Life of Pi: NR #31

I missed last week...again...sorry, but I'm going to try and do two separate reviews. It probably won't work, but who knows. Anyway, this weeks movie is one that had seriously caught my attention. A movie about a dude stuck on a boat with a tiger? Sign me up! But, as I soon discovered, this was no big, action-packed extravaganza, but a personal, slow survival story. Was it any good? Let's find out in my review of...

PLOT

Pi is an odd man. He's a very spiritual Indian man who's Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, and a bit Jewish. His family owns a zoo in India and they have a nice life. Hard times hit the zoo and India itself, so the family has to move to Canada and sell the animals. They travel by boat across the pacific when they run into a freak storm and extremely ruff waters that sink the ship, killing not only the animals and the passengers on board, but Pi's family as well. Pi survives and is left on a life boat with a nearly dead Zebra, an Orangutan, a Hyena, and a deadly Tiger named Richard Parker. Now Pi must survive with these deadly animals as his life and faith are both tested on the high seas.

PROS

I don't know who the cinematographer is for this film, but he should be given the highest honor. The movie is absolutely beautiful, full of breathtaking scenes. 

The special effects for this movie are astounding. They look realistic where you have to actively be looking to see the flaws. It makes the already beautiful scenes even more so and makes Richard Parker a living breathing character.

Suraj Sharma plays Pi, and this is also his first role in a movie, but you would never know if I hadn't told you this. He does an amazing job, since his real acting only comes from his physical actions, not by what he says. Luckily, his verbal acting is also top-notch, with the ending scene really bringing it home.

Once Pi is on the life boat, the movie becomes a slow burn that somehow kept my attention. I never felt like it was dragging or that nothing interesting was going on.

The movie is very spiritual and deals with a lot of spiritual and religious ideas. Now I'm not a very religious  or spiritual person, not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just personal beliefs. This film made understand why people are spiritual without getting annoying or preachy.

The film was able to keep tension throughout without resorting to cheap tricks. What I mean is that it never has to add unneeded music ques or too many jump scares, the situation itself is terrifying and stays as such for most of the film.

CONS

The first 20 or so minutes are a little dull. While not awful, they do drag a bit.

CONCLUSION

I love this movie. This was a beautiful experience that I would love to see again. I left the film not able to put my thoughts into words, and I still feel the words I've used don't give the film justice. This is definitely one of the best movies of the year. See this movie for yourself, preferably in 3D.

RATING

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Missed the last review? Check it: Skyfall

Missed the last You May Not Know? Here ya go: Azumanga Daioh

  

  

Skyfall: NR #30

I'm probably going to lose all the respect I already don't have, but I've never seen a James Bond movie all the way through... Huh. I thought that by now an angry mob would have shown up at my house. Oh! There's someone at the door, let me go check...

5 HOURS LATER...

...So I just came back from an intense interrogation and torturing from the James Bond fan club, and I saw this week's new release right after. *sigh* If only I had seen this earlier, they wouldn't have done that to me. Anyway, let's dive right into...

PLOT

We begin our film with James Bond chasing someone who has a hard drive that's important to MI6. While in the process of retrieving said hard drive, Bond is shot off a moving train, off a high bridge, into a river, down a waterfall, and left for dead. Sometime later, MI6 is under attack by a unknown hacking source, and James Bond is brought back from death to reclaim the hard drive, which has the name of every MI6 field agent in active duty, and to stop what, or who, ever is behind the attacks.

PROS

The action in this movie, specifically the opening sequence, is awesome. It's shot not only where you can see what's going on, but they also put style into it. This means that the guy who directed "American Beauty" is also one of the best action directors.

The script is very clever, full of quick and funny lines that go by lightning fast. They not only throw a few jokes, but get the needed exposition in as well.

Javier Bardem is great as the villain Silva. He's a very effeminate, over the top villain that still seemed threatening to me. 

The last third act of the film is amazing, and is thankfully kept out of the trailers. I won't spoil it here, let's just say it gets a bit cool real quick, I might dare say 20% cooler in 10 seconds flat.

There are a TON of clever James Bond references  The film knows it the 50th anniversary of Bond, and they wear it not only on there sleeve, but on their entire body, and it works.

CONS

I have a few minor gripes, but they are just minor.

CONCLUSION

This was a great movie, while I'm not in love with it, and I can't really describe why, I still really enjoyed it and highly suggest it to not only Bond fans, but anyone who likes a great action movie.

RATING

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Azumanga Daioh: You May Not Know #8

Now I don't usually watch anime, but I don't hate it either. I'm just not head over heels for it, well I was at one point, but I never fully embraced it. What anime I have watched, that being "Inuyasha", "FlCl", and 4 Myazaki movies, I really enjoyed what I saw (except for Inuyasha), but there is one I left out. This anime is one that even when I thought I hated it, I was just being a grump. You May Not Know about....

Azumanga Daioh is, like all anime, based on a manga (Japanese comic), Daioh is special because its mangais a four panel manga/comic strip. It was a huge hit in Japan, so an anime was made. It originally aired as fiveminute sections on T.V., each story arch taking place over a week. After the segments aired, they were eventually put together as 22 minute episodes. As with most successful things is Japan, it was brought over to America in 2005. But just what is this show about? Why should you care? These questions and more will be answered!

Azumanga Daioh begins with 10 year old Chiyo-chan, who is in her first year of high school due to her gifted intellect. She, like most 10 year olds, is a little scared by this big leap from elementary to high, but she finds new and exciting friends in her class. Her new friends include the self-conscious and most normal of the group, Yomi, the crazy and hyper-active Tomo, the tall, quiet Sakaki, who loves all cute and adorable things, while they don't seem to love her back, and the space-case Osaka. Later on in the series, they befriend the athletic Kagura. Through out their three years at the high school, they all are taught by Ms. Yukari, who is basically just like the students she's teaching, for better or hilariously worst.

Now you're probably thinking "This is probably some perverted show made to only sexually exploit these female characters, because that's all that comes out of Japan, grumble, grumble  grumble" . Actually, the show is very light-hearted and can be enjoyed by all ages. While yes it is true the girls dress in swimsuits or make some mature joke, the show is very subtle about it and never makes it gratuitous. To give an example of a mature joke, there's a 2-3 minute scene in the second episode that's all about boob size, but it took me three viewings of the episode to realize that's what the joke was about. They don't just say "YOU HAVE BIG BOOBIES!!!", they're very subtle about it and make this, on paper, tasteless joke into a very clever joke that'll go right over younger kids' heads.

Now this show doesn't have an overarching story besides the one about them all going to high school. Most episodes are self-contained and only make a few references to past episodes. It's mostly skit based, with each new scene starting with a title in the upper-left, since it was originally aired as 5 min. segments on T.V.

You cannot tell me that's not the cutest thing you've ever seen

Now this could get old, seeing as how all 26 episodes have the same skit based structure, but since the show is consistently funny, you never notice the formula. Also, the characters aren't just your average High School stereotypes, you know, the jock, the cheerleader, the goth. No, these characters seem realistic and we can relate them to some of our own friends, people we've met, or even ourselves.

The comedy itself is broad without sucking, which is rare these days in entertainment. The humor can be either chuckle worthy, or dying on the floor. I've had many a time where I'll be laughing so hard and loud, my sister tells me the next day they could me all the way from the end of the house. The jokes can also be kinda random, so you're laughing at just how weird the situation is. The show also excels in adorableness. Since Sakaki loves adorable things, and Chyo-Chan is a cute 10 year old girl, they exploit that to the fullest (above).

The show's presentation is not going to blow your mind, but it does the job. The voice actors are very good and thankfully deliver their lines without being cheesy. The biggest stand-out in terms of the presentation is the music. There are only a few songs on the show, so each of them are used over and over again. But they always get stuck in your head. I constantly find myself humming songs from this show during my own school hours, and I surprisingly find myself becoming more concentrated on what I'm doing.

If anything I've said here has sounded good to you, I implore you to please watch this show. If you haven't liked what you've read or don't like anime in general, then it's probably best you stay away. Overall, I love this show and it makes me laugh every time I see it.

Wreck-it Ralph: NR #29

This week's movie is one I've been very excited for. I'm a big gaming nerd, and a retro nerd at that, and I love animation. So when Disney released the first trailer for this movie, you bet I was going crazy! Now that's finally here, is it worth the hype or was it all just some shallow marketing scheme. Let's find out in my review of...

Let's Begin

PLOT

Wreck-it Ralph is the villain of the hit 80's arcade game Fix-it Felix Jr.  He's been doing the same job for 30 years now, and no one really respects or even likes him. On the day of the game's 30th anniversary, Ralph decides to game jump into different games in the arcade so he can start being the hero for once.

PROS

If you're a huge gaming nerd, specifically of the 80's, you will adore the first 30 min. of this film. In just about every single frame, there's a reference. The characters even act and move like they would in their own games. It's sorta like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" but with video games.

The movie's idea of games coming to life after the arcade closes is cleverly executed. It's fun just to see the rules set up in this world and how creative they get with the concept.

The animation is awesome, like most Disney animated films. One of the cool things about the animation is the side character in Fix-it Felix Jr. They move in very robotic ways, as they would in the actual game.

All of the actors, while basically playing themselves, do a great job voice acting. The biggest stand-out is also the one you'll never recognize. Alan Tudyk plays a character, that I won't spoil here, but you'll be in shock when you find out who it is.

The film actually had a lot of good twist and plot points I never saw coming. One character, Vanellope von Schweetz, starts out as very annoying and aggravating  But then they revel her back story and why people always resent her, and it's one of the saddest and most depressing things I've ever heard. Because of that, I started to really like her. Disney, you got balls.

The film is consistently funny, with a good mix of references, clever jokes, puns, and many more.




CONS
Once Ralph jumps to "Sugar Rush", the film slows down a lot. It gets away from the clever jokes and references  and leaves us with bad puns and an annoying character. While the film does make up for this slow point, it still can't be ignored.


CONCLUSION
This was a great movie. While it wasn't the constant love letter to retro gaming that we thought it was going to be, what we got is still pretty awesome, while still delivering on the love letter. While I wish they had jumped to more than two games, I still loved the film and would see it a second time. Definitely fun for the kids, but the adults may have a better time than you think.


RATING
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