Rorschach Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Kind of like The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Feels like a prolonged set-up instead of an actual film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 (edited) Horror House 2 The Following Quote Says It All The house now has another power to move as two people have been taken over by the devil in that house, so it goes round the area and firstly kills the locals and the police who kept thinking Lisa was a drunken idiot before killing the whole town of Killsville. Edited July 28, 2014 by 4815162342 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChD Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 This actually looks really cool. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorschach Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 This actually looks really cool. THAT looks AWESOME!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 Yzma If Maleficent Took a Ride Through Willy Wonka's LSD Tunnel Well, this was an interesting movie. A re-imagined origin story for the villainess of The Emperor's New Groove, Yzma tells the story of a young girl who fell in love first for a man and then for his power and her attempts at revenge and domination to control it all, all through the lens of an absurdist dark comedy from the viewpoint of her half-wit assistant. This is not a film for the kids, not because it is too dark or too violent, but because it's too Lord & Miller, meaning too absurd and irreverent and chaos-fueled for the kids to really get it aside from the bits they understand enough to laugh at. This should probably result in a bit of a damper on its box office prospects since it's also a bit too puffy and earnestly Disney to draw too heavily from the older demo alone. The story itself is interesting, though it does heavily drag by devoting a lot of the second act to the college adventures of Kronk. While they do pay off a bit in the end with his Pacha friendship rekindled, it's still a lot of time and writing and effort devoted to scenes that kinda stop the actual purpose of the film dead in its tracks. They're funny, but not all that suited to the story the movie intended to tell from its marketing. That said, Tilda Swinton and Chris Pratt nail their respective roles, providing a lot of comic bright spots and helping keep the movie afloat when it threatens to sink and collapse under its own stuffed ambition and padding. All of this makes the screwball abridged remake of Emperor's New Groove in the third act a bit over-the-top and unnecessary for the story, since we spend nearly 90 minutes detailing Yzma's heartbreak and villainess rise and Kronk's comic incompetence meandering its way into her good graces. I think the film might have been better served if it had simply been a ENG prequel since it rushes through the final act with blitzkrieg speed and the payoffs come almost too quick to register. That, or if the film had substantially tightened up the first two acts into a single half and beefed up the ENG remake material more. Still, it's an amusing and sharp movie when it's on point. Plus Yzma spending the rest of her life as a crotchety old cat is funny. B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 RE Last Six: Glad that you liked it overall. I realize there's a lot of sequel hooking though; something I tried to shy away from initially, but then I realized my idea for the third and final movie needed set-up so that way it wouldn't feel like an ass-pull in the third movie. Unfortunately, it hurt this one, I guess. Also, don't worry, I swear there will be absolutely no gender-bending in the third movie RE Yzma: Another movie I'm glad you liked overall. Personally though, I think the Kronk scenes are necessary for the movie, since Kronk is the stealth protagonist of the movie. After all, the climax of the movie does depend on him finally becoming his own man and not just Yzma's help. Overall, I'm really proud of Yzma; it was a lot of fun to write and I enjoyed writing a love letter to one of my favorite animated movies ever. I'm glad it's getting overall good reviews, despite the fact that I definitely was a bit overambitious with the film. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 MST3K: Thomas the Tank Engine I have never watched Mystery Science Theater 3000, so basically for me this was like a theatrical version of RiffTrax. Thomas the Tank Engine is abominably bad and the people of MST3K do a solid job riffing on its plethora of faults. It's pretty funny but ultimately a bit slight. It almost makes the source movie bearable. B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 Train 38 You Can Change Your Ticket Anytime You Like, But You Can Never Leave Ok, I was substantially underwhelmed by this movie, which is a shame because for the first half or so I was getting into it quite a bit. There's a lot of atmosphere and tension as things on the train get more and more strange and bizarre and other-worldly, with Olivia trying to process everything without going into full panic attack mode. But then the second half just takes a sudden plunge into generic chase and action with an occasional sprinkle of "Oooh! Mystery and oddities!" It's mostly just Olivia and a few others running around dodging magic bullets fired from apparently invisible gun emplacements throughout the whole train while Peter and Kristen do their utmost to talk about the situation and the background and the explanations without actually telling us anything remotely helpful or enlightening. In short, I think the creative staff behind the film thought of a cool idea and had some fun initially exploring it, but then ran into a wall about where to go next, so they defaulted to the standard conspiracy thriller chase and shooting and foggy mysterious evil mastermind whose reasons and resources are utterly nebulous. There was definitely a lot of angles the film could have taken once it had done its setup, but it chooses the least interesting one and kinda executes it with a shrug, as demonstrated by the eventual incompetence of its antagonist (Peter somehow manages to shoot himself with the invisible gun bullet placements in the train he controls instead of absolutely anything else at all). And then the buildup and reveal of the final twist in that Olivia is dead and the whole thing was presumably a lucid hallucination/flash in the infinite stretch of seconds she was flatlining just didn't do it for me at all, since there is zero foundation for it until well into the final act and it doesn't tie into any thematic or narrative device other than "let's shock the audience with this." Note: I have seen Spaghetti's explanation of things in Blank's review thread and I don't think the film does a good job at establishing those themes and ideas at all. Especially since the film has scenes showing Peter with his own agency actively preventing any self-realization or understanding on the part of Olivia when in fact for Spaghetti's explanation to hold water Peter would be actively assisting Olivia and the other passengers in facing their past and realizing their true nature rather than threatening death and being an obstructive ass to her and his underling Kristen. But not as bad as The Academy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezen Baklattan Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 (edited) I was in a real "fuck this, I need to get it done" mode when I wrote the ending, so I'm not surprised with some of its criticism. Hell, I'm shocked that Blankments like it as much as he did. I really needed to spend more time on it, which kind of pisses me off, as I had great potential for this. Come to think of it, I always have good concepts, but I find it difficult to find the right place to take them. Edited July 30, 2014 by 50 Shades of Spaghetti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 Dauntless So That Explains Why Rukaio Dragged Nicholas Meyer Out of Two Decades of Retirement Dauntless is a strange mix between Star Trek, Master & Commander, and a western about a wagon train in Indian territory desperately trying to reach the nearest fort. It's a mix that works pretty darn well, melding stirring and visually delightful space combat with the intrigue and politics of military discipline and chain of command. It's not all great, as the film does have a couple sticking points. First, the film lays a decent amount of foundation for Rione to end up as a traitor for the Syndics or a coup instigator, but then ultimately decides to pass on all of it and make her a damsel in distress in Act 3 for Geary to worry about saving. It definitely could have been cleaned up a bit or executed differently. The other is that the film never quite sticks the landing on its premise. It's passable enough to explain the first act plot points without too much eyebrow-raising, but after that it only feels right when we're having the ship captains politick about fleet decisions and customs and not so much about Geary's internal pressures and Desjani's fangirling. Another issue is that the Syndics remain totally anonymous Baddies with no character or imposingness to them at all. They're just out there, a plot device for when the fleet needs to be in trouble. That said, Clive Owen is very good as the dauntless and spirited Black Jack Geary who does his best to live up to his legend even as he goes out of his way to tear the legend down. His exasperation at how military tactics and procedures have changed over a century is very well played. His confrontations with Frank Grillo are a highlight of the film and it would have been nice if he had some opposite number in the Syndic fleet to spar against. In short, Dauntless is very successful as a war/space nautical adventure/thriller, but less so when it tries to engage in personal drama or go below the surface of its content. It definitely had a lot more potential than what we ended up with, but what we got is still a heck of a ride. B+ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rukaio101 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Good review for Dauntless. The downplayed presence of the Syndics is more due to me following the book series where the Syndic fleet, aside from a few notable and brief exceptions is mostly anonymous. Admittedly, there's a lot of exploration of the Syndic civilian populace and how they begin to change over time, but that comes later in the book series and I felt the development wouldn't have worked nearly as well with the shorter running-time of Dauntless. I'm likely going to address that in the sequel though, assuming Dauntless does well enough. As for turning Rione into a third act damsel, yeah I admit I'm completely to blame for that. The Syndic infiltration wasn't in the original novel. I added it to spice up the action and add some variety outside of spaceship battles. And, to add some personal risk, I had to put an established character in direct danger. And since Geary and Desjani were unlikely to leave the bridge when heading into battle, that just left Rione. I did try to avoid the worst of it though, by having Desjani (a fellow woman) go rescue her instead of Geary and by giving Rione some combat expertise of her own but I can see why it would've rubbed the wrong way. As for the 'foundation for Rione being a traitor', I'll admit I hadn't thought about that, but it's a good point. The first conversation between Geary and Rione was admittedly less intended to show Rione as untrustworthy and more Geary as too trusting, especially among his own side (something that would eventually climax in Numos's betrayal) as well as to highlight the difference between a military mind (like Geary's) and a political mind (like Rione's). But now I think about it, with Rione's loyalties being more in the grey, I really should've given her a 'red herring' moment or something so that that build-up need not go to waste. Thanks for the constructive crit though. I'll have to make sure to work on that on the sequel (if it happens). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 Good points. Will be doing May predictions tonight so we'll see.Kansas review this evening and then chronological reviews of remaining Q2 films. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Good points. Will be doing May predictions tonight so we'll see.Kansas review this evening and then chronological reviews of remaining Q2 films. I see the second Numbers Takedown in progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Kansas The Most Divisive Film of the Year So Far So, Kansas. I am going to focus on some assorted points here and there, in part responding to some of what Blank and Spaghetti said, as well as Alpha's counters to those reviews. The short version: I was not a fan. The somewhat longer version below: [*]Alpha said the film was modeled after Jesus Camp, but in a fictional format. This makes sense, but it also makes the film extremely polarized and closed-minded by presenting the most narrow of viewpoints in the most narrow of narrative depictions. Blank and Rukaio presented real-life examples of religious camps that were essentially mild at most, yet the film seems structured to present this particular camp as the model for what is happening in the South and Midwest. That's the main thematic issue with the film, in that instead of presenting itself as a cautionary tale about a single camp, it uses the single camp as a straw man for an entire society with the only meaningful dissenter being a guy on the radio who has no interaction with us other than being a voice of the director saying "This is bad guys." There's no nuance or attempt at pushing back by anyone of actual consequence in the story. [*]Which makes it very odd that Darren Aronofsky directed this. First, in real life he directed Noah, where while he made decisions that were controversial in the religious narrative, he still wound up telling an ultimately affirming adaptation of the Biblical story. Additionally, his films are nothing if not layered, so it makes it kinda bizarre that he would direct a film that contradicts his own cinematic stance and a film that is so unsubtle and so flat. I think Alpha liked the success he got with Resonance so he wanted to use Aronofsky again. Which is fair, but this is still a point that deserves some consideration when we talk about the suitability of directors to the material. [*]Spaghetti's point about the film working better as a dark comedy I think misses Alpha's intent. A dark comedy would have been appropriate if Alpha wanted to show the ridiculousness or incompetence of the camps. But Alpha wanted to show how scary the camp and its implications was, so playing it straight was the right way to go. But as I said, the film played it so straight and flat and simple it just doesn't fly. [*]Spaghetti also said that Tilda and Holly Hunter should have been switched. No way. Tilda's good, but she is not nearly as well suited to playing a Southern/Heartland religious fanatic like Hunter is, who has the swagger, accent, and cheery yet imposing personality for it already inherent to her being. So I applaud the casting choice, even if Hunter's character is completely paper-thin. [*]I agree with Blank that the Harry Potter bit is out-of-place and time-wasting. 5 years ago it would have been a lot more relevant, but it does seem forced here just to remind audiences of a kinda stupid thing. [*]There's a Christian flag and a Christian pledge? I kinda just shrugged and wondered if it was just made up or if it got invented somewhere by someone. [*]Narratively, the film spends a lot of time on the setup and early days of the camp, but then just blazes through 4 of the 7 days shown at the camp. We get almost no development for any of the kids, and the couple boys who Jacob talks to are never even given names. But worse is how the film spends a decent amount of time building up the character of Rachel and gives her a decent enough scene with Jacob in Day 2, but then completely forgets about her for essentially the rest of the movie. The film needed to show her more, show her interacting with Jacob and maybe his friendship with her causing his shift as opposed to the most crude depiction of fast peer pressure by counselors and speakers. I think this is the biggest flaw of the film, in that we really get no good look at anyone else in the camp and they're all as much cardboard cutouts of characters as the Sam Brownback cardboard cutout. If you are going to make a film about a camp, actually make the film about the camp and its inhabitants and their interactions, not just short occasional scenes in between the thematic meat you want to throw at the audience. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezen Baklattan Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Okay, maybe I'm biased by my love for Tilda. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 Chuck Norris and Liam Neeson vs. the Underworld It's enjoyable and crazy like all movies in this series, but it's not quite as clever as it thinks it is and some of the over-stuffing just doesn't quite work. Plus, no appearance by Jesus is a huge missed opportunity. Still, it fits right into the zany insanity of the other outings and is a fun ride. BI am Malala A competent and moving documentary that focuses a bit too much on the story without using it to springboard into the broader political and societal picture. BMe & My Shadow An inventive film that has a lot of fun with its premise. The voice acting choices are pretty good and the use of multiple animation styles in a scene definitely gets marks for originality. B+Polybius The film has a 18-year old playing someone in his 30s. That's the amount of care, intelligence, and quality to expect from this movie. CThe Fifth Wave One issue with the film is the way it handles the narrative switches. It may be true to how the book handles the story, but especially in the beginning of the film it really would have been better if some of the exposition and backstory narration was eliminated and instead we got earlier glimpses of Ben and others. For example Sammy is shown being taken away in a flashback, and it's about a half-hour later that we actually see Sammy in events immediately following the flashback. I think the writers simply wrote the script to mirror the novel pages without thinking about how to best adapt the timeline of events. Aside from that, the film is pretty good, though the final act is definitely presented in a rushed manner with odd editing and presentation.Portentous Dealings This film started out pretty well with a slow build and careful set-up, but then about halfway through the film the story decides to become as simple and uninteresting as possible with the kidnapping followed by the Rambo-style buddy rescue op followed by a twist worthy of a few eyerolls. It's half a very good film and half a blah film. B- 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezen Baklattan Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Thanks for the strong M&MS review, Numbers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Awesome Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Yeah I shouldn't have rushed PD and just waited till 3rd quarter. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorschach Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I hope you liked Into The Dead. If not, I completely understand why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Don't see how it's overstuffed compared to the other movies, but thanks! Jesus may show up soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
