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Every so often, a movie comes along to further define the ‘Epic’ genre. These are films like ‘The Godfather’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Terminator 2’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’. And with ‘Avatar’, James Cameron has booked himself a second seat at that table. The scale of this film is majestical, and it’s clear that no expense has been spared; not just with the CGI, but with props, costumes, and sets. The animation is fantastic and blends seamlessly with the live action shots and characters. And most importantly of all, the story is powerful and moving, with a strong and positive message.
This movie does have appeal, but not if you value coherent and structured storytelling over visual impact. The plot jumps all over the place – admitting or ignoring various story points without explanation. The animation is impressive, though; and the bleak, post-apocalyptic world is nothing if not starkly detailed. I think my biggest issue with this film is the lost potential. There was a lot of space that could have been used to flesh out the characters’ motivations or give the film a clear take-home message, and give you a reason to remember it and recommend it to family and friends.
There’s very little to say about ‘Jackass: The Lost Tapes’ aside from that if you enjoyed the original show and subsequent movies, you’ll probably enjoy this; and if not, it’s certainly not going to change your mind. I was surprised to see how much of this footage was recycled, and how much of the rest of it may well have been. There aren’t any new ideas, and it seems somewhat self-referential when Wee Man (dressed in a nappy and refusing to be pushed down stairs in a pram) looks at the cameraman and says, “Why are we even doing this?”
Having originally seen this movie when I was about 12, it was a very different experience watching it again this week. At the time, I’d appreciated the humour and juxtaposition of a man in a shirt and tie shooting up fast food restaurant. This time, however, what stuck me was how well Ebbe Roe Smith, Joel Schumacher and Michael Douglas have captured William’s nothing-to-lose desperation and subtle shift to becoming the “bad guy” in his own story. At once, his behaviour can seem so outlandish and extreme; whilst at the same time can seem completely justified and understandable.
The fanboy culture is so ingrained in the concept of ‘Star Trek’ that it mush have been very hard for J.J. Abrams to put together an incarnation as accessible as this. But accessible, it is; and a very entertaining sci-fi action adventure at that. Zachary Quinto seems perfect as a new generation of Spock, with his years as the pseudo-human Sylar in ‘Heroes’ standing him in good stead. There’s also impressive work by relative newcomer Chris Pine. And Daniel Mindel’s space cinematography (including the infamous lens flares) has an organic feel, somewhat reminiscent of Whedon’s CGI handi-cam approach in ‘Firefly’.
The sci-fi genre has become saturated with fast paced action recently, so it’s good to see Alex Rivera take a slow paced approach to tell a beautiful story. The advanced technology, despite playing a major role in the film’s plot, takes a back seat to character development and social commentary as we see Memo and Luz’s relationship develop and understand the implications of living in the shadow of a nation doing everything it can to restrict outside usage of its natural resources. If this is the quality of the new generation of Mexican filmmakers, then I look forward to more.
Over the years, I’ve had mixed feelings about monster flicks, and I really thought that ‘Cloverfield’ would be one I wouldn’t enjoy. I’d heard the talk of the shaky camera, lack of back-story, and frenetic pacing to keep the run-time down to just over an hour – but combined, I think it worked. These three points all merged to give the movie a panicked feel, tying you in to the emotions of the characters on screen. The acting and directing were surprisingly good (if you ignore T.J. Miller’s forced voiceovers), and the visual and sound effects made for an impressive experience.
From what I hear, it cost Robert Zemeckis about $200 million to make his adaptation of the Dickens classic, ‘A Christmas Carol’. Personally, I feel it would have been more powerful of made for one percent of that figure. In a piece of reverse logic any philosopher would be proud of; motion capture was used with the human actors to make the computer generated human characters look more like the humans that the computer generation was based on. As for it being in 3D, this added no more to the film experience beyond making the audience members feel sea-sick throughout.
When you give the mind of Joss Whedon a clean slate upon which to produce a short serial, ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ is what you get. These are the musical adventures of Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) as he attempts to conquer his Super Hero nemesis, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion); and Billy (Horrible’s alter-ego) as he attempts to woo the heart-of-gold Penny (Felicia Day). It’s light hearted, very funny, and features a swag of characters that you can’t help but love. This is Whedon pushing the envelope of what’s accepted as normal on film, and I like it.
The ‘Broken Lizard’ boys had to start somewhere, and that place is ‘Puddle Cruiser’. While not quite at the standard that its younger brother, ‘Super Troopers’, achieved, it’s still a very funny movie. It centres on the budding relationship between Felix and Suzanne, yet the main source of laughs comes from the judicial process surrounding Kevin Heffernan and Paul Soter’s characters, after they’re caught breaking into the college cafeteria. Also, keep an eye out for Erik Stolhanske’s Freaky Reaky, as the perfect example of a man who came to university with his own style, and decided to stick with it.
