For four years straight, he's covered Groundhog Day, and is, you guessed it, cynical about it. He hates everything about it. The town, the holiday, even the groundhog. After he and the film crew are stuck in the town for another day due to a blizzard, Phil wakes up the next day, and it's still February 2nd. The day plays out the exact same way it did yesterday. He wakes up the next day, and it's still February 2nd. Phil is now reliving the same day over and over and over again!
PROS
Bill Murray, as always, plays the perfect cynical, self-obsessed, jackass. It's his signature character. Except this time, you actually hate him. The last thing you want is for him to get the girl and get out of this never ending loop, and yet his charms, like always, win you over.
The comedy, for me at least, is spot on. It's no surprise Harold Ramis wrote and directed. There were times I almost fell out of my seat from laughing.
Since the movie is about the same day happening over and over again, they have to keep consistency. Trust me, they keep it up, even with the most minute detail. They even keep the same camera shots. It makes the film infinitely re-watchable.
The film has a prefect mix of comedy, romance, and drama. One minute you'll be laughing so hard you can't breath, the next you'll have tears in your eyes, weather they be tears of joy, or tears of sadness. And it all seems natural.
The movie is a flawless showcase of the 5 stages of grief. 1: Denial, 2: Anger, 3: Desperation, 4: Depression and 5: Acceptance. While Anger never really plays a big part, they rest of the stages are here in full force and in order.
Phil does just about everything anyone would try in that situation, he does outrageous things, goes on a eating binge, learns all about the life of a hot chick just so he can get with her, and even learns a daily routine so he can steal a suitcase full of money!
CONS
I was afraid this would happen... yeah, expect this section to be empty a lot over the Summer...
CONCLUSION
While, yes, I can't think of any serious flaws against this movie, that doesn't mean it's for everyone. I know people who love this movie to death, and others who hate it to their very core. Me? I like it. I love the little minute details and how much work and effort was put into the film to make it something special. While I don't think you need to run out and see it, who am I kidding, you've probably seen it 50 times by now. But for those who haven't, I say see it, but don't rush out for it. Come back tomorrow for #100, and one of my personal favorites.
HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Yes, today is the 1 year anniversary of my first review of "X-men: First Class" So to celebrate, I'm bringing back a series I seemingly dropped. I didn't, I was just waiting for the right subject. Lucky, I found it. This You May Not Know is about a game company you may not have heard of, but you've probably heard of their games. I'm talking about...
Kairosoft
Kairsoft is a Japanese game development company that has been around since 1996, but America only just discovered them last year when they localized one of their first games, "Game Dev Story." The game was a surprise success and was one of the top sellers of that week. Now, I discovered the game through the IGN podcast "Game Scoop", where Daemon Hatfield mentioned a new game and addiction he was playing on his phone. I was intrigued, and immediately looked it up. I didn't buy it until a couple of months later. It two became my new addiction. The game was simple, yet complex. It had cool retro pixel graphics and catchy, repetitive music, and it could last forever. I fell in love with it that very instant. I didn't start buying other Kairosoft games until much later, but now I have about 6 of their 10 released games. Now what are their games about anyway?
Kairosoft's first and most successful game "Game Dev Story"
Every game Kairosoft has made are all simulation games. Now, you're probably thinking, "Ok, so they have a roller coaster game, a business game, and a town building game right?" Well you're sort of right. While, yes, they are business and building games at heart, it's what your managing or building that's different. You can own a game company, a space colony, a mega mall, a feudal Japanese village, and, most recently, a town used by heroes in an RPG! Now, every game also has some elements in common. Some of these are Popularity, research points (they're called something different depending on which game your playing),and attracting new costumers or people. Each game focuses on getting a highs score and building up your property to a world domination level of success. You start out each game with little to nothing, but if you read the instructions (which really takes under 5 minutes), you'll be making some serious cash in no time.
Sadly, none of these games are perfect, and they all have to same flaw that may not work for everyone. The games seriously drag near the end. The beginning is always fun and exciting, the middle part, while a little boring, is still introducing new and exciting things. By the end, the game runs out of steam and your just going through the motions. Don't get me wrong, you're already hooked by that point so you barely notice it, but it is still a problem. Now with their most recent game, "Dungeon Village", they've found some cool and inventive ways to keep that from happening. And so far, it's working.
If I've caught your interest, be warned, you'll probably be hooked and may be fired from your job or fail your classes. You May Not Know is not responsible for any firing or failing of classes, that is entirely your fault and you should learn how to manage time. But, if can manage time, each game cost somewhere from $3 to $4, and almost all the games have a free "Lite" version that usually give you a good taste of what's to come. Heck, I've even been addicted to the trial versions of these games.
Wait...is..is that YOU?! Oh my god, man it's been too long, gimmie some skin man! How ya been doin, hows the family? Man, it's been like, what, 2 weeks? That is too long. Yeah, sorry I missed the last two weeks. The first week was out of my control and last week, well that was entirely my fault and I apologize. Now that's out of the way, let's get to the main event which is a movie I think you've all heard of and may have been very excited for. This week's movie is...
Let's Begin
PLOT
Long ago, in an alternate dimension where fairy tales had to be tough to be good, a royal baby is born named Snow White, who is the "fairest" baby of them all (ewwww). But, when Snow White's father is tricked into fighting an army of...glass people I guess, he discovers a woman prisoner who is so beautiful that the next day he marries her. But, that night, the woman kills the king, and since the first queen is dead, this woman becomes queen. Evil queen. She imprisons Snow White and keeps her locked in the north tower. Years later, and the Queen is still evil and is obsessed with keeping young and chewing scenery. Snow White finds a way to escape and runs away. The Queen then hires the Huntsman to, well, hunt her down. But after he discovers that the Queen is going to betray him, she joins Snow White in her quest to defeat the Queen and bring happiness and colors back to the land.
PROS
Charlize Theron steals the show as the Queen. She is given full range to go absolutely bonkers. She yells and screams at almost random, she makes some of the best angry faces put to film, and is actually evil. She kills, no question about it. She doesn't like you, dead. They really could have done a whole movie about her character.
The costumes and set designs are great. They look awesome, and, once again, Charlize Theron's dresses steal the show. They're very creepy and creative. They're always made out of raven bones, feathers, or anything evil.
The special effects are amazing. They really do some awesome stuff with it. There is a great scene where they go to a place called "The Sanctuary". In this scene, the special effects team went all out. The creatures and plant life are cool and it all looks beautiful.
The Dwarfs, while some what useless, bring comedy that was desperately needed. It really adds life to this dull movie, and they're some of the most interesting characters in the whole movie, next the the Queen of course.
CONS
Now, I've never seen Kristen Stewart in action, but have always heard she was awful. I thought, "Well maybe the horrible scripts of 'Twilight' are to blame for her poor acting skills." I was wrong. She is so bad, so uninteresting, so...so...boring. She's so boring that she looks bored throughout the whole movie. There is nothing that makes her "Fairer" than Charlize Theron, nothing that makes her desirable to anyone, and nothing that makes her stand out. And, SHE. CAN. NEVER. CLOSE. HER. DARN. MOUTH!
The film is to focused on making the film "dark" and "edgy" that it makes the main characters, Snow White and the Huntsman, paper thin characters. You just don't care enough to root for or against them.
Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth have no chemistry. Now, I don't blame Chris, he is a great actor with nothing to do, and I don't blame Kristen, well not entirely. No, I blame the script. They just never seem close enough or even like each other.
CONCLUSION
This is a very lackluster movie that is saved only by the minor characters, the villain, and the special effects. But none of that is the focus, so we spend most of the movie with boring characters just waiting for Theron to scream some more, or the dwarfs to be funny. Over all this movie is not worth a full priced ticket, not even a matinee. It's more than serviceable at home for $5 or less. Come back during the week to see my new summer long review special. What is it? You'll just have to find out.
