Raiders is only a slightly better film (porblem) than Pirates 1 when you realize that there was no need for Indy to try to get the Ark before the Nazis, because God was just going to fry their asses anyway, effectively destroying the film's purpose.
Went to see the Rabbi's Cat. I read the albums, well the first few at least, and I was really interested when I heard they made a movie out of it.
I really enjoyed it. The style took some getting used to (it did in the albums as well) but soon I forgot about it. The colours are awesome. The story funny, the voice acting excellent. I was really gripped. Didn't see time go by at all.
And then it was over. Pretty suddenly. There was some music and I thought "hey, a musical number" and the credits started rolling.
In retrospect, I can see why it ended there but it was very weird to realise it was over when I didn't expect it at all.
From the albums, I could tell many details were missing but it was a pretty good adaptation. The cat is an awesome character with very funny lines. The Rabbi is a sweet guy, his daughter is cute. If you love cat you'd probably like the story.
I don't know if it's ever coming out in another language than French, but I sure hope so. If it ever does come out in your language or with subtitles, I recommend it.
Raiders is only a slightly better film (porblem) than Pirates 1 when you realize that there was no need for Indy to try to get the Ark before the Nazis, because God was just going to fry their asses anyway, effectively destroying the film's purpose.
Well....that doesn't automatically mean the film's purpose is destroyed. Indy still got to show his heroic nature to the audience. I mean....he didn't know before hand that they all would die. Also...Indy had one other MacGuffin to chase the nazi's, Mariam.
Raiders is only a slightly better film (porblem) than Pirates 1 when you realize that there was no need for Indy to try to get the Ark before the Nazis, because God was just going to fry their asses anyway, effectively destroying the film's purpose.
And that it probably would have been opened by Hitler himself in front of a large army as part of a ceremony. Heh.
Well....that doesn't automatically mean the film's purpose is destroyed. Indy still got to show his heroic nature to the audience. I mean....he didn't know before hand that they all would die. Also...Indy had one other MacGuffin to chase the nazi's, Mariam.
"But but but but but but but"
(Raiders and Marion) Not a interesting as Doom (saving the children) or Crusade (Indy's father).
I was a teenager when that film was being made and my Dad used to drive a delivery truck as a second job... Dad used to stop his truck out near the waterfront for lunch, and one day Michael J. Fox went jogging up and asked if he could get a lift over to Miramar. Dad loved to tell that story. :rolleyes:
last movie I saw on blu-ray was The King's Speech. Excellent!
Man, what can I say about this film. I'll start off by saying I've only seen bits and pieces of the other X-Men movies, which I'm going to fix over the week. I don't know much about the X-Men mythology or their relation to the overall Marvel universe. I heard a point on the X-Men when I watched a review of this one that I actually kind of agree with, which is that in the context of the Marvel universe the mutants don't make a lot of sense, and that the whole mutant thing seems like a lazy excuse to give powers without explanation. However, I'm not the kind of guy who needs explanation on superpowers. Really, I don't. I'm pretty accepting with superheroes. So, when this movie tells me that Xavier can read minds and do mind tricks and that Mystique can change into other people and is blue and scaly, I just kind of roll with it.
So, basically, I wasn't very excited for this movie when I first heard about it. However, when reviews started coming out, and friends were getting excited about it, I started getting more interested. Then I noticed two things that made me immediately want to see the film: Kevin Bacon and Michael Fassbender are in it. I LOVE Kevin Bacon. I seriously enjoy him in everything I see him in, even if the movie is terrible. Fassbender, as well, really really impressed me in Inglorious Basterds. I honestly thought he had the best scene in the whole film in the bar. Likewise, he has the best scenes in X-Men First Class. So with that in my brain, I went into the film with really high expectations. I was still blown away. OH WAS I BLOWN AWAY. I can't think of a film in recent history I smiled so much during or that I immediately wanted to walk back into the theater and see again. So yes, I loved the film. In fact I loved it so much, that it got me to want to see the other X-Men movies, even if they're not that great in comparison. Honestly, this one was so good it will have to go down as one of the most memorable films I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of films. I enjoyed it SO MUCH.
Now, I'm not saying this is a perfect film. That is to say, it was nearly perfect for ME, but it won't be for a lot of people, especially true blue X-Men fans. There are a lot of mythology changes, and even though the movie fits the continuity of the previous films somewhat, or so I've read, I've also read it doesn't fit entirely. I think this was because they wanted to set it with the others if it didn't do well, but were probably planning to restart the series with it if it did great.
So to start off with the positive points, what about this film made me love it so much? Well, I think to start off with, it was that it was NOTHING like I thought it would be. I had heard a lot of people say it was kind of like a Bond flick with superheroes, but I disagree with that a LOT. Yes it is set in the sixties or so, and yes there are a lot of women in lingerie with giant tits jiggling up over the edge of their bras, and yes there is a badass British lead, but the Bond comparison is made of similarities at best, not in the tone and feel of the flick. At least not to me. To be honest, and this is probably because I love them so much, the movie felt more like a spaghetti western with small spy elements and superheroes as the leads. Or, at least, Magneto's arc did. Actually, let me change my explanation. Magneto's arc was like a spaghetti western, but the rest of the film was kind of Bond/spy flick. So yeah, I guess that comparison wasn't entirely wrong. Magneto's arc was just so strong and driving in the film that I forgot it wasn't the ENTIRE film, so that's my mistake.
Oh yeah, and I mentioned that there are a lot of women in lingerie with giant tits jiggling up over the edge of their bras. And yes, I like that description. I guess I should have mentioned that EVERY WOMAN in the entire film is either in their underwear, or in Mystique's case, completely naked, throughout the film. This earns the film extra points for me, but it might bother some, or garner criticism, especially as a great deal of the women in the film are strippers. Why would this garner criticism? This film has a huge case of what I call the Frank Miller Syndrome. The definition of this is a story with women who are strippers or prostitutes for no reason, have giant tits for no reason, and whom most of have one-dimensional personalities, awful characterization, and in the case of movies, are not well acted. Not every woman in the film is terribly acted or has terrible characterization...actually only Mystique has either. Mystique is the only female character I felt like caring about in the film. Emma Frost, played by January Jones, is worse, and more dull and insipid than Megan Fox in the Transformers films. Oh she's bad. She is SO bad. Now, I've heard that she basically WAS the character, but that must mean that the character is freaking awful as well, because she was ice cold. She was just a little too chill. I did find her kind of sexy, but not REALLY sexy. Mystique, again, was the sexist Fass Girl. James Bond has Bond Girls. X-Men has Fass Girls. Moira, apparently, was the entire opposite of her character in the comics, but I thought she was pretty sexy, although as a character she didn't do much. She did look the best out of everyone in lingerie though. Angel, who is apparently not a very well-liked character, was...stupid. She was really stupid. Her introduction was great, but after that she was facepalm material. This might seem like a pervy thing to discuss, but seriously, boobs are shoved in your face in the movie so much, there's no way I can get away with not discussing this aspect. In that respect, it's a lot like actual comic books. The ladies of the film could have been amazing, but only one passed as great acting-wise.
Now on to the male leads. I've said a lot about Dat Fass so far, but I haven't even gotten to Kevin Bacon or James McAvoy yet. These two actors are the most important in the movie second to Fassbender, because they represent two sides of a coin for him. One, McAvoy as Charles Xavier or Professor X, is his truest friend and the one who sees good in him and tries to save him from his anger and vengeance, and Bacon as Sebastian Shaw is his greatest enemy and the man who taught him to use his anger and truly control his power. Shaw is the one who set Magneto on his path, and is also the one who Magneto has a very Man With A Harmonica vendetta against. Bacon really does a great job as the villain of this film. He's extremely intimidating, but I've seen Bacon be intimidating before, so this didn't surprise me. I actually gripped the handles of my seat sometimes when Bacon was on screen. He really felt like a real threat; like he could kill you any time he felt like it. In fact he was so powerful that when
he's defeated a lot of people were unable to suspend their disbelief. I could and his death will go down as one of the most memorable in film history, at least for me.
Shaw reminded me a bit of Christoph Waltz's turn as Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds, a man who considers himself more sophisticated than truly evil, but is still a schemer and will have no problem changing sides and killing to exact his plans. He really tears shit up. Xavier is badass in this as well. He's a ton of fun to watch on screen, and he really made me feel like I was watching the Sherlock Holmes of mutants. He was really charismatic, and genuinely interesting and funny, which is a stark contrast to the Prof. X most know. In this film he's not in a wheelchair yet, but I won't spoil how that comes to pass. Needless to say, you won't expect it at all.
Mystique is in this weird secondary character category where she's kind of the movie's mediator between the secondary mutants and the main mutants. She's the childhood friend of Xavier, the lover of Beast, and the best female character in the entire movie. I did NOT expect to like her at all, but she was really well characterized, except for a couple things. The secondary characters, known as Havok, Darwin, Angel, Azazel, Emma Frost, Riptide, Beast, and Banshee, and the Man in Black, all ranged from fun and interested to dull and bland. I'll put the interesting ones in this sentence: Havok, Azazel, Beast, Banshee, and the Man in Black. That leaves Riptide (ARGH), Emma Frost (CHUNKAGE NOT CONTAINED), Angel (MEH), and Darwin (WASTED) as the worst of the bunch. Honestly, that's not that bad, with so many characters to deal with. Some of them were just there to show off powers, like Darwin, and that's fine, but most of them were juggled very well. The only really terrible scene I can think of was pretty short, and it involved, gasp, Emma Frost. In fact, the scene literally created a plot hole, which really pissed me off. Emma Frost was a cancer on this film.
The special effects and action were all really well handled, but they weren't just there for the sake of being flashy, except for a couple of scenes. They were mostly used either thematically or to flesh characters out, which I thought was really great. The final battle was really cool, and everybody got to shine. The music for this film is honestly the only soundtrack I've ever loved that re-used one theme for half of it and was still badass. Magneto's theme is just...it's one of the greatest themes ever. I put it up there with Darth Vader's theme. When this theme plays, you are intimidated by Fassbender and he is a BAWSS. I was intimidated by him, and he wasn't even right in front of me. If he was, I'd be pissing my pants.
Again, there were some other flaws in the plot, and some things were cheesy or didn't make sense, but if you look around, you can find most of the biggest complaints yourself. I don't really have many I haven't mentioned already, so I don't feel it's important to go into them. As far as cheesiness, I would hate to watch a superhero movie that didn't have cheesy moments. As far as comparing this one to other Marvel offerings....I can honestly say right now this film is better than Thor by MILES. It's so high above Thor it's not even funny. Is it better than Iron Man? Well...hmm....that's REALLY hard....but right now I'll say yes. Is it better than Spider-Man 2? Ehhh....it's better than Spider-Man 1 and 3, but I'd say it ties with 2. Daredevil and Elektra and Hulk and Iron Man 2 aren't even in the same league for me. They don't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. It's better than Blade and Blade 2 as well, and I really do love Blade 1 and 2. I'm not even going to bother mentioning 3; screw that shit.
So, overall, man, I think I've said enough. I'll write about Super 8 in a bit, but I need to take a break after this long-ass post.
It was good. It was... different, but it was a fun movie. My friend was freaking out through the entire movie and I was laughing at her, so that might have swayed my enjoyment level a bit. It's no E.T., but it's nice.
So, I went yesterday to the theaters to see Super 8, Pirates 4, and X-Men First Class. I think I talked about Pirates 4 already, but it wasn't the movie of the night for me. I have never walked out of a theater, though, with two movies tying for me as much as X-Men First Class did. In the end, I had a really hard time figuring out which ones I liked more. In the end, X-Men First Class slightly won over Super 8, I think. However, Super 8 is still a wonderful film for me. I didn't grin through the whole film like I did in X-Men, but I did stare at the screen with mixtures of shock, wonder, and inquisitiveness, which were basically the emotions the movie really wanted to evoke.
I really expected to like this movie the most out of all of the ones I went to see, yet strangely enough, I was surprised by how much I did like it. I guess I just don't go to movies nowadays expecting to like them much. In fact I'm really ready to hate a movie every time I go see it. It's amazing how many modern movies I DO like. I also expected a lot of my love for the film to come from a love of Spielberg films such as Close Encounters, but it really didn't. I've heard people compare it a lot to E.T., but it really didn't evoke E.T. at all for me. It could be because I've only seen a fourth of E.T., but I can't bring myself to sit through E.T. because I can't bring myself to care about anything happening in E.T. In this, I cared quite a bit, and found myself very invested. Surprisingly, E.T. is the only Spielberg film I can't bring myself to watch as well. Super 8 did remind me slightly of the Goonies, but only mostly near the end when two of the kids must enter into some caves. There were more elements of Stand By Me, Jurassic Park, and Cloverfield I felt than from the other Spielberg films people have kept citing over and over. The only time I felt any connection to Close Encounters was near the end, and I wish people would stop comparing the two. That is the only time they even remotely resemble each other outside of lighting. However, I will admit that if I hadn't been watching this movie with friends, I probably would have stopped watching during the first 6th of the film. I was a bit bored at first, but once the relationships and the chemistry between the kids started working its magic I was hooked. Seriously, just because the movie has kids who have to work together and who have chemistry doesn't make it an E.T. or Goonies knockoff. I could call it a knockoff of Ernest Goes to Camp and The Sandlot and IT and I would be just as right as most of the people talking about Super 8, aka not very. Actually, outside of the killer clown, IT makes more sense than E.T. or Goonies.
As far as the chemistry between the characters, its definitely there. These kids feel like real kids, but in a way that everyone can relate to them. You have the sympathetic lead, the girl with the abusive father, the fat kid who wants to make a movie, the crazy blond kid who loves explosives, the slightly older nerdy puss who pukes and shakes at the first sign of danger, and there's another kid who sadly never really gets fleshed out much. My favorite was the kid with the explosives; he was just hilarious. I loved how his teeth were like a chipmunk and he had those braces and he just looked like the most fun character. One of my favorite comedic moments is seriously near the end where everyone is watching this climax and the music is at it's peak and he mouths HOLY SHIT is slow motion. I just about pissed myself laughing at that. These kids were all such amazing actors. I can not even praise them enough. I couldn't believe how well they worked together and separately. These kids seriously were a gold mine of discovered talent. I really hope they continue to get good roles and stay great as they grow up.
The best relationship was unsurprisingly the one between the lead, Joe Lamb, and the heroine, Alice Dainard. They had really good chemistry that affected not only people around them but also their personal lives, in both good and bad ways. Joe and Charles, the chubby kid behind their zombie movie, were obviously best friends and had the second best chemistry in the film. Cary, the explosives kid, and Martin, the nerdy kid playing the lead in the kid's zombie film, were both mainly comic relief. Preston, the final part of the group, was just sort of there.
As far as the adults, the standouts were Kyle Chandler as Joe's father, a deputy who is dealing with the death of his wife, and kind of reminds me of Chief Brody from Jaws mixed with a bit of Bruce Campbell. He's kind of an ass in some of the film, but he's also a bit badass at points too. The father and son chemistry is also well handled, but a bit underplayed. Ron Eldard as Louis Dainard, the abusive father of Elle Fanning's Alice, is a bit of a surprise character when you find out that
he's just a sad man who has become ten times more broken because he blames himself for the death of Joe's mother
. His performance and the twist on his character was one of my favorite parts of the film.
The creature is very interesting. Where it's from and the more scientific aspects of it are not really explained, which bugged me a bit. You find out how it got here, what it is, and what it wants, but it should have been fleshed out a bit more. I understand that Abrams wanted it to mostly be in the shadows and mysterious, but once you see the creature, some of the mystery is kind of gone for good. When it is in the shadows though, it's very scary and very intimidating. It really reminded me a lot of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park in terms of how it scares you. It's hidden in the bushes in the dark, and then suddenly OH SHIT ITS TEARING SHIT UP ITS AFTER YOU AHHHH. And that's basically how the monster is in every scene in the film. The idea of
a subterranean being is pretty cool and I would have loved it if the film explored that more, such as why a subterranean being needs a spaceship, but it didn't.
Some things about the creature are inconsistent, but it was still a very interesting take on the concept.
It really reminded me of a grasshopper from A Bug's Life, but really scary. I think it should have been less Cloverfield-wet and slimy, and more...insecty, but I still liked it.
The music was great in the context of the film, but I was disappointed that there wasn't any really memorable theme in the film. The special effects, especially when the army is blowing shit up in the town, was great. I loved the laser-ish firing and the whole scene was done so much better than Michael Bay has ever done. I was also impressed that Abrams had the balls to
seriously injure one of the kids
. Bravo, Abrams. Bravo. I was also impressed with the level of menace in the film. I loved that you get to see actual BLOOD SPLATTERING. WOOO. Go, Abrams, go! I also loved that the kids had some serious pottymouths. I don't know why, but it gave them so much more personality. I'm dead certain I heard the kids even whisper "Fuck" really low under their breath sometimes. It's a bit brave for a PG-13 film in America to have foul-mouthed kids who say shit and pussy. I kind of wish I saw a soccer mom walk out of the theater with her kids. I would have laughed.
Oh, and the film's money shot. I'm surprised no one has talked about the scene where
Joe's locket comes out of his pocket and starts flying into the air and he grabs it, then lets it go.
As far as iconic imagery and money shots, that was 100% the one for this film. It's an image that will forever be ingrained into my brain, and I can't believe NO ONE ELSE is talking about it. Are people braindead? Either way, Super 8 was a ton of fun, and like First Class, will be on my DVD and Bluray collection as soon as it hits stores. Oh, and the zombie film the kids did was really cute. I loved all of the references in the film, from Batman to Star Trek to Star Wars to Jaws.
I think the X-Men universe is just a boring universe.
The characters are boring, their motivations are, so are the stories, ... even as a child i couldn't stand it. Contrary to other Marvel comics like the Silver Surfer or Spiderman is was just boring, not even trying to compare it to other great comics.
If you're doing it right and giving each character their time then it can work out having a universe with many people owning special powers but here it's just too much, too flat, too boring, no uniqueness. They need to be simple minded as otherwise it would be a lot harder to deal with. It's like playing a mass market role playing game with level 100 characters. I would have more fun watching a unpolished rough and dirty B-movie of the Y-Women.
Super 8 - 90%
Oh, and the film's money shot. I'm surprised no one has talked about the scene where
Joe's locket comes out of his pocket and starts flying into the air and he grabs it, then lets it go.
As far as iconic imagery and money shots, that was 100% the one for this film. It's an image that will forever be ingrained into my brain, and I can't believe NO ONE ELSE is talking about it.
About that shot-
was the picture upside down inside the locket the entire time? When it's pulling away from him, we're seeing it upside down and yet the picture is right-side up. Does he hold the locket upside down every other time he looks at it through the movie?
was the picture upside down inside the locket the entire time? When it's pulling away from him, we're seeing it upside down and yet the picture is right-side up. Does he hold the locket upside down every other time he looks at it through the movie?
That bothered me.
Hmm. I didn't notice that. I'll have to watch for it when I see it again.
This review (careful, lots of spoilers for Super 8!) mentions the scene you talk about, Fawful. Not in such a good way. Or rather, as "it's a great scene... for another movie".
This review (careful, lots of spoilers for Super 8!) mentions the scene you talk about, Fawful. Not in such a good way. Or rather, as "it's a great scene... for another movie".
I was going to go into my feelings about Super 8, but this review pretty perfectly outlines the way I felt about it. I really enjoyed the kids and their interactions together, but most everything else left me scratching my head.
ARGH DEVIN FARACI. I get his complaints, but I don't agree with them and I'll leave it at that. Most of what he hates and thinks didn't work I love and think did work, and so on and so forth. Actually, I will comment on one or two things.
I never got the impression we were ever supposed to empathize with or feel a connection to the alien. I can empathize with the fact that he was tortured, but he was meant to scare the audience foremost. He's a monster who kills and eats people, absolutely. We feel as much of a connection to him as to a T-Rex in Jurassic Park. He's big and scary and there. He's driven by hate. Much like Magneto in X-Men, he's been driven to hate the human race, and he becomes a killing machine. The only thing I feel the movie wanted to do was to explain the creature's motivations and why it does what it does and what's going on in it's head, and it does all of that. I don't get where he gets that Joe and the creature were supposed to have a connection or parallel each other, because as far as I see it, they weren't. He complains because the creature's story and the kid's story are two separate stories happening at the same time that don't intertwine, but I see that as how the movie was meant to BE. And that's my say on Devin "Bullshit Reviews" Faraci.
EDIT: Don't agree with him on the Dads either.
EDIT EDIT: Damn it, fine. Here's why. Yes, Joe's Dad was an asshole, and yes he did spend most of the movie caring about the town. However, he WAS resolved. He did break out of the military camp because of the town, yes, but at that time he probably thought Joe was at the evacuation place. Once he found out Joe was gone or in danger, his priorities switched immediately to his son. And that is something Devin forgot because he's a moron. Both Dad's problems were resolved in that "talk" Devin hates so much, and that's when we both realize that they really do care about their children. He complains, oh the girl's Dad didn't do anything nyah nyah nyah but it's kind of hard to do much when you were in a CAR ACCIDENT. The kid's arc was about the Dads and their kids getting over the death of Joe's mother and how it affected them. That's what brought them together in the end, but them being brought together like in every family movie was never the point. Now Devin can eat my ass.
Well, the last movie I watched in general, was a recently purchased DVD of Walt Disney's timeless classic, "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh."
Now, this is a compilation of Short Subjects such as "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," and "Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger, Too." Each one was a brilliantly done short, but we get additional animation, in which Pooh states he wasn't done with the honey in the tree, and AFTER the bouncing stopped, and Piglet is surprised there's more bouncing in the next chapter (Tigger's). We also get a heartwarming ending chapter, in which Christopher Robin tells Pooh that he'll be going to school, but he won't forget him. The addition of Gopher (who wasn't in the book, Phone or Milne-written) was a good one. In addition to the Original Three Short Subjects, we also have "Winnie The Pooh and A Day for Eeyore," which was created in the 1980s (I remembered it had two Humphrey Bear cartoons and a Goofy Cartoon after it on a VHS.), and since it was on the "Friendship Edition" of the DVD, it had such redubbed voices listed as Jim Cummings (as Pooh, naturally), and Tress MacNeille (as Kanga). All in all, I loved it, including Tigger's song "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers!"
And thus, I conclude this very positive review by quoting the narrator in the ending: "Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them along the way, In that enchanted place on top of the forest... a little bear will always be waiting."
ARGH DEVIN FARACI. I get his complaints, but I don't agree with them and I'll leave it at that. Most of what he hates and thinks didn't work I love and think did work, and so on and so forth. Actually, I will comment on one or two things.
I never got the impression we were ever supposed to empathize with or feel a connection to the alien. I can empathize with the fact that he was tortured, but he was meant to scare the audience foremost. He's a monster who kills and eats people, absolutely. We feel as much of a connection to him as to a T-Rex in Jurassic Park. He's big and scary and there. He's driven by hate. Much like Magneto in X-Men, he's been driven to hate the human race, and he becomes a killing machine. The only thing I feel the movie wanted to do was to explain the creature's motivations and why it does what it does and what's going on in it's head, and it does all of that. I don't get where he gets that Joe and the creature were supposed to have a connection or parallel each other, because as far as I see it, they weren't. He complains because the creature's story and the kid's story are two separate stories happening at the same time that don't intertwine, but I see that as how the movie was meant to BE. And that's my say on Devin "Bullshit Reviews" Faraci.
EDIT: Don't agree with him on the Dads either.
EDIT EDIT: Damn it, fine. Here's why. Yes, Joe's Dad was an asshole, and yes he did spend most of the movie caring about the town. However, he WAS resolved. He did break out of the military camp because of the town, yes, but at that time he probably thought Joe was at the evacuation place. Once he found out Joe was gone or in danger, his priorities switched immediately to his son. And that is something Devin forgot because he's a moron. Both Dad's problems were resolved in that "talk" Devin hates so much, and that's when we both realize that they really do care about their children. He complains, oh the girl's Dad didn't do anything nyah nyah nyah but it's kind of hard to do much when you were in a CAR ACCIDENT. The kid's arc was about the Dads and their kids getting over the death of Joe's mother and how it affected them. That's what brought them together in the end, but them being brought together like in every family movie was never the point. Now Devin can eat my ass.
SPOILERS AS WELL.
In both cases of the alien and Magneto, you do feel a certain sympathy for what caused them to be that way, but it doesn't make me feel like I want them to have a happy ending. The alien is telepathic, when it touches you, it knows your thoughts. It knew the old scientist was sympathetic towards it. Did it not know that all the people it was capturing and eating had nothing to do with its torture? This creature is from a species intelligent enough to invent FTL travel and magic shapeshifting blocks, I think we can assume it can reason. Magneto knows on a intellectual level that not every human is going to persecute mutants, but he doesn't care, and that is what makes him a villain. Given that we know this creature reads your mind upon physical contact, and felt no remorse eating people that had no knowledge of it or its plight, I'm willing to classify it as a villain as well. It sucks what happened to it, but at this point I don't want it to get away and live happily ever after.
And absolutely Joe and the creature were supposed to have a connection. That's what saves the kids at the end. Joe says "it's okay, life goes on," and convinces himself as much as he does the alien. But it just seems to bogus to me that an alien that was five minutes ago gnawing on an innocent person's dismembered leg could have a total change of heart in 30 seconds of mental contact with Joe that it didn't get from all the other people it touched. It didn't feel any sympathy towards Alice, but somehow it does for Joe?
As for the Dads, I don't really have a problem with Alice's, but Joe and his dad's issues don't really get resolved. Half of the people around me in the theater snickered at it when Joe's dad shows up at the end and tells him "I've got you," AFTER the alien had basically gone. I wanted Joe to sarcastically reply "uh, yeah, thanks for the save, dad." I know it wasn't for lack of trying on the father's part, but are we really supposed to get a "feel good father/son moment" out of the dad arriving AFTER the danger has passed?
Let me say though for the record, that on the whole I did like this movie. I felt like it had some major flaws in logic, especially at the end, but the kids more then made up for it.
Yes, it does make sense that Joe is the only one who reasons with it out of all the people it touched, because all the other people it touched felt nothing but fear or hatred toward the creature. It's the Frankenstein syndrome. The one who shows sympathy and understanding even in light of the horrible things the creature has done is the one the creature will listen to. A lion might be the king of the jungle, but it can still be scared if captured by human beings, and when scared will lash out like a cornered beast. The same logic applies to the Super 8 creature. It wanted to get away, like a lion, to its own habitat, but when in a strange and hostile environment full of people who feared it, hated it, or wanted it dead, he lashed out and acted like a wild beast. The fear and hatred it felt overrode its reason. The creature getting away at the end is no different really than a lion mauling a human to death then running off into the jungle. You can either just let it go and move on, or you can get all vengeful and try to hunt it down. In this case, it got away. The beast is a bit more in a grey area because it walks that fine line between high intelligence and animal instinct and behavior. Therefore, going on that logic, it deserved one of two endings. To be put down, or to be released back into its natural habitat. It got the second one. The response it got from Joe was different enough to save Joe, but not to change the creature's heart toward humans in general. Also, Joe's relationship with his Dad only had problems due to his mother's death and the way they dealt with that. Once they both let go of that, their relationship could only mend itself. Therefore, it was resolved.
I saw X-Men: First class today. I really, really liked it.
I haven't read the comics, so any continuity problems wouldn't really have bothered me. What I did know didn't bother me too much either
Mystique being much younger than she should have, Alex being old enough to be Scott's dad instead of his younger brother, things like that
.
I really enjoyed it. Let me copy-paste my reaction from a different forum:
Saw it today. Loved it. A shame the small theatre in my town only offered it as a French dub (and if it's really "because kids can't read subtitles", as they say, then explain why the other languages weren't dubbed but subtitled? True that the showing right before mine was half kids though. Hopefully they could read.)
My boyfriend (who saw it in English, in the US, yesterday) told me there is a scene in French. Missed it, since everything in English was ALSO in French. Can't wait to get the DVD so I can watch it all in original languages.
A few thoughts, as they came during the movie (keep in mind I never read the comics. I was probably ignorant of things very obvious to other people):
HUGE SPOILERS ABOUT THE WHOLE THING
- At the beginning when Shaw wants Erik to move the coin and the angle changes and you see the room full of weapons, I thought (about Shaw) "oh, man, you're dead". Then he called Erik's mom, etc, I was SURE he was going to die, and it was going to be a massacre. Only time in the whole movie when I predicted something that happened in a different way.
- As soon as Hank appeared, I wanted to see him as Beast. Man, that was a long wait. But it was worth it. He was awesome.
- Hank, Erik, Azazel (presumably. As soon as I saw it I figured he must be Nightcrawler's father)... Raven goes around. I think it's awesome. She wasn't portrayed negatively in the movie as a slut or something, and I think it's really cool to have a female character portrayed as having several male interests without it being a bad things. I'm probably reading too much into it but I liked that.
- Hey, a black guy. There is only one. Well, I guess he joins the villains or dies.
- I wonder if there is supposed to be something between Charles and that CIA woman? I'm not sure why else she's staying around like that.
- OMG the helmet. Erik's going to kill Shaw and steal it. Awesome.
- Hey, Shaw thinks the same stuff as Magneto does. Wow, I guess we know who he got it from.
- Hehe Wolverine. Always classy.
- Older Mystique Cameo. Cool too.
- Man, there are a lot of half-naked women in this movie.
- I like Hank. I like him a lot. He's awesome.
- Felt bad for him when everyone was showing off their powers and his was "has monkey feet". I wanted to comfort him. I wanted to tell him "wait and see".
- Charles on the other hand... When he said he didn't want to shave his head because he cared about his hair, I wanted to say "er, bad news..." Thought it was too much when they made a SECOND reference to that at the end though. The first one was cool, the second one was too much.
- Charles is kind of a hypocrite isn't he? He's all about "the ends don't justify the means" and yet he manipulates people, erases their minds, takes control of their bodies... He's violating their minds rather than attacking them upfront like Erik does. In some ways, he's worse. And at the same time, acts like he's got the moral high ground.
- Oh wow, that's how he loses his legs!
- Glad they show the friendship is still there when they part ways. They have differing opinions but they still love and respect each other. Pretty cool. I wish they had been given more time for that friendship though.
Non-spoiler, general comments:
- The effects are really cool. Usually action scenes make me fall asleep because I can't follow anything. I could follow everything here, I was rooting for people, and I kept wondering how they'd reach such or such event I knew was coming. It was really nice.
- Very, very rare occurrence of a 2h+ movie during which I don't check the time or wish it wasn't so damn long.
- For all the dark parts in there, it was a pretty funny movie. Very emotionally engaging. My boyfriend thought it wasn't dark enough, I thought it was the perfect balance, as it helps us see both sides because it's on the edge, not clearly one way or the other.
I definitely recommend it. My favourite of the X-men movies, one of my favourite superhero movie. Definitely want to watch it again in its original version.
The two posts above mine make me want to weep for the history of cinema, which apparently exists purely to build up to the crescendo that is Scott Pilgrim vs The World, a film that I'd personally characterize as "pure noise with the pacing of an olympic runner suffering from a seizure mid-race".
The two posts above mine make me want to weep for the history of cinema, which apparently exists purely to build up to the crescendo that is Scott Pilgrim vs The World, a film that I'd personally characterize as "pure noise with the pacing of an olympic runner suffering from a seizure mid-race".
I can't speak for RetroVortex, but my agreement was pure hyperbole. Yes, I love the film, but I'm not delusional either. Of course Scott Pilgrim isn't the apex of the art, or anywhere close to it. But at the same time, the end goal of cinema is to entertain. In that context, any movie, be it Scott Pilgrim, Citizen Kane, Jackass 3D or Gone With The Wind, is equally valid as a subjective choice for "perfect film", technical quality of production being irrelevant to personal enjoyment.
I can't speak for RetroVortex, but my agreement was pure hyperbole. Yes, I love the film, but I'm not delusional either. Of course Scott Pilgrim isn't the apex of the art, or anywhere close to it. But at the same time, the end goal of cinema is to entertain. In that context, any movie, be it Scott Pilgrim, Citizen Kane, Jackass 3D or Gone With The Wind, is equally valid as a subjective choice for "perfect film", technical quality of production being irrelevant to personal enjoyment.
And by this criteria, Citizen Kane always loses. Hahahahaha-aAHHHHH!
Oh shit, son! Dashing's comin' at me, bros! I'm not taking it back, though.
I can't speak for RetroVortex, but my agreement was pure hyperbole. Yes, I love the film, but I'm not delusional either. Of course Scott Pilgrim isn't the apex of the art, or anywhere close to it. But at the same time, the end goal of cinema is to entertain. In that context, any movie, be it Scott Pilgrim, Citizen Kane, Jackass 3D or Gone With The Wind, is equally valid as a subjective choice for "perfect film", technical quality of production being irrelevant to personal enjoyment.
I couldn't possibly disagree more with this sentiment.
I wouldn't call the goal of cinema "entertaining people". I think the meaning of cinema, and by extension all of art, is to communicate. What is said might simply be a fun story, or a narrative meant to convey something tragic or beautiful, or to convey something true as through a documentary or a historically accurate adaptation of past events. As with all communication, HOW you say something is of equal importance to WHAT it is you are saying, and whilie one or the other may take prominence in a good work, masterful execution is required for a truly GREAT work. In much the same way a great writer can tell the same basic story and produce a manuscript with greater value than the same skeleton handed over to a small child, a masterfully skilled filmmaking crew that feels the importance and value of their craft, who care deeply about their work, can produce something far more valuable than the cinematic equivalent of a factory assembly line.
I don't disagree, but the vast majority of movies, good or bad, are indeed entertainment. Communication is a part of that. A knock knock joke is communication. If movies aren't entertainment, then what is? All of the things you say are integral to a quality film are also integral to a quality book, song, or game.
Going back to Scott Pilgrim for a second: what, in your eyes, is its failing as a quality product? I don't mean plot, as you've made that clear in the past, but the actual production itself. I feel like we're saying the same general thing in different ways here, and perhaps this will shine light on both of our stances if I know what causes you to not merely dislike the film, but to utterly detest it and its fanbase as you do. I can totally understand disliking it, it's a niche market after all. I just don't get the loathing.
Comments
Good man Davies. I always knew you were a good chap!
I really enjoyed it. The style took some getting used to (it did in the albums as well) but soon I forgot about it. The colours are awesome. The story funny, the voice acting excellent. I was really gripped. Didn't see time go by at all.
And then it was over. Pretty suddenly. There was some music and I thought "hey, a musical number" and the credits started rolling.
In retrospect, I can see why it ended there but it was very weird to realise it was over when I didn't expect it at all.
From the albums, I could tell many details were missing but it was a pretty good adaptation. The cat is an awesome character with very funny lines. The Rabbi is a sweet guy, his daughter is cute. If you love cat you'd probably like the story.
I don't know if it's ever coming out in another language than French, but I sure hope so. If it ever does come out in your language or with subtitles, I recommend it.
Well....that doesn't automatically mean the film's purpose is destroyed. Indy still got to show his heroic nature to the audience. I mean....he didn't know before hand that they all would die. Also...Indy had one other MacGuffin to chase the nazi's, Mariam.
And that it probably would have been opened by Hitler himself in front of a large army as part of a ceremony. Heh.
"But but but but but but but"
(Raiders and Marion) Not a interesting as Doom (saving the children) or Crusade (Indy's father).
b) An interesting one where the beautiful Cate Blanchet was partly playing a rather famous male.
c) And Wait until dark, still brilliant!
Michael J. Fox makes this movie gold, of course.
Its a great movie, and it was directed by Peter Jackson before he hit it big with The Lord of the Rings movies.
I recommend Peter Jackson's earlier films too.
I was a teenager when that film was being made and my Dad used to drive a delivery truck as a second job... Dad used to stop his truck out near the waterfront for lunch, and one day Michael J. Fox went jogging up and asked if he could get a lift over to Miramar. Dad loved to tell that story. :rolleyes:
last movie I saw on blu-ray was The King's Speech. Excellent!
Magneto's theme is the greatest villain theme song EVER! It reminds me a LOT of Morricone and the Man With A Harmonica theme from Once Upon A Time in the West.
Man, what can I say about this film. I'll start off by saying I've only seen bits and pieces of the other X-Men movies, which I'm going to fix over the week. I don't know much about the X-Men mythology or their relation to the overall Marvel universe. I heard a point on the X-Men when I watched a review of this one that I actually kind of agree with, which is that in the context of the Marvel universe the mutants don't make a lot of sense, and that the whole mutant thing seems like a lazy excuse to give powers without explanation. However, I'm not the kind of guy who needs explanation on superpowers. Really, I don't. I'm pretty accepting with superheroes. So, when this movie tells me that Xavier can read minds and do mind tricks and that Mystique can change into other people and is blue and scaly, I just kind of roll with it.
So, basically, I wasn't very excited for this movie when I first heard about it. However, when reviews started coming out, and friends were getting excited about it, I started getting more interested. Then I noticed two things that made me immediately want to see the film: Kevin Bacon and Michael Fassbender are in it. I LOVE Kevin Bacon. I seriously enjoy him in everything I see him in, even if the movie is terrible. Fassbender, as well, really really impressed me in Inglorious Basterds. I honestly thought he had the best scene in the whole film in the bar. Likewise, he has the best scenes in X-Men First Class. So with that in my brain, I went into the film with really high expectations. I was still blown away. OH WAS I BLOWN AWAY. I can't think of a film in recent history I smiled so much during or that I immediately wanted to walk back into the theater and see again. So yes, I loved the film. In fact I loved it so much, that it got me to want to see the other X-Men movies, even if they're not that great in comparison. Honestly, this one was so good it will have to go down as one of the most memorable films I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of films. I enjoyed it SO MUCH.
Now, I'm not saying this is a perfect film. That is to say, it was nearly perfect for ME, but it won't be for a lot of people, especially true blue X-Men fans. There are a lot of mythology changes, and even though the movie fits the continuity of the previous films somewhat, or so I've read, I've also read it doesn't fit entirely. I think this was because they wanted to set it with the others if it didn't do well, but were probably planning to restart the series with it if it did great.
So to start off with the positive points, what about this film made me love it so much? Well, I think to start off with, it was that it was NOTHING like I thought it would be. I had heard a lot of people say it was kind of like a Bond flick with superheroes, but I disagree with that a LOT. Yes it is set in the sixties or so, and yes there are a lot of women in lingerie with giant tits jiggling up over the edge of their bras, and yes there is a badass British lead, but the Bond comparison is made of similarities at best, not in the tone and feel of the flick. At least not to me. To be honest, and this is probably because I love them so much, the movie felt more like a spaghetti western with small spy elements and superheroes as the leads. Or, at least, Magneto's arc did. Actually, let me change my explanation. Magneto's arc was like a spaghetti western, but the rest of the film was kind of Bond/spy flick. So yeah, I guess that comparison wasn't entirely wrong. Magneto's arc was just so strong and driving in the film that I forgot it wasn't the ENTIRE film, so that's my mistake.
Oh yeah, and I mentioned that there are a lot of women in lingerie with giant tits jiggling up over the edge of their bras. And yes, I like that description. I guess I should have mentioned that EVERY WOMAN in the entire film is either in their underwear, or in Mystique's case, completely naked, throughout the film. This earns the film extra points for me, but it might bother some, or garner criticism, especially as a great deal of the women in the film are strippers. Why would this garner criticism? This film has a huge case of what I call the Frank Miller Syndrome. The definition of this is a story with women who are strippers or prostitutes for no reason, have giant tits for no reason, and whom most of have one-dimensional personalities, awful characterization, and in the case of movies, are not well acted. Not every woman in the film is terribly acted or has terrible characterization...actually only Mystique has either. Mystique is the only female character I felt like caring about in the film. Emma Frost, played by January Jones, is worse, and more dull and insipid than Megan Fox in the Transformers films. Oh she's bad. She is SO bad. Now, I've heard that she basically WAS the character, but that must mean that the character is freaking awful as well, because she was ice cold. She was just a little too chill. I did find her kind of sexy, but not REALLY sexy. Mystique, again, was the sexist Fass Girl. James Bond has Bond Girls. X-Men has Fass Girls. Moira, apparently, was the entire opposite of her character in the comics, but I thought she was pretty sexy, although as a character she didn't do much. She did look the best out of everyone in lingerie though. Angel, who is apparently not a very well-liked character, was...stupid. She was really stupid. Her introduction was great, but after that she was facepalm material. This might seem like a pervy thing to discuss, but seriously, boobs are shoved in your face in the movie so much, there's no way I can get away with not discussing this aspect. In that respect, it's a lot like actual comic books. The ladies of the film could have been amazing, but only one passed as great acting-wise.
Now on to the male leads. I've said a lot about Dat Fass so far, but I haven't even gotten to Kevin Bacon or James McAvoy yet. These two actors are the most important in the movie second to Fassbender, because they represent two sides of a coin for him. One, McAvoy as Charles Xavier or Professor X, is his truest friend and the one who sees good in him and tries to save him from his anger and vengeance, and Bacon as Sebastian Shaw is his greatest enemy and the man who taught him to use his anger and truly control his power. Shaw is the one who set Magneto on his path, and is also the one who Magneto has a very Man With A Harmonica vendetta against. Bacon really does a great job as the villain of this film. He's extremely intimidating, but I've seen Bacon be intimidating before, so this didn't surprise me. I actually gripped the handles of my seat sometimes when Bacon was on screen. He really felt like a real threat; like he could kill you any time he felt like it. In fact he was so powerful that when
Mystique is in this weird secondary character category where she's kind of the movie's mediator between the secondary mutants and the main mutants. She's the childhood friend of Xavier, the lover of Beast, and the best female character in the entire movie. I did NOT expect to like her at all, but she was really well characterized, except for a couple things. The secondary characters, known as Havok, Darwin, Angel, Azazel, Emma Frost, Riptide, Beast, and Banshee, and the Man in Black, all ranged from fun and interested to dull and bland. I'll put the interesting ones in this sentence: Havok, Azazel, Beast, Banshee, and the Man in Black. That leaves Riptide (ARGH), Emma Frost (CHUNKAGE NOT CONTAINED), Angel (MEH), and Darwin (WASTED) as the worst of the bunch. Honestly, that's not that bad, with so many characters to deal with. Some of them were just there to show off powers, like Darwin, and that's fine, but most of them were juggled very well. The only really terrible scene I can think of was pretty short, and it involved, gasp, Emma Frost. In fact, the scene literally created a plot hole, which really pissed me off. Emma Frost was a cancer on this film.
The special effects and action were all really well handled, but they weren't just there for the sake of being flashy, except for a couple of scenes. They were mostly used either thematically or to flesh characters out, which I thought was really great. The final battle was really cool, and everybody got to shine. The music for this film is honestly the only soundtrack I've ever loved that re-used one theme for half of it and was still badass. Magneto's theme is just...it's one of the greatest themes ever. I put it up there with Darth Vader's theme. When this theme plays, you are intimidated by Fassbender and he is a BAWSS. I was intimidated by him, and he wasn't even right in front of me. If he was, I'd be pissing my pants.
Again, there were some other flaws in the plot, and some things were cheesy or didn't make sense, but if you look around, you can find most of the biggest complaints yourself. I don't really have many I haven't mentioned already, so I don't feel it's important to go into them. As far as cheesiness, I would hate to watch a superhero movie that didn't have cheesy moments. As far as comparing this one to other Marvel offerings....I can honestly say right now this film is better than Thor by MILES. It's so high above Thor it's not even funny. Is it better than Iron Man? Well...hmm....that's REALLY hard....but right now I'll say yes. Is it better than Spider-Man 2? Ehhh....it's better than Spider-Man 1 and 3, but I'd say it ties with 2. Daredevil and Elektra and Hulk and Iron Man 2 aren't even in the same league for me. They don't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. It's better than Blade and Blade 2 as well, and I really do love Blade 1 and 2. I'm not even going to bother mentioning 3; screw that shit.
So, overall, man, I think I've said enough. I'll write about Super 8 in a bit, but I need to take a break after this long-ass post.
It was good. It was... different, but it was a fun movie. My friend was freaking out through the entire movie and I was laughing at her, so that might have swayed my enjoyment level a bit. It's no E.T., but it's nice.
So, I went yesterday to the theaters to see Super 8, Pirates 4, and X-Men First Class. I think I talked about Pirates 4 already, but it wasn't the movie of the night for me. I have never walked out of a theater, though, with two movies tying for me as much as X-Men First Class did. In the end, I had a really hard time figuring out which ones I liked more. In the end, X-Men First Class slightly won over Super 8, I think. However, Super 8 is still a wonderful film for me. I didn't grin through the whole film like I did in X-Men, but I did stare at the screen with mixtures of shock, wonder, and inquisitiveness, which were basically the emotions the movie really wanted to evoke.
I really expected to like this movie the most out of all of the ones I went to see, yet strangely enough, I was surprised by how much I did like it. I guess I just don't go to movies nowadays expecting to like them much. In fact I'm really ready to hate a movie every time I go see it. It's amazing how many modern movies I DO like. I also expected a lot of my love for the film to come from a love of Spielberg films such as Close Encounters, but it really didn't. I've heard people compare it a lot to E.T., but it really didn't evoke E.T. at all for me. It could be because I've only seen a fourth of E.T., but I can't bring myself to sit through E.T. because I can't bring myself to care about anything happening in E.T. In this, I cared quite a bit, and found myself very invested. Surprisingly, E.T. is the only Spielberg film I can't bring myself to watch as well. Super 8 did remind me slightly of the Goonies, but only mostly near the end when two of the kids must enter into some caves. There were more elements of Stand By Me, Jurassic Park, and Cloverfield I felt than from the other Spielberg films people have kept citing over and over. The only time I felt any connection to Close Encounters was near the end, and I wish people would stop comparing the two. That is the only time they even remotely resemble each other outside of lighting. However, I will admit that if I hadn't been watching this movie with friends, I probably would have stopped watching during the first 6th of the film. I was a bit bored at first, but once the relationships and the chemistry between the kids started working its magic I was hooked. Seriously, just because the movie has kids who have to work together and who have chemistry doesn't make it an E.T. or Goonies knockoff. I could call it a knockoff of Ernest Goes to Camp and The Sandlot and IT and I would be just as right as most of the people talking about Super 8, aka not very. Actually, outside of the killer clown, IT makes more sense than E.T. or Goonies.
As far as the chemistry between the characters, its definitely there. These kids feel like real kids, but in a way that everyone can relate to them. You have the sympathetic lead, the girl with the abusive father, the fat kid who wants to make a movie, the crazy blond kid who loves explosives, the slightly older nerdy puss who pukes and shakes at the first sign of danger, and there's another kid who sadly never really gets fleshed out much. My favorite was the kid with the explosives; he was just hilarious. I loved how his teeth were like a chipmunk and he had those braces and he just looked like the most fun character. One of my favorite comedic moments is seriously near the end where everyone is watching this climax and the music is at it's peak and he mouths HOLY SHIT is slow motion. I just about pissed myself laughing at that. These kids were all such amazing actors. I can not even praise them enough. I couldn't believe how well they worked together and separately. These kids seriously were a gold mine of discovered talent. I really hope they continue to get good roles and stay great as they grow up.
The best relationship was unsurprisingly the one between the lead, Joe Lamb, and the heroine, Alice Dainard. They had really good chemistry that affected not only people around them but also their personal lives, in both good and bad ways. Joe and Charles, the chubby kid behind their zombie movie, were obviously best friends and had the second best chemistry in the film. Cary, the explosives kid, and Martin, the nerdy kid playing the lead in the kid's zombie film, were both mainly comic relief. Preston, the final part of the group, was just sort of there.
As far as the adults, the standouts were Kyle Chandler as Joe's father, a deputy who is dealing with the death of his wife, and kind of reminds me of Chief Brody from Jaws mixed with a bit of Bruce Campbell. He's kind of an ass in some of the film, but he's also a bit badass at points too. The father and son chemistry is also well handled, but a bit underplayed. Ron Eldard as Louis Dainard, the abusive father of Elle Fanning's Alice, is a bit of a surprise character when you find out that
The creature is very interesting. Where it's from and the more scientific aspects of it are not really explained, which bugged me a bit. You find out how it got here, what it is, and what it wants, but it should have been fleshed out a bit more. I understand that Abrams wanted it to mostly be in the shadows and mysterious, but once you see the creature, some of the mystery is kind of gone for good. When it is in the shadows though, it's very scary and very intimidating. It really reminded me a lot of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park in terms of how it scares you. It's hidden in the bushes in the dark, and then suddenly OH SHIT ITS TEARING SHIT UP ITS AFTER YOU AHHHH. And that's basically how the monster is in every scene in the film. The idea of
The music was great in the context of the film, but I was disappointed that there wasn't any really memorable theme in the film. The special effects, especially when the army is blowing shit up in the town, was great. I loved the laser-ish firing and the whole scene was done so much better than Michael Bay has ever done. I was also impressed that Abrams had the balls to
Oh, and the film's money shot. I'm surprised no one has talked about the scene where
The characters are boring, their motivations are, so are the stories, ... even as a child i couldn't stand it. Contrary to other Marvel comics like the Silver Surfer or Spiderman is was just boring, not even trying to compare it to other great comics.
If you're doing it right and giving each character their time then it can work out having a universe with many people owning special powers but here it's just too much, too flat, too boring, no uniqueness. They need to be simple minded as otherwise it would be a lot harder to deal with. It's like playing a mass market role playing game with level 100 characters. I would have more fun watching a unpolished rough and dirty B-movie of the Y-Women.
About that shot-
Second, The Room: 9/10
Hmm. I didn't notice that. I'll have to watch for it when I see it again.
I was going to go into my feelings about Super 8, but this review pretty perfectly outlines the way I felt about it. I really enjoyed the kids and their interactions together, but most everything else left me scratching my head.
ARGH DEVIN FARACI. I get his complaints, but I don't agree with them and I'll leave it at that. Most of what he hates and thinks didn't work I love and think did work, and so on and so forth. Actually, I will comment on one or two things.
I never got the impression we were ever supposed to empathize with or feel a connection to the alien. I can empathize with the fact that he was tortured, but he was meant to scare the audience foremost. He's a monster who kills and eats people, absolutely. We feel as much of a connection to him as to a T-Rex in Jurassic Park. He's big and scary and there. He's driven by hate. Much like Magneto in X-Men, he's been driven to hate the human race, and he becomes a killing machine. The only thing I feel the movie wanted to do was to explain the creature's motivations and why it does what it does and what's going on in it's head, and it does all of that. I don't get where he gets that Joe and the creature were supposed to have a connection or parallel each other, because as far as I see it, they weren't. He complains because the creature's story and the kid's story are two separate stories happening at the same time that don't intertwine, but I see that as how the movie was meant to BE. And that's my say on Devin "Bullshit Reviews" Faraci.
EDIT: Don't agree with him on the Dads either.
EDIT EDIT: Damn it, fine. Here's why. Yes, Joe's Dad was an asshole, and yes he did spend most of the movie caring about the town. However, he WAS resolved. He did break out of the military camp because of the town, yes, but at that time he probably thought Joe was at the evacuation place. Once he found out Joe was gone or in danger, his priorities switched immediately to his son. And that is something Devin forgot because he's a moron. Both Dad's problems were resolved in that "talk" Devin hates so much, and that's when we both realize that they really do care about their children. He complains, oh the girl's Dad didn't do anything nyah nyah nyah but it's kind of hard to do much when you were in a CAR ACCIDENT. The kid's arc was about the Dads and their kids getting over the death of Joe's mother and how it affected them. That's what brought them together in the end, but them being brought together like in every family movie was never the point. Now Devin can eat my ass.
Now, this is a compilation of Short Subjects such as "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," and "Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger, Too." Each one was a brilliantly done short, but we get additional animation, in which Pooh states he wasn't done with the honey in the tree, and AFTER the bouncing stopped, and Piglet is surprised there's more bouncing in the next chapter (Tigger's). We also get a heartwarming ending chapter, in which Christopher Robin tells Pooh that he'll be going to school, but he won't forget him. The addition of Gopher (who wasn't in the book, Phone or Milne-written) was a good one. In addition to the Original Three Short Subjects, we also have "Winnie The Pooh and A Day for Eeyore," which was created in the 1980s (I remembered it had two Humphrey Bear cartoons and a Goofy Cartoon after it on a VHS.), and since it was on the "Friendship Edition" of the DVD, it had such redubbed voices listed as Jim Cummings (as Pooh, naturally), and Tress MacNeille (as Kanga). All in all, I loved it, including Tigger's song "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers!"
And thus, I conclude this very positive review by quoting the narrator in the ending: "Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them along the way, In that enchanted place on top of the forest... a little bear will always be waiting."
SPOILERS AS WELL.
In both cases of the alien and Magneto, you do feel a certain sympathy for what caused them to be that way, but it doesn't make me feel like I want them to have a happy ending. The alien is telepathic, when it touches you, it knows your thoughts. It knew the old scientist was sympathetic towards it. Did it not know that all the people it was capturing and eating had nothing to do with its torture? This creature is from a species intelligent enough to invent FTL travel and magic shapeshifting blocks, I think we can assume it can reason. Magneto knows on a intellectual level that not every human is going to persecute mutants, but he doesn't care, and that is what makes him a villain. Given that we know this creature reads your mind upon physical contact, and felt no remorse eating people that had no knowledge of it or its plight, I'm willing to classify it as a villain as well. It sucks what happened to it, but at this point I don't want it to get away and live happily ever after.
And absolutely Joe and the creature were supposed to have a connection. That's what saves the kids at the end. Joe says "it's okay, life goes on," and convinces himself as much as he does the alien. But it just seems to bogus to me that an alien that was five minutes ago gnawing on an innocent person's dismembered leg could have a total change of heart in 30 seconds of mental contact with Joe that it didn't get from all the other people it touched. It didn't feel any sympathy towards Alice, but somehow it does for Joe?
As for the Dads, I don't really have a problem with Alice's, but Joe and his dad's issues don't really get resolved. Half of the people around me in the theater snickered at it when Joe's dad shows up at the end and tells him "I've got you," AFTER the alien had basically gone. I wanted Joe to sarcastically reply "uh, yeah, thanks for the save, dad." I know it wasn't for lack of trying on the father's part, but are we really supposed to get a "feel good father/son moment" out of the dad arriving AFTER the danger has passed?
Let me say though for the record, that on the whole I did like this movie. I felt like it had some major flaws in logic, especially at the end, but the kids more then made up for it.
8/10.
9/10
I haven't read the comics, so any continuity problems wouldn't really have bothered me. What I did know didn't bother me too much either
I really enjoyed it. Let me copy-paste my reaction from a different forum:
Saw it today. Loved it. A shame the small theatre in my town only offered it as a French dub (and if it's really "because kids can't read subtitles", as they say, then explain why the other languages weren't dubbed but subtitled? True that the showing right before mine was half kids though. Hopefully they could read.)
My boyfriend (who saw it in English, in the US, yesterday) told me there is a scene in French. Missed it, since everything in English was ALSO in French. Can't wait to get the DVD so I can watch it all in original languages.
A few thoughts, as they came during the movie (keep in mind I never read the comics. I was probably ignorant of things very obvious to other people):
HUGE SPOILERS ABOUT THE WHOLE THING
- As soon as Hank appeared, I wanted to see him as Beast. Man, that was a long wait. But it was worth it. He was awesome.
- Hank, Erik, Azazel (presumably. As soon as I saw it I figured he must be Nightcrawler's father)... Raven goes around. I think it's awesome. She wasn't portrayed negatively in the movie as a slut or something, and I think it's really cool to have a female character portrayed as having several male interests without it being a bad things. I'm probably reading too much into it but I liked that.
- Hey, a black guy. There is only one. Well, I guess he joins the villains or dies.
- I wonder if there is supposed to be something between Charles and that CIA woman? I'm not sure why else she's staying around like that.
- OMG the helmet. Erik's going to kill Shaw and steal it. Awesome.
- Hey, Shaw thinks the same stuff as Magneto does. Wow, I guess we know who he got it from.
- Hehe Wolverine. Always classy.
- Older Mystique Cameo. Cool too.
- Man, there are a lot of half-naked women in this movie.
- I like Hank. I like him a lot. He's awesome.
- Felt bad for him when everyone was showing off their powers and his was "has monkey feet". I wanted to comfort him. I wanted to tell him "wait and see".
- Charles on the other hand... When he said he didn't want to shave his head because he cared about his hair, I wanted to say "er, bad news..." Thought it was too much when they made a SECOND reference to that at the end though. The first one was cool, the second one was too much.
- Charles is kind of a hypocrite isn't he? He's all about "the ends don't justify the means" and yet he manipulates people, erases their minds, takes control of their bodies... He's violating their minds rather than attacking them upfront like Erik does. In some ways, he's worse. And at the same time, acts like he's got the moral high ground.
- Oh wow, that's how he loses his legs!
- Glad they show the friendship is still there when they part ways. They have differing opinions but they still love and respect each other. Pretty cool. I wish they had been given more time for that friendship though.
Non-spoiler, general comments:
- The effects are really cool. Usually action scenes make me fall asleep because I can't follow anything. I could follow everything here, I was rooting for people, and I kept wondering how they'd reach such or such event I knew was coming. It was really nice.
- Very, very rare occurrence of a 2h+ movie during which I don't check the time or wish it wasn't so damn long.
- For all the dark parts in there, it was a pretty funny movie. Very emotionally engaging. My boyfriend thought it wasn't dark enough, I thought it was the perfect balance, as it helps us see both sides because it's on the edge, not clearly one way or the other.
I definitely recommend it. My favourite of the X-men movies, one of my favourite superhero movie. Definitely want to watch it again in its original version.
9/10
As close to a perfect film as there ever could be!
*chestbump* Right on, good sir!
I can't speak for RetroVortex, but my agreement was pure hyperbole. Yes, I love the film, but I'm not delusional either. Of course Scott Pilgrim isn't the apex of the art, or anywhere close to it. But at the same time, the end goal of cinema is to entertain. In that context, any movie, be it Scott Pilgrim, Citizen Kane, Jackass 3D or Gone With The Wind, is equally valid as a subjective choice for "perfect film", technical quality of production being irrelevant to personal enjoyment.
And by this criteria, Citizen Kane always loses. Hahahahaha-aAHHHHH!
Oh shit, son! Dashing's comin' at me, bros! I'm not taking it back, though.
Of course it does! I was promised a cane (that was misspelled for some artsy-fartsy reason), but instead I got some stupid sled!
Come to think of it, Scott Pilgrim didn't fight the world, either... WORST MOVIE EVER!
I wouldn't call the goal of cinema "entertaining people". I think the meaning of cinema, and by extension all of art, is to communicate. What is said might simply be a fun story, or a narrative meant to convey something tragic or beautiful, or to convey something true as through a documentary or a historically accurate adaptation of past events. As with all communication, HOW you say something is of equal importance to WHAT it is you are saying, and whilie one or the other may take prominence in a good work, masterful execution is required for a truly GREAT work. In much the same way a great writer can tell the same basic story and produce a manuscript with greater value than the same skeleton handed over to a small child, a masterfully skilled filmmaking crew that feels the importance and value of their craft, who care deeply about their work, can produce something far more valuable than the cinematic equivalent of a factory assembly line.
Going back to Scott Pilgrim for a second: what, in your eyes, is its failing as a quality product? I don't mean plot, as you've made that clear in the past, but the actual production itself. I feel like we're saying the same general thing in different ways here, and perhaps this will shine light on both of our stances if I know what causes you to not merely dislike the film, but to utterly detest it and its fanbase as you do. I can totally understand disliking it, it's a niche market after all. I just don't get the loathing.