TNTM: Wonder Woman

Just watched the new animated Wonder Woman with Sam, and I think we share the opinion on this one.  This movie is awful.

The animation is smooth, but that’s not too hard with the budget here.  The character designs fail to deliver.  The girls’ faces look weird with these giant lips, Steve Trevor looks like he’s forty, and Hades was this giant opulent fat dude.  I understand the want to develop a new take on a character, but I don’t think it really worked, especially with no explanation of why he looks that way.

The voices fit the characters okay, but the voice acting was poor.  Lots of flat tones throughout without much expression.  Things don’t have too be gee-whiz and yippee all the time, but I want a little more than a monotone.

The worst business is the characterizations – the script.  The first man the Amazons meet in this movie is a chauvanistic ass, there’s really not much likable about him.  I didn’t care for the Amazons either.  Everyone seems to be a stereotype.  Reading into it a little, I see that the writer was trying to put a new spin on stereotypes and use them in a unique way, but it fails.  The dialogue is terrible and unbelieveable, and it’s just awful.

The good bits are the fan service at the very end.  The rest seems like it was written by a 13 year old boy who wasn’t allowed to show any naked girls.  Otherwise, it might have failed even more.

The best part of the DVD is the look at the next movie – Green Lantern – which looks alright.  I like the voice actors.  It looks like there’s some decent GL fan service.  I don’t care for the character designs – they seem too busy.  But Michael Madsen is in it as Killowog, which is pretty damn cool.

Anyway, that’s that.

 

fan service at the end.

 

Percy Jackson: The Motion Picture

Wikipedia has some answers.  This series has great potential for movies, as do most books in this genre.  It’s a no-brainer or studio heads as there is already a solid fanbase.  Teachers and Librarians can also be recruited to have kids see the movie since it will hopefully get them to read, which is a good thing.  I’m looking forward to February 12, 2010.

Wait, February 12, 2010?  That’s less than a year away!  Wow, and with no cast yet.  That seems to me to be a bit of a problem, especially with the effects shots this flick is going to need to really pull itself off.  It may be a young people’s movie, but that’s no reason to skimp.  Chris Columbus (of Sorcerer’s Stone and Home Alone) is at the helm, so I think it will be pulled off fairly well.

However, I wonder how it will do as a movie series.  Hopefully the Lightning Thief will do well enough to spawn a sequel, and hopefully they don’t do a mashup up the first few books.  Formulas in movies usually work pretty well – look at the many, many James Bond movies.  This has a short list of possible films, too, with a beginning and end.  So that’s good.

I’m pretty excited to see it.  That may not come through, but I am.  I enjoy the books, despite their formulaic plots, and love to see print characters come to life.  Here’s to 2010.

 

TNTM: My Name is Bruce

The trailer.

Much to Sam’s dismay I found “My Name is Bruce” on the DVD shelf at Hastings.  Unaware that it existed on DVD already, happiness was mine.  Bruce Campbell is a guilty pleasure of mine and this flick starred Bruce, was produced partly by him, and directed by him.  A triumvirate I felt I would enjoy.  Ted Raimi was also involved with several parts played by him.

Why was this movie made?  Fun.  Obviously a love letter from Bruce to his loyal fans, it involves much of what we expect from him: cheesy one-liners, blood and gore, slapstick humor, and some weird special effects.  Bruce plays himself, but an alternate version.  This Bruce is a drunken jerk, obsessed with himself.  The real Bruce is a pretty down to earth guy who seems to enjoy his place in life.  I sense a bit of frustration in this movie that he still gets stuck with some real clunkers of some movies.  But for all the crap he’s been in, there are a few really decent pictures.

“My Name is Bruce” (MNIB)  accomplishes its mission of providing the loyal fans with a quintessential Bruce movie.  Part of me really enjoyed it.  Another part of me didn’t.  Mainly due to having to watch it with Sam who tries very hard to hide her distaste for bad movies, and partly because I’m somewhat tired of the shtick.  Acting is something I think Bruce is pretty good at.  I’ve seen many of his roles – from the classic “Why are you torturing me like this?” line in Evil Dead to his amazingly solid turn in Bubba Ho-Tep.  It sucks that he isn’t seen as better than B-List.

“MNIB” is almost a coming to terms with that status – more so than his Confessions book.  Despite the plethora of crap he’s been in, Bruce Campbell has an amazingly loyal fanbase.  This is a group of people who will see anything he’s been in.  I should know, I’ve seen “Maniac Cop.”  MNIB is the type of fan service you would never see from Oscar winners and fancy movie stars.  Campbell is someone the nerds of the world really enjoy watching because he’s somewhat one of us.  Vanity makes me think this flick is really his way of saying “You know what, guys?  I’m where I am because of you.  Thanks.”

It’s sounds hackneyed, but really only the true Bruce fans will probably enjoy “MNIB,” but enjoy it they will.  As a Bruce fan, it’s pretty solid stuff.

 

TNTM: Friday the 13th

(Possible spoilage ahead)

Last night I saw Friday the 13th.  Sad, yes, as I didn’t get to see it on Friday the 13th, however such things do little to really worry me.  I had my popcorn, I had my drink, and I had a large woman to my left.  The theatre was crowded.  Attempts was made to find a seat away from others so I could have double armrests, but this seemed to be the date event of Stillwater this weekend.  Movies tend to grab me in so I am unaware of my surroundings, so this didn’t matter much.  Once during a chase I sat back and was very aware of being in a movie theater which was somewhat surreal.  Pictures moving on a wall everyone is staring at seems surreal to me when I step back and watch this.

PREVIEW REVIEW:  The previews weren’t so great.  I had seen most of them with the exception of the new “Watchmen” trailer.  Which didn’t grab me too much as I’d already decided to view this flick.  Other previews mainly involved other horror offerings.  Apropos.  I do love previews.  Half an hour past the start time, the film proper began.

Opening credits are archaic and I don’t really care for them.  They are little more than “Yippee, look, I made a movie” tags for the people involved.  Working hard on a movie is a pretty cool thing, but we don’t always want to sit through them.  F13 has nice jump cut credits around the back story of the film:  Jason’s mother.  Much hoopla and gnashing of teeth no doubt has been made about this.  I liked it.  The original Friday had a pretty slick twist ending going for it, especially for newcomers expecting -knowing- Jason Voorhees as the perpetual villain.  However, I don’t think it would work out for a remake/tribute, which is what this is.  Many folks have said it’s the first 3 Fridays combined and remade, which isn’t very true at all.  It takes elements mainly from the first two movies for the first act, and then borrows from most of the others throughout the rest.  True, there’s a bit more from part 3, but only if you’re really looking.

The opening credits over, we start the movie proper and learn that Jason Voorhees has become a pot farmer.  This extra level to his character really pops.  I’m joking.  (And I have never understood people who think Jason is a complex character with rich portrayals on screen.  If the dude playing him can loom and has crazy eyes, he works.  This guy works).

I enjoyed the first act which all happens before the main title.  The audience in my theater shared a big laugh at this, something some people have derided as “artistic.”  I think it was funny, and maybe the filmmakers meant it that way.  Kind of a “Guess what, f-ers, the move hasn’t even started yet.” Which is fine, since the arguably most gruesome death has occured already.  And Jason doesn’t have his mask yet.

The actual pacing and set up of the movie – with this mini-movie beginning- worked well.  I had a great Friday the 13th buzz going throughout.  There is little messing around.  Jason is given a home in this flick, which is kind of cool, and it adds a dash of Texas Chainsaw Massacre I thought.  We get a little bit of Jason’s mental workings but not too much.  As I said before, he’s really just a ruthless killer.  There’s not  a lot of need to expound on that.

Let me just interject as well that I thought the music and soundtrack throughout worked really well.  There’s not a lot of the “ki ki ki – ma ma ma” business.  It’s a little fresher and works really well.

Other Pros:  The tail ending has a great homage to the original F13.  Just excellent. Jason doesn’t seem to travel at as impossible a speed in this movie, which I liked.  There’s plenty of titillation, much more than My Bloody Valentine.  There are a few very creative bits of suspense.  One or two things are clearly telegraphed, but somethings provide new twists on old standbys (at least for me).

Some Cons:  There’s a lack of really creative kills.  Yes, that’s a shocking thing to say, but its what you expect.  They violate that law of literary suspense:  If you show a woodchipper in the first act, by the end of the show someone must be tossed in.  The dialogue is lacking at certain parts.  Listening closely, I realized part of it is that drunk college kids can and do sound completely idiotic sometimes.  Other times, it seemed to force exposition.  Dependent entirely on your point of view, some of it is extremely on point with the characters speaking, and some of it is ludicrous.  Depends.  I would also love to see a scary movie where the black guy lives.  Quite frankly, this is a cliche that needs to get lost.  I am pretty tired of seeing a black guy in a scary movie and thinking “that guy is screwed.” No Kevin Bacon cameo (I kept hoping).

Mixed:  The movie has a brighter feel.  A lot of action takes place during the day.  This is another point of view item; I thought it made what was going on seem far creepier.  Assumptions are made that during the day, you’ll be safe.  Until the sun goes down, there’s nothing to worry about.  Not so here.  In this new F13 world, you can die anytime, anywhere.  People will certainly not like the daytime kills, however.  It’s easy to understand that opinion.

Overall, I really enjoyed it.  Too many people may go in looking for problems, but I thought it was good.  The high production value was nice to see, since that’s something every Friday movie has lacked.  That’s not the end all/be all, however, since Jason takes Manhattan had a pretty good looking production movie, but seemed like a comedic parody of previous Fridays.  This movie is certainly not as gritty as some of the earlier movies which I liked.  Why?  Because I could see what was going on.  And that’s one thing I really liked about this.  The original F13 is dark, not necessarily for mood.  I’m pretty sure its because they couldn’t afford lighting on the budget they were shooting with.  In the first ever F13 you can’t see a thing in many of the scenes.

Friday the 13th is pretty cool, though.  I really had fun watching it and it looked fun to make.  I could certainly expound upon minutia for a long time, but there’s blue coins that need collecting.

 

Coraline

I saw Coraline this weekend (in 3D) and had an excellent time.  I’ve said it before, but I love going to the movie theater.  Sitting in the dark with my popcorn and getting into a movie is a great experience.  The Dark Knight was probably the last film I saw that I really was on the edge of my seat for, and it was definitely worth it.

Coraline is also worth it, especially in 3d.  Selick’s company Laika does amazing stop-motion.  This is a form that has fallen by the wayside, which is far too disappointing to be true and I’m glad we’ve still had the occasional puppets crop up (such as Corpse Bride a few years ago).  The visuals are bright and vibrant, unless they are creepy and dark.  The 3d has an occasional “in your face” moment, but mostly serves to deepen the frame.  Instead of poking you, it steps back so you look farther into the screen.  It adds a dimension making things akin to a movie theater.

There’s much talk about the differences between the book and that’s generally what happens.  Things are different in the movie, of course.  There’s an extra character and the message is a little more pronounced.  That’s okay with me.  Books for young folk are generally written in a way so that a person can keep reading it as they grow older and learn new things from it.  Movies (despite the advent of home video and DVD) are meant to be a one-time experience.  They are an extension of live entertainment, despite losing some of the spontaneity.  So the director needs that message to get across, especially with a kids’ movie.

Adults don’t just have “adult” movies.  They have science fiction, and action, and romance, and comedy.  Kids have “kids’ movies.”  There may be genres within, but for the most part an animated movie is seen as an animated movie.  There’s not sub-genre.  With genres, directors can be more picky about messages and themes because an adult will sometimes see a movie more than once in a theater and give it repeat viewings.  Kids will pay attention to whatever kids movie they go see because their parent generally picks it.

And many parents only take their kids a few times in a few months.  So kids’ movies have to get the message clear.  Coraline does it quite well without being preachy and syrupy.

Another thought is that with a book, a parent can read with the child and after a chapter they can discuss what is going on.  This gives the child a chance to process what has been read and the parent can help them along with that.  With a movie, you can’t discuss it until its over.  So you’ve got to deliver that theme so they remember it.  They can’t go back and re-read what they missed.

There are some folks who really didn’t enjoy the changes and others who didn’t really mind.  I think the most important people are the kids. I think the Coraline in the book and the Coraline in the movie are certainly different people.  The book Coraline is a bit quieter and more thoughtful, more mature than most ten year olds.  Coraline of the movie is far more similar to kids I have met.  She can be obnoxious and she’s feisty.  And she’s still brave, even when circumstances are pretty darn scary.  They share this trait, and its a very important trait to have.

I enjoyed this movie.  It’s been a long time since I first saw the trailer for it – way back when I saw Beowulf (don’t get me started!).  And I’m happy that it doesn’t disappoint.  Highly recommend for anyone of any age.

 

TNTM: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Sam and I saw Nick and Norah tonight.  I remain unmoved.  It was entertaining and funny, predictible as usual.  Plenty of music for people to download later.  And I am just pretty meh about the whole thing.  I like Michael Cera, which is mainly what drew me in to the picture.

It’s the latest in what I now think of as “Handrawn Titles” movies.  The last big famous one being “Juno,” which was fairly good at what it wanted to do.  I’m tired of it all though.  It’s as if all the silly brat pack inspired, angst ridden pictures of the nineties have been replaced by indie rock loving, cynicism ridden pictures.  I get it!  You people like music no one else has heard of!

That’s not really a rant.  I like this movies, too.  Michael Cera needs to get off the Michael Cera parts, though.  He always plays the same guy.  Ever since Arrested Development he’s been George Michael.  It may not be his fault, and I’m not hoping for some action flick with him, but some other person would be nice.  Otherwise he’ll just burn himself out and we’ll be saying things like “Whatever happened to that kid from Arrested Development?”  That’s what’ll happen.

I’ve posted the lasted “Quest” over at “Cooking WIthout Onions.”  If you’re looking for it here, you’ll be sadly disappointed.

 

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Dead Alive

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla was crap.  Boo!  I will have to rent Godzilla: Final Wars to get a true Godzilla fix, because that movie is the shiz-knight.  It’s as if someone at Toho was all “Hey, let’s just make a batshit crazy Godzilla movie.  Ooh, we can have it be like Destroy All Monsters, only with a crazy American ninja badass!”

If you just want a feel good movie, rent Final Wars.  I dare you not to laugh.  It doesn’t take itself seriously, which is good because Godzilla just isn’t serious anymore.  He was in his first outing, but the seriousness died when he did.
Dead Alive was awesome, as usual.  I have also rented Meet the Feebles, which I have never seen.  Sam had never seen Dead Alive and almost threw up a few times.  I had asked her before viewing if she had eaten later, so I did take precautions.  It wasn’t as fun as I remember, so I think I’m outgrowing gore just a little.  Or I need to drink more when I watch this stuff.

I also rented the 2008 Day of the Dead, which I assume will be terrible.  But what can one do?  I needs my zombie fix.

 

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Godzilla

I just watched the Baron’s adventures the other day.  It is my favorite Terry Gilliam movie, now.  I had seen “Brazil” long ago and “Time Bandits” two weeks ago, and they were good.  “Brazil” is amazing from a film standpoint.  It accomplishes what it sets out to do and is often cited as Gilliam’s best.  But I think the Baron is better.  Why?  I like it more, that’s why.

It tells the story of the Baron and some crazy-ass adventures he has.  The three movies mentioned form an unofficial trilogy in that they were all written and directed by Gilliam and have several similar themes.  Flights of fancy and all that.  We aren’t sure what’s real and what’s not in them, although it’s fairly easy to discern in “Brazil.”

The Baron is a fun movie.

I really don’t have much to say about it.

I also watched “Godzilla, Mothra, King Gidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack,” which was awful.  Some may say all the Godzilla’s are awful.  Which I disagree with since the first one was amazing.  Godzilla has a formula, though, which is what I like.  It has gotten more streamlined throughout it and it doesn’t lend itself to change.  Luckily, I have rented “Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla” which should be better.  Giant monsters fighting will always be a guilty pleasure of mine.  “Godzilla:  Final Wars” was a really good example of this.  It was like an update of “Destroy all Monsters” with crazy ass ninjas.

Oh, Godzilla.  Sony Pictures really kicked you hard.  Stupid ‘98 Godzilla.

 

Well, What Have We Here? – Video Vault

Sammi and I had a geocache adventure today and on the way back we stopped at the Video Vault.  The Vault is a large brick building I haven’t set foot in yet – neither has Sam.  From the outside it looks foreboding.  It’s a big square warehouse I don’t want to go into.  It’s scary.

Well, we went in.  The man invited us to bring our bikes in – he didn’t want them stolen.  Saturday at 3pm is a slow video time, I guess.  We were the only ones in the store.  And what a store!  It was a large, well-lit store with a small chair/coffee table area to read some magazines.  Right near the front is the pet bearded gecko of the owner.  Isn’t that nice?

It was the best video store I’ve ever been to.  The man really capitalizes on his extra copies of certain movies.  Most of the store is organized by genre, but very popular directors are organized in the Directors section.  A small alcove organized alphabetically by director.  I was very impressed.  Even more impressive was the amount of bootlegs available.  It seems the store has a complete set of Ralph Bakshi, Peter Jackson, and Terry Gilliam movies.  I will finally see “Meet the Feebles.”

It was after dragging Sam through this (she is not as big a moviephile as I) I squealed with glee to spy an entire rack devoted to Troma movies.

Selection was amazing.  They have all the big movies normal folks would want to rent, and most (if not all) of the off-kilter flicks.  It was a mom and pop store done really well.  Not just because of awesome selection, but what seems to be a kick ass rental set up.

Rentals are three bucks for six days (five nights).  I am not a fan of rentals over a dollar, but times are a-changing and prices must change with them.  To get around this, the owner has utilized a Netflix philosophy.  For a monthly fee (dependent on total movies you want out) you can just return and rent.  You can request holds on certain movies as well.

I know that some stores do this, but I haven’t seen it advertised so up front.  It was really nice to talk to a guy who just really liked movies.  Not a snob, either.  I love art-house flicks, but I hate people who get down on me for slumming.  So I like “Can’t Hardly Wait.”  It’s HILARIOUS!  And it has Donald Faison.

Anyway, I wish all video stores could be so awesome.  I know if they don’t have a mainstream flick I can head to Hastings, but I doubt I’ll need to with the selection available there.

Hoping I can work there in the future until I get a real job.

 

Run, Fat Boy, Run

Sam and I just got back from Run, Fat Boy, Run starring Simon Pegg. (RFBR from now on). I went into this with fairly high expectations and was rewarded. Simon Pegg shows up again on the writing credits, which is why it’s so damn funny.

The plot: A man tries to win back his lost love by running a marathon. There’s some more stuff in there, but it’s a summary.

The acting is acted. I don’t really see how one can rate acting actually. Pegg has great comedic timing, excellent facial expressions, and where’s a fake gut quite well. He’s basically a fat Shaun in this movie, which I like.

It was predictable and that is my only qualm. Which isn’t too big a deal, because it’s nice to be right. I always hope to go to that movie where the other guy isn’t a jerk in the end and the main character just has to deal with moving on.

Hank Azaria is the jerk. He plays it well. He’s like a ninja asshole, though. You don’t see it coming right away. He’s also a whiner it turns out.

Leading lady, Thandie Newton? I don’t know who she is, but I thought she was great. She’s basically a supporting role for Pegg’s funnyman, but she does it amazingly well. I am reminded of the Laura character in High Fidelity, in that she was the weakest part of that movie. Not so here. Newton just does her job and gets it done well.

And the kid in this is great, too.

I am pretty terrible at movie reviews.

EDIT:  So, Thandie Newton was in Pursuit of Happyness and Crash.  Wow.  She is a very good actress who I think would definitely be great in Hollywood.

I also forgot to mention Pegg’s landlord in the movie.  His name is Mr. G in the movie and he is amazingly funny.  Sam called him the cutest little man, and he makes what is already a very good movie even better.  Mr. G. and Pegg’s child crack that heartwarming shell we need in our romantic comedies.

I also remembered:  This movie was directed by David Schwimmer!  David Schwimmer:  Direct more movies!  This was fantastic.  It is his directorial debut, and I think you can tell a little.  He doesn’t take a lot of chancy shots, just gets the job done and well done at that.  It may be “just” a romantic comedy, but it’s tops in my books.

Also:  I really liked the casting.  We have a multi-racial cast here.  Why do I care?  Because after watching it, I don’t feel like it was made that way to appeal to anyone.  It was just done because they were just the best actors for the job.  I like it.