War Horse

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Amberly, Tyler, Michael

There was a Horse. There was a War. What more do you want?

I think if you go into this film, after having seen the trailer and not expect blatant emotional string pulling from Spielberg you're bound to be disappointed. On the whole I thought it was pretty good, has a classic hollywood feel to it. Including the melodrama. You'll either go along with it or recoil in horror. I went along for the most part. But then again, I teared up in the trailer, Spielberg just pushes my buttons.

I have had major issues with Janusz Kaminski's cinematography in the past (why must everything glow like it's shot through Vaseline?) but the episodic nature of this allows for changes in the look so the happy glow timers at the start can give way to some gritty war stuff later. And a lot of orange filters at the end.

I loved the war scenes, I'll be honest I didn't care too much about the horse but the war was depicted fantastically. And John Williams gets to cut loose with big epic sweeping melody so that's good.

I like the film ok. I do't think it's fair to just write it off as lesser Spielberg or defend by using the excuse that it's just a kids film. It's definitely overtly sentimental and if you're in the right mood that's great, for me it was alright.

The Adventures of Tintin

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Mum, Dad, Jordan, Amberly, Tyler, Louisa, Naomi, Shane, Michael, Marie-Anne, Gerry, Nicole, Sam, Eathan, Kat, Ant, Werzle, Marcie, Lauren

Earlier this year we got to see what a feature length 3d animation from FX house ILM looks like with Rango. Now Weta has answered the call with an adaptation of a beloved character written by Edgar Wright, Steven Moffat and Joe Cornish, produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Steven Spielberg. Holy cow that's a hell of a pedigree.

As expected, it looks very pretty. Some uncanny valley issues, sure, but the world they've created is wonderfully detailed. Comparisons to Indiana Jones are apt. It is a fun period action adventure thrill ride and Spielberg seems to be having a good time playing in this new digital playground. Hell, there's a 7 minute action sequence all done in one shot. I do love my Spielberg action set pieces. Although he seems to be having so much fun with his camera it's never still, I felt sorry for the people in my group (biggest of the year!) who had never seen a 3D film before, they had a rough time for a lot of it.

Andy Serkis creates another memorable mo-cap performance. I liked Daniel Craig as the villain too, and of course Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I was disappointed they didn't have Professor Calculus and the shark submarine but perhaps next time. Oh and it's the 2nd film in a row where opera plays an important part, but I like it's use in this film much more. Hilarious.

SWORD FIGHT WITH CRANES!

I loved the opening title sequence, although it's very reminiscent of Catch Me If You Can. The John Williams score was very similar in that segment.

The film is extremely enjoyable, I had a great time, I wanted more from the finale but they opted for a sequel set up rather than a full conclusion. I guess that suit, it is an ongoing series after all, and I would like to see Peter Jackson have a turn at one.

Happy Feet 2

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

When George Miller created Babe 2: Pig in the City he won the award for darkest, most traumatising sequel to a children's film ever created. So I'll admit I walked into this film with a little trepidation. Babe 2 scars, even as an adult. Serious nightmare material.

However Happy Feet 2 has so much in common with its predecessor you can, for most practical purposes, treat this write up as a review of both.

Primarily this is advertised as cute little penguins singing horrifying mash-ups of pop tunes and that is indeed what the majority is. However there is always a scarily apocalyptic undertone of impending doom that's unsettling in the extreme. Perhaps it's the juxtaposition of horrific real world dilemmas with singing cartoon animals. In any case, it can be a little jarring but most welcome to think about with things are getting too cutsey. And there are a few genuinely serious moments where I though he was going all Babe 2 again, but he did end up saving some of the characters in mortal danger this time. Perhaps he's mellowed in his old age. But still, it was touch and go for a while there...

The other thing that can be a little jarring but it actually pretty neat is the use of real humans in live action mixed in with the animation. I love that.

And that's just one of the many out-of-left-field decisions that went into the making of this film. While a lot of this is standard stuff it does goes places you couldn't see coming. This time through I'm thinking specifically about Matt Damon and Brad Pitt playing krill that go on an existential journey to try and change their standing in the food chain. Utterly bizarre stuff to deal with in a kids film but it actually ties in nicely to the finale.

What I don't like so much about the finale is the particular voice the new baby penguin finds. For most penguins it's a pop song, or possibly rap, for Mumbles it was tap dancing. But opera? Kids are probably going to find it as hard to sit through as I did.

Animal Logic have really outdone themselves with this film and I doubt 95% of their audience will even realise just what they have accomplished here. The first film was filled with incredibly gorgeous images, their digital rendering of Antarctica. Not only that but they are playing with hundreds of furry/feathered animals and a huge amount of water simulation and atmospherics. This film takes all these elements up a few notches and adds in what I can only describe as elastic scale. Level of detail must be a nightmare when dealing with creatures as big as whales and as small as krill and everything in between all interacting with each other and the camera having to move through and find and frame all of them appropriately. At krill level the detail on the ice and snow and fur looks incredible. And it pulls back all the way to shot of the entire universe. The dynamic changing between these scales in the same shot makes for some awesome 3D too.

So while I can't stand the singing and much of the kiddy humour I do love the unsettling undertones, the bizarre choices and on a technical level this is just staggering. It's very patchy but it holds together ok.

Tower Heist

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

It's very hard to find a cinema open on christmas day in Perth. But with a bit of a commute I managed to see the one bit film opening tomorrow that I don't already have a ticket for.

So Brett Ratner's latest is a poor man's Oceans 11. It's aiming for that fun, mischievous heist but with a little extra quirk from the inexperienced characters. The result is crowd pleasing enough but completely lacking in charm, suspense and any significant humour.

The coolest thing about the film is the score by Christophe Beck. Not often you get themes in 7/8 and it give the film a bit of a 70's throwback feel.

Alan Alda is a bad guy! Oooo. Gabourey Sidibe desperately trying to show her oscar nom wasn't a fluke does a Jamaican accent! Ooooo. Other People! OOooooo.

A poorly used chess game metaphor results with a build up to the climax of the heist ending in the classic line delivery "Checkmate." Uhh. Yeah that happened.

If you lay out a plan and then it goes awry in the execution, the audience is in suspense. If you hide the plan and then reveal the smart twist at the end then the audience is thrilled. If you don't lay out a plan then when it goes wrong we don't care and when all the clever twists happen we don't believe it.

I liked the re-staging of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. That looks like effort was made. The rest of the film is just ok. Glad this one's out of the way, I'm pumped for magical movie day tomorrow.

Trespass

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

Joel Schumacher is very hit and miss. I think that has more to do with the scripts than anything though. This is another home invasion thriller and with those two main stars in it, I'm surprised it didn't get a bigger release.

Anyway the film is halfway decent. It's a pretty standard genre piece, well staged and I like a lot of the supporting cast too. If you've ever seen a home invasion thriller before well there's not really anything new here but it is made well so I dunno, I guess it's ok.

Shelter

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

This one almost slipped me by, as I'm sure it has everyone else.

I only read about this because the next Underworld film's trailer was just released and I wanted to see who these random Swedish directors were, Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, and what they had done. I'm having a lot of trouble tracking down their Swedish film Storm but it looks like something I would enjoy.

This was ok. A thriller that takes a turn for the supernatural in the second half. I don't really like the whole religious bent of it but I was willing to go along just because I like the actors involved.

It's one of those films that has a really great set up for it's central mystery. I just happened to be discussing the disproving of multiple-personality disorders a few nights ago so that was fresh in my mind when this started.

Unfortunately it's also one of those mystery films that doesn't quite stick the landing. It's slick enough and has some good moments throughout and the cast are all fine, I'm just not sure I could go with their final explanation. I mean, yeah it works and it's not too bad but it's a little bit of a let down after the cool set up.

Colombiana

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

Writer/Producer Luc Besson once again has crafted a really solid action slick, along with collaborator and Director Olivier Megaton who took over the last of the Transporter series.

Zoe Saldana play our heroine out for revenge against the death of her father. As you would expect for these veterans, the action is great and the story, simple as it is, is good too. They really know how to create great iconic characters that the audience will root for and they've done it again here.

The rest of the film is pretty slick too. Oh and it has sharks. Awesome. Great little action thriller if you're ever in the mood for one.

Dolphin Tale

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

A bit like Soul Surfer earlier in the year, we have an inspirational true story involving a marine animal, although the circumstances involving them are very different.

2nd Ashly Judd film for the day! Although the adults don't have much to do here, it's really all about the dolphin and the kid, played by Nathan Gamble from The Mist.

I saw this in 3D, and it was done really well, especially compared to Shark Night and their horrific underwater stereoscopic photography. But while the 3D was really well done there wasn't really any need for it, the film is basically a drama. Still if they go to the trouble to shoot in 3D, I'll watch it in 3D.

The whole opening sequence was a little unnerving. Completely CG dolphins swimming through CG oceans. Thankfully the opening titles and a few select shots are the only ones that use CG dolphins, the rest of the time we get the real thing. And by that I mean the actual real dolphin the story is based on.

The film is never overly sentimental thank god. In fact it never really hits any strong emotional beats ,at least not for me. It's pretty easy going, even the drama with a cousin becoming an amputee in the army is light.

Watch it if you're interested in the story, it's not bad, but there's nothing that'd keep you coming back to watch again.

Flypaper

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

Another bank robbery movie. Although this is more like an Oceans 11 style Agatha Christie murder mystery masquerading as a botched double bank robbery. It's a lot of fun, very entertaining.

They've assembled a really great cast and keep the pace fast, the dialogue snappy and the twists coming. Enjoyed this one a lot.

Hobo with a Shotgun

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

What started as a competition entry to make a fake Grindhouse trailer for Rodriguez and Tarantino's Grindhouse Double Feature is now a full feature film, ala Machete.

First time filmmaker Jason Eisener does a pretty good job making it look authentic to the period, but out of all 4 films I'd say this one walks the finest line between faking it's a bad movie and actually being a bad movie. I dunno, does that just make it more authentic?

Everybody likes crazy Rutger Hauer, I wish he was more crazy. The other actors are a umm, yeah a little too authentic. These are some ridiculously silly things in the film which I appreciate. I like that they killed a busload of school kids with flame throwers. And the random robot guards, yeah sure why not.

I like the very flat saturted colour grading from the Red One footage. They put a technicolor logo in their opening credits and I admit some of it does look a little like Suspiria albeit with a more modern high contrast look.

Music was all over the place. Most of the film was too. I think I like this the least out of Death Proof, Planet Terror and Machete but it does satisfy the grindhouse itch for now. I want to see "Don't" from Edgar Wright though...

Rabbit Hole

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

Here's my write up. Re-readin it now it does come off as rather flippant, so I wish to reiterate how great I think the film is. I just think everyone made all the right choices and the end result is wonderfully balanced and nuanced.

I see David Lindsay-Abaire adapted the screenplay from his own play. He did a great job, it never falls into the trap of feeling like a filmed play.

Glad I watched this one again before going about starting my best of list for the year.

Nashville

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

I'm still very behind in my Robert Altman viewing. This is one of the bigs ones and I'm glad to finally knock it off the list.

What a cast! Except that they are all singing Country Western songs. Not really a fan, so I'll jus focus on the rest of the film.

Altman's patented improvised talking-at-the-same-time style naturalistic drama is on full display here. Was this his first big one of these? In any case in a film with this many characters and plot line threads it does make the first half of the film easy to get lost in. Once you get a sense of how the characters relate and that they are all building to a single event it gets easier but that's 2 hours into a long film.

It's a snapshot of American at a certain time and place. While it's not really my cup of tea I still found it interesting.

Mother's Day

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

Well, Darren Lynn Bousman's film is finally getting released in Australia. I wonder how long we'll have to wait for his next one, which, with the 11/11/11 date used as the title, only gives away exactly how late we get everything here.

I was talking about Rebecca De Mornay the other night with the friend that introduced me to The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, so it was great to see here again here firing on all cylinders.

For the love of god though please everyone stop killing Shawn Ashmore in your films. The last 4 films of his I've seen he doesn't make it to the end credits and it's very upsetting, he seems like such a nice guy.

A basic home invasion premise and a robbery gone wrong, one of those great "bad situation" scenarios that just gets worse and worse for the characters on both sides. I really enjoyed this film, it managed to suck me in and keep the suspense and action up with plenty of characters at their disposal to do horrendous acts to. Works a treat.

Visitor Q

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler, Ben

3rd time I've watched this year! No mean feat, but there is just something so magical and special about this film that fascinates me and keeps drawing me back. Highly recommended.

Write up.

Star Wars: Ewok Adventures - Caravan of Courage

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler, Amberly, Ben, Judith, Louisa

Well, it's that time of year. Time to unleash the Star Wars Holiday Special on unsuspecting friends. As it's a TV special it doesn't make the blog, but we did watch the first Ewok Adventure as a follow up. I never really watched Caravan of Courage as a kid, Battle for Endor is in my opinion a billion times better and I would constantly hire it out of the video library.

Just to be extra mean, I made everyone finish off this film by watching the first 7 minutes of the next one. It's pretty harsh, especially after the light fun of the first film.

A lot of love for Warwick Davis lately with the TV series Life's Too Short. Wicket is a pretty awesome little dude. Many people have problems with Ewoks bringing down the Empire. I don't mind so much. But then again I was the right age when I saw Return of the Jedi.

So made for TV movie, it's not the best acting but there are some awesome matte paintings (but I never did find the rumoured Winnie the Pooh painted into one of the trees). And awesome Phil Tippett creatures. It's very episodic, basically a riff on the ol' Seven Samurai structure (Lucas using a Kurosawa structure? Never!) where a bunch of Ewoks team up to go rescue these kids parents from a big ogre dude.

Oh and they totally have to go through the spider web from Krull.

As much as I like the second one a great deal more, this one does a good job of endearing you to some of the characters so that when you watch the second one you can get a little freaked out at the start.

Happy life day everyone.