Crunching the Numbers: Year Nine (1st Quarter Reviews)

[Alpha]

This is funny seeing how you're quite honestly the main reason it didn't get a BP nom

 

I'd like to forget my forum persona pre-Year 7.   

 

I could make a pile of Alpha-isms out of the dumb things I said in the past. 

[Blankments]

I'd like to forget my forum persona pre-Year 7.   

 

I could make a pile of Alpha-isms out of the dumb things I said in the past. 

I have to say though, Oscar nomination tracking is probably the dumbest of them all

[Alpha]

And it's not like Expedecade was slammed by everybody; Numbers was the only one who outright hated it. It actually got placed in many people's Top 10 lists.

[Alpha]

I have to say though, Oscar nomination tracking is probably the dumbest of them all

 

This is my personal favorite, from the Year 6 Oscar Ceremony. 

 

Im playing minecraft so this better be quick.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Alpha

[Blankments]

This is my personal favorite, from the Year 6 Oscar Ceremony. 

That's so sad, seeing how the Year 6 Oscar Ceremony is the best this game has ever seen 

[4815162342]

The Adventures of Scrooge McDuck

 

This was a very long read, mostly because of the amount of detail in the summary to specific conversations. My general practice has been to avoid writing dialogue or quotes unless it is to accentuate a point or it's a very important line. I think a good amount of these conversations could have been condensed into short summaries. It's mainly a nit I'm picking, it doesn't really have any effect on my overall opinion.

 

As for the film itself, it proceeds very well in the first two acts with good setup of the various main, supporting, and antagonistic characters, followed by lots of journeys and peril and adventure. The film slogs up a little in the third act with the seven trials, showing each and every one. The first few are interesting but it starts to feel repetitive by the end of the segment, so probably they should have cut out at least a couple of the seven. My only other criticism of note is that the role of El Capitan feels shoehorned in and amounts to little if nothing. But once we get through the Seven Slow Trials, the third act picks up the pace again with lots of mayhem and double-crosses and dilemmas. All in all, it's a fun adventure and rollicking ride.

 

B+

[cookie]

The seven trials part I stole almost directly from a comic called "The Treasure of the Ten Avatars" (which I listed as a reference in the original post), though in the original comic they were much more central to the story (and less repetitive) and tied to actual Hindu religion whereas in my film it's just an excuse to have some action pre-climax. It's not meant to be an especially long sequence though, I went over them in brief for in my head it would've been a ten-minute sequence at the very most.

 

I realized early on that El Capitan wouldn't have much to do in the story but I kept him on just for entertainment's sake. I acknowledge the film could've worked just fine with just Glomgold as the antagonist (plus the Beagle Boys for comic relief) since the central conflict is between him and Scrooge. The sequel is only going to have one villain as a result.

 

Regarding the writing I can see why it can be a bit bothersome, so I'll try to keep it in moderation in future films.

 

Very happy about the overall consensus though. I feared it was going to be more negative since I had to redo the whole third act in the last hour.

Edited September 29, 2014 by C00k13

[4815162342]

Minnie's Summer Vacation

 

It's a fun and pleasant family adventure that has enough sweetness, humor, and peril to keep things going without a hitch. Nothing special, but a good time at the theater for parents and kids.

 

B-/B


OMG Sharkz!

 

No thank you.

 

F

Vector

It possesses a lot of kinetic energy and zoom, but almost 2 hours of parkour around rooftops with no meat or emotion to the story gets old pretty fast.

 

C

[Alpha]

OMG Sharkz!

Yes, please.

A++

[Rorschach]

I am a for thinking that movie is crap Alpha!!! Edited October 3, 2014 by Rorschach

[4815162342]

Death Note: Eyes of a God

 

An improvement over the first film, as the scope and stakes change from a teenage boy's somewhat petulant lashing out at a world he thinks is sick to a battle of wills and schemes between Light and L on a personal level. Ezra Miller is better as L this time around since the role in this film requires more introspective and personal behavior, making the character less of a cipher. The "Heat diner" scene between Light and L is the highlight of the movie. My only real fault with the film is Light's father being the one to stop the broadcast and get the tapes about 2 hours after having a serious heart attack.

 

A-


The Lucky Winner

Josh Gad was amusing and energetic, but the rest of the film is kinda rote and uninspired. Entertaining for some, dull for others.

C+


The Cloud

 

One good thing the film does is slowly take its time to build up the characters and slowly increase the tension before the shit hits the fan. That said, once the action starts the film slowly gets more and more cliche and incomprehensible. It remains fairly entertaining, but there is a good amount of missed potential and some things feel awkwardly tacked on, like the prologue scene with the aliens. We barely get any other insight into the alien perspective afterwards, so that scene feels off since it implies we'll have more alien scenes and characters.

 

C


Mickey After Walt

 

le sigh

 

D+

[4815162342]

The Sky Crawlers

 

The scenes of aerial combat are excellently done, with strong visuals, camerawork, staging, and editing. The story on the ground though is less successful, being fairly convoluted and messy as it tries to wrap the Kildren concept and the tangled personal relationships around the heads of the audience.

 

B-

 

Candle Cove

 

A premise that is interesting ends up as by-the-numbers boilerplate.

 

C


Urinetown

 

It's a hard film to get a good grasp on, since it quickly shifts back and forth between absurdism and really dark comedy. I think the film should have embraced more of the former and less of the latter, because in the end it's turns out kinda messy.

 

C+


Yellow Wallpaper

 

It's a very moody and atmospheric personal horror film, but it falls short in the climax by speeding into a half-baked confrontation, kind of ending abruptly, and then jumping to the end scene with no context or sense of grounding.

 

C+/B-

[4815162342]

The Disappearance of Ashley, Kansas

 

Two things:  First, this film screams being done in the style of a docudrama, instead of a half-baked attempt at a mystery movie told in a nested flashback. Second, the film fails as a mystery since it goes "ooh mystery" and then shows a sequence of events, most of which hidden and obfuscated, and then fails to provide any payoff.

 

Basically Rorschach, you need to find better material than these creepypastas or improve them to tell a full, good story.


Train to Paradise

 

There's a lot of good stuff, but there's no payoff. It kinda just stops.


Tyler Perry's Madea's Time Machine

 

Tyler Perry didn't make this movie. Some hack, probably David Henrie, assumed Tyler Perry's identity and made this stupid piece of crap that makes Tyler Perry movies seem like Citizen Kane.

[Rorschach]

I'm just saving the good stuff for latter. I'm currently burned out right now an am still adjusting to the high school life. I think once I start to finally get some free time, I'll start writing my passion projects like the CCU, A Trip to The Moon, and my three-part adaption of The Stand. Until then, no effort . Jk, I'll put some effort into my lesser films from now on.

[4815162342]

I will return to all reviews this weekend

[4815162342]

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – The Legacy of Nightmare Rarity

More of the same. By this point you either enjoy it or don't.


Tick Tock

Effective close-quarters murder thriller with some good jump scares and plot turns. Some parts fall into mediocre cliche but it's entertaining.

 

B-


Sailing Champion

A bit too cutesy at times and it falls into standard routines.

 

 

 

Now Q3 reviews are done.

 

 

I will take four Q4 requests. You cannot request your own film.

[rukaio101]

Hateful 8

[cookie]

Lord of the Flies

[Rorschach]

Attack on Titan

[Alpha]

Cybernetic 7