Category Archives: Reviews

Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – catches fire with $161m opening weekend

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Saw Hunger Games: Catching Fire this weekend.  It’s the second installment in the Hunger Games film franchise, which pretty much picks up right where the last one left off.  Katniss and Peeta have won the hunger games, they live back at their district where things aren’t the same.  The citizens of the district aren’t so happy, so stuff gets real.
The good; I really like this world that we’re in, and not the depressing dystopian stuff, but the way the world works and how it’s consistent, even though we’ve got a new director (Francis Lawrence) on this one.
The characters are still there and they’re still good and compelling.  They managed to make Katniss more innocent, if that’s possible.  Her life as she knew it is gone, she’s now this public figure, and what ever she does, no matter how small, ripples through out her world.

There’s a nice twist to a seemingly tertiary character, which I love.  It’s Effie, her little bit of… say “team work” was very well done.

They managed to make the new games interesting.  It wasn’t just the first movie over again, they threw in some stuff that changed it up and still kept my interest at all times.  When the movie was over, there was no point that I thought, “so that was two plus hours gone by…”
That is something good films accomplish.

The bad; I still need wider shots on the action.  Granted we didn’t have that over-used shakey-cam stuff here, but still… I want to see the action.  Things weren’t as brutal as the first film, but there was still a sense of disorientation and claustrophobia.  We’re not watching helmet cam footage, so be a movie and move me… what?!
*POSSIBLE SPOILER* This movie doesn’t end, it’s not a standalone movie.  I know that there are more movies/books to this series, but make a movie, don’t make part of a movie. *END POSSIBLE SPOILER*

Overall I had a lot of fun going back to visit Katniss, “Hey girl, what’s up?  How’s life after being the winner… oh not soo great?”  Oh and I like how an older white-bearded male is the bad guy, who would’ve seen that comin’??  There more story to tell and I’m ok with there being more movies.  I look forward to the next films.

Review: Ender’s Game – insert coin(s) to continue

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Saw Ender’s Game, it’s about a future world where Earth has been ravaged by an alien invasion, Earth barely repels the attacking forces and since then they’ve been working against another attack.  The International Fleet prepares for this upcoming attack by recruiting and training children, Andrew Ender Wiggin is one of those children.

The good; the world is set up very well.  We’re given the history of why these kids are trained for combat so early on.  Then we’re in the world and it’s  great getting to know the school and the pecking order.

Asa Butterfield as Ender is very good, he conveys the inner turmoil and frustrations amazingly.  Hope to see more from this kid.

I really just like this story, much like Starship Troopers, children are asked/demanded to give up their childhood for the greater good.  There’s something about the loss of innocence in a story that resonates with me.

I would’ve liked to have spent more time in this world, getting to know its ins and outs.  Exploring it and all that.  This book should’ve been two movies.

The bad; there’s too much crammed in to this movie.  Having not read the book(s), I could already tell that there were things that the movie had to gloss over.  Unlike The Hobbit films, Ender’s Game is an example where I want more than one movie per book.  There’s just so much going on here, especially in the training scenes, that I want more MORE!

I don’t feel like Harrison Ford is acting anymore, in his old age he just plays himself, this old bitter, crusted man.  It’s as if we’re just waiting for him to get angry and yell at someone in the movie.

*SPOILER* The transition of Ender’s team from underdog to topdog is something that I could’ve had more of.  I want to see more of the Dragons rising in the ranking to beat the Salamanders.  *END SPOILERS*

Overall, I enjoyed the movie.  I realize there’s a lot missing from what’s in the book, but what we were given in the film is entertaining and great.  The ending is very final, but yet open, hopefully the box office results will give us another movie.
Unlike most of the book adaptations that Fox does, Ender’s Game actually makes me interested in reading the source material.

Review: Gravity – “is working against me…” you got that right Mister Mayer

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Waited to see Gravity, worth the wait.  This is a movie truly worth seeing in IMAX 3D.  See it that way and see it often, well maybe not often cause it’s already made $50 million on its opening weekend.

The short of it, astronauts on a routine expedition get caught in a debris storm that leaves them stranded in space, dun dun dunnnnn…

The good; the visuals are amazing. the opening shot goes on for what feels like forty five minutes.  Technically stunning.  This is how filming a mostly CG film is supposed to be, not like those Star Wars prequels.

The only two on screen actors you have are Sandra Bullock, who plays the bio-medical engineer Ryan Stone, and George Clooney, who plays veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski.  Other than that, everyone else is a voice over.  It’s compelling that all you have on screen are these two actors and you’re still right there with them.

The soundtrack is amazing, very driving and atmospheric, pun intended.  With a film like this where they do portray space as the vacuum it is, there’s no sound, leaving a lot of room for the soundtrack.  It’s booming, almost deafening, and yet can be triumphant and moody.

Gravity leans more to the scientific aspects of what would happen in a space disaster.  Reminiscent of movies like; The Perfect Storm, Open Water, Castaway, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.  In its leaning to the hard science stuff, the film uses imagery from 2001, but doesn’t attempt to touch the philosophy aspects of it.  An example is the shot where Bullock is curled up in the fetal position while in zero gravity, the tether line is the umbilical cord and the craft is the womb…  I like the nod to 2001.

The bad; you should see this in IMAX 3D, there’s no way about it, seeing this film in regular 2D isn’t worth it.  Allow yourself to be immersed completely in a movie.
The trailer… it portrays the film as more high octane action by using sound effects in space, the marketing is mis-leading here.  Those morons expecting a big explode-y type movie shouldn’t be watching this film, so why market to those cavemen?

There isn’t much to put here, but I’ve got to put something.  If anything, the story is nothing new.  But it’s so well done.

Overall, Gravity is one of my favorite movies this year.  It should be nominated for best picture as well as all the technical nominations that it’s eligible for.  This is basically a disaster film but set in space, it’s man against the elements, in this case the lack of elements.  It’s another technical feat brought to us by Alfonso Cuarón.  Bravo!

TV show – Tron: Uprising – the best show no one’s watching

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Have you seen Tron: Uprising?  Probably not, it really is the best show that no one is watching.  The series follows Beck, voiced by Elijah Wood, a program who lives on the grid and joins the fight against Clu‘s occupation.  This series takes place inbetween the first movie Tron and the sequel Tron: Legacy.

There’s a lot of character development going on here, we even get the respective actors reprising their roles, Olivia Wilde and Bruce Boxleitner.  Spoiler… they’re from other versions of Tron, haahha.

Other than the compelling stories, I love the soundtrack, they really emulate the Daft Punk soundtrack from the Legacy movie, and the action is pretty top notch.

But apparently this series is getting some acclaim and not just from me, hopefully this will give us a second season.

– Annie Awards –
Character Design
Production Design

– Primetime Emmys –Art Direction

The entire season is also on Netflix.

Here’s the webseries strung together as the first episode of the series;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjbwVzJR8w4

Who would want to watch this?  I’m sure Elijah… would…

Review: The World’s End – it’s not like a lion eating houmus

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Finally got to see The World’s End this weekend. It’s about old friend reuniting to finish a pub crawl from their youth, but little do they know that their hometown has changed… (dun dun dunnnn).

The good; Edgar Wright reunited with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (among others) for the third installment in the unofficial “cornetto” trilogy.  The three aforementioned  individuals, along with the frozen dessert, being the connective tissue.  I’ve been anticipating what the third movie would be for some time, and here we get it, like seeing some old friends.

The acting is great, I love the chemistry between everyone, it looked like a lot of fun to be on set.  The humor also seems to come along very organically.  The dialog had me laughing out loud, here’s an excerpt, “A man of your legendary prowess drinking f**king rain! It’s like a lion eating houmous.”

The pacing is very spot on, it starts off as a “bringing the team back together” type of movie and then once they’re together it’s an awkward family reunion sort of thing, then once things get going it’s an end of the world survival movie.  The movie just doesn’t let up, the transitions between the moods of the movie are woven in beautifully.  Lately movies have not been blending their scenes, this could be an editing issue, but with The World’s End the writing has to be credited here.
The story moves along with what the characters are going through, so these seemingly different movies can meld in to one and I don’t mind it.

The bad; no one’s seeing this movie?  Could this be attributed to the whole Firefly – Serenity thing?  Where the film was screened for the audience that would pay to see the movie anyway?
This could also be because of the R rating, scaring people from theatre seats.

Overall the wait was worth it.  I enjoyed every minute of this film.  Wright and Pegg manage to pen another script that’s ripe with characters and extreme circumstances, yet allowing it to be relate-able and endearing.  I find it odd, yet refreshing, that I’m able to sympathize with situations and motivations in Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and now The World’s End.  Probably the best movie of the summer that no one is watching.

Review: In A World… – of Impossible Odds and Wonderment

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This weekend I got the pleasure to see In A World…
The movie is about a female voice over artist breaking in to a male dominated field.  One part indy flick, one part rom-com, all hilarious.

The good; Lake Bell’s signature is all over this film, she wrote, directed and stars in this delightful film.

You really connect with Carol (Lake Bell) as a character, her motivations are universal and grounded.  She wants to make it on her own and at the same time gain her father’s approval.  The story is nothing new here, it’s the underdog fighting for what they believe in, but what makes In A World… stand out above all the others is in its execution of this story, it’s very much focused on character and characters.

At no point in this movie did I feel the humor was forced, the comedy just came out naturally and at the right time.  Just life situations and how the characters deal with them, awkwardly or not.

That pacing was also great, every scene was needed and didn’t feel too lengthy.

The bad; if I have to put anything here, it’s that this film is in limited release.  I want to recommend it to everyone, but not all will be able to view this in their local theatre.

Also, this could be a negative thing, there are a lot of names in this movie (Demetri Martin, Eva Longoria, Ken Marino, Cameron Diaz, Rob Corddry, Nick Offerman, Geena Davis…) the cast list alone might be misleading to the uneducated movie goer.  They may be expecting an SNL type comedy film, when they’re gonna be getting this well crafted experience instead.

Overall, I highly recommend In A World…, one of my picks for best picture nominee.  Lake Bell hits it out of the park on all fronts.

Review: R.I.P.D. – Rent In Peace Dudes

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Finally got to see R.I.P.D. last night, luckily it was at the second run theatre.  It’s about a division of dead cops that continue to enforce laws, this time it’s the laws of the universe, keeping the dead out of the world of the living.  Easy enough right?

The good; the movie doesn’t take it self too seriously.  It’s a fun filled action ride.  Lots of humor and great special effects.  The movie reminds me a lot of the first (and best) Men In Black film.  It’s a standard story, rookie cop gets introduced to a new world and is partnered up with a veteran.  Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges, coupled with Mary Louise Parker, is where this movie shines.  You can tell they had a lot of fun during the filming.

The bad; it’s nothing new.  I can see why this failed to capture audiences when it came out.  The script is very on the surface, there’s not much to it.  This is a case where the script could’ve used another pass, perhaps subtext and subplots?  The cops have a mission and they complete the mission, which is to save the world.  Perhaps the stakes could’ve been more personal.

Overall definitely worth a rental, a lot of fun, if not to just watch the actors… act with each other.  We get another comic book adaptation, but not one that the mass public would instantly recognize.

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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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: The Heat

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The buddy cop comedy genre has been around forever and comes back in different forms. The Heat takes a shot in this genre of marrying the serious career of crime fighting with two upholders of the law that find little to agree upon.

Let’s state the obvious: Melissa McCarthy steals the show. To her credit, if you loved Sandra Bullock as Lenina Huxley in Demolition Man, you’ll find her awkward-yet-capable character in The Heat also charming, but it’s McCarthy who portrays Boston local cop,  Shannon Mullins, that gets credit for the many of laughs that ensue.

The good; you do know that this movie is more about comedy than drama, right? Good!

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy really work together. You get the feeling they became friends working together if they weren’t already and I can’t help but wonder why the makers didn’t give us a gag reel during the credits as icing on the cake.

Watching Bullock in this movie just makes you want to hug her, especially if you know someone just like her and chances are you do.

Bonus: You’ll appreciate some of the cameos even more if you’ve watched Bridesmaids.

The bad; The film runs 117 minutes but unfortunately some of the jokes don’t work. A bit editing could have kept this comedy leaner and more potent.

Overall, if you’re craving comedy and looking for a reason to cool off in theaters check out The Heat. One question remains, would a third Paul Feig + Melissa McCarthy movie be a charm?

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.