Monday, January 23, 2012
The Gate
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Dominic, Zoe, Jordan, Amberly
Write Up.
Always a pleasure to revisit. Birthday movie 4!
Attack The Block
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Hanna
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Amberly
First write up. Second.
Really love showing people this film. It's just so great!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Redline
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Paul, Michael
Technically I saw this 2 years ago at film festival and It's certainly something on the big screen but I consider it a current release as the bluray has just come out.
THIS IS A MUST SEE!
I'd forgotten how batshit insane and joyous this film is. It's nothing but pure inventive fun and the most stylish and eclectic anime I've seen in forever.
I've been watching all the Ghibli titles so this is a nice change of pace. In the same way those film are slower and poignant, this is fast, loud and has some element of pretty much every major anime classic thrown in. It would make a great double with Speed Racer.
It's hard to describe the pure joy experienced watching this. Just watch it and you'll see, your life will be better after you've experienced this.
Princess Mononoke
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Morgan, Louisa
It's hard to choose a favourite Ghibli film but if I had to, I will usually come back to this. It's is epic, the music sweeping, the visuals stunning and I'm pretty sure it's the longest and more adult than many of their work. It's also the last film animated traditionally on plastic animation cels.
This feels like a fantasy version of a Kurosawa samurai classic. Waring faction, neither presented in black and white. And once again, some amazing fantasy creatures. This also has the most action out of any of the Ghibli films and as is usually the case a strong environmental message.
And the english dub is written by Neil Gaimen, that's pretty neat. Definitely a must see.
Spirited Away
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Morgan, Louisa
This is the Ghibli film that most westerners saw first. It's pretty spectacular too. Miyazaki's stream of consciousness style of writing is on full display and you never quite know where the story is heading.
Filled with fairy tail and fantasy, a bunch of quirky creatures and sequences and all very Japanese, it's one of my most favourite films from the studio.
I really love the English dub produced by John Lasseter and I think some of the performances work better in that dub. I also love the few little lines they've added to help clarify things or just to add humour.
And I love the radish spirit.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Snowtown
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself
Write up.
Another commentary. I'm getting a bunch of work done though, so it's all good. This one's a tough watch but hearing about crafting these scenes was interesting, especially how much improvisation there was and how trusting director Justin Kurzel was of these people he just found on the streets. They all turn in legitimately amazing performances.
Animal Kingdom
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself
Great Australian crime drama from a few years ago. I'm not that into crime stories but this one hooks me in with great characters, performances and a threatening tension throughout the whole film.
I listened to the Director's commentary today and he has a few interesting things to say, mostly about how much he loves his cast and how it is always raining in Melbourne.
If you haven't seen this one yet check it out immediately.
Cowboys & Aliens
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself
Brief write up.
I listened to the commentary today while I was working and you can tell Jon Favreau had a good time making this. Even he acknowledges that Olivia Wilde's character is a hard sell. It really hurts what is otherwise an okay film.
The Rocketeer
Rabbit Hole
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself
The third in the series and quite probably the last, after Disney canned it and Fox decided to have a go. Much like the other two film there's something very hollow and empty I find about this one. Admitantly this is probably the hardest of all the books to adapt because it's so episodic and they have changed a lot of things to try and streamline the action and invent an overarching villain.
What I do like about the film is all the cool fantasy locations. I was listening to the director and producer commentary this time and it was a little disheartening to hear they never once filmed out at sea with the Dawn Treader, it's all faked. But I guess that's just a testament to all the invisible effects work in the film.
In fact the whole commentary was basically spent saying, oh that's just digital set extension, we didn't make any of that, this is all digital, none of that is real, etc. It then becomes a little frustrating to hear about all the hard work of the few hundred crew on set filming and absolutely no time spent talking about the thousands that did all the hard work getting the majority of the film actually made in post production. Some of the stuff in this film is incredibly tricky and not all of it works either but it seems to be so foreign to these ageing filmmakers that they wouldn't even know where to begin discussing it. It also probably wouldn't interest anyone but me.
I didn't really like the 3D post conversion so It was good to see for the first time at home in 2D. Surprisingly the first thing they talk about is the aspect ratio. I din't remember the cinema release format but I'm pretty sure the home release is fuller. I certainly noticed some effects that didn't go right to the top of the frame which makes me think they cropped it for widescreen and then didn't bother to add back in some fx for the bluray.
There's a lot of great technical work, creature design, prosthetics and fx work done in this series. Dawn Treader features a very cool dragon vs sea monster battle I particularly like. But for something that looks so expensive it never feels grand. Everything about the series is so calculated and factory made it seems to lack the heart it so desperately needs to succeed.
Attack The Block
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