Archive for the ‘Films’ Category
Indiana Jones and the Curse of George Lucas
The trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull dropped just before the weekend, and I have to admit to being slightly underwhelmed.
Remember when the Star Wars: Episode 1 teaser-trailer hit? Go and check it out now if you don’t remember it. Or the follow up full trailer. Quite simply, it’s fabulous. It is, on some levels, better than the movie that followed. The special effects work, the performances don’t look too bad, it sounds like Star Wars, the music fits, and the last 25 seconds blasts through shot after shot, synched up with the visuals and leaving you (remember, this is back before you actually saw the final product) crying out for more.
I pick Star Wars as a point of comparison, since they’re both Lucasfilm properties, and it would nice if the influence rubbed off. But instead what we’ve been given is like some sort of hack job, knocked together by an intern let loose on the editing software for the first time. The first 36 seconds is spent showing us parts of previous films. If you’ve seen the previous films you know exactly who Indy is and are already excited, and if you haven’t, then this isn’t going to change your mind. Then follows another minute and a half or so of badly paced cuts, questionable CG, bad wigs, bad acting, bad jokes, and musical sync up so bad that about 10 seconds before the end of the trailer the music actually has to start again because it’s run out, before hurriedly having to cut back out again. And do we really need a CG Indiana Jones logo to finish it all?
I had hoped that Spielberg and Lucas would realise that it was in their best interests to keep the effects and sets as practical as possible, and not resort to digitally creating quite so much, but alas this doesn’t seem to be the case. Nobody would say the previous films lacked scale, but at least when cars/tanks/trunks faced off against each other in those, it didn’t look like the drop off the cliff beside them was painted in by an ILM artist.
If you want to check it yourself, here are some hi-res direct links to the international version (which doesn’t have the guns painted out by the MPAA) - Small, Medium, Bigger than your screen.
Futurama: Bender’s Big Score
Film Review
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471711/
Billy West (Primary Contributor). 20th Century Fox 2007, DVD, £13.19
I can see why this show has been cancelled before, it’s just so… average, which is guaranteed to split the audience. It’s not that this feature-length episode is bad, it’s just that there’s nothing about it that makes it particularly great either. There’s definitely a good story at it’s heart, and there are some funny moments, there just aren’t enough of them. So much so that it actually had trouble holding my attention for the full 90 minutes, which is never a good sign. Definitely one for the fans, but it’s unlikely to win over any new converts.
Say Anything
Film Review
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098258/
John Cusack (Primary Contributor). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 1989, DVD, £3.28
Disappointing John Cusack film. Everything moves far too slowly, John Mahoney’s character seems to dislike Cusack’s without a good reason, and despite good performances all around and a bit of pace pickup towards the end, it just lacks any proper sparkle.
In The Shadow Of The Moon
Film Review
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0925248/
John Young (Primary Contributor). Channel 4 DVD 2007, DVD, £5.52
“Man on the Moon, The Epic Journey of Apollo 11…. Sponsored by Kellogg’s” - introduction to 1969 CBS coverage of the first moon landing.
There are no shortage of documentaries, films and television shows about the Apollo missions and the journey to the moon, and I’ve seen a lot of them. I therefore wondered what this new documentary film was going to offer, as at this point I really thought I’d seen it all. It turns out that I was very wrong, because somewhere, perhaps in the back of a cupboard at NASA, the producers of this film found footage I’d never seen before. And it’s glorious. With rich, vivid colours, and often perfect camera work, there are shots that truly bring the majesty of space exploration to life.
But more than the footage, this is the real life stories of the astronauts that actually walked on the moon. With contributions from every mission, and with beautiful cinematography, they recount their memories of the highlight of their lives. With no narrating voice, and no interviews with other NASA personnel, these men get the opportunity to speak. Noticeably absent is Neil Armstrong, still living the life of the recluse, but whose colleagues speak very highly of him.
The film does a wonderful job of piecing together the footage and interviews into a narrative, especially of the Apollo 11 mission itself, and my only complaint is that there’s not more of it. It would be nice to see a documentary that took all the mission footage here, plus anything else that’s available, and pieced it all together into a true timeline of events.
When Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the moon for the first time, the whole world was watching. And they were watching together, united in the quest of exploration, and for that brief moment in time it didn’t matter what the colour of your skin was, or what country you were living in, or that the man up there in the space suit was American. He was human. You were human. And that meant you were the same.
This is a truly inspirational, even emotional documentary, which I would encourage everybody to see.
Star Trek VI: The Undisovered Country
Film Review
Rating: 4 out of 5.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102975/
William Shatner (Primary Contributor). Paramount Home Entertainment 1991, DVD, £5.65
A well written, well directed and dare I say it, well acted, science-fiction adventure story. There’s action, there’s intrigue, there’s dialogue taken from straight from Shakespeare, I’m always disappointed it doesn’t get more recognition as one of the great Star Trek movies.
The story is perfect, having the original crew bring peace between the Federation and the Klingons is a fitting send-off, especially with them being such sworn enemies for so long. And just like it often is when attempts at peace are made, there are those that don’t want it, which is the connection with reality the best Trek stories do so well.
There are a few things that could be better, such as Iman’s shape-shifter, or Kim Cattrall’s oddly stunted vulcan portrayal (she seems to have mixed up controlled emotions with slight retardation), but it’s still wildly better than every Trek movie that followed, and holds up very well in the CG generated movie world we live in today.
Shorter
As much of a surprise to you as it is to me, whatentertainment is now simply whatfilm. Well of course it’s not that much of a surprise to me, I’ve been planning it for a while, I just didn’t think that it was going to come together as quickly as it did this evening.
The change comes for four reasons really. 1) it’s a shorter, easier domain name, and that’s always a good thing for a website to have. b) It’s been a while since I reviewed anything that wasn’t a film, and that’s likely all I’m going to review again in the future. I don’t play enough games, I don’t read enough books, I never knew what to say about the albums I’ve heard and I never thought reviewing individual television episodes was the best use of my time. And fourthly, I’ve got some ideas for what I’d like to see the site expand into, should I find the motivation to sit down and write a new content management system for it.
There’s two new reviews up there, the first from me for a while, and I have kept a list of every film that I’ve seen over the past few months, so hopefully there will be more soon. Or hopefully I can persuade more people to contribute.
Superbad
Tremendous fun, and the better of the two Judd Apatow involved movies to come out this year (Knocked Up being the other). Jonah Hill takes a lot of credit for making it what it is, he’s just funny to look at, before he even says anything. But it’s the two cops that steal the show, writer Seth Rogen (the star of Knocked Up) and Bill Hader. Great music, grounded in reality (they all really could have gone to your school), and McLovin will become a film icon. IMDB. 4/5.
Way
No Way Out, starring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. It was on Sky, and I just recorded it on a whim because it sounded good from the description. A huge surprise, all the things you’re expecting from the start just never turn out the way you think they will, which was just great. But Costner is just so unwatchable and the 80’s synth soundtrack makes the thing feel so dated. Unlike American Psycho where the 80’s pop music was used for good, here it’s just laughably bad. Definitely the highlight of the film weekend though, although only just. 3/5.
Shoot
Continuing my run of average films this weekend, I go and see Shoot ’Em Up. I was looking forward to this one, because it sounded great from the description, but it’s really just a 90 minute Bugs Bunny cartoon, complete with carrots. And you know how in a Bugs Bunny cartoon there’s no real tension when Elmer Fudd or Wile E. Coyote is chasing him? Well that’s what it’s like here. It’s too easy for Clive Owen’s character, there’s never any real danger. But it sure looks good, is inventive, raises a smile or two, and the cast seem to enjoy hamming it up. It just could have been so much more. 2.5/5.
Oh yea, and I turned 28.
Psycho
Continuing Christian Bale weekend, American Psycho. I don’t know why people love this film so much, it’s so average. There are many great scenes, the best of which involve 80’s pop in some form or another. The Hip to Be Square scene is a total standout. But the end is a total cop out, not to mention hugely confusing. Most of the rest of the film is all over the place. Bale, is of course, excellent. But I wasn’t half bored by the end. 2.5/5 I think.
Yuma
3:10 To Yuma was hated by the other two members of the group that went to see it, but I kinda thought it was OK. The scenery was spectacular, and it’s really well shot, with good cowboy fun. And Christian Bale is always compelling. But the leader of the enemy gang was ridiculous and so obviously gay, and I guess it depends on whether or not you believe that Russell Crowe’s character would do what he does at the end. A hard one to score. 2.5/5 probably.
Ebert
We’ve started to hit that stage of the internet where storage is cheap enough and broadband is pervasive enough that it’s possible for people to store a whole crazy boatload of video online and push it out to whoever wants it. This means that the smart media companies are starting to realise that they can take all the thousands of hours of video they have sitting in vaults, digitise it, and get it online for easy access. The really smart media companies are doing this for free, paying for it through advertising.
Roger Ebert is somebody who seemed to understand what the Internet could do for him a long time ago, all his written reviews have been online for years, and his TV show, Ebert & Roeper, has long been available as a podcast, albeit an audio only one. Well now there’s The Balcony Archive, a collection of 5,000 movie reviews taken from both Siskel & Ebert and Ebert & Roeper TV shows. It sounds daft, but it is kinda cool to be able to go back and watch reviews of films that would be later seen as classics, like Die Hard or The Shawshank Redemption (both of which I’d link to, but I can’t work out how to do it through their flash interface). I’m sure the work to get all these online was long and painful, but it’s more than worth it, and the completist and archivist in me just likes the fact that all these things are just there, ready to be watched at the click of a mouse.
Fat
Run, Fat Boy, Run, genuinely better than expected British comedy. No real surprises, but some proper laughs, a great cast (Dylan Moran and Hank Azaria particularly) and written and directed with enough style to make you care whether or not he makes it in the end. 3.5/5.
Reservations
Oh god, we went to see No Reservations starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart, and I simply suggest that you don’t do the same. 1 out of 5.
Slevin
I knew nothing about this film going in, and it’s one of those where that’s a good thing. The film is Lucky Number Slevin starring Josh Hartnett, and it’s an excellent thriller with a couple of proper WTF moments among all it’s twists and turns. Great performances from all involved, and cleverly written. 3 1/2 out of 5.
Just
I’m surprised that I enjoyed Just Friends as much as I did, a romantic comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart. Reynolds physical comedy is great, especially the fights with his brother. Anna Faris does a great job as the spoiled wannabe pop star and throughout, the laughs just keep coming. 3 1/2 out of 5.
Knocked
Knocked Up is exactly what you expect from the trailers, a fun comedy with a good heart. It reminded me a lot of Judd Apatow’s last film, The 40 Year Old Virgin, although I have to say it’s not quite up to the same standard. I’m torn for a score, but I’m going to say 3 out of 5.
Ultimatum
Does the improbable by having the third part of a trilogy actually be better than the second, and even come close to beating the first. Never stops, brilliantly written, brilliantly acted, and no obvious CG anywhere in sight. 4 out of 5.
Simpsons
The Simpsons Movie. Far better than I expected it was going to be, and far funnier than any Simpsons episode I’ve seen in years. 3 1/2 out of 5.
Transformers
Exactly what I expected, great CG, silly plot, big explosions, confusing finale. It’s a total kids film, ten year olds will love it, but sometimes you need more than giant robots fighting for two hours. 2 1/2 out of 5.
