View Full Version : All-purpose MOVIE thread!
The Hang Over (B)
The Proposal (B)
Transformers 2 (D+)
Year One (D)
Going to be seeing Public Enemies (Johnny Depp & Christian Bale) tonight!
FINALLY!! ^^
Reviews have been pretty mixed overall, but above average on Rotton Tomatoes and Metacritic.
I'll make sure to post my impressions once I get back!
Yes Boss!
07-24-2009, 04:31 AM
Hmm,
In the last two weeks I've seen some pretty good stuff. Just know that I'm a movie whore and have seen about 7000 movies and feel all movies are worthy...so I don't distinguish bewteen high and low, despite my degree in film.
Highlight, is a night I spent at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival two weeks back (tix below). An exquisite print of Lillian Gish's The Wind (Sjostrom, 1928) complete with two on-site wind machines and a full composition on the wurlitzer. Followed that with the impossible-to-see Russian silent Aelita Queen of Mars (Protazonov, 1924) screened with a twenty year-long labor-of love-score for theremin and organ.
Recent theatrical screenings, both at the Arclight: The Hurt Locker (Bigelow, 2009) and Transformers 2 (Bay, 2009). Love Michael Bay!
Recent home screenings: Pokkiri (Deva, 2007) on blu-ray...the fourth Tamil movie to be released on blu-ray. Also, In the Realm of the Senses (Oshima, 1976), and probably my tenth screening of For All Mankind (Reinhart, 1989) since Criterion just released a remaster.
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg114/gregbuczek/tix.jpg
ok ok, it's obvious I am like a complete movie know-nothing by comparison! If you could mention some more of the movies you recommend (especially vintage), I'll study up on those!
I absolutely love older black and white films, as well as Hong Kong films from the 80s. lol
Yes Boss!
07-24-2009, 04:58 AM
ok ok, it's obvious I am like a complete movie know-nothing by comparison! If you could mention some more of the movies you recommend (especially vintage), I'll study up on those!
I absolutely love older black and white films, as well as Hong Kong films from the 80s. lol
You've gotta narrow it down a bit for the older movies! So broad. What have you liked that you've seen? For Hong Kong, the recent Golden Age starts in the late eighties and runs through the mid-nineties just prior to the changeover. Also, for that time period you could be checking out all the Chinese Fifth Generation stuff...world class, things like the early works of Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige, and Zhang Yimou.
Auron_Kale
07-24-2009, 09:14 PM
Last movie seen was Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince.
It's probably my third favorite book out of the series (Prisoner of Azkaban & Order of the Phoenix being 1-2 respectively) but my second favorite movie overall (PoA being top due to Alfonso Cuaron's masterful work).
Cutting out all of the superfluous stuff but keeping the main points was great and I'll be going back on the 29th to watch it again on IMAX.
Last movie seen was Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince.
It's probably my third favorite book out of the series (Prisoner of Azkaban & Order of the Phoenix being 1-2 respectively) but my second favorite movie overall (PoA being top due to Alfonso Cuaron's masterful work).
Cutting out all of the superfluous stuff but keeping the main points was great and I'll be going back on the 29th to watch it again on IMAX.
I'm supposed to be seeing it next week~ I really can't wait, especially after hearing about how good it's performing on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic!
Auron_Kale
07-24-2009, 10:44 PM
I'm supposed to be seeing it next week~ I really can't wait, especially after hearing about how good it's performing on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic!
It was really well-done. I think David Yates learned a few things since OoTP as HBP was cut and shot much better than his previous effort.
Can't wait to see how Deathly Hallows is going to turn out.
Last movie I saw was Legally Blond 2 and Beaches. Legally Blond 2 is a really nice girls and funny movie. Just when you want to have a laugh. I liked it a lot. Beaches, is more serious and a movie the whole family could enjoy. It's basically about 2 girls being best friends since childhood and they grow up together. Along the way, all kinds of problems happen and in the end a tragedy will happen. Good old movie in the 80s 90s?
I'm planning on watching Die Hard 4, that Resident Evil movie CGI and Titanic again :D
Philia
07-25-2009, 07:11 AM
I saw Wall-E and Taken the other day.
I really love Wall-E, I cried at the bits of every time Eve say his name. Its just precious precious movie. I love it so much. I've considered buying it for blu-ray.
Taken was... badass but in nonsensical sort of way. I thought the phone call scene was AWESOME. I generally like any movie that does the suspense right even though its only five minutes, but that scene really sets it up for the rest of the movie. I think. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars at least.
Beaches, is more serious and a movie the whole family could enjoy. It's basically about 2 girls being best friends since childhood and they grow up together. Along the way, all kinds of problems happen and in the end a tragedy will happen. Good old movie in the 80s 90s?
Hmmm. I saw that when I was really young, but your description makes it sound like Thelma & Louis.
My mom loves Beaches, probably because of Bette Midler
Taken was... badass but in nonsensical sort of way. I thought the phone call scene was AWESOME. I generally like any movie that does the suspense right even though its only five minutes, but that scene really sets it up for the rest of the movie. I think. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars at least.
I NEED to see Taken.. I'll try to download that tonight and watch it ASAP. Sounds like you recommend it, as do my family/friends
SilverLunar
07-25-2009, 11:46 AM
Hmm I generally don't watch alot of movies, the last one i saw was WALL-e, which i loved.
Usually when it comes to movies, for some reason I usually lean to watch an animated feature than a live action one, which makes my scope of movie genres to watch extremely limited.
If I found about a movie which is starring Nicolas Cage, I'll go and watch it right away, he is my favorite actor, but I don't go out of my way hunting down every work he has done, if you know what i mean.
Oh i like fantasy movies too, I want to watch the new Half Blood Prince.
You've gotta narrow it down a bit for the older movies! So broad. What have you liked that you've seen?
Well, I love Audrey Hepburn's movies, and many black and white films I've never known the titles of.
You know, the stuff that plays on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel.
Anything 1930s through early 1960s.
For Hong Kong, the recent Golden Age starts in the late eighties and runs through the mid-nineties just prior to the changeover. Also, for that time period you could be checking out all the Chinese Fifth Generation stuff...world class, things like the early works of Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige, and Zhang Yimou.
My favorite Hong Kong movies involve Jackie Chan and his 'brothers' from their Opera days~
- "Wheels on Meals"
- "My Lucky Stars"
Also, my favorite Hong Kong film is "The Chinese Feast." (1995)
I just wish I could find more movies like that one ^o^
Android18a
07-26-2009, 10:08 PM
Terminator Salvation. A worthy, unique, yet flawed follow up to the original two movies. It's a very different movie, but good in its own right.
Star Trek. Fantastic movie, rejuvinates the early days with style. Great casting and brilliant visual effects. The best of the Trek movies by far.
Night At The Museum 2. A fun family movie. Not a whole lot to say. Ben Stiller is Ben Stiller. Some great guest stars playing the exhibits.
Step Brothers. Average. Had it's moments, but it was a bit on the rude side for me. A little too much swearing ^_^; Will Ferrell still hasn't surpassed Ron Burgundy.
Will Ferrell still hasn't surpassed Ron Burgundy.
the sequel is coming, you know :p
People are pretty amped about that
Android18a
07-27-2009, 04:36 AM
Hmm. I hope it's as good as the original. It's not going to be easy for them!
Hmm. I hope it's as good as the original. It's not going to be easy for them!
"It's the TRUTH"
http://i30.tinypic.com/2vx0n89.jpg
So I finally watched Titanic and it was great and sad as ever. A true classics, we need more movies like it.
I also saw batman the dark knight a few days ago. It was better than I expected. The actor who did the role of Joker was really good. I heard from my brother that he died a while a ago from the use of drugs, it made me sad. But I never realised it was the same actor named Heath Ledger. I was so surprised that he got such a role and he did it so well. Now I feel more sad that we have to lose such a talented guy. I have/had a crush on him :(
http://cm1.theinsider.com/media/0/49/93/heath_ledger-1.0.0.0x0.400x400.jpeg
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/stacey83/HeathLedgerJoker001.jpg
RpgN, I love Titanic ^^
At first I liked it, then hated it forever.. then liked it again after watching in 2004.
It really is a great movie, with excellent music and cinematography.
------------------------------------------
Sicko - LOVED it! Highlights the Health Care crisis in America.
Everyone needs to see this.
It's gut-wrenching at times, and you will cry.. but there is a lot of humor injected into the film as well.
Enjoy!
saw District 9 about a month ago, but forgot to mention it here! T_T;;
Well, the movie is effed up, but enjoyed it for the most part.
It really highlights, in a fairly realistic way, the extent societies/groups in power will go to protect themselves of inconvenience.
The girl i went with had this to say, amidst laughter: "Humans are such douches.."
lol, clearly.
pchannn
10-24-2009, 02:55 PM
5sQhTVz5IjQ
Funny, bizarre and bloody movie.
Excellent characters, the ones I liked most were Col. Hans Landa, Hugo Stiglitz and Major Dieter.
It's a mix of scary reality and sense of humor (Quentin Tarantino's style).
pchannn
02-05-2010, 04:41 PM
directed by Isao Takahata (1988)
mSPwdBIbx_U
(ignore the yellow text)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies
Setsuko is the cutest girl ever ^^
"Grave of Fireflies" almost made me cry...
Don't know if i'll ever see it again, but it's a very good animated film.
---------------
The most recent film I saw was Sherlock Holmes.
Overall, I give it a B-
Trailer
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RDJ interview:
-5nrtiFO5Mg
pchannn
02-09-2010, 09:27 AM
"Sherlock Holmes" was entertaining but not what I expected....
"Sherlock Holmes" was entertaining but not what I expected....
it was a British production that played out much like a TV series epidode..
Also, the acting by Rachael McAdams was suspect when her character was trying to match wits/intellect with Holmes..
Nobody bought it, and she was severely out-acted by RDJ and the rest of the crew.
I liked the fight scenes, especially when Holmes was doing the MMA thing.
And the chemistry between Watson (Jude Law) and Holmes (RDJ) was probably the best part about the film.
pchannn
02-09-2010, 03:49 PM
And the chemistry between Watson (Jude Law) and Holmes (RDJ) was probably the best part about the film.
I agree 100%!
Besides, even if the movie isn't so good, RDJ's actings (in general) are clearly great. Love him!
As a guy, I am not afraid to admit that I have a major non-sexual crush on the RDJ :lol:lol:lol
http://i46.tinypic.com/2urxpj8.jpg
Best scene in "Holmes", when Sherlock goes UFC on an Irish dude who thinks he's been winning the entire time.
I liked it especially because they made the scene look really authentic
(not that I've ever been to an underground fighting ring in 19th century England..):
http://i49.tinypic.com/23jiq2a.jpg
man.. i'll be lucky if I'm 1/20th as good looking at this guy when I reach my 50's.. so not fair.
http://i46.tinypic.com/jt739y.jpg
just saw Avatar.
It was exactly what I expected.
Special Effects were brilliant, of course.
Story was extremely derivative, but engaging.
Main characters were interesting, but the "Drill Sgt." stereotype was a bit much, and some of the one-liners really stunk.
In Addition, James Cameron obviously forced some sexual tension into the film between two blue aliens...
what a creepy director he's becoming. >_>
That didn't take away from the film, though, which moved at a very steady pace.
My Score: B
pchannn
02-18-2010, 10:58 PM
just saw Avatar.
Visual effects: Amazing!
General argument: Very nice
Message: Good (Nothing new.. just like Pocahontas)
Final: Regular (So typical. Please surprise me!)
My score: B
Aliens + Pocahontas + Dances with Wolves + every other Hollywood movie that gives
it's easily-manipulated audience member a figurative lollipop (ie. a digestible, happy ending).
ZzzzZZzz
Just returned from Shutter Island.
If you love movies that make you think, then this is one to see!
It's a very cerebral film that gives off a Hitchcock cinematographic vibe during some "flashback" scenes.
I thought they revealed a bit too much towards the end, and I wasn't at all as befuddled as everyone else seemed to be..
The reason that alarms me, is because I'm usually the only one who's confused after a movie (simple or not) :lol
So... not sure what to make of that..
Anyways, you will be asking lots of questions and thinking about the movie long after it's over.
Check it out!
My Score: B+
"Green Zone" starring Matt Damon.
I'm a HUGE Matt Damon fan! I think his movies are all really fun to see. This one was lame.. but with a hint of entertainment value (if you're a liberal!).
The movie is very one-dimensional regarding the war in Iraq, and it has a very liberal slant.
That didn't bother me one bit, since it's just a movie.
But the fact that it was obviously propaganda to expose USA lies about WMDs, the conservative crowds were none-to-pleased.
I would never watch this movie again, nor do I recommend it.
Not bad, but def. not good.
My Score: C-
pchannn
03-13-2010, 04:39 PM
I thought they revealed a bit too much towards the end, and I wasn't at all as befuddled as everyone else seemed to be..
That could ruin the whole movie
10philim
03-13-2010, 11:14 PM
I have actually seen a lot of movies recently. Here goes!
"Accepted" starring Justin Long, Blake Lively, and Jonah Hill
Its exactly as stupid as the previews. It had its moments but it was too slapstick and silly to be very good.
I tolerated seeing it once because blake lively is cute but I would never see it again.
Grade: C-
"The Hurt Locker" starring Jeremy Renner
This movie won best picture at the academy awards for a reason. It was fabulous. Kept me totally engaged throughout the entire move, wonderful special FX and story. I would definitely recommend seeing it and I would see it again.
Grade: A+
"Avatar" starring Sam Worthington
The effects were out of this world, and the story was very engaging. It was the classic repel the more powerful invaders movie, and the colonel did great as the villian. There was even a sexual tension storyline to follow among the blue people. I enjoyed it a lot though I don't think Ill be buying the DVD. Definitely see it if you haven't though.
Grade: B+
"Invictus" starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon
This was a very good movie. I don't know the rules of rugby and I totally did not need to. Freeman does an awesome job, matt does ok. Story is very moving and I would definitely see it again. Another one to see if you haven't
Grade: A-
"The Hangover" starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis
Absolutely hilarious. There are no slow parts and every single scene was great. I laughed so hard I cried multiple times. Best comedy I have seen in ages. If you haven't seen it go see it right now. I will be watching this many times in years to come and the jokes will still be funny as hell.
Grade: A+
"It's Complicated" starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin
I went into this movie thinking it would be bad but I actually enjoyed it. It was quite funny, and had a good storyline. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who likes romantic comedies. I probably won't see it again though just because it isn't my type of movie.
Grade: B+
Edit: 100th post! :D
"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" starring Robert Downy Jr. and Val Kilmer.
The film is narrated by a small-time criminal, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.).
He is self-aware and discusses the events of the film in an almost metafictional way.
Fleeing a botched robbery, Harry evades the police by ducking into a movie audition for a hardboiled film and, ironically,
impresses the producers with his emotional outpouring of regret about the robbery and the subsequent death of his accomplice.
The producers think he is a method actor giving an audition, hire him for the lead role and fly him to Hollywood.
There, he's introduced to private investigator "Gay" Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer),
who is enlisted to help Harry prepare for his role in the movie.
At a Hollywood party, Harry encounters his high school crush, Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan),
whom Harry has known since childhood.
They leave for Harry's apartment, but the budding romance is squelched when a drunken Harry
accidentally sleeps with Harmony's friend instead.
While working with Perry, Harry stumbles into a conspiracy of kidnapping and murder involving a high profile heiress.
Circumstantial crime scene evidence could incriminate Perry in the murder, and someone who
knows Harry's habits seems intent upon framing Harry for the crime.
At the same time, Harmony, who believes that Harry is really a detective, implores him to investigate the death of her sister;
Harmony believes that her sister was murdered by someone trying to kill Harmony, but Perry insists it was suicide.
As events related to both crimes escalate, Harry, Perry and Harmony team up to investigate.
The movie is a dark comedy of complete randomness.
American audiences didn't get it, and it did poorly domestically, but MUCH better overseas.
I recommend it to anyone over the age of 22 or 23, because it's not something younger crowds will "get", imo.
My Score: B+
http://i44.tinypic.com/10g0jkn.jpg
Jiggy
04-12-2010, 02:04 PM
Watched The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi two days ago via a subtitled version of someone's camrip in theaters.
On the one hand, I really liked it for the emotional value and the orchestrated soundtrack.
On the other, I can say that it in no way stands on its own. You must at least know the Melancholy story and Bamboo Leaf Rhapdosy, and preferably Endless Eight as well--there are a couple quick dialogue nods to some other small stories, but they're not relevant--and without that backdrop I doubt any of it will have much impact. Even with the backdrop, I'm kind of glad I already knew not just the entire Disappearance story but also the followup Scheme story; because of the constantly-moving nature of film and anime, I don't know if I would have figured out the ending in the way that I could when reading the translation, since there's little time to gather your thoughts and work through the logistics of it all.
In short, you'll probably be able to figure out whether you want to watch it or not based on everything you already know or don't about the Haruhi series.
going out to see the early release for "KICK-ASS" right now!
YEEESSSSSSSSSSSSssssssssssssssssssssssss
Kick-Ass (A-)
http://i48.tinypic.com/2ccqqsm.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/11sjya8.jpg
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (B)
Iron Man 2 (B)
The Aviator (B+)
9 to 5 (D)
merit
05-21-2010, 06:49 PM
Kickass A ... no A+ since I'm not that into cheesy on purpose facial expressions. There was no real story to it but it was just darn entertaining XD
Kickass A ... no A+ since I'm not that into cheesy on purpose facial expressions. There was no real story to it but it was just darn entertaining XD
best character:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2hx6lag.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/161avip.jpg
the little girl who plays "Hit-Girl" is adorable:
http://i48.tinypic.com/vpi3aq.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/wmmnt5.jpg
MacGruber
Pros:
- Most outrageous comedy every conceived
- Script is written really well for something so ridiculous and disgusting
- Val Kilmer is hilarious as the villain
- The love-making scenes are pure 80s cheesyness. XD XD
Cons:
- Not enough of Jericho (the WWF wrestler)
- Soundtrack was good, but not as memorable as it could've been with all the 80s material
- Doesn't really remind of MacGuyver all that much..
Grade:
C+
pchannn
06-13-2010, 06:31 PM
You Don't Know Jack (A-)
Is a movie based on a real story. It's about how euthanasia began.
Al Pacino is an admirable actor! I love the personality of his character.
merit
06-13-2010, 08:04 PM
I TRIED watching Where the Wild Things Are and could not get through it! I hated it! All I kept seeing was a kid that SERIOUSLY needed help.
Alice in Wonderland
Nothing spectacular really visually or story wise but I was able to sit through it at least. It was very blah with no intrigue at all but nowhere near as ZZZZ as the movie above.
While You Were Sleeping (B-)
Old School (C-)
Anchorman
Pros:
- Some funny situations
- Luke Wilson is always fun to watch
- Early 1980's locations and sets are great
Cons:
- Horrible introductory scenes
- writing/dialogue is not witty at all
Grade:
C
Knight and Day
Pros:
- Tom Cruise's character is fairly amusing
- Interesting opening scene on the plane
Cons:
- Movie runs too long, and gets dull toward the middle
- Cameron Diaz...
- half-baked directing and editing
- fairly low-budget special effects
Grade:
C+
merit
06-28-2010, 09:26 PM
The Witches of Eastwick
It was OKAY but probably because Nicolson is so amusing with his damn evil looking eyebrows! I also liked the concept about people not being able to remember his name.
Other than those 2 things above it was an okay movie to digest but it felt rather empty. No real development in characters and such.
The Witches of Eastwick
It was OKAY but probably because Nicolson is so amusing with his damn evil looking eyebrows! I also liked the concept about people not being able to remember his name.
Other than those 2 things above it was an okay movie to digest but it felt rather empty. No real development in characters and such.
what a bunch of SLUTS!!
http://i29.tinypic.com/n21jjk.jpg
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Starring:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy & Marion Cotillard
Run Time:
2h 22m
Description:
A contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind
Trailer:
0DqWki5pdig
Hive's Grade (A)
+ Amazing acting performances from an all-star cast
+ Cerebral script that doesn't try so hard to outsmart its audience like those ridiculous Matrix films
+ Music by Hanz Zimmer was flawless in providing the appropriate atmosphere
- Some explosions and special-effects were kind of hokey
- Ellen Page felt a bit miss-cast
- Needed to be a bit longer to allow the audience time to digest all that was going on
Guess who's back JACK!! ^O^
3cGOEbyfo7Y
Jiggy
08-13-2010, 11:40 PM
I've just beheld the worst movie of all-time, transformed from debilitatingly boring into debilitatingly hilarious by the commentary of The Spoony One. Behold!
After Last Season
And I assure you--I repeat, I assure you that you will need Spoony's Rifftrax (http://www.rifftrax.com/node/53569) to survive the journey.
Trailer to it: http://www.afterlastseason.com/
Jiggy has scarred me with the above trailer. XD
Also, I want 5 million to create a movie this terrible!
HOW WHY!
Iam Canadian
08-15-2010, 02:58 AM
I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World today with some people. While the protagonist isn't always very likeable, the sheer pervasiveness of the video game trappings that permeate the movie, such as action sequences taking the form of climactic "boss fights" complete with health bars and enemies dropping coins when defeated, character development being represented as levelling up, Zelda and Mario music everywhere, and the main character's band being called "Sex Bob-omb," it was very entertaining to watch regardless. Identifying the various video game references was fun and there was even a reference to EarthBound! The location of the final showdown is called the "Chaos Theatre," which was where the Runaway Five were trapped in debt in Twoson. In any other movie, I'd say it was a coincidence, but with Scott Pilgrim, I'm willing to bet the reference was intentional.
merit
08-16-2010, 12:40 PM
I always love DiCaprio's acting (and no not bc he's hot. He's not hot anymore! LOL). Although I always have a bit of a hard time first digesting his face since it's naturally shorter and his features make it YOUNGER. It's hard to take it seriously at first when the films are very mature. I have a hard time digesting Levitt too by his young, young face!
I didn't like Ellen's role as the female architect simply on the basis that she came off as some teenager soapie girl. Her development was weird for me too--it makes me think of Bella from Twilight! Out of nowhere she is suddenly poking and prodding around Cobb like they're bffs. Cobb just comes off as a more secretive guy since he managed to everything from his other teammates. But all of a sudden this one new girl goes all out on him.
Even though this was a serious type of movie, I much liked all of the little funnies they put into it. Very good job :)
Concept wise these theories weren't new to me but because they weren't.. I really had a different version of the movie's feel in my head, and it was nowhere near like this one. This had way too much reality in it. I mean yes wow the ground is folding up but.. everything is TOO NORMAL. I can't relate to it at all as a dream. I call it the normal peoples' dreams XD But hey that was the point! It had to be so normal to make the dreamer believe it was real. Ah well :)
http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/tiff_swan.jpg
List of Movies being demoed (http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/07/27/first-toronto-film-fest-lineup-announcements-include-black-swan-biutiful-its-kind-of-a-funny-story-and-the-conspirator/)
This year marks the 35th Anniversary of one of the greatest international film festivals there is.
Prax, are you going to this, per chance?
Here's the link for buying tickets, if anyone reading this would like to go!
**PURCHASE TICKETS HERE** (http://tiff.net/thefestival/ticketsandpasses)
Scott Pilgrim
http://i35.tinypic.com/29xu3pc.jpg
Pros:
- Michael Cera doesn't really seem like the best fit as Scott Pilgrim, but he's serviceable
- Soundtrack is awesome!!!!
- Script is written really well, but not necessarily for Michael Cera's character (Scott Pilgrim)
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers <3333333
- The 7 Evil Exes are so well-casted! Loved every one of them, except maybe for the twins
- Plenty of odes to video games and anime
Cons:
- Scott Pilgrim is way too cheesy and lame during a few too many scenes
- Final fight scene with Gideon was fairly anti-climatic
Grade:
B-
merit
08-30-2010, 11:36 PM
I watched this after 2 movies before it failing, causing me to knock myself unconscious on my queen-size-mattress-of-a-couch. I tried watching some really lame 2009 movie about Robin Hood.. I forget the title. The acting was terrible! Then I tried watching The Book of Eli. It SOUNDED cool until it presented itself as a post apocalyptic type of world. I didn't even know I fell asleep during both these movies.
Prince of Persia wasn't great or anything but it did not cause me to go fishing for ZZ's! I liked all of the jumping around the hero did, though the girl was a bit annoying--but I forgive her a bit since I have a thing for priestesses and holy cities--oh and awesome daggers and skillful non royal blood rough types. I liked how for once it's not the brothers that are hating on eachother. BROTHERLY BONDING YEAHHhhhhh!
I watched this after 2 movies before it failing, causing me to knock myself unconscious on my queen-size-mattress-of-a-couch. I tried watching some really lame 2009 movie about Robin Hood.. I forget the title. The acting was terrible! Then I tried watching The Book of Eli. It SOUNDED cool until it presented itself as a post apocalyptic type of world. I didn't even know I fell asleep during both these movies.
Prince of Persia wasn't great or anything but it did not cause me to go fishing for ZZ's! I liked all of the jumping around the hero did, though the girl was a bit annoying--but I forgive her a bit since I have a thing for priestesses and holy cities--oh and awesome daggers and skillful non royal blood rough types. I liked how for once it's not the brothers that are hating on eachother. BROTHERLY BONDING YEAHHhhhhh!
garbage.
SHANE BLACK!!
:D
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Shane-Black-Is-Your-Iron-Man-3-Director-23224.html
Jiggy
05-25-2011, 02:26 PM
Alright, so I've been listening to Internet critics bash the Star Wars prequels lately. Now, I didn't like them much either, but I thought maybe I'd go ahead and rewatch them and see if anything glared. That hasn't happened yet, because I also thought I'd check out the original trilogy first. What if it wasn't as good as people remembered?
So far I've revisited Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. They are as good as people remember. Now, that's not to say they're perfect.
I think A New Hope could have stood to be half an hour or even a full hour longer--it was sort of rushed along. Examples of what I'm talking about, all completely off the top of my head after watching it last night:
1) 90 minutes or so in, we meet Wedge, a Rebel pilot who goes a long way back with Luke--but the time devoted to that is all of about ten seconds. Before that point we had no idea he existed. There was a mention of Luke's other friends going off to an academy, but no namedropping.
2) Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are killed before we had any chance to get to know or like them, so there was no connection even though the imagery of a burnt house was strong. In fact, the only things we did know about Owen were negative: he was holding Luke back and lying about his father. (And so was Obi-Wan, granted, but if this had been a one-shot standalone movie then the only liar would be Owen.) He's also pretty rude and impatient toward the Jawas, and not even in an entertaining way like Han Solo and his sarcastic quips.
3, 4, and 5)
While Luke says a pilot and Obi-Wan mentions that he's a great one, we never see him flying anything until the final scene. When the Rebels are giving their briefing on how to destroy the Death Star, the guy next to Luke says that hitting such a narrow target is impossible, but Luke says he can shoot some kind of small animal from a great distance back home. We've also never seen that. Out in space flying around the Death Star, Luke tells Wedge that the trench is just like "Beggar's Canyon back home," which either we've never seen or we saw but wasn't named.
Any one of these would be a nitpick and very easy to overlook. In fact, in the end they're all easy to overlook even combined--because when a movie hits all the right emotional notes, you don't care so much about small plot details. Anything can be nitpicked, really. Still, even if the flaws are ultimately minor, they do exist. It's just unfortunate that all three of them show up right at the same part of the story in quick succession, and more unfortunate that that part is the end.
6) Han Solo mentions Chewbacca's ability to rip arms out of their sockets, but Chewbacca never does anything remotely physical in the movie.
I think one other thing was bugging me, but I forget what. I guess Carrie Fisher's voice was harsher or shriller than I remember, but eh.
As for The Empire Strikes Back...
1) Luke uses the Force to pull his lightsaber out of some ice early on, but the Force's ability to do that has never been established before this point. All we knew was that it gave a person the ability to detect approaching lasers and to aim your own lasers more effectively--basically, the Force existed to feel what couldn't be seen. Obi-Wan never taught him to levitate things with his mind, so did he teach himself? Or how about this: just retcon it in and mention that Obi-Wan did teach him this in A New Hope, but did it offscreen. I don't know. Just sticks out for me.
2) The ice ostrich thing that Han Solo rides flops over and dies out of nowhere right after he reaches Luke. I don't get it. Aren't these animals native to Hoth? How do they survive a typical night?
As for the positives, oh man.
I had honestly forgotten that these movies are where the lines "I find your lack of faith disturbing" and "And that is why you fail" and "Millions of voices cried out and were silenced" came from. All great lines.
Darth Vader can choke a person from a great distance just by seeing them on a projector screen, and the Force allows telepathic communication--and I'm not talking about Obi-Wan's ghost, but Luke, Leia, and Vader. This kind of thing is exactly what was missing from the prequels, where the Force was toned down to a much less mystical concept. You could levitate things, but it seemed to be limited by range. You couldn't choke someone who was only visible on a monitor.
Han Solo and C3PO are the funniest characters in Star Wars for completely different reasons. They grant the series a kind of cheesy, hammy charm that keeps the events from ever being too full of themselves. There are no boring politics or stuffy bureaucracies in these two movies. Everything is fun. Imagine that.
The chemistry between Leia and either Luke or Han is incredible.
So is the music.
Anyway, tonight I'll check out Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, and then wrap up tomorrow with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Assuming I can take it.
Jiggy
05-26-2011, 03:32 PM
Okay, so Return of the Jedi is kind of the worst of the original trilogy, but it's still pretty good. Forget about that, though. I'm one hour and eight minutes into The Phantom Menace. I stopped more because I was tired than because it was too boring, but... well.
Alright, so watching this, I didn't think about the plot holes or anything so much. What I did think about was that in an hour and eight minutes, nothing has happened.
Watching it reminded me what my other issue with A New Hope being rushed was--things tended to jump around very quickly, I thought. The Empire's attack at the beginning is good, but then it's like, oh, okay, the droids are wandering the desert, now they're going their separate ways, but it doesn't matter that they went separate ways because they both got on the same Jawa ship, they're scared of the ship, now they're not scared because they're being sold off, Luke wants to go to an academy but Owen won't let him, Luke heads off and gets attacked, Obi-Wan tells him to become a Jedi, Luke says no, Owen is killed off, Luke is grieving, now Luke's not grieving, now Luke wants to be a Jedi...
What's going on?
But man, that's infinitely preferable to twelve solid minutes of a pod race. Why do we need twelve minutes of that? To see Sebulba cheat seven times? You know, we understand we're supposed to hate him after one or two. And the whole affair doesn't even have music for the most part.
Another problem is dangling threads of no value. Jar Jar and the Jedis travel through the planet core to the tune of zero danger. Why bother even showing the travel scene when there's no threat or tension? I mean, I guess one sea creature kind of attacks them, but it has no effect or anything and they just dodge it. Another example is that I have no clue why most of the first ten or so minutes before the Trade Federation goes down to Naboo are even there. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan do pretty much nothing and learn pretty much nothing while sneaking aboard ships to reach the surface, so why not just start with them on the surface?
You see, in the original Star Wars, we start off with the first attack in progress--and for good reason. We don't need eight minutes of screen time to establish how the Empire found the rebel ship. What matters is that they did find it, and what matters is what they do with that knowledge.
So here's an idea. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan have been dispatched to the area, but instead of boarding the ship and running through ten minutes of Sidious and the Trade Federation trying to kill them with pansy droids after they're on board, they use the power of the blockade shoots at the ship before it even docks. The Jedi escape and make an emergency landing on Naboo only to find that the Trade Federation has an army down there--and it's there that their ship is destroyed, stranding them.
There we go. That would convey exactly as much information (this is no mere dispute; there's something wrong with the Trade Federation, possibly military in nature) and have as much action as the actual beginning, but with no nonsense like watching a droid serve tea or Jedi cut down robots who aren't even threats. See, a character like Han Solo was impressive because his enemies were threats. He spent a lot of time ducking behind walls because he was in real danger, but he still pressed on.
As for scenes where nothing happens, I guess you could argue that nothing happens in the cantina scene in A New Hope or in Jabba's depraved dance sequence in Return. That's kind of true. But they do establish a consistent mood and setting. We can see how Mos Eisley is full of very alien beings--beings who are like nothing Luke has ever seen. By stepping out, he's encountering unfamiliar situations. As for Jabba, we kind of understand just how bad and how influential a dude he is when he drags around slaves and makes them perform for his amusement.
But what makes this actually work is that it jives with what we knew beforehand. Before the Jedi use their underwater craft to go swimming about through the core, Jar Jar plays up that the core is the most dangerous thing ever anywhere and he'd even rather stay with the Gungans who pretty much hate him--but then when we actually see the core, none of the massive sea monsters pose any threat or do any damage.
Aside from the way no one can understand a word Jar Jar says, the other biggest reason that a character like C3PO worked as the scaredycat comic relief while Jar Jar doesn't is that the things C3PO say have--get this--a basis in reality. He's not making things up. The characters are, in fact, in danger--and we can sympathize with characters only if they're being reasonable. If their fears and worries are based on problems that don't exist outside their mind, we're annoyed.
Jiggy
05-27-2011, 02:02 AM
Alright, I'm done with The Phantom Menace. Let's bring up more plot holes and other things I noticed!
1) Okay, so after Obi-Wan is knocked to a lower platform by Darth Maul, Qui-Gon continues fighting alone. This would make sense if he was forced into fighting, but almost right after Obi-Wan is knocked away, Qui-Gon knocks Darth Maul down to a different lower platform. At this point he has the clear advantage. The wise thing to do would be to leave Maul down there while waiting for Obi-Wan to recover, especially since the last time he fought Maul one-on-one he couldn't pull off a victory. And if Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon together failed to defeat Maul really quickly, then how exactly would Qui-Gon pull off a victory by himself? He should have waited. I realize that he made a comment about Obi-Wan being a much wiser person than him, but anyone this crazy to jump into a battle he can't win shouldn't even be able to qualify as a Jedi.
2) A dramatic choir plays as soon as the Darth Maul fight starts up, but we don't know who he is or who his master is. We don't know anything about them--so why is the music so epic? Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader didn't have music this epic and we knew who they were. They were the last great Jedi and a leader in the Imperial Army. They were major figures, huge deals through the entire universe. Luke vs. Vader didn't have music this epic either time and those were showcase duels that encompassed the thematic of the entire series. How can you even dare to imply that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul approaches the level of the epic quality of Luke vs. Darth Vader, never mind actually beating.
3) And this is made all the more hilarious by the fact that earlier on we see Darth Maul standing next to Viceroy Gunray and he's dwarfed by the guy by what has to be a good two or three feet. He looks like a midget standing next to some random Trade Federation loser, but this is our epic lightsaber bad guy, so amazing that you need a choir just to express his greatness?
4) ...and then after Maul kills Qui-Gon and there is a really powerful emotional reason to fight, there's no music at all but just the sound of swinging swords. What's up with that? See, this is the time when there should be a sudden swell of music to stir up emotions.
5)
Oh, and we also have no clue what's at stake in the fight. I mean, Darth Maul isn't the one controlling the droids. There's no urgency to kill him; they just have to stop him from killing the others. I'm sure if the entire volunteer army and Gungan army surrounded him after the droid control ship was destroyed, they'd be able to kill him with very little risk.
What I'm getting at here is that Yoda mentions at the end of the movie that there are always two Sith, a master and an apprentice, and Mace Windu wonders which one it was. Assuming this sort of thing is common knowledge to Jedi, then Qui-Gon would also know that Darth Maul is only one of two Sith--and if that's true, then the best course of action would be to capture him and find out whether he's alone or whether he's working for someone else or what. So if you just kill him, that does count as some kind of accomplishment, but you're also buying time for the other master or apprentice to keep working behind the scenes.
6) Okay, forget the Darth Maul fight. So Padme and her entourage of soldiers are helpless against some of the more powerful droids until Anakin turns the Naboo star fighter and shoots those droids. Well then, here's a question. If the ship is capable of destroying them, why didn't one or more of the soldiers run over to the ship and kick Anakin out to use it himself?
7) The Gungans put up an energy shield that blocks all the shots from the droid army, so the droid army circumvents the shield by... uh... walking straight through the shields and then shooting again after they're inside. Okay, wait. So a shield can block energy, but not matter? Shouldn't blocking matter be the easy part? And assuming these shields are made of some kind of electrical energy, shouldn't they zap the droids as soon as they touch them? Especially considering that the other Gungan technology, giant blue cannonballs, operates with electricity. I mean, it makes sense for an underwater species that deals with underwater threats to be good with electricity and to base its weaponry around that, right?
8) Related, the Naboo voluntary army's space pilots can't blast through the shields of the controlling ship with their energy blasts, but Anakin can fly into their docking bay. Again, shouldn't it be easier to block a physical entity than an energy-based one? But let's say the answer is no. If that's true, it should be common knowledge in the Star Wars universe that it's not easier to prevent a ship from flying into your docking bay, which means two things: 1) pilots other than Anakin should have tried flying in directly, and 2) the Trade Federation wouldn't have built their reactor core to be anywhere near the entrance of any of their docking bays. It would be as far into the ship as possible.
9)
Back to the Gungans, the entire droid army steps through the shield and the Gungans start throwing their electrical orbs. They only hit and destroy a few of the droids--I'm talking like they destroy two or so for every thirty we see on screen. So as the other twenty-eight droids continue marching forward, shooting their lasers, we should be seeing a lot of fallen Gungan bodies. ...but we don't. In fact, I didn't notice anyone actually dead despite the droid army pretty much having its way. They might have been there, but they weren't focused on.
You know, in the other Star Wars movies, we did in fact see people die. We saw pilots crash in space. In a movie about war--a movie called Star Wars--can we at least get a couple people dying? I mean, is it so much to ask? Do we really need this kind of super sanitized war? Doesn't that downplay the gravity of war? I mean, whether you support X war that happened in the past or is happening right now, you have to admit it can be pretty gruesome. It's not people playing a light show with each other.
10)
Anakin promises to come back and free his mother one day. I can think of a good day. How about the day after he saves the entire planet of Naboo by destroying the ship that controls the droid army? I mean, the queen bestowed a glowing purple orb upon the Gungan king (or whatever he is) for his contributions and all he did was help hold them off. Anakin actually saved the day. His reward should be immense, more than good enough to free his mother. Remember when Han Solo wanted monetary compensation from Princess Leia? She was able to provide it and she didn't even have the advantage of living in a mostly peaceful time. While completely spent for resources, she could still pay a mercenary who had been promised the huge fee of 15,000--and that was just for running transport duty.
For comparison's sake, in The Phantom Menace it's said that Qui-Gon and company could buy a ship for 10,000--and a ship is apparently worth a slave since Qui-Gon can trade that against Anakin. So if Leia can pay 15,000 (a ship and a half!) simply for transporting Luke and Obi-Wan, then Padme should also be able to pay 15,000 for saving her entire planet. And that's not even getting into the fact that Leia's just a princess while Padme's a queen. I mean, I could call this five plot holes in one if I wasn't being so nice. What's going on here?
Anyway, I actually wasn't exactly horrified by the first hour or so of the movie. It was dreadfully boring, mind you, and that's sure not good, but it wasn't so awful I wanted to gouge my eyes out. (Probably would have been worse if I'd been waiting some fifteen years after Return of the Jedi to see it.)
I realize I've watched and loved critics tear it apart on the Internet, but the other plot holes in the beginning (even though I knew they were there) didn't exactly leap out at me if I just sat back and took the movie in passively. This last half, though... ugh. Horrible nonsense, just a bevy of special effects tossed around for special effects' own sake, and the way I know that's true is because the logic falls apart at so many turns even to a casual eye. It's blindingly obvious that nobody fully thought the scenes through.
...and now on to Attack of the Clones. :(
Jiggy
05-27-2011, 07:38 PM
So I'm not done watching Attack of the Clones and I'll have more to say about it later, but one big thing comes to mind: I can't figure out a single thing that the entire Phantom Menace movie contributed to the overall arc.
Several critics say that the prequels should have started at Attack of the Clones. Well, given the choice between starting at Phantom Menace and that, I'd absolutely go with the latter--but I do think Attack could have worked as a second movie if 1) it didn't suck and 2) was preceded by something better.
You see, Attack covers Anakin's lowest emotional moment, which typically is something that doesn't show up in a first movie or the first part of a story. In an adventure story, it's very difficult to start off with a character losing because you don't want the first impression of your brave heroes to be that they're all losers (whether that's in a physical, emotional, or moral sense). You build them up as winners so that when they do eventually encounter an obstacle they can't overcome, it means something and has an impact. That's why I wouldn't be completely for Attack being the first movie. It should have something before it where Anakin is more successful and victorious. We need to see what a person does both in difficult situations and manageable situations to understand that person's character.
But Anakin didn't have any real accomplishment in Phantom Menace. When he blows up the ship, his line is "Oops." He wasn't trying to destroy the reactor. He hit it by accident while trying to shoot a droid. He didn't successfully buy himself out of slavery. Qui-Gon did that himself. He didn't successfully convince the Jedi to allow him to be trained. They just ran with it because Qui-Gon died and they felt guilty.
Yes, I know Anakin won the pod race. Problem is that 1) it's not a personal victory because he didn't know until after he won that a win would free him, and 2) despite Sebulba messing with his machinery beforehand so that he stalled out for like a full minute, he still won, which means that his pod racer is so superior technologically that the win had much less to do with him than with his vehicle. It would be like if Batman didn't actually have to aim with his Batarangs and grappling hooks and just pressed buttons to have a computer do all of that. It's not technically nothing, but it's so close to nothing that we wouldn't give it much credit.
Of course, even if Anakin did have a real victory, it might not mean anything if the next movie still jumped ahead ten years and basically rebooted his character. So what the movie before Attack should really have done was feature an older Anakin much closer to the one in Attack, then have him pull off some significant victory. Maybe even have him pull off that victory in spite of the Jedi council saying they don't want him and worrying about his future. Have him meet Padme and show feelings of love, even, making us all worried, but in the end he proves the council wrong and we cheer in the first movie, as we see that maybe love really isn't such a bad thing.
And then he goes on to become murderous in the next movie. Ideally not as murderous, like maybe instead of wiping out an entire tribe he kills five or so before stopping and realizing what he's doing, making it a more believable transition while still being despicable. Then we're left with a tense situation as only the audience realizes the Jedi council was right all along. They don't realize their own error because they've only seen the good in him until this point, but we know better and we're left holding our breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But back to the point, what did Phantom Menace as it was actually contribute? I mean, Qui-Gon's influence has no bearing on anything, Obi-Wan didn't do much, Darth Maul was killed without revealing anything, we don't learn anything about the evil figure controlling the Trade Federation, Viceroy Gunray is arrested but it doesn't matter because he's back in power already in the second movie, and Padme and her crew saved her planet. Seems like everything wrapped up.
Now, I've actually read the 108-page response to RedLetterMedia's Phantom Menace review. I'll even admit it has some interesting points, especially the ones based on facts--the ship is shot after the shields are operational again, and the Jedi can't steal the ship parts because we see later that they're enormous--and not just reading in the real world, which happens when he argues that it doesn't matter what the blockade is preventing from reaching Naboo because the point is that blockades are bad, and argues that "fear leads to anger, etc." makes sense because it makes sense in one real-world sociopolitical context, which doesn't refute the argument since Yoda was making that statement universally.
One of the more interesting things from that rebuttal was the claim that Qui-Gon was supposed to represent an ideal father figure to Anakin as the only one who believed him, and then the conjecture that if he hadn't died then Anakin probably wouldn't have fallen to the dark side. In the context of The Phantom Menace in a vacuum, I might even be able to believe that. But then you add in Attack of the Clones and Anakin's saying that Obi-Wan is like his father--so he does have a father figure even without Qui-Gon, which blows up the whole argument.
If the point of Phantom Menace really was that Anakin only fell to the dark side due to the lack of a father, I might actually almost kind of say that the movie as it is sort of has a minor purpose. But that's not focused on and seems to be thrown out the window for the second movie, so there goes that. What a purposeless film.
Jiggy
05-29-2011, 09:01 PM
More from Attack of the Clones:
So Mace Windu tells Padme that Count Dooku couldn't assassinate anyone because he was once a Jedi and it's not in his character--but hold on. In the original trilogy, Yoda tells Luke about how a person who falls to the dark side will be corrupted forever. I'm guessing he's saying that from experience. I mean, I don't think the only example he's ever seen of someone falling to the dark side is Vader, so there were others. And some of those others must have been Jedi, right?
After all, who would fall to the dark side without having Jedi training or something equivalent? It's no use to have a lust for power (a crucial part of the dark side) if you don't have any power. You need to have a taste of power to understand what it can do, and you need to understand what it can do in order to desire more of it and develop an addiction.
So assuming that other Jedi have fallen to the dark side before at some point in Yoda's long life, Mace Windu's comment makes no sense.
Next up, we find out that the shapeshifter assassin was the one who hit the decoy ship on approach to Coruscant. Because the attempt to blow up a ship failed, Jango Fett tells her that they'll have to try a more subtle approach. Um... why? Now that the decoy ship is gone, why not try a direct approach a second time? They only took two ships.
And would a subtle approach have helped the first time? I mean, how does it even matter whether you're subtle or direct as long as you're on target? If they had poison centipedes sneak onto the ship, they would have killed the wrong Padme just as well as an explosion. And if they shot straight into Padme's room, it would have worked better than the bugs.
Early on, Anakin mentions that he'd rather dream about Padme than his mother, but later on the death of his mother is a big plot point. So... hold on. Does this basically imply that he winds up marrying Padme so quickly to fill the female void? Or--I don't even know.
After capturing Obi-Wan, Dooku tells him the entire truth about Sidious ruling the Republic. Obi-Wan doesn't believe him because he thinks the Jedi would know if that were true. Okay. Now, I'll grant that Dooku thinks Obi-Wan is going to die soon enough and won't be able to investigate his claims--but what in the world is Obi-Wan doing? And how about the entire Jedi council? I mean, at the end of the movie Obi-Wan tells them about it and they do agree that they should keep a close eye on the Senate. So with all of their resources, they can't figure out what's going on? How wise are these Jedi, exactly? How did they maintain peace for a thousand generations? In all that time, was there no one who had an evil plan even as difficult to unravel as Palpatine's? A plan that's not difficult to unravel at all, incidentally.
Even assuming a generation is as little as thirty years, that would mean the Republic has stood for thirty thousand years. Nobody ever thought of starting a war to funnel more power to themselves? Not once?
...moving on. Anakin casts a shadow that looks like a silhouette of Darth Vader for some kind of foreshadowing effect, but he does it when he's by himself. He does it before Padme comes out to be with him. If the entire premise of the movie is that he's falling to the dark side because he's falling in love, then shouldn't the Vader shadow only manifest itself when she's next to him?
Later on, there's a sequence on a conveyor belt. I want to stress this: not only are the characters fighting against a non-biological enemy, they're fighting against a non-sentient one. Even droids have some kind of self-awareness and intelligence. How is it remotely interesting to see characters struggle against an automated machine engine? I... I just don't get it.
There's no music for a large portion of the arena battle. But forget that. R2D2 is pulling C3PO's head around and his line is "This is such a drag." R2D2 reaches C3PO's body and his line is "I'm quite beside myself." Remember when his humor didn't have to resort to something as lowbrow as puns? Remember when he was funny because of his attitude?
Most of the twists in this movie are unpredictable in the worst way. Predictability doesn't have to be bad. When Han Solo claims that he won't be around to help in the final assault on the Death Star, we know he's lying and he'll be back because he's demonstrated in his character that he does care even though he says otherwise. But even though his return is predictable, it's awesome.
When Anakin goes insane and murderous, there's nothing leading up to it that makes it believable or credible. When Yoda shows up with a clone army, we have no reason to believe that he'd approve it since Mace Windu and Qui-Gon have made it expressly clear in this movie and the last that the Jedi aren't supposed to be war leaders. They don't want to fight for the Naboo, but now they're okay with using a clone army?
And that's not even getting into the ethics of having a clone army. I mean, these clones are living beings, right? They're not expendable like droids, I would think. They have midichlorians and they're a part of the Force, right? Like if they were all killed off, Yoda or Obi-Wan would sense a great disturbance in the Force, I think.
...hey, wait. Is that why the Jedi's ability to use the Force is diminished? Has the creation of the clones funneled Force energy away from the living beings who already existed so that the energy can inhabit other living beings who were created from nothing? You see, they don't mention the diminished Force abilities until Attack of the Clones.
...eh, whatever.
So here's another problem. The original Star Wars trilogy was filled with great lines like "Do or do not. There is no try" or "Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her" or "I love you / I know." Now we have lines like "You have interfered with our affairs for the last time" and "This party is over." Really? Can we have some wit back? How about some humor? Or creativity? Without those, the party really is over. It's no fun when everyone's a self-serious bureaucrat. The single greatest line in this entire prequel trilogy is Yoda telling kids that Obi-Wan's lost a planet, probably because it's the only intentionally-lighthearted line in any of the three films that isn't horrible. But even then, Yoda was funnier in The Empire Strikes Back when he went digging through Luke's supplies or smacking R2D2 with a cane.
Moving on to Revenge of the Sith. I don't have much to say about this, really, because after those other two I'm burned out.
Obi-Wan says in A New Hope that he doesn't remember ever owning a droid, but he's partners with R4 in Attack of the Clones and then he's still with R4 in Revenge, which takes place years later.
So in Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan and Anakin can't fly into the control ship because the shields are up. I guess this is a more advanced shield than the Gungan one in Phantom Menace or the Trade Federation one in Phantom Menace.
Obi-Wan and younger Anakin couldn't defeat Dooku combined in Attack. Obi-Wan and older Anakin don't immediately defeat Dooku in Revenge. Yoda couldn't get a clear advantage over him in Attack. So how exactly does Anakin by himself defeat Dooku in a brief fight? Especially when Dooku is mentioning that Anakin isn't using his advantages of fear and anger? If he can defeat Dooku so easily and quickly without tapping into the dark side, what does that say about the lack of strength in the dark side? I mean, when Luke briefly showed signs of giving in, he snapped and started dominating Darth Vader even though he'd just been getting tossed around before. I took that as a sign that there really was great strength in being evil, but I guess not since the guy who even Yoda couldn't defeat is beaten handily by Anakin.
So Anakin runs in to find Mace Windu has got Palpatine down. Palpatine's blasting away with lightning, but it's no good, and Mace Windu is about to finish him off. Anakin says he has to stand trial and that killing unarmed opponents is wrong, even though technically Palpatine can never be truly unarmed as long as he has his Force lightning.
Question: Is finishing off opponents the Jedi way, or at least acceptable to Jedi? If so, then what did Anakin do wrong by killing Dooku earlier in the movie? If not, then isn't Mace Windu falling to the dark side right in front of us?
Question: Seeing Palpatine shoot Force lightning means Anakin now knows that he and Obi-Wan risked their lives to fight General Grievous to save a guy who was already capable of protecting himself. And after they saved him, he didn't help them escape and just sort of stood back. This is the guy to trust can save Padme's life?
Question: How would it even be possible for Palpatine to stand trial, considering that he can use the Force? I mean, maybe for the lightning they could just make him wear rubber gloves, but if he uses the Force, the trial would need to have multiple Jedi surrounding him at all times just to make sure he doesn't throw things around the room and kill people. ...but if the trial did have multiple Jedi, then he could kill the judge (or whatever) by levitating a sharp pen through the judge's neck and nobody could prove that he did it instead of the other Jedi surrounding him. Or he could just manipulate the weak-minded people in the room and nobody would know that was him either. Sure seems like this dark side thing has a lot of advantages.
Iam Canadian
05-30-2011, 11:45 PM
So the other day, I went and saw Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. To give you an idea of where I'm coming from regarding these movies, I quite enjoyed the first film, but I found the other two to be overwrought and needlessly convoluted, especially the third one. So I appreciated that this instalment was allegedly going to dial back the scope a bit. While I feel On Stranger Tides does succeed in delivering a more coherent film, I still had a lot of problems with the narrative that limited my enjoyment of the movie.
1) The writers can't seem to decide who the protagonist is. Ostensibly, it's supposed to be Captain Jack Sparrow, but he doesn't really drive the plot at all. In fact, even though the series' other protagonists have been dropped entirely in favour of Jack (Will Turner and Elizabeth What's-Her-Name, the biggest dead weights in the films), Jack is arguably a less major player in this one than he was in the movies where he had to share the spotlight.
The problem is that the entire plot revolves around three groups trying to find the Fountain of Youth and use it for their own ends: the evil pirate Blackbeard and his crew, an English vessel led by returning character Captain Barbossa, and the Spanish Navy. However, Jack is just about the only character not interested in the journey's destination in the slightest. He's knocked about and dragged onto Blackbeard's ship anyway, but the writers have to come up with numerous reasons to keep him there, none of which are consistently present throughout the film. One is that Blackbeard has a voodoo doll of Jack which he obtained...somehow...and he's using it to inflict pain on Jack when he disobeys. However, Blackbeard literally tosses this device off a cliff halfway through the movie. The second justification is that Jack is concerned that Blackbeard might kill Angelica, a former fling of Jack's who also happens to be Blackbeard's daughter. However, it's established early on that Angelica seems to be the only person Blackbeard actually has any concern for, so that reason rings a bit hollow. The third is that Blackbeard has Jack's on-again, off-again ship, the Black Pearl, encased in a bottle, but this is barely brought up at all throughout the story.
So what we're basically left with is a story without a main character. Jack's nemesis Barbossa makes a bid for it, as he's out to get revenge on Blackbeard for taking the Black Pearl, but he gets very little screen-time before the climax and doesn't really develop as a character. He shows up, banters with Jack a little, kills Blackbeard and that's pretty much the extent of his arc in this movie. There's nobody really to root for or care about in this story, so it just comes across as a bunch of irrelevant events that happen that involve Jack Sparrow to an extent.
2) The pointless romance subplot deserves a mention of its own. One of the members of Blackbeard's crew is a Christian missionary, who Blackbeard keeps around for no adequately explained reason. Later on in the film, the characters have to capture a mermaid as part of the overly complicated ritual to get the fountain to work, and the missionary falls in love with the mermaid. This love story would be easier to take seriously if it hadn't been established earlier that mermaids are actually vicious carnivores who drag men to watery graves...and that it seems rather out of character for a devout Christian to fall in love with such a creature. However, my main issue with the love story is that it has nothing to do with the rest of the movie at all; Blackbeard gets what he needs from the mermaid well before the group reaches the fountain, yet our attention is frequently dragged away from the fountain to these two. It's quite telling that the resolution of this plotline has absolutely no effect on the main story or vice-versa. It was tacked-on, pointless, and adds nothing.
Although I do like how cynically this "love story" ends. She just grabs the dude and drags him to a presumably watery grave. At least, that's how I choose to interpret the events.
3) Finally, my biggest problem with this movie is that while it has fundamentally solid ideas, it never goes anywhere with them. We're told that Blackbeard is able to re-animate the dead and turn them into immortal slaves under his control; aside from the fact that precisely one of Blackbeard's crewmen is stated to be one of these creatures, this ability is never demonstrated. We're told that Blackbeard attacked the Black Pearl in an epic battle in which Barbossa was forced to amputate his own leg in order to escape; we don't see a second of it. Blackbeard shows that not only is his ship equipped with bloody flamethrowers, but he's able to control all the ropes and rigging remotely with his mind; he never uses this for anything more than intimidating his own crew. Angelica is introduced as a cunning trickster who is supposedly playing Jack and Blackbeard to advance her own goals; it's revealed less than halfway through the movie that her relationship with Blackbeard is completely genuine and spells out her motivations explicitly, ruining any sense of mystery or suspicion the character had. A prophecy states that Blackbeard will be killed by a one-legged man; not only is the killer's identity obvious from the get-go, but Blackbeard just gets stabbed in the back like a sucker. Time and again, this movie shows promise only to squander it entirely.
Overall, I felt that while this was an improvement over its fellow sequels, On Stranger Tides is still plagued with narrative issues and pales in comparison to the first movie. The story is at least more coherent this time around, so hopefully they work on constructing an interesting story the next time around.
Jiggy
05-31-2011, 02:25 PM
Pirates 3 might be the worst movie I've ever seen, so I'm sure not jumping in sequel waters, but in any case, Spoony's vlog with his brother on Pirates 4 is pretty much what you wrote stretched to 40 minutes. :octokittyrun
Jiggy
06-01-2011, 12:00 AM
So I'm still stuck on the notion of these Star Wars prequels and feel like ranting. The thing-to-ponder of the day is this: if Qui-Gon and Darth Maul can't use their lightsabers to disrupt shields in a generator room, that implies the shields are stronger than the lightsabers. If so, why don't lightsabers adapt the same technology as the shields?
And now for the main topic: at best you shouldn't start with the prequels; at worst, if you do start with them, they're incomprehensible.
The Jedi Mind Trick
So I've been thinking about what it would be like to see The Phantom Menace before any of the other three movies, and I came up with this: you might actually be able to go through the first movie without figuring out that the Jedi mind trick is a supernatural ability.
The first thing Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan do in the movie is fight droids with their lightsabers--a purely physical task. Qui-Gon also cuts through a door. We don't see them use telekinesis or anything, so the entire sequence on the Trade Federation ship gives us no reason to believe that Jedi Knights have any abilities beyond the physical.
Then they reach the Gungan city. Here Qui-Gon uses the Jedi mind trick--but it's not obvious what's going on because the Gungan king (or whatever he is) doesn't repeat his words verbatim. In A New Hope, Obi-Wan is called a "wizard" before we even meet him, then the stormtroopers repeat his exact words, giving the impression of hypnosis. It sets up our expectations and then demonstrates. But here the Gungan king responds in fairly natural sentences. For all we know, Qui-Gon's hand wave might just be some kind of foreign custom in this space world, like Spock's Vulcan sign thing.
Shortly afterward, Qui-Gon pushes droids. That's fine. That's good. Now we've established that he can push things without touching them. But that's still the extent of what we know Jedi can do other than fight with swords. Telekinesis and mind control are different powers, and we haven't established the limits or even the existence of the latter. And we won't. We move on to Watto and Qui-Gon tries the mind trick again--but it doesn't work. It doesn't work. So we had no crystal clear indication that it worked on the Gungans (again, assuming we didn't know the power existed from seeing the originals), then the next time it's tried it definitely doesn't work. And these are the great Jedi in their prime?
The Prophecy
The prophecy is constantly brought up throughout the prequels, but the concept behind it never appeared in the original trilogy. I guess I can believe that Obi-Wan and Yoda wouldn't tell Luke about the prophecy since their faith in it might have been shaken by the actions of Vader, but the point is that nothing in the original trilogy suggests that the Force is out of balance or needs to be restored. And Luke's bid to Vader that he sees good in him is just Luke heading out on a prayer. He's not doing it because he knows or has any reason to believe Vader is the chosen one who was going to destroy the Sith. In fact, the word "Sith" is never even mentioned in the original trilogy.
Talk about a disconnect. Someone who watched these movies for the first time in chronological order would be wondering what happened to these loose plot threads.
Training
Luke learned the ways of the Force in like three days. Maybe that's a bit rushed. I can concede that. Maybe he needed a Rocky montage or two, and (at very least) in The Empire Strikes Back he could have benefited from the story not constantly cutting back to Leia and Han and demonstrating that not much time has passed since we last saw them. That sort of thing can be left to the imagination so that we don't know the time scale, just like we don't know how long Luke has been helping the Rebels between A New Hope and Empire.
Even if it's rushed, though, it does establish a precedent that needs to be followed. Anakin trains for like fifteen years and the Jedi won't even call him a master. How does that work? Was Luke born with 11209349723 midichlorians, allowing him to progress faster? I mean, Leia started to develop telepathy at the end of Return and she didn't have any training, so maybe that's the explanation, but it still seems ridiculous.
I know that Luke's not at the level of a Jedi master either and that maybe the only reason he was able to beat Vader is that Vader never fully recovered from basically being killed by Obi-Wan. But the fact that Luke even got as far as he did in such a short time means that Anakin should have ascended to untold heights and abilities, especially since one of Luke's two mentors was the same as Anakin's mentor. Anakin also had the benefit of the entire Jedi council, assuming that means anything. Maybe it doesn't considering how fast they're killed, I don't know.
Space Battles
The only space battle in the prequels that might be considered remotely good is in Revenge of the Sith. Anakin flying into the ship in The Phantom Menace is over in mere moments and ends by accident. If there's a space battle in Attack of the Clones other than Jango chasing Obi-Wan, I don't remember it. That fight wasn't so hot either, probably because it was basically the same concept as the chase scene from earlier in the movie that took place on speeders.
As for Revenge of the Sith, so many ships are flying around that it's hard or impossible to keep track of it all--and the driving force of the entire scene revolves around lasers and explosions. But I will give credit for one scene: I'll give credit for Anakin using his ship's wing to smash droids. That's a little creative. Just a little.
Now let's think about the original trilogy.
In A New Hope, the space battle is the climax of the entire movie and has many great elements working in its favor.
1) While it does involve shooting things, it doesn't involve shooting indiscriminately and using raw power like other lesser movies might do. The Rebels are aiming for a specific target. This makes it clear to the audience when victory is or isn't achieved. They aren't just sitting around waiting for the entire ship to blow up or not blow up. Just one point.
2) They have to make several passes. The characters in the prequels don't have to make several passes at anything. They achieve what they want in one goal.
3) Luke has to use the Force. At no point in the prequels does anyone use the Force while in a ship, making everything more static and predictable.
4) They're under a time limit because the Death Star is about to fire, adding a sense of pressure and tension to the scene. In the prequel saga, the only tension comes from the possibility that absolutely everybody will be wiped out, but that would take so long to play out on screen that we subconsciously know it can't happen.
5) We've seen the capabilities of the Death Star and know what's at stake. An entire planet. What's at stake in The Phantom Menace? That Naboo will be blockaded for a little while longer until the Senate investigates the invasion? What's at stake in Attack? That Obi-Wan will die. What a big deal.
How about The Empire Strikes Back? You know what's great about the Hoth scene: the cables. Why are the cables great? Because nobody expects to see a technology that would work on Earth today play a major role in a sci-fi movie. It's so simple yet sensible that it's brilliant. The Rebels are taking down Goliath with slings and we love it. Here we also have Luke taking down a walker with his lightsaber and some kind of grenade.
How about Return of the Jedi? It's probably the least impressive of the three originals, but we do have Lando and his team out there stalling for time. They can't destroy the new Death Star until Han Solo's team shuts down the shield. They're struggling with their constraints and limitations. This is what we call "interesting."
There's no reason to get excited for anything in the prequel trilogy that involves a ship, which is why it's no good to start with those movies. A person might not be able to enjoy or appreciate the deeper and better ship battles in the later movies by the time they get there.
merit
06-06-2011, 11:32 PM
Pirates 3 might be the worst movie I've ever seen, so I'm sure not jumping in sequel waters, but in any case, Spoony's vlog with his brother on Pirates 4 is pretty much what you wrote stretched to 40 minutes. :octokittyrun
I didn't even bother to go see the movie XD
Jiggy, you've become so negative lately, buddy.
Go play some tennis and get laid. :D
Jiggy
06-09-2011, 03:25 AM
Well, if it seems that way, I think negativity might be a typical response to not being interested in the successor to my favorite system. In fact, that's probably the only reason I'm finally even looking into anime and movies again after six years of basically not caring about them at all.
I had a wonderful time revisiting the original Star Wars movies, though!
merit
06-12-2011, 10:49 AM
KUNGFU PANDA 2
Uhh it was alright. Obviously not as cool as the first one but still entertaining enough. I love the duck!!
I don't have much to say on it at all other than it is a passable movie to watch XD
Kerosene
07-09-2011, 08:47 PM
Just watched Angel's Egg.
The art in that movie was, in my opinion, amazing. There's also alot to interpret. The main characters hardly speak throughout the whole movie. Though there was no clear plot to it, it was very nice to watch.
I just finished my Harry Potter marathon!
My ratings are below:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (B)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (B)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (B)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (B)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (B)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (B)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (B)
--------------------
My favorites are 1,2,6, and 7.
merit
07-17-2011, 10:03 PM
going to watch part 2 tomorrow. it better be graphic!
Jiggy
07-18-2011, 12:22 PM
I'm leeching off someone's Netflix as of yesterday, so I'll be sure to dump walls of text all over in here soon enough.
:octokittyrun
Jiggy
07-20-2011, 01:54 AM
I admit I wasn't expecting much from Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, but I figured at least it would be watchable. After all, even if nothing else, a movie based on a fighting game is naturally going to have great fighting scenes, right?
Well... no. Or at least not until the end credits, when suddenly we get a burst of several 5-10-second fight clips that are somehow better than the rest of the entire movie combined. The main problem is the same as the one in every Dragonball movie ever, except somehow even worse, which is that everybody's worthless in a fight except Ryu.
Now, the saving grace in Dragonball movies (which are still bad, incidentally) is that at least the side characters get to take out henchmen who do pose some kind of threat and aren't total jokes. Yes, the henchmen villains in (for example) the Tree of Might movie don't stack up to Goku on a one-on-one basis, but if they all ganged up on him then they would tear him to pieces. But here in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, icons like Chun-Li and Ken are relegated to taking out two-bit thugs who can't do anything without the aid of a gun. Every time they go up against a real opponent, their attacks bounce off harmlessly and it reaches a point of absurdity.
And you know, I might even be okay with that if the real opponents were guys like Bison and Akuma--but oh no, we can't have that. Instead the real opponents are a non-canon cyborg controlled by another non-canon cyborg who manipulate Ryu into showing up at his organization by hiring a non-canon martial artist kid who gets himself in trouble. Speaking of said kid, he has more evenly-matched and interesting fights in the movie than poor Chun-Li or Ken, who are always stuck either crushing losers or being crushed themselves.
But the disappointing treatment of great characters and the pushing of lame one-offs isn't actually what sticks out to me the most. That would be the cinematography. I don't think I've ever appreciated until now that cinematography does in fact still exist and play a hugely important role even in an animated movie. Every other shot is so zoomed in on someone's face or eye or arm or butt (hi Chun-Li, welcome to objectification) or hand or whatever that the entire experience feels claustrophobic.
You know the joke at the beginning of Aladdin when the camera zooms in too close on the dealer? This is like that, except it's happening all the time. It constantly triggers my instinct to reach for the camera and zoom out myself, and I say this as someone who's only ever handled a camera about two times.
It really ruins the experience to have us constantly going to closeups of everyone and everything. Every time we're stuck on a closeup, we have no context of the surrounding environment or the intensity of the fight or anything like that. Maybe that would be alright--maybe, and I still doubt it--if the characters' expressions were decent at telling a story, but since the plot is about Ryu trying not to fall into evil, he's constantly these faces that I can only describe as stupid. He's always biting his lip or his eyes are wigging out and it looks so comical I can't take it seriously.
Also, Sakura can't even execute a flying kick against two-bit thugs, I'm pretty sure nobody ever said the word "Hadouken" (maybe just a dub error, but I wouldn't put it past the original considering how bad this movie is), Chun-Li never wears blue, and Rose is some kind of omniscient Phantom Stranger type of character who can stop time to telepathically spew expository dialogue at Ryu.
I just... I really don't get it. Does the movie has its moments? Eh, maybe a couple. Zangief does his spinning piledriver on Ryu. That's the only one I can remember, but there might have been others. But even if there were others, the problem is that even the games themselves (and I mean the games that were out by 2000, when this was released) arguably look better-choreographed and carry more emotion because they're not one-sided slaughters.
Let's just leave it at this: a lame movie in the long, long line of lame movies based on games.
Jiggy
07-21-2011, 12:56 AM
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is the worst thing ever made by a human. Except for the bagpipes.
But seriously, it's even worse than Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation. It's worse than Star Ocean EX. Oh man. Where do I even begin with this one? I don't know. I don't want to think or talk about it, so here was my running commentary:
22:25 Well, at least the intro music is setting a better mood than the entirety of Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation.
22:28 how did the shoryuken cut sagat's chest right open
22:29 So Ryu's power level is 3620, which is less than a third of Goku in the Saiyan Saga really early on in DBZ.
22:31 You know, putting characters like Chun-Li in a room with defense officers in suits while they talk about gathering street fighters does kind of put into context how silly the series is.
22:34 This one has such over-the-top music and such horrible voice acting that it kind of helps it out.
22:35 I call it the Tales of Legendia Effect, also known by other names like the Mega Man X6 Effect and the Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World Effect.
22:35 ...er, referring to the music, anyway.
22:36 oh please not another cyborg D:
22:38 Both in the SFA movie and in this one, the dub actors have said "Shoruken." Did they never play the games? :(
22:43 Ryu vs. Fei Long: not exactly what should be a priority to put in your Street Fighter movie.
22:45 I guess it's better than T. Hawk.
22:47 ...and then t. hawk comes in to fight ken
22:47 shouldn't have called it D:
22:48 Well, at least it was brief.
22:52 Why exactly would Ryu be an unperceptive klutz who bumps into a poor girl carrying milk?
23:03 oh geez D: there's an hour to go D:
23:11 gratuitous shower scene chun-li
23:12 You know, this movie started off kind of okay, but it's been going steadily downhill after the Sagat fight.
23:23 I'm not sure I want to understand the implications of Ken asking his girlfriend to marry him while he secretly remembers the time Ryu saved his life.
23:27 M. Bison can reverse the Hadouken. Overpowered confirmed.
23:30 why are there still 34 minutes to go D:
23:30 This is literally becoming painful.
23:31 It's like it's just a series of completely unconnected events set to hard rock music.
23:31 I mean... it's hard to pinpoint exactly what's so bad about this. With Alpha it was obvious that the problems were its cinematography and the introduction of lame non-canon characters no one wants to see.
23:32 But this is just boring instead of offensive, and that's harder to pin down. It's much more like a Metroid: Other M than a Mega Man X6.
23:32 Maybe it's the fact that the major organizations on both sides are constantly making preparations but never actually getting anywhere.
23:34 So Bison has stripped Ken naked and is using his psychic powers to replace his mental images of Ryu with mental images of himself.
23:34 And that's just a literal description.
23:35 There's honestly some serious homoerotic subtext with all these Ryu and Ken flashbacks, and I'm seriously not the person who usually "sees" that sort of thing.
23:35 Like I didn't see it at all with Rita and Estelle in Vesperia even though people claim it's right there in the open.
23:35 But man.
23:40 time for e. honda, ryu, and guile to face down shadowlaw
23:40 One of these is not like the others.
23:42 A Balrog fighting without gloves is no Balrog I want to see.
23:56 So Bison is so tough that he can only be defeated by the power of a double Hadouken.
23:56 What a broken villain. :3
23:56 Also, Guile effectively did nothing in this movie.
23:57 I mean, at least Chun-Li took out one of Bison's henchmen who would have posed a serious threat to Ryu and the others in the final battle, but Guile didn't do a thing. He just tried to go up against Bison and lost in like one minute.
23:58 Dhalsim, E. Honda, Fei Long, and basically everybody who wasn't T. Hawk had better fights than him.
23:58 oh wait there was also dee jay
23:58 I can't even figure out why he was in the movie to begin with.
00:00 So Ken's been searching for Ryu for like five years or whatever, finally meets up with him again, and then ditches him right afterward without having a fight or any kind of reunion.
00:00 and roll credits
00:00 yeah D:
00:01 is it really so hard to make a decent movie or show out of a game
00:02 Also, Cammy did nothing either.
Jiggy
07-21-2011, 01:08 AM
But in a twist ending, I actually figured out what was so wrong with Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie after watching Street Fighter Alpha: Generations, which doesn't completely suck.
Where Street Fighter Alpha: Generations succeeds is that it adds an emotional component to all of the battles. This was the major element lacking from Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, where Bison was fighting people because he's evil and he's evil because... who knows. It makes everything pointless when the villains have no motivation except being powerful and the heroes have no motivation except stopping the villains. The only characters who did have motivation were Chun-Li and Guile, but Chun-Li was taken out before getting to Bison and Guile was defeated by Bison in under a minute, which only leaves us with strong guys doing strong things--and that's boring. We need deeper meaning.
Generations gets this right. Akuma's motivation is that he believes tapping into the Dark Hadou is the only way to complete the path of martial arts that he's followed throughout his life; he believes that not using a "forbidden" power is a betrayal of everything he's learned. Ryu's motivation is to show him another way and defeat him in battle because he killed his master. It's a simple tale, but an effective one.
And Ryu's flaw is that he doesn't know if he possesses the power to defeat Akuma because he hasn't been training for as long as him. But when Sakura seeks him out and challenges him to a battle, then gets offended when he holds back his full power against her, he learns from her example and goes into a battle he doesn't know he can win.
This is how you do it. It's not a great "movie" (I hesitate to call it a movie when it's only about forty-two minutes, but that's the closest thing), but it's a competent one and it doesn't suck. It doesn't bore me. It doesn't make me recoil in disgust. It doesn't try to shut off my brain or make me stop thinking or anything like that--and just as important as what it doesn't do is what it does do, which is build my anticipation. I want to know if Akuma took the right path. I want to know if Ryu can stack up to him without dark powers. I want to see good vs. evil.
Street Fighter Alpha: Generations doesn't suck. It's not exactly accurate to the game (Ryu's character and appearance seem more like some generic male lead than the iconic Ryu we all know) and it's not amazing, to be certain, but it's a fine time-waster if you've got nothing better to do.
Jiggy
07-21-2011, 11:57 PM
Troll 2--the subject of the documentary Best Worst Movie, as well as a movie covered by RedLetterMedia's Half in the Bag (http://redlettermedia.com/half-in-the-bag/troll-2-and-best-worst-movie/)--is an intense and wonderful experience in seeing the hysterically bad.
Despite having reasonably decent special effects and even cinematography, every line of dialogue has such awful delivery (and every actor has that awful delivery for differing reasons), combined with an awful script to boot, and every action by every character is such hardcore nonsense that you'll flip between laughing out loud and staring with an open jaw--literally having the reaction that you think is an exaggerated reaction meant only for movies and TV shows--because your mind is having such difficulty trying to process whether any given scene has any meaning, purpose, or intent and, if so, what that meaning, purpose, or intent might be.
When it's not busy unintentionally trying to make you racist against white people by featuring the creepiest protagonists to ever hit film (and probably succeeding), it's trying to murder your mind by presenting the most incomprehensible, disharmonious schlock seen in front of a camera lens.
You have to see this movie. Don't worry, it won't bore you--it can't. It's impossible for this movie to bore you. You have to see it so that you can not believe it, during every live moment.
Jiggy
07-22-2011, 01:54 AM
Well, The Last Airbender wasn't the worst thing I've seen or even close. It was pretty highly mediocre, actually, and most of the things wrong with it have more to do with pacing than anything else--it really seems like it should have been a three-hour movie since they just sort of rush along and skip over whole weeks at a time.
I don't have much to say about it, honestly. As far as watching a bunch of special effects fly around, it was fine at doing that, I guess. It was sure a lot better than Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie and Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation. (Not nearly as good as Street Fighter Alpha: Generations, though.) It didn't have any kind of emotional component because of the pacing, but I didn't hate it, so whatever.
Mostly I just want to point out that this kind of movie is at my baseline for mediocrity, so if you watched this movie and outright hated it then I hope you really take it to heart when I say that something actually sucks. This was a decent 4/10 or so.
Jiggy
07-23-2011, 01:24 PM
Iron Man 2... Um, probably better than the first one. I don't have many if any negative things to say about it, so there we go.
Batman: Under The Red Hood is a great encapsulation of Batman, Nightwing, Joker, Ra's Al Ghul, and Red Hood as characters. Like the drama, the ideas, the animation, and generally everything. I did have a slightly difficult time getting used to the portrayal of Joker here since he's sort of like a fusion or midway point between Mark Hamill Joker (way over the top) and Heath Ledger Joker (dead serious), but I warmed up to him in the long run. Not much I can say without spoiling anything, assuming there's anyone who doesn't already know what's going on, but this was probably my favorite of the movies mentioned in this post.
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse perfectly demonstrates why Superman sucks so much. Don't get me wrong, the movie as a whole is good (and incidentally, Supergirl is the central character despite the title), but wow does he as an individual ever suck. You see this because Wonder Woman and Supergirl are involved in the movie and they reveal Superman for what he isn't. He has no style. He has no technique. He has no creativity. If Superman was a boxer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_vs._Muhammad_Ali), he'd throw nothing but straight punches at the face because he relies purely on power. He'll just fly right at his opponents and that's the extent of his ability.
But Wonder Woman and Supergirl have power and they have adaptability. Wonder Woman is trained in however many martial arts as an Amazon, and Supergirl flips around all over the place with (oddly enough) even more acrobatic moves than Wonder Woman. What's Superman do? He throws punches. Supergirl throws a punch and follows it up with a somersault kick. Wonder Woman throws a punch and follows it up with a leg sweep. This is what we call involving.
I mean, geez, how is it that Superman's been in the hero business for so long without getting any kind of training in fighting from any of the Justice League members? When characters like Mongul or Darkseid or even Lobo show up, he can't do anything except trade punches with them and hope he eventually wins out. He probably can't even beat Wonder Woman herself unless he remembers to use his ice breath. You'd think that at some point someone would take him aside and teach him a few things about fighting--or even that he'd ask to learn himself for the sake of better protecting the world.
...alright, enough about Superman. The movie was a pretty good one. It does kind of pull a couple too many time skips and leave you to fill in the blanks with the help of summarizing dialogue, but when it's not doing that and it's staying in the present so we can learn about Supergirl and see her interact with the others, we're good. For a movie with "Superman & Batman" in the title, we actually have a very high concentration of female characters on tap--Superman, Batman, and Darkseid are the only males and meanwhile we have Supergirl, Wonder Woman, the entire Amazon island (focus on Harbinger and Artemis), Granny Goodness, four Furies, and Barda. In fact, Batman doesn't even do much. It's a different touch to be sure, but hey, after umpteen years of nothing but Batman and Superman in DC movies (yeah, I know there's a Green Lantern movie now), I appreciate this.
Jiggy
07-24-2011, 10:05 PM
Superman: Doomsday... You know, I'll accept this because 1) Superman does wind up pulling out some more unusual moves for his arsenal, and 2) he doesn't actually do much fighting. It's more of a psychological exploration of the side characters in his corner of the universe, and I can live with that just fine.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths features Flash, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter in descending order of greatness, automatically making it better than several lower-tier DC stories. Parallel Earths have kind of been beaten to death, but as far as popcorn movies go this was still fine. I will say, though, that I can't help but get a laugh out of Owlman every time they show a closeup of his face. He's supposed to be evil and he is, but his mask makes him look so sympathetic and weird and I don't think that's intended.
Jiggy
09-01-2011, 01:54 AM
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George Lucas, ruining not just Return of the Jedi but also any RedLetterMedia review segments that reference this scene or changes to the original trilogy. And also that one starting joke in the AVGN Back to the Future trilogy video since now it's incomplete.
Tangled: B-
The Big Lebowski: A-
Taken: B+
The Damned United: B
Thor: B
Ocean's Twelve: C+
Ocean's Thirteen: C+
Snatch: B
Jiggy
10-08-2011, 12:51 PM
Watched Rango and Megamind a couple days ago. I don't know why. Apparently I was in the mood for computer-animated movies.
Really liked them both. Megamind much moreso, but Rango was a fun Western. Oddly adult at times like with a comment about Rango's mother getting around--which isn't a knock against it, but just something I didn't expect in a movie about a chameleon walking into an Old West town and propping himself up as a hero. It was well-structured and generally well-executed: a lot of thought was put into the story pacing and the reveals so they could keep things moving along in episodic sequences while not losing sight of the bigger picture, even when that bigger picture was obscured from the point of view of all the in-universe characters.
I thought a couple of the jokes here and there fell flat. The one that immediately comes to mind is Rango's belt falling off repeatedly. Arguably an entire sequence fell flat, that being when the song Rise of the Valkyries started playing--it kind of ruined the entire scene for me by being too over-the-top for a glorified cartoon. Still a good movie overall, though. I won't tell you to go out of your way to see it, but if you're bored and have nothing better to do, go for it.
I will tell you to go out of your way to see Megamind, especially if you haven't seen any trailers or read anything about it. The ultimate problem of trying to explain to you why it's so good is that I'd have to ruin absolutely everything, which I'm sure trailers did--but it's been about a year since the movie came out, so maybe you've forgotten what they showed. Hopefully so. Whatever the case, it's a superhero movie with more emotional punch than physical punch. And it has physical punch, yes, and I even love all the gadget ideas and thought they were employed expertly with a strong pacing structure that left all sorts of things dangling in the back of my mind Chekhov's Gun-style to be used later. As great as that is, though, it's not at the center of what makes the movie good. It's funny, exciting, or dramatic when it needs to be, and on cue every time, and I really recommend it.
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