Author Archives: Eugene

About Eugene

I'm currently trying to get back to my original weight of 7 Pounds and 6 ounces. yeah it's an uphill battle... I am a purveyor of many genres and mediums, from comics and anime, to movies and television shows. I'll get anything a shot and if it's good I'll praise it, and if it's bad... I'll be brutally honest. And I love frozen yogurt, I will always seek some out after a meal.

Review: Elysium – where Matt Damon shoots things, not as Jason Bourne

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Elysium made it’s way to number one at the box office this weekend, it was a close call.  The short of it… Earth is ravaged, the wealthy move off world and on to Elysium.  The poor working class dream of getting up to Elysium, while the privileged class there work on keeping them out.

The good; Neill Blomkamp’s new film after District 9 keeps in the sci-fi genre.  He’s again created a world in which the sci-fi genre is a social metaphor.

The film looks amazing, it’s shot beautifully, the special effects are top notch.  The world is populated with droids that do the law enforcing, to security detail, to medical assessment/aide, you name it they do it.  Limiting the human jobs to manufacture of these droids, keeping the poor… well, poor.
Insert Matt Damon, I really like this social commentary, Damon plays Max, the film’s protagonist, he’s an orphan who grew up with some nuns and fell in to the wrong crowd, he’s got a bad record and now working at a factor which makes the droids that keep him on parole.

Much like District 9, the action and violence is both graphic and well executed (pun intended).  Seeing a man eviscerated as he flees has never looked so good.

The bad; Jodie Foster’s in this movie, why?  She’s under utilized.  The pacing of the film is much faster than Blomkamp’s previous one, I don’t think that’s a good thing here.  We didn’t get enough time to live in this world that he’s created, it’s very well thought out and has a system of its own, I wanted more learning how this world works.
I wonder if the script could’ve benefited from another draft or two.

Overall I had fun, the ending is much happier than District 9, a little too happy actually.  And there are a lot of logic flaws that are usually reserved for horror movies and why characters are making these seemingly bad decisions.  The ending is basically in favor of universal health care.   Hopefully Blomkamp’s next team up with Copley will be more “on track.”

Review: Europa Report – no not how the euro is doing

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Europa_Report_Official_Poster

The Europa Report is about a manned space mission to Europa, for those of you who don’t know, Europa is a moon of Jupiter.  These astronauts go there in hopes of finding life, in the form of bacteria and stuff, and not the little green men type.

The good; I love sci fi, and I love this hard sci fi stuff.  Europa Report reminds me of these other movies; Moon, Silent Running, Sunshine and 2001.  And to a certain extent Mission to Mars, everything before they actually get to Mars.  There’s something about man facing the elements, or lack of, in space.  Europa Report follows in that tradition.

The science fiction of this movie makes me believe that a mission to Europa could actually happen.  Adding to the science of it is the way the movie was filmed.  We’re watching an uploaded report, inter-cut with talking heads from the team on Earth and other things.  There isn’t much that feels staged, it’s as if we’re just watching the surveillance footage from their mission, just edited together.  It’s using the tricks found in Paranormal Activity but in a sci fi world, and for that I love it.

The bad; it’s predictable.

The story is told in a non-linear fashion… I don’t think that added anything to the experience.  It makes me wonder how the film would be if it were edited chronologically?  I’d like to think that the impact of certain scenes would still hold up, if not more so.  Oh well.

*SPOILERS* When the first victim (Sharlto Copley) bites it, the moment is simple and not an action scene with huge explosions.  Very similar to Tim Robbins’ death in Mission To Mars.  Really liked how they covered that scene.
The end… like with the director’s cut of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind we’re shown too much.  I would rather the film footage be consumed by a bright light than to be shown a glimpse of an alien… *END SPOILERS*

Overall I had fun going on this journey, but was left very in the middle when the credits came up.  The music is done by the great Bear McCreary.  If you like hard science fiction, I would recommend Europa Report, but look past it’s flaws.
But it feels like there was a missed opportunity for a great movie here.

Review: Pacific Rim – giant robots and monsters, oh myyyyyy…..

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Pacific Rim is about a near future where monstrous aliens have come from the pacific ocean, and the only way to combat this threat?  Giant robots, that’s right, THE ONLY way is with giant robots.

The good; everything looks great.  The closest thing I can remember to live action giant robots is Robot Jox, and that was a hot mess of a movie.  Here we get massive machines and they’re all CG, but there’s a weight to the way they move, with every punch and step I could feel all that metal moving.  The ILM peeps did a great job.

The action is clear and in focus!  I can actually see what’s going on, it’s clear that a robot is throwing a punch and hitting a monster.  Every other movie today, please take note of how to cover action sequences here…

Hong Kong looks amazing in this movie, so much color, like a more vivid version of Blade Runner’s Los Angeles.

Not really a spoiler, but there’s a little girl in this movie (you see this from the trailer), and she is amazing.  George Lucas needs to take a page from del Toro on how to direct actors in a green screen environment.  Bravo little girl!

The bad; what bad?  If anything, I only have minor things, so here goes.

The film doesn’t feel like a del Toro movie to me, I mean yes, it does have Ron Perlman.  But there are story points that I would’ve liked to be fleshed out a little more.  I won’t go into them, they’d be spoilers for those who haven’t seen the movie.

More robots, I wanted more Jaegers fighting, they covered the action so well that it felt like a breath of fresh air and I wanted more and more.

*SEMI-SPOILER* the ending was too happy for a del Toro movie, there’s some logic reasoning that I thought of afterwards.  Mainly, why did those pilots have to die?  When in the next scene we see that there’s an ejection pod system? *END SEMI-SPOILERS*

Overall, go see this marvel in the theatre.  Cloverfield was supposed to be the new monster movie, nope, it’s Pacific Rim by far.  This film knows what it is and goes with it.  People complain that most of the action takes place at night, in the rain, or underwater… so?  Despite all of that, I can see what’s going on, the shots are in focus and on a tri-pod.  What novelty these ideas are.  I’ll take an underwater fight scene where I can clearly see everything over a Michael Bay sunset silhouetted shot that’s hand held and in extreme closeup.  As soon as Pacific Rim ended, I wanted it to start all over again!

Review: White House Down – all the waaaaaaaaay down

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So White House Down, another movie in which Roland Emmerich gets to inflict destruction on to our capital city.  Channing Tatum is the under dog security agent who wants to apply for the secret service and has a strained relationship with his daughter.  And the President is Jamie Foxx.  Stuff blows up, what else do we need to know?

The good; stuff blows up, and it blows up well.  You might be asking yourself… “didn’t we already see this movie?”  Yes, yes you might have, earlier this year we got Olympus Has Fallen

So how is this one different?  Well for one its better, but that’s not saying much.  White House Down is exactly what you expect.  But the best part is that it doesn’t take itself too serious, which was sorely lacking in Olympus.

*SPOILER*(but not really) Channing Tatum does not get shirtless in this movie. *END SPOILER*

The bad; we basically already had this movie?  Some of the special effects are horrible, oh and the reference Independence Day… thanks, I had forgotten that Emmerich likes to blow up the United States.

Overall, don’t waste your time in the theatre with this one, but given a choice between two movies with the same premise, go with White House Down. You’ll marvel at the destruction, you’ll cringe and laugh at the dialog, and you’ll shake you’re head.  But mostly you’ll shake your head while eating popcorn.

PS. old people, please stop seeing movies when I see them, you ruined both Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down, if I can hear you whisper… then it’s not a whisper.

Review: The Purge – not the throwing up kind

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The Purge… what a interesting movie.  It’s about an annual Purge that happens in the near future of these United States of America.   There’s a twelve hour period once a year where citizens and can vent out their negative feelings, in which there are no emergency services available, and because all crime is legal… including murder.  Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey try to survive another purge night with their family, whacky-ness then ensues.

The good; very interesting premise, although it does borrow from a Star Trek episode entitled The Return of the Archons.  Regardless, the premise is intriguing enough for me to purchase a ticket.  Not much else here, I just enjoyed the world that they built in this near future.

The bad; the execution (pun intended) of the premise.  Why is everything shot in close ups?  The family lives in this big house, I want to see the house, I wanna see the neighborhood, why won’t  you let me see those things?  The only thing we’re exposed to are close ups of the actors’ faces.  It’s just strange that everything was done this way.  It does create a sense of uncomfortable intimacy, but it’s too much, we need room to breathe.

Overall, great premise, needs work on the execution.

Review: This Is The End – let’s hope not…

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I saw This is the End, if you haven’t seen the trailers, it’s about comedic actors in LA, they’re at a house party when the beginning of the apocalypse happens.  In the vein of Neil Patrick Harris in Harold and Kumar all the actors in the movie play themselves, and whacky-ness ensues.
The good; the actors work well together, you can tell that everyone was in the spirit of this comedy, there was too much service paid to one person more than the other.  Everyone executes their jokes beautifully among this who’s who of comedy actors.

The gags are wild and outrageous but not drawn out.  The timing really works well in this almost parody of the end of the world movies.

The bad; things go a little too crazy in the third act.  I mean there’s some stuff that happens that you see coming and the set up is part of the joke.  But some of it could’ve been “hidden/disguised” better.

Overall – I can’t complain to much, I went in knowing what this movie would be about and it delivered.  Much like Hot Tub Time Machine, I just had fun going along for the ride.

Review: Monsters University – Graduates with Honors

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I saw Monsters University this weekend, and apparently so did everyone else.  It’s a prequel to Monster Inc., letting us know the back story of how Mike and Sully became such good friends.  And from the title, you guessed it, it’s when they’re in college.

The good; the animation is top notch, as always.  There’s moments where the film goes in to the human world, and it looks amazing.  The lighting is superb.

What really shines out in this movie, as opposed to other prequels, are the characters.  Mike and Sully are really really well thought out.  Not only are the leads solid, fleshed out, characters, but so is the supporting cast.  This is where the movie really shines.

The bad; other than it being a prequel, I can’t think of anything.  This film is thoroughly enjoyable.
The complaint I do have is that it IS a kids’ movie, and therefore… kids are in the theatre.  They really can’t enjoy this movie, and what makes their parents think that they can???

Overall, do yourself a favor and see this in the theatre, try not to see it with kids that are too young though.  The feature is also preceded by the short film The Blue Umbrella.  Another great coupling of films.

Review: Man of Steel – in which Superman Returns… to the silver screen

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Just saw Man of Steel, it’s Warner Brothers/DC Comics trying to revive the Superman film franchise again.  This time we have Zack Snyder directing with Christopher Nolan at the helm/producer, Henry Cavill as the titular character, Amy Adams as Lois Lane and so on.  It’s a Superman movie, Superman does super things against evil and injustice, this case, the already alien looking Michael Shannon as General Zod.

The good; unlike comic book movies, a lot of the movie the hero is spent in civilian clothing as his alter ego/normal self.  Henry Cavill spends a good ninety percent of the movie in the Superman uniform.  That’s what we’ve been missing in these latest superhero movies, not enough of the hero in costume (Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises…).

After Superman Returns, we finally get Superman returning to the big screen.  Superman punches, flies and punches while flying, action and explosions galore, why did it take so long to get here?!

Henry Cavill as Superman – this guy gets it.

Hans Zimmer’s scores are great.

The story, without spoilers, is great, it matches to visuals and it just as strong, they compliment each other beautifully.

The bad; I have to put something here… let’s see… let’s see.  Superman’s costume is too dark, I really do miss the red trunks, Lois isn’t dark haired…

But in all seriousness the action scenes are rather lack luster, it’s nothing new, which is maybe what they’re going for?  But I wanted better coverage and choreography in the fight scenes.  Too many close ups and shakey cam, it’s something modern cinema suffers too much from.

Hans Zimmer’s scores, I know I put this above, but I’m of the school that superheroes should have a catchy theme.  We all can hum the John Williams Superman theme, and the Danny Elfman Batman theme, and let’s not forget the Spider-Man cartoon theme or the nana-nana-nana- Batmannnnn theme.  So what’s Christian Bale’s Batman theme?  “wrrrrrrrooooooooooooommm.”  Listen to the themes of today, can you hum them?

Overall – go see this movie in the theatre, I really really enjoyed this, and this is coming from me, a die hard Superman fan.  When I saw the first trailer I was doubtful, but then that third trailer came out, and I was sold.  From the get-go I wanted to be wrong, and I’m glad that I was… Man of Steel delivers in every way possible.

Review: Now You See Me – and now you don’t see… After Earth

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I saw Now You See Me this weekend, and not After Earth, hahaha.  Now You See Me came in second at the box office this weekend, and After Earth was third, good job America.
Anywayz… Now You See Me is about four magicians that are brought together mysteriously and then are propelled in to the Vegas lime light, only to use that attention to bring about social justice… I would’ve never guessed this until I saw the trailer.

The good; I was immediately hooked in by… well the hook, we’re introduced to the magicians in their current state, from street performances, to former headliners, to con artists… it was a great set up for these characters cause it showed how different they are with their talents.

The movie has a very polished slick look, this is one film where the camera movements and quick cuts serve the story.  It shows that the magicians are faster and one step ahead.

The cast did a great job, and boy what a cast it was; Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, and Melanie Laurent.

The bad; who’s the main character?  We’re introduced to the four magicians, after they perform a bank heist as part of their act they’re then taken in to custody and question, we then meet the FBI agent (Ruffalo) in charge, but he’s not the main character… so there’s a lack of main focus, but not really a bad thing here, just noticed it.

With magic or illusions of any kind, I was expecting more practical effects, especially if they’re a Las Vegas act, cause that stuff is perform before a live audience.  But there was a lot of CGI use, some shots made me question if that was needed.

*SPOILERS* The first two acts are great, we get to see these guys work and fool people and there’s this sci-fi element thrown in there.  Then Morgan Freeman introduces us to this notion of “The Eye,” which is a secret magic club thing from long long ago.  The third act then wraps everything too neatly and easily.
I would’ve liked more set up to what they were paying off at the end.
And if you don’t see the twist coming… come on.  Please keep your befuddled gasps to yourself, otherwise you’re cluing us in to how stupid you are. *END SPOILERS*

Overall – I really enjoyed this heist movie, it was fun, and I’m so glad it beat out After Earth (no one needs another M. Night Shyamalan movie, let alone a Jaden Smith movie… urgh).
Now You See Me is a heist movie with some fantastical elements thrown in.

Review: Star Trek Into Darkness – In which dumbed down story and mindless action prevails

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I saw Star Trek Into Darkness, it’s the direct sequel to the rebooted Star Trek universe. The short of it is the crew on board the Enterprise goes on spacey missions and does spacey stuff, we all know what Star Trek is.

The good; everyone’s back, I liked what the young cast brought to the table and I’m glad they’re all back.

The uniforms, it’s taking a more Starship Troopers approach, lots of greys.

The first half of the movie.

Peter Weller in Star Trek again.

Benedict Cumberbatch carried the most presence with what he had to work with.

The shirts, the shirts are just well pressed!

The bad; how can I put all that feel here? I won’t try, but I’ll hit on some important things.

This movie is not Star Trek, I blame the “writers” Orci, Kurtzman, and that ever wonderful Lindelof. Collectively this team butchered Transformers, Cowboys and Aliens, the Alien franchise, and now Star Trek…
The first half of the film was great, it was attempting to correct the things that were sorely wrong with the first movie. Scotty is telling Kirk that they’re explorers and not a military vessel, so he resigns… thinking back on this, that was all Simon Pegg, cause he knows, where those other guys clearly don’t know Trek.

*SPOILERS* Star Trek is about hope and bettering humanity, I get it, 9/11 happened, but does Star Trek need to remind us of that? Also, if you’re going to create a new world for Star Trek, and close the old one off, why are we rehashing the “old world’s” stories? They tried it within world with Nemesis, and that ended all the Next Generation films, “hello McFly” are we not learning from history?

Why Khan? I get it, that’s the best movie from the franchise, and you’re a fan, that doesn’t mean you should make Wrath of Khan over again now does it?

Why is Carol Marcus in this film? Just cause she was in Wrath of Khan? Then we reverse the whole Spock death by putting Kirk in radiation? There were more than a few scoffs in our audience when that scene came up. This new Trek hasn’t earned that moment.

And at one point Spock goes and talks to Spock Prime… that’s lazy story telling, cause Spock can just ask Spock how it all happened in the “old” universe, really?

Overall I fail to see how a Star Trek fan can like this movie, it’s all flash and no substance, literally, flashes of lens flare galore. The future in Star Trek is bright, but not literally bright. Into Darkness lost me as soon as Khan’s name was revealed, from that moment on I was beamed away. See what I did there?

Save your time and watch some real Star Trek. *END SPOILERS*

 

Review: Iron Man 3 – In which the trilogy ends

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Finally got to see Iron Man 3, it’s the third installment in to the Iron Man franchise, this film being directed and written by Shane Black. I’m a Shane Black fan, he’s done; the Lethal Weapon movies, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, The Last Boyscout…
In short, the third movie is about Tony Stark battling a new villain as well as personal demons.

The good; Robert Downey Jr, he carries this movie completely and thoroughly. His comedy timing and delivery is great, there’s some scenes in particular with a kid, but I won’t get in to it.

The scene where Iron Man has to rescue passengers suddenly ejected from a plane is great. There’s a real sense of geography and urgency amidst this chaotic situation and it’s pulled off very well.

The bad; it wasn’t the movie I had hoped for, not typical of Shane Black’s previous work. The twists and turns aren’t hard to spot, and much like The Dark Knight Rises, there isn’t much of Iron Man in this film. It seemed that there was too much to service in the story, you have the Extremis stuff as well as the Mandarin.

Overall, enjoyed it better than the second movie, but the first movie is still the best one out of the trilogy.
Again… wait till the end of the credits (as you should) for a tag at the end.

Review: Oblivion – obliterates the competition

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I went to see Oblivion last night.  Didn’t get to see it over the weekend, apparently everyone else did…
It’s about Tom Cruise as the last man on earth, sort of, the planet is ravaged and he his mission is to repair the drones that repel the alien presence.

The good; I love the premise, it reminds me of all those post-apocalyptic movies before the eighties, the ones that immediately come to mind are; Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running and Damnation Alley.  Then more recently Moon.

The production design in creating the world is great.  Everything is a variation of white, the equipment, living quarters, clothing… all white.  But Tom Cruise plays tech Jack Harper who goes out in to the wasteland so his white uniform is grayish from all the dirt and grime.

Oblivion is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who previously did Tron: Legacy. It’s nice that he got a second chance to direct a movie with a stronger story.  This film really feels like a lover-letter to all those previously mentioned movie in the seventies.

The bad; the film does drag in spots, but there’s something about Cruise, he can carry a movie, much like Mc Queen in Bullitt.  So I was able to forgive the pacing in areas.

The story is nothing new, there’s a lot of aspects of other movies and stories that we’ve seen here.  I know I mentioned this above as something I liked, but it felt more like here’s this movie and then now here’s that movie, the melding needed work.

*SEMI-SPOILER* There’s a twist/reveal at the end.  Basically if you’re an uninformed movie goer (a Michael Bay fan *ahem) then you’d be gasping when this plot point reveals itself.  I could see this twist coming a mile away, and again, it’s nothing new that we haven’t seen, so I guess I was just predisposed to expect it.
When the revelation hits Harper I find that he buys in to it way too easily.  Some might say that was already fighting mentally with what he was doing, so when the truth hit him, it was always something he knew but could never see or hear.
At this point in the movie taking more time to explain the “truth” of what’s going on wouldn’t have been so bad, cause they did take their sweet time getting there.  Just felt weird, why take your leisure and then when something important like this comes up we speed right through it?  It’s basically told in exposition, which felt very lazy.
*END SEMI-SPOILER*

Overall I enjoyed this movie more than I thought it would be.  The visuals are great and Tom Cruise, luv him or hate him, he can certainly carry a movie.  Viewing this movie made me want to watch all the other movies that I thought of, so I know that the filmmakers’ hearts are in the right place, cause they like some of the same movies I like.