Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Seventh Son


IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler

I really love my fantasy films. This one has dragons AND females with crimped hair. That's probably the two most important ingredients.

This film seems to delight in presenting the most archetypal hero's journey. It hits all the beats without much finesse but even going through the motions like that, there's a sense of glee I get at the recognition of blatant use of tropes.

And this one gets some great actors to say some very ludicrous dialogue in the most serious manner possible which is just a delight in itself. The Big Lebowski reunion that no-one would have expected. Jeff Bridges seems determined to be as unintelligible as possible and Julianne Moore relishes the hammy villainess. Glorious and terrible. Olivia Williams has a nice little part that I desperately wish was expanded a great deal more because the story they hint at is probably more interesting that the main plot. Ben Barnes does what he can playing the young male and slightly British lead that we see in every fantasy film.

And in truth, the first part of the film was exceedingly enjoyable, such promise of adventure and fun and a sense that they went balls to the wall with the ridiculous fantasy elements. Sadly the latter half of the film couldn't deliver the same pace and energy. The elements are there but are muted and never as grand as you'd hope, as is so often the case with modern fantasy films. Our hero's trials are never punishing enough to feel like he earns the power he receives and his training montage is pretty much skipped over so it all just feels inevitable and lazy.

Surprisingly, I didn't hate the romance element. It's not great, but at least it's not as half assed as the rest of the mythology surrounding the characters.

The biggest saviour here though has to be Marco Beltrami's score, that's determined to make you enjoy the film despite what it's showing you. That score deserves a much bigger and adventurous film. Wonderful.

The 3D is post converted and it really shows at a few moments. Most of it is passable though.

If you really REALLY love your fantasy and go into this one expecting the worst, as I did, you might be pleasantly surprised that it's not as bad as you thought it would be. There were plenty of moments I had a blast. But sadly, this film will also fade into the lexicon of average and ultimately forgettable modern fantasy films.
Posted by Robert Woods at 9:02 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel


IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

An unexpected franchise. No doubt soon they will be performing high risk heists involving driving expensive cars from out of planes.

The first film was perfectly charming and innoffensive, and the second film follows suit. If you saw the first film, you'll know what you're in for and if you didn't that won't really matter, it's easy enough to follow along.

I did enjoy hearing the typical Thomas Newman music style infused with Indian flavor.

So we have a few new characters. And a story about getting a new hotel, getting married, staring a new life and new love. It's really just like the first one. Not much more to say about it.
Posted by Robert Woods at 6:09 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Wedding Ringer


IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Kate

This was really low rent. The script was pretty bad, the story predictable, the no-name cast are unimpressive. I laugh once, but that was when the film reminded me of a funny part in another film.
Posted by Robert Woods at 12:19 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Taken 3


IMDB

Olivier Megaton seems to get thrown Luc Besson's cinematic dregs. Once again this film is riding on Liam Neeson's name. The story is meh, the action is incoherent, the budget appears to have been cut in half because it's a very small scale compared to the other two. The first film had an interesting story involving sex slavery. Now it's just some Russian thugs who want money. It's all devolved into a big puddle of meh. It'll probably make a lot of money though. Ahh well. The year is off to a rough start but surely it can only get better from here.
Posted by Robert Woods at 9:00 PM 0 comments

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Film List 2014

So I've decided to discontinue my blog in 2015. Unless I get preview passes and am obliged to write up a review, it's just not worth the time drain. That's valuable time I could be using to watch more movies! I'm pretty sure only a handful of you actually read them anyway. 

This year was very busy with other things too. For the 5th year in a row, I've seen less films than the previous year. 514. That's upsetting. However this year I saw 312 new film release films for the first time, which is an increase. And yet, still nowhere near the amount I wanted to see. 

I see end of year top 10 lists from critics who proudly proclaim they saw 80 films this year. I don't understand how you can claim to know the best films if you haven't seen them all. Likewise I feel like a bit of a hypocrite knowing there's so many great films I've not been able to see yet and consider in my list.

I also hate the definitive ranking of films, where sometimes comparing them is like apples and oranges. That's why I break my list into chunks and my numbering order is pretty arbitrary.

Last disclaimer, this is only my opinion. But my opinion is the only one that matters. And having just finished this list I'm kind of shocked at how it's turned out. I reserve the right to change my mind, repeatedly, as I do every year. Here we go!


FILMS THAT RULE THE WORLD!!!!!
1.     Her
2.     Whiplash
3.     The Lego Movie
4.     Ping Pong Summer
5.     The Raid 2
6.     Nightcrawler
7.     It Follows
8.     Birdman
12.   Boyhood
13.   Calvary

FILMS THAT ARE SUPER AWESOME FUN TIMES!
14.  Gone Girl
17.  Wetlands
18.  The Guest
27.  Creep
31.  The Double
32.  Stretch
33.  Godzilla
36.  Paddington
38.  Fell
41.  The Mule
43.  Time Lapse
44.  Still Life

FILMS That are pretty great.
46.  Big Hero 6
47.  Starred Up
48.  Jack
50.  Housebound
51.  Noah
54.  Blue Ruin
55.  Ida
59.  Locke
60.  Felony
61.  Automata
66.  Horns
67.  John Wick
68.  Afflicted
72.  +1

Films that are good.
74.  Mr. Turner
77.  The Hunt
84.  Jug Face
86.  Wild
87.  Belle
90.  Young Ones
91.  Haunter
93.  Pioneer
104. Pride
105. Cheatin'
106. Frank
108. Fury
109. Enemy
116. Ragnarok
117. Nebraska
119. R100
123. Don Jon

Films that are pretty okay I guess...
136. Bad Words
139. Odd Thomas
141. Patrick
144. Exists
147. Lucy
149. Robocop
153. A.C.O.D.
158. Le Weekend
161. Get On Up
164. Anina
167. Viy
169. Zombeavers
170. The Signal
178. Tarzan
180. Chef
181. Stalingrad
182. Joe
183. Unbroken
185. Tusk
193. If I Stay
199. The Rover
200. 47 Ronin
203. CBGB
205. Maleficent
207. Divergent
208. Paradise
217. Palo Alto
222. 7500
223. Non-Stop
230. The Drop

Films that just didn't quite get there.
231. Annabelle
236. 5 to 7
240. Hercules
241. What If
244. Rio 2
246. Sabotage
254. The Den
256. Oculus
261. I Origins
263. Pompeii
264. Honeymoon
265. Haunt
272. The Stag

Films that didn't work
276. Austinland
278. Labor Day
281. Nurse
287. The Judge
290. Annie
291. Ride Along
292. Serena
295. Debug
296. Tammy
298. Spiders
299. Free Birds

Films that actively made me mad
303. Last Vegas
304. Oldboy
306. The Giver
308. Sex Tape
310. Blended


There you go! This is the first year I didn't think about the list at all until creating it and I would never have guessed those titles would make up my top selection. It seems odd looking at it now especially considering how little I've seen some of those films, but for some reason they stayed with me. 

A few left over titles from 2013 in there, some I completely forgot about until today. Looks like I managed to see quite a few 2015 releases early (Thanks MIFF!), so keep an eye out for some of those titles. How'd your list shape up? Hope you all watch more films in 2015! 
Posted by Robert Woods at 2:35 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Tommy


IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No

Uhhhhhhhh.....

Well out of all the rock operas about pinball cults, this is easily my No. 1.
Posted by Robert Woods at 3:06 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Wetlands


IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Amberly, Naomi, Nicole

Write Up.

Posted by Robert Woods at 9:30 PM 0 comments

Rock & Rule


IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No

What an odd film. You know I don't actually like Rock and Roll. But I do like animation. This is a very dark film, and I mean that literally, a lot of flat black throughout. And the character designs are kinda cutesy (like much of Nelvana's television output) but the content is not, so it a strange mix. The voice acting isn't that great, they sound a little bored. But if you like the music you might enjoy this one. An odd cult film.
Posted by Robert Woods at 4:30 PM 0 comments

Space Pirate Captain Harlock


IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

I don't know the original material, I don't know how accurate or butchered this film is. It's got the usual problem I find with Japanese films and exposition dumps at really awkward times. They just seem to throw in new plots as they need them and then explain them as they go rather than organically setting up characters and situations ahead of time.

The story is a real mess and you don't really learn anything about the characters or care about any of them.

But who cares when everything looks this cool? It's so pretty. And I love my space battles.
Posted by Robert Woods at 2:33 PM 0 comments

Monday, December 29, 2014

Horns


IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Amberly

Write Up.

So many genres they threw into this film...
Posted by Robert Woods at 11:58 PM 0 comments

The One I Love


IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Amberly, Michael

Write Up.

It's so simple and so great. Love that soundtrack.
Posted by Robert Woods at 10:03 PM 0 comments

Big Hero 6


IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael

Write Up.

So many easter eggs. Also, animating those micro-bots would have been nightmarish. Cute film though.
Posted by Robert Woods at 8:48 PM 0 comments

Saturday, December 27, 2014

5 to 7

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Well here's another film I've managed to see early enough that I can't find a trailer for it to link to anywhere on the internet yet. Sorry about that.

It's a nice little romance where Anton Yelchin, playing a young writer trying to break into the business, meets and falls in love with a french woman only to find out she's married and has two children but the husband and her have an agreement that from 5pm to 7pm they are allowed to be with other people. Apparently it's some old french tradition.

Needless to say things start out wonderfully but as he falls more in love, the arrangement becomes problematic and is not enough for him.

The film has a great cast and is funny and sweet enough however the end becomes really clawing and saccharine, overusing the voice over and with more endings than Return of the King. Pity, because the start was alright.
Posted by Robert Woods at 8:00 PM 0 comments

The Babadook


IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Amberly

Write up.

Gotta keep your grief monster fed y'all.
Posted by Robert Woods at 6:34 PM 0 comments

Ida


IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

A quiet and steadily paced film, shot beautifully in black and white and in 4:3. The framing and composition is certainly unique. The story is simple and told in a very straight forward manner. There's something very subdued about it, like the main character, always shying away from the big moments and living quietly in between. A lovely little film.
Posted by Robert Woods at 12:44 PM 0 comments
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