Saturday, April 19, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
Muppets Most Wanted
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan
Sequel. And the same humour and fun songs, silly shenanigans and abundance of celebrity cameos. There are many great lines and hilarious gags. For some reason this film isn't catching fire like the revamp film, so who knows if we'll get many more. It's a crowded market at the moment.
Well the story isn't as solid as the revamp but that's hardly the point. It's really just an excuse for the fun times and they are pretty good. I wasn't head over heels in love with the revamp and I felt pretty much the same about this one, so chances are you'll probably feel the same too.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
The Hunt
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan
This oscar nominated film has been on my watch list for a long time but I think the subject matter made me a little anxious. And rightly so it turns out. It's a slow calm beginning that just escalates in the worst possible way. Not exactly the most pleasant thing to watch but riveting nonetheless.
Mads Mikkelsen, who's killing it (pun!) as Hannibal in the tv show of the same name, is great here, if not sometimes a little frustrating. And the young girl who plays Klara gives one of the most natural and convincing performances I've ever seen from any kid in any film. Amazing.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Odd Thomas
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan
Stephen Sommers has made another movie! Under the radar. He should have made G.I. Joe 2, instead he's making independent fare. Sad. But even on a budget he makes a very fun yarn. And manages to get some really creepy and beautiful VFX creatures in there.
It's good fun and I hope it gets seen by someone who's also keen for that fun goofy supernatural tone. That's exactly what R.I.P.D. should have been.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Snowpiercer
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Jordan
Joon-ho Bong has made his (mostly) english language debut. An icy post-apocalyptic train confined allegory based on a french graphic novel. It's stylish and has some nice sci-fi conceits and big characters (Tilda Swinton you are crazy wonderful) but it also has some ideas that's we have seen before. The story is probably not the strongest point of the film. But they manage to fit quite a bit of action on that train. There are some delightfully kooky moments though and although I don't think the ending landed as well as it could have I really loved everything up until then. Definitely one to keep an eye out for.
The Other Woman
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Nathan
Okay, this was more fun than I thought it was going to be. But I did expect it to be absolutely horrible, so the bar wasn't high. But honestly it was nice to just see Leslie Mann get a comedic lead in a film because she's always been great in the small bit parts she usually gets and she absolutely kills it in this.
There are some fun shenanigans. And some really obvious ones where it seems like they are trying way too hard. But that in itself is hilarious to me, just how cliched it can be. You see the trailer, you know what you're getting. And it's certainly not the worst comedy I'll see this year.
Monday, April 14, 2014
The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Andrew
I like Andrew Garfield as Spiderman, I do, but this film is a bit all over the place. There's some things that I think it does really well, there's a couple of sequences where the action and visuals look great, there's some wonderful humour. And they almost get some nice pathos in there with the romantic lead. Buuuutt...
This whole thing reminds me of Schumacher's Batman Forever. It's bright and colourful and the characters are really cartoonish and the film seems to be made for 5 year olds. That's fine, I guess I just think the tone was all over the place. It wants some villains to be dark and brooding and others to be bumbling cartoons. Jamie Foxx's Electro reminded me eerily of Jim Carrey's Riddler. The way Paul Giamatti is used is annoying on many levels. Marton Csokas plays a mad scientist that made me want to rip my hair out and leave the theatre. And I just wish Dane DeHaan had a movie to be a nice guy first. They cram in far to many plots and villains into this one. And it feels really long too. The film finishes twice. Many of the same problems with Raimi's Spiderman 3.
Sally Field and Andrew Garfield have one scene together that I really like. If they didn't worry about all those villains and concentrated on Peters back story and the romance and one villain, well, that's enough for a film. Really it is.
They shot this film on 35mm. It looks nice, but there's one scene where it flashes back to a shot from the last film. And when you see them side by side, the difference with grain is night and day. Astounding. I'm not saying either is better or worse, but it's noticeable. So obviously this one is post-converted 3d. It's not bad post conversion, but I remember how amazing the first film looked at IMAX in 3D.
It sounds like the 3 composers are trying to make an iconic Spiderman theme but they just ended up with Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man.
It's another conflicty one. But ultimately there's more I didn't like than I did.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Lego Movie
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