Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

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

I kinda wished this film cut lose more often. Timur Bekmambetov's visual style is always intriguing and his action sequences opulent and filled with wild abandon. Unfortunately we only get 2 big memorable sequences, and besides some fun but forgettable hand to hand fights throughout, the film feels bogged down by its historical surroundings. A shame, as those 2 sequences are pure joy, utterly ridiculous and completely enjoyable, like the rest of the film should have been,

Should I really complain about the lack of character emotional connectivity in a film called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? Well I think I have the right to. The script and the actors are all taking it very seriously and so shall I. Now obviously this makes the joke of the whole piece even more hilarious but it really does kill the fun vibe and without being acute enough to set up these characters for anything more than mere historical necessity, it really makes the whole affair rather empty.

I do love that they found a new use for 3D technology. When the vampires eyes glow as their blood-lust rises, a different opacity level is sent to each eye of the viewer creating a doubled holographic effect that one often sees as a mistake from the filtering of unpolarised light reflected at different angles from each camera. They use this mistake to a purpose here and it's actually really neat. Subtle enough that most viewers would only perceive something crazy different is going on with the vampires eyes as compared to the normal eyes. Now I can't be sure if this is a post-invention or a happy accident from on-set practical effects, eye contacts that reflect light differently. Either way. it was fun to see them using this unusual 3d phenomena to a purpose.

The 3d itself was fine however I take issue with the colour grading. I'm fine with the very stylised palette, I'm even fine with the radically incongruous two-stripe technicolor look for a brief flashback. But the whole film seems to have had a rather unpleasant digitally sharpened look that makes for some very digital looking photography, even lower res than what you'd expect. I don't know if that's an issue with the particular print we saw, an intentional look or something to do with the grading or the Arri Alexa they reportedly shot on. I've never seen footage from that camera look this much like DVC-PRO though.

The other thing that bothered me right from the get go is the over use of chromatic aberration on the edges of every frame. Sure it makes it  look like old lenses but I just couldn't stop noticing it. This though is most likely only going to be an issue for me, I doubt anyone else will be as enraged. It was just one of those things that once you noticed you couldn't stop looking at. They may have even used the 3d channels to generate some more extreme versions of this in close ups. It seemed to be the case. That old lens look coupled with the overly digitally sharpened look didn't do it for me. One or the other folks.

Unfortunately the cinema I saw this in had the sound unbearably low. The sound and music mix never pumped in the way I expect it was intended. What I did hear of the score didn't entice me much.

There are some good actors in this film. Good actors that Seth Grahame-Smith's script doesn't give anything much for them to do.

UNCREDITED ALAN TUDYK!

Also allow me to add my voice to the multitudes online expressing just how much Benjamin Walker looks like a young Liam Neeson. No surprise to see he actually played young Kinsey in the film of the same name. If Spielberg stuck to his original casting choice for his Lincoln biopic it could have been a confusing year.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days

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

This is the other Makoto Shinkai film I wanted to check out before the Anime festival. Again we are dealing with the nostalgia of childhood and a very sombre love triangle. However this time this is also a parallel universe slant from an alternate history of a divided country. All just really cool sci-fi style metaphors for the same issue, that of being separated, just like 5 Centimetres Per Second.

The whole sci-fi plot that's going on has a tendency to get a little confusing I don't think that even really matters as much as the emotion, again, very sincere. Also very pretty. One of the bonuses of animation is you can make every scene set at magic hour if you want. Shinkai certainly takes every opportunity he has.

I think his previous effort is the cleaner, more relatable film. As much as I love all the sci-fi stuff I think it tends to bog down the film in places. Perhaps another viewing is in order for clarification, but I still enjoyed the watch.

Magic Mike

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

It's that stripper movie!

Man, Soderbergh loves that yellow look. He seems to colour grade everything like that these days.

After walking out of Step Up 4, I like that this reminded me where Channing Tatum started out. He still got the moves. And little Stormbreaker is growing up too. The rest of the male cast have very interesting stories hinted at but frustratingly we never get around to them.

It seems to be a fairly level headed portrayal of the profession. Well, what would I know? It certainly caters well to the female demographic though.

Soderbergh and the actors keep things flowing and moving naturally. I love they way we always cut out of a scene what feels like a beat too early. Cody Horn almost comes across as boring she's so understated but I didn't actually have a problem with her. I enjoyed the whole thing just fine. I don't know about a musical version or a sequel but this one stands on its own well enough.

Step Up 4: Miami Heat

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

Gotta love your dance movies. The tried and true formula is pumped out yet again. Mercifully this time they actually play out the majority of the admittedly very entertaining dance sequences, instead of the rapid cutting every 2 seconds that destroyed what enjoyment I could have had out of Streetdance 2 earlier this year.

Unfortunately anytime one of the characters opens their mouth to say something I don't know if I should laugh or cringe. I loved that they ended up celebrating selling out to corporations after the whole film was spent protesting corporate greed. But does anyone really come here for the story? Probably not. There's not really any point pointing out plot holes. All that matters is that besides on or two extremely wide convergence shots, the the 3D was good, the leads were sexy and, blatant hip grinding aside, the dances were off the hizzle.  We're a long way from where this franchise started out. It's assembly line filmmaking and you'll already know if you're gonna enjoy this or not.

5 Centimetres Per Second

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

I've been meaning to check out some of Makoto Shinkai's work for a long time now. The animation and artwork really is as beautiful as people say. Stunning even. The film uses a lot of faked narrow depth of field to get all that beautiful filmic bokeh. A lot of the more modern digital compositing techniques are used to great effect here, something those old-school animators seem to be afraid or unaware of.

The film itself is made in 3 parts. Little poems about the growing distance between people. Very sad stuff. It has heart firmly on sleeve, never eases you into it either so if you aren't prepared I think the unwavering sincerity could easily backfire. Most likely due to the segments being so short and the film being a little over an hour it doesn't spend the time to lay out much groundwork. It didn't quite get me all the way there, I need more of a lead in but I think that's my personal taste. It's sure to bore some and enrapture others, so your milage may vary.

You can't doubt though that it's a visual feast. Everyday images somehow become magic and artistic. That's the wonder of animation I guess. I'll try and check out some more before the Reel Anime festival starts next month.

The Sapphires

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

Didn't know about the stage musical but the film was fine. A sure crowd pleaser.

When they label something as a musical, I usually expect characters to sing original songs about their lives or the plot, but this just occasionally shows the girls performing a number, so I'd hardly call it a musical.

The film hits all the beats you would expect, we've seen this story done many times before. I know it's based on a true story but I feel like a lot of the truth has been squished and mangled or exaggerated to fit this tried and true formula we all know.

There are a couple of rather large world events that are brushed over or used in a way that could feel exploitative. I guess it keeps the focus on the girls  and provides some context which is fine but it just felt like they were throwing stuff in to try and pull at the heartstrings any way they could.

Also despite the happy uplifting ending, only one of the girls personal storylines was actually wrapped up. I guess the rest are hinted at or just not important but when they spend all that time in the middle of the film talking about love life to have it amount to nothing is a little frustrating.

This film has some fx work in it that look about the level of what I can pull off on my old laptop. I guess it's passable enough that the target audience wouldn't really care but I sure as hell notice. And it mainly looks to be things that could have easily been shot on set too.

The songs are enjoyable though and how they got Chris O'Dowd I don't know but thank god they did because he's just charming and wonderful throughout.