Jump to content

4815162342

Crunching the Numbers: Crazy Eights

Recommended Posts

Christmas Shopping

 

jingle-all-the-way-gif-10.gif

 

It's a slice-of-life look at a family working their way through some Christmas blues and family discordance, with a focus on matter-of-fact naturalism that has more focus on daily drudgery and the mini-aggressions and conflicts that can exasperate and frustrate relationships. Some of these interactions can be quite sharp and incisive, but a number do feel a bit of a slog as parts of the film feel more like filling time in-between family blowups.

 

So there's a bit this film could have done to be a bit more engaging, but it does gel together as it progresses and some of the final scenes are quite touching. It's no Christmas Classic, but I can see it making its way into the annual holiday watchlists for some people.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



The Last Airbender: The Boy in the Iceberg

 

Note: Some Spoilers from the film and animated series Season 1 are discussed

 

Spoiler

 

Over a decade ago, the infamous M. Night Shyamalan adaptation of the animated series took the wind of the franchise's sails with respect to a big-budget depiction on the big screen. Thus, the studio now has the dual burden of adapting the series well, but also cleansing the stink caused by past failures.

 

It is perhaps the latter motivation that drives this film a a bit more than anything else, for both good and mixed. The film has an issue in that in some areas it drastically overcorrects from the mistakes of its predecessor, with some sequences of the film faithfully re-creating aesthetic and tone but almost slavishly so, with pacing a result being sluggish in those parts (most notably the opening act of the movie which seems to replicate the contents of the first two animated episodes as much as possible). It is parts like this where the film could have been a little more streamlined, which is a funny thing, since the movie does take the streamlined approach in situations such as merging the Kyoshi Warriors into the Southern Air Temple visit in a good use of conservation of storytelling.

 

But perhaps where the film ends up whiffing the most is the interlude with Jet and the Freedom Fighters in the film's middle, which throws the pacing of the film to a halt with a detour that does not accomplish anything other than setting Jet up for an appearance in a sequel and finding a way to give Katara a waterbending scroll. I think if the film wanted an interlude, a much more impactful one with respect to the characters of this film would have been the Jeong Jeong arc, since it would have provided additional dimension to Zhao, and also set up Aang's reluctance/refusal to use fire.

 

There are a handful of other things I think could have been streamlined or punted to a future film so that more focus could have been placed on sharpening some key things, but those are more quibbles than anything else. For all of the fits and starts, the film really finds sure footing once Aang and company arrive at the Northern Water Tribe and we get a pretty faithful and engaging recreation of the final story arc of the season that nails the emotional beats it needs, even if again there's a bit of streamlining that could be done. In any event, now that the series is going to be splitting the seasons into two movies each, I think it'll have an easier time focusing on hammering the big elements.

 

And as for casting notes, most of the casting seems pretty spot on. Ryan Potter is several years too old for Zuko though which I think detracts a bit from the series ability to portray him as someone caught between boyhood and adulthood and struggling to find his place. Chow Yun-Fat as Iroh though is inspired casting. LOL at getting Jet Li for a brief spirit world flashback cameo.

 

 

 

0/10 No Cabbage Man

Edited by 4815162342
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And with that, reviews are now complete. I will now go radio silent and read and grade everything else in the year. My intention is to be finished reading everything by the end of the weekend or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



All reading is complete. So without further ado, here are the 5 honorable mentions for the year:

 

 

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

 

6ab77ed3bf4ed77851196c71e4fce329adcc57c0

 

FLOODBATH

 

 

2MwBWz.gif

 

HEARTMAN

 

 

tenor.gif

 

THE IDIOTS

 

 

77d01e5fb911b22a59348c666211bbb4_w200.gi

 

THE LOST EMPIRE

 

 

 

POKEMON: THE CASE OF THE ORANGE OUTRAGE

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because this is a Numbers Countdown, the Great Gif Game returns once again. 

 

Five movies in the #11-25 range will be picked at random, with a GIF hint. Guess the movie correctly and you get a point. Match it to the ranking spot and you get a second point.

 

This will all be part of the point accumulation process, where the highest point-scorer will get an exclusive pre-read.

 

Similarly, the owner of the #1 Film of the Year will get an exclusive pre-read. If the #1 Film Holder is the same person as the Top Point Scorer, then the #2 Film Holder would get the pre-read instead, etc.

 

 

Round 1 will start in a little bit

  • Like 1
  • Astonished 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



ROUND 1

 

The randomly selected films are #13, #16, #19, #21, and #25.

 

 

And here are the gif clues. Please note that the clues are not in the order of films listed above.

 

inception-gif.gif?w=346

 

tumblr_inline_p8qz0dSeSW1rez7d7_540.gif

 

giphy.gif

 

200w.gif?cid=82a1493bhp0knzmbxab1joojmo5

 

578800752392a2fed929a85a7a14d0c0.gif

Edited by 4815162342
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

First gif is The Last Airbender (#16)

 

Second gif is Castaways (#25)

 

Third gif is Olive's Hallowed Eve (#13)

 

Fourth gif is Mighty Fall (#19)

 

Fifth gif is Dirty Hands (#21)

Link to comment
Share on other sites



Inception gif - Dreams - #19

Ben Affleck gif - Castaways - #25

Moon gif - The Last Airbender - #13

Elephant gif - The Outback - #16

Aggressive typing gif - Up in the Sky - #21

Edited by SLAM!
Link to comment
Share on other sites



59 minutes ago, 4815162342 said:

ROUND 1

 

The randomly selected films are #13, #16, #19, #21, and #25.

 

 

And here are the gif clues. Please note that the clues are not in the order of films listed above.

 

inception-gif.gif?w=346

 

tumblr_inline_p8qz0dSeSW1rez7d7_540.gif

 

giphy.gif

 

200w.gif?cid=82a1493bhp0knzmbxab1joojmo5

 

578800752392a2fed929a85a7a14d0c0.gif

Dreams - 25

Castaways - 21

Airbender - 13

Mighty Fall - 16

Up in The Sky - 19

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



ROUND 1 RESULTS

 

Clue 1:  inception-gif.gif?w=346

 

Description: A gif from Inception, a movie about Dreams and implanting a narrative

 

The Movie:

Spoiler

#25 Dreams

 

A movie about taking your dreams and making them into a narrative

 

Edited by 4815162342
  • Like 4
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



Clue 2: tumblr_inline_p8qz0dSeSW1rez7d7_540.gif

 

Description: The main hero must put together a team of highly skilled individuals with some internal friction in order to stop an antagonist from finding a Macguffin that would put Earth at risk

 

The Movie:

 

Spoiler

 

#21 Mass Effect: Revelation

 

Where the main heroine must put together a team of highly skilled individuals with some internal friction in order to stop an antagonist from finding a Macguffin that would put the Galaxy at risk

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Astonished 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites





Clue 4: 200w.gif?cid=82a1493bhp0knzmbxab1joojmo5

 

Description: A gif of a young elephant as part of a herd of elephants, taken from the Planet Earth documentary

 

The Movie: 

 

Spoiler

 

#16 Walking with Dinosaurs

 

A documentary featuring a young sauropod as part of a larger herd of sauropods

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Disbelief 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites









The first gif is Olive's Hallowed Eve (#15)

 

The second gif is Static Shock: Frozen Summer (#24)

 

The third gif is Learning to Care (#11)

 

The fourth gif is Dirty Hands (#17)

 

The fifth gif is Mighty Fall (#20)

Edited by cookie
Link to comment
Share on other sites



Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Guidelines. Feel free to read our Privacy Policy as well.