 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Sep 7, 2012 - 7:32 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
mastadge
(Member)
|
Brave (2012) dir. Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, co-directed by Steve Purcell -- A mélange of *** and ****½ elements that don't quite sit happily together. Ultimately it's a pretty good film with a few great moments but doesn't really feel like a Pixar film (oddly, this seems a more traditional Disney film, while the Disney-branded Wreck-It Ralph coming later this year looks like it would have been more up Pixar's alley. . .). Personally I would have gone for a more consistent slightly darker/weirder tone and scaled back on the cute just a tad (did the inscrutable yet oddly plot-serving will-o'-the-wisps really have to be so cutesy?). Pretty glorious score from Doyle, with a missed opportunity as a horrible song played where there should have been a wonderful montage version of Merida's theme. Overall an enjoyable and solid flick but not exactly one of Pixar's best.
Safe (2012) dir. Boaz Yakin -- Liked this more than I expected to -- a cut above most of Statham's stuff, and a cut above most of the year's action/thriller offerings so far. A solid, confident flick that manages not to be too preposterous or stupid and delivers plenty of satisfyingly bone-crunching action, with a score from Mark Mothersbaugh that enhances rather than detracts from the film. Doesn't push the envelope in any way, but it's a good example of what it is, which is apparently too much to ask from a lot of films.
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012) dir. Chris Renaud, co-directed by Kyle Balda -- I thought Renaud's previous film, Despicable Me was not bad but was pretty mediocre and annoyingly overrated, so I didn't really have high hopes for this one, but the previous Dr. Seuss animated film (Horton Hears a Who!) was surprisingly good and featured one of Powell's most soaring, epic and thematically rich scores so I decided to take the chance on this one. I should have. It's garbage. It's rarely even amusing let alone funny, and frequently obnoxious. Powell's score is pretty good, but the songs are awful. I can think of dozens of ways they could have made this movie better and can't help but wonder how, when it's no more expensive to make a good movie than a bad one, this one turned out so poorly. (Also, high-concept I know, but while they were making their environmental statement as stupidly and obnoxiously as possible, why didn't they secure the rights to Bill Peet's The Wump World and integrate that story into this one so they didn't have to fill this with so much idiotic padding?) Anyway. I recommend not subjecting yourself to this bloated nonsense.
Also: without the language, some of the imagery doesn't make sense. If you don't already know that he picks himself up by the seat of his pants, the visual of him doing that is bizarre, to say the least.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 9, 2012 - 3:53 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Francis
(Member)
|
But, people keep saying how smart this movie is, and that is where I disagree. It's still just dumb fun with just as many plot holes as any other horror film.
Yes, agree completely on Cabin in the Woods; I went to imdb and someone called it the 'inception' of horror movies; I had to laugh at that.
Ok, some new entries
Men In Black III
9/10
I've never been the biggest fan of the franchise. I thought the first one was ok, the second one a bore, so I started watching with low expectations and I was pleasantly surprised.
Will Smith is back in full 'Fresh Prince' mode, I don't care much for his 'serious roles' and Josh Brolin is amazing in this movie; Actually the casting all round is great; the villain (Jemaine Clement) is top notch and the effects they did on his body are amazing. There is a scene where he confronts himself which is a funny as anything else in the movie, great performance.
The whole time travel storyline is clunky but the spectacle easily makes you overlook; there is even a time travelling alien who has seen the movie before us, which is a fun addition.
Everything looks sharp in this movie, the creature effects, the camera moves, the time period; I love how they didn't skew the racial undertones and make it a great bit for Will Smith to play against. The moments with Will Smith just staring at Brolin in the car is comedy gold.
What I love most about the MIB movies is the 'screensaver' shots they put in there; by that I mean the five second sequences that are beautiful and thought provoking at the same time. There are plenty of those! Home run, great movie.
Hobo with a Shotgun
7/10
Also didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did; it's gruesome and gory, but for some reason I ate it up. Rutger Hauer's face looks like a piece of leather but it still works (more or less). The villains were a bit too 80s for me but with the colour saturated look of the movie, it somehow works.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 10, 2012 - 9:37 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Francis
(Member)
|
Get the Gringo (2012) - 4/5
Not quite as action-packed as the trailer made it look, but I really enjoyed it. Classic Mel Gibson, and proof that he can still play a bad ass action star.
Accent aside, he was pretty good in 'Edge of Darkness'. Will check out Gringo 
Dark Shadows
6/10
To me the trailer had all the good parts; the movie starts with a long sequence depicting the Collins family' rise to power and curse that befalls them, I'm not a fan of ramming this much info into the audience when they could've gradually filled us in throughout the movie; we then go to 'Bella Heathcote', who will go to the Collins manor to work as a servant. She seems to be the lead in this movie, BUT once Johnny Depp comes into play she is shoved to the background and not seen again till the last reel; Very weird. She is obviously the love interest for Barnabas, but the movie focuses all the story on Barnabas' feud with the witch Angelique, which becomes tiresome real quick.
There are some fun sequences involving a camp fire with hippies and Jackie Earle Haley escaping from an angry mob, but for the most part 'Dark Shadows' plays like familiar Burton territory and never quite got going for me. It needed some more rewrites and could've done without Alice Cooper (that didn't work at all). So so for me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 11, 2012 - 12:01 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
mastadge
(Member)
|
The Pact (2012) dir. Nicholas McCarthy -- A nice supernatural horror movie that's more creeptastic than craptastic. Doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything but is well-made and occasionally really creepy. Plus it has Casper Van Dien doing his best Viggo Mortensen. Anyway. Recommended.
Sennentuntschi (2010) dir. Michael Steiner -- And another good horror flick, this one notable less for creepiness than for being a nasty, horrific piece of work. A strange young woman shows up in a small village in the Swiss Alps and bad things start happening. Is it a curse? The work of the devil? Or are the villagers' sins simply catching up to them. Also recommended, for those who like this kind of thing.
Star Trek (2009) dir. J.J. Abrams -- Was inspired to watch this a second time after all the recent discussion on here. I liked it less the second time around (and enjoyed, but didn't love it the first time around -- at the time I called it "big, dumb, gloriously fun space adventure" and compared it to Galaxy Quest and Serenity). It's got some super solid bits and it accomplishes the most important thing, which was to make space fun again, but I really could have done without the crass and/or slapstick bits, and I didn't care for Quinto's perpetual smirk. Also could really have done without that idiotic car scene at the beginning. It's mostly solid dumb summer fun but it blows my mind a bit that it's so well-loved by so many.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
