This year, I will create two lists: The Top 20-25 Best, and the Top 10-15 Worst/Disappointing Movies of 2012. Now, I will not do this list yet, as I have yet to see: Guilt Trip, Les Miserables, Hitchcock, Zero Dark Thirty, This Is 40, Lawless, and Trouble with the Curve.
Here are some films that I have not seen, that may have appeared on the best list had I seen them:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, V/H/S, Rust and Bone, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Grey, Paranorman, Rise of the Guardians, Silver Linings Playbook.
Here are some films I have yet to see that might have appeared on the worst list:
Wrath of the Titans, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, American Reunion, Oogieloves, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Dino-Time 3D, Total Recall, Red Dawn, Silent Hill: Awakening, Dark Shadows, Battleship, The Devil Inside, The Watch, Cold Light of Day, Man on a Ledge, The Dictator, Alex Cross, Atlas Shrugged, This Means War, Journey 2, What to Expect When You're Expecting, Step-Up: Revolution, and The Collector. Although I did not review this film, Underworld: Awakening will appear on the list. The Apparition will as well. Check out TheAmazingAtheist and JeremyJahns' lists on YouTube.
In these lists I will also include a list of close runner-ups.
Have a great New Year, I hope you had a Merry Christmas!!! See you soon! (Also, let me know what your favorite and least favorite films of the year were!)
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Quentin Tarantino's new Spaghetti Western delivers thrills and some commentary on racism
December 21st 2012's Entertainment Weekly issue calls this "...the Year's Most Shocking Movie" It has received a lot of praise, but filmmakers like Spike Lee have boycotted the film, calling it "disrespectful", even Spill.com criticized it's over use of the "n-word". Does this deliver the thrills and blood-splattered gun-fights Tarantino has promised, or does this one just bite the dust? Is it a clever social commentary and an over-the-top revenge fantasy western, or just a disrespect to all those poor souls during the slave era? (I also recommend the Spill.com video and audio reviews.)
Django Unchained:
Two years before the Civil War, a slave named Django is freed by Dr. King Schultz, a German immigrant, and former dentist turned bounty hunter. He informs Django that if he helps him track down the Brittle Brothers, the slavers who separated him and his wife, he will help Django find his wife. The two start a jounrey across the South, taking down ever dumb-ass and slave owner in their way, until they finally find a Mr. Calvin Candie, a Francophile slaver who is in possession of Django's wife, and who is a bit of a loose cannon. Now, the film is actually quite funny, as many of Tarantino's films can be. Christoph Waltz, who played the villainous Nazi in Tarantino's previous film Inglorious Basterds, here is comical and brutal as Dr. Schultz. His peculiar accent and intellectual way of talking make everthing he says sound almost funny in a way. He has a ridiculous-looking carriage with a big tooth on top of it. Jamie Foxx is at his best in years as Django. At first shy and brittle, he, almost instantly after being freed, becomes a bad-ass killer. There is a sequence half-way through the film, where Django and Schultz are pretending to be slave owners, and there is a moment when Django looses his grip on himself, almost becoming this character he is playing, and Foxx plays it brilliantly and convincingly. Leonardo DiCaprio gives an over-the-top, comical, and threatening performance as Mr. Candie, an abusive, brutal, and evil man who enjoys torturing his slaves and forces the strongest to fight to the death. It may be Oscar-worthy. He often pulls off over-the-top comedy and suaveness back-to-back with his inner nature: cruelty and evil. The cast also includes Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, Jackson giving a sometimes comical performance as the secretive and sinister head house slave at Candie's plantation. Quentin Tarantino, Tom Savini, Zoe Bell, Jonah Hill, and Franco Nero (the original actor from the spaghetti-western the film is named after) all make either clever or funny cameos in the film. The film has some fun action scenes, including some revenge scenes, and an amazingly gory shootout at the climax, which is reminiscent of film like The Wild Bunch. The film also has some great drama, and really makes slavery out to be a cruel and horrible thing, and basically perosnifies the slave owners as not only fools, but, mainly in DiCaprio's case, the Devil himself. The film pays homage to the great westerns, from the beautiful camerwork (including a shot of white flowers being sprayed with blood and landscape shots), to the old-looking credits, to the use of the original Django theme song. In fact, the original Django film was considered, like many of Tarantino's films, to be extremely violent for the time. One criticism is that the film has very uneven tones, switching from hilarious comedy sequences, to fun adventure, to grisyl and ugly scenes of violence and torture. People have criticized the racially offensive language, but, in fact, although most of the film is historically inaccurate, being a revenge fantasy like Kill Bill, the dialogue is very accurate to the way black people were talked to, and even how they talk to each other. All the villains get a brutal comeuppance, but the film takes little breaks to have some funny sequences, including the hilarious scene where some KKK members want to raid Django and Schultz's camp, only to argue about the fact they "can't see shit" with the masks they are wearing. The shoot-outs and revenge sequences also employ beautiful cinematography, interesting musci and sound, lots of blood, and slow-motion. Be warned, the film is extremely violent, but some of it is played for laughs, like in the final shoot-out at Candie's house, some poor bastard is continually shot in the knees and gut (two very painful places to be shot) but never dies, even after the fight is over, and the fact the white walls are so splashed with blood, that even after the house is cleaned, the blood still stained. Django Unchained is a smart, funny, gory, violent, fun, thrilling, satisfiying spaghetti-western, one of Tarantino's best works, even better than Basterds. (There is even a full scene where it is in German with subtitles, like how Basterds was mostly in French and German with subtitles.) The film offers thrilling action, some great and colorful characters, brutal violence, clever humor, bloody gunfights, and some very important and truthful comments on slavery and racism. 5/5 stars.
(Photos: Wikipedia, Google Images.)
Django Unchained:
Two years before the Civil War, a slave named Django is freed by Dr. King Schultz, a German immigrant, and former dentist turned bounty hunter. He informs Django that if he helps him track down the Brittle Brothers, the slavers who separated him and his wife, he will help Django find his wife. The two start a jounrey across the South, taking down ever dumb-ass and slave owner in their way, until they finally find a Mr. Calvin Candie, a Francophile slaver who is in possession of Django's wife, and who is a bit of a loose cannon. Now, the film is actually quite funny, as many of Tarantino's films can be. Christoph Waltz, who played the villainous Nazi in Tarantino's previous film Inglorious Basterds, here is comical and brutal as Dr. Schultz. His peculiar accent and intellectual way of talking make everthing he says sound almost funny in a way. He has a ridiculous-looking carriage with a big tooth on top of it. Jamie Foxx is at his best in years as Django. At first shy and brittle, he, almost instantly after being freed, becomes a bad-ass killer. There is a sequence half-way through the film, where Django and Schultz are pretending to be slave owners, and there is a moment when Django looses his grip on himself, almost becoming this character he is playing, and Foxx plays it brilliantly and convincingly. Leonardo DiCaprio gives an over-the-top, comical, and threatening performance as Mr. Candie, an abusive, brutal, and evil man who enjoys torturing his slaves and forces the strongest to fight to the death. It may be Oscar-worthy. He often pulls off over-the-top comedy and suaveness back-to-back with his inner nature: cruelty and evil. The cast also includes Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, Jackson giving a sometimes comical performance as the secretive and sinister head house slave at Candie's plantation. Quentin Tarantino, Tom Savini, Zoe Bell, Jonah Hill, and Franco Nero (the original actor from the spaghetti-western the film is named after) all make either clever or funny cameos in the film. The film has some fun action scenes, including some revenge scenes, and an amazingly gory shootout at the climax, which is reminiscent of film like The Wild Bunch. The film also has some great drama, and really makes slavery out to be a cruel and horrible thing, and basically perosnifies the slave owners as not only fools, but, mainly in DiCaprio's case, the Devil himself. The film pays homage to the great westerns, from the beautiful camerwork (including a shot of white flowers being sprayed with blood and landscape shots), to the old-looking credits, to the use of the original Django theme song. In fact, the original Django film was considered, like many of Tarantino's films, to be extremely violent for the time. One criticism is that the film has very uneven tones, switching from hilarious comedy sequences, to fun adventure, to grisyl and ugly scenes of violence and torture. People have criticized the racially offensive language, but, in fact, although most of the film is historically inaccurate, being a revenge fantasy like Kill Bill, the dialogue is very accurate to the way black people were talked to, and even how they talk to each other. All the villains get a brutal comeuppance, but the film takes little breaks to have some funny sequences, including the hilarious scene where some KKK members want to raid Django and Schultz's camp, only to argue about the fact they "can't see shit" with the masks they are wearing. The shoot-outs and revenge sequences also employ beautiful cinematography, interesting musci and sound, lots of blood, and slow-motion. Be warned, the film is extremely violent, but some of it is played for laughs, like in the final shoot-out at Candie's house, some poor bastard is continually shot in the knees and gut (two very painful places to be shot) but never dies, even after the fight is over, and the fact the white walls are so splashed with blood, that even after the house is cleaned, the blood still stained. Django Unchained is a smart, funny, gory, violent, fun, thrilling, satisfiying spaghetti-western, one of Tarantino's best works, even better than Basterds. (There is even a full scene where it is in German with subtitles, like how Basterds was mostly in French and German with subtitles.) The film offers thrilling action, some great and colorful characters, brutal violence, clever humor, bloody gunfights, and some very important and truthful comments on slavery and racism. 5/5 stars.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Jack Reacher review
Based on the crime novel One Shot by Lee Child, here comes the blockbuster action-crime film that can either restart Tom Cruise's career and start a franchise, or break his already tarnished reputation. All I can say is I'm glad to inform you it's the former, not the latter.
Jack Reacher:
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an unidentified man, possibly ex-military, goes to a parking garage and fires five shots, killing five seemingly random people, including a single mother/maid, a college-age nanny, and a few business men and women. When all the blame goes to an ex-military sniper with a history of violence, he calls for "Jack Reacher", an ex-military man and former investigator with no records who is impossible to find. As the DA is going over his file, Reacher arrives, and with the help of the DA's attorney daughter, uncovers a case bigger than the DA or top detective Emerson can believe, which puts Reacher and his partner at risk, and might expose a conspiracy involving a construction business, which may run deep into the DA's office. Other than some minor plot holes and some ego-stroking by Cruise (all women faun over him), this film is actually well-done, and Cruise, in my opinion, is starting to redeem his career with films like this and last December's Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Without bringing Cruise's very complex and somewhat strange personal life into play, Cruise is great as the funny, witty, extremely smart, and most of all, bad-ass Jack Reacher. This is actually based on the 9th in a series of 17 novels featuring this character, and maybe we'll see a few sequels ahead of us in the future. Unlike this passing October's critical flop Alex Cross, another crime-action film based on a successful novel series, Jack Reacher delivers in full with action and some well-done comedy bits. Besides Cruise, the cast includes Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under, Cabin in the Woods, Killing Them Softly), Rosamund Pike (Die Anothyer Day, pride and Prejudice, Johnny English Reborn, Barney's Vision), Werner Herzog (the German filmmaker behind Fitzcarraldo, Grizzly Man, and Cave of Forgotten Dreams), David Oyelowo (Last King of Scotland, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Lincoln, The Help, The Paperboy, Red Tails) and Jai Courtney (Spartacus: Blood and Sand). Funny, a lot of the cast are either English or Australian. Although not as action-packed as the previously mentioned Ghost Protocol or as satisfying and emotional as Skyfall, the film has some great emotional scenes and some top-notch action set-pieces, including a spectacular car chase, one of the best in years, and a thrilling and satisfying shoot-out/climax. There are also a few brief, but overall entertaining fight scenes, one of which is played for slapstick, which works brilliantly. At first glance, I thought this film was gonna bomb, but due to the positive critical and audience response, I decided to give it a go, and I'm glad I did. The chemistry between Cruise and Pike is impeccable, and the mystery, while near the end you may guess what's going to happen, is still engrossing and leaves you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next puzzle to be solve and the next piece to be unravelled. Jack Reacher is an entertaining, slick, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that you won't soon forget. 4/5 stars.
(Photo credits: Wikipedia, Google Images.)
Jack Reacher:
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an unidentified man, possibly ex-military, goes to a parking garage and fires five shots, killing five seemingly random people, including a single mother/maid, a college-age nanny, and a few business men and women. When all the blame goes to an ex-military sniper with a history of violence, he calls for "Jack Reacher", an ex-military man and former investigator with no records who is impossible to find. As the DA is going over his file, Reacher arrives, and with the help of the DA's attorney daughter, uncovers a case bigger than the DA or top detective Emerson can believe, which puts Reacher and his partner at risk, and might expose a conspiracy involving a construction business, which may run deep into the DA's office. Other than some minor plot holes and some ego-stroking by Cruise (all women faun over him), this film is actually well-done, and Cruise, in my opinion, is starting to redeem his career with films like this and last December's Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Without bringing Cruise's very complex and somewhat strange personal life into play, Cruise is great as the funny, witty, extremely smart, and most of all, bad-ass Jack Reacher. This is actually based on the 9th in a series of 17 novels featuring this character, and maybe we'll see a few sequels ahead of us in the future. Unlike this passing October's critical flop Alex Cross, another crime-action film based on a successful novel series, Jack Reacher delivers in full with action and some well-done comedy bits. Besides Cruise, the cast includes Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under, Cabin in the Woods, Killing Them Softly), Rosamund Pike (Die Anothyer Day, pride and Prejudice, Johnny English Reborn, Barney's Vision), Werner Herzog (the German filmmaker behind Fitzcarraldo, Grizzly Man, and Cave of Forgotten Dreams), David Oyelowo (Last King of Scotland, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Lincoln, The Help, The Paperboy, Red Tails) and Jai Courtney (Spartacus: Blood and Sand). Funny, a lot of the cast are either English or Australian. Although not as action-packed as the previously mentioned Ghost Protocol or as satisfying and emotional as Skyfall, the film has some great emotional scenes and some top-notch action set-pieces, including a spectacular car chase, one of the best in years, and a thrilling and satisfying shoot-out/climax. There are also a few brief, but overall entertaining fight scenes, one of which is played for slapstick, which works brilliantly. At first glance, I thought this film was gonna bomb, but due to the positive critical and audience response, I decided to give it a go, and I'm glad I did. The chemistry between Cruise and Pike is impeccable, and the mystery, while near the end you may guess what's going to happen, is still engrossing and leaves you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next puzzle to be solve and the next piece to be unravelled. Jack Reacher is an entertaining, slick, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that you won't soon forget. 4/5 stars.
(Photo credits: Wikipedia, Google Images.)
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Lord of the Rings Part II
I conclude my reviews of the epic LOTR series....
Return of the King:
After the fall of Saruman, The warriors (Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli) recollect Merry and Pippin from Treebeard, and finally see the end of Grima and Saruman (extended version). They discover that Sauron plans to make a move on Gondor, the capital of Man in Middle-Earth. This city is where the King should sit, but in his absence, is being rule by douchebag Denethor (portrayed as noble in the books, portrayed as sinister here), father of Boromir, who treats his younger son Faramir like shit, even telling him he preferred Boromir to the point of telling Faramir he wished he had taken his brother's place in death. The warriors go there to defend the city, and The three main warriors (Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) travel to an ancient tomb to try to get the King of the Dead to help them. Aragorn is helped by the Elves to learn more about himself, and Merry and Pippin become warriors. Meanwhile, Sam and Frodo are on the brink of reaching Mordor, but Frodo's mind is being more Ring-oriented by the hour, becoming a mirror-image of Smeagol, before he became Gollum. Meanwhile, Gollum, while leading them through Mordor, secretly plots to lead them into the lair of Shelob, a giant, man-eating spider creature who guards the pass into Mordor. Rohan and it's warriors choose to help to defend Gondor, and Frodo and Sam begin to split apart thanks to Gollum;s coniving ways. Will our heroes defend Gondor and make it to Mordor? Or will they fall to the dark and evil forces of Sauron? The cast are excellent, and all the cast of the first two are back, with a couple new faces: like Thomas Robbins as Deagol, Smeagol's cousin in a flashback to his origin, and Lawrence Makoare as The Witch King, Lord of the Nazgul, a threatening and powerful new villain, who is a bad-ass, whom Andy Serkis provides his voice for. Paul Norell also appears as the creepy but overall good King of the Dead. And, if you didn't watch the second movie in extended mode, John Noble makes his first appearance as the sinister and conniving Denethor, who is anything buy noble. This is my favorite film, although the plot is a bit complex. The action is through the roof. We see ghost warriors and elves and dwarves and men fighting orcs and demons and dragons and The Witch King. The special effects are incredible. The castle of Gondor, The Great Eye, Mordor, The Nazgul dragons, the orc armies, Shelob, and Gollum are great technological feats. The battle of Gondor is incredible and lasts a good hour, and the final showdown at Mordor between Gollum, Sam, and Frodo is great. (There is also a great How It Should Have Ended that basically shows how all this trouble could have been avoided.) The scene where Frodo fights off Shelob and then Sam must fight Shelob to save Frodo from being eaten is also very thrilling. Although I feel the wrap-up, at like 45 minutes long, is wayyyyy over-long, Return of the King is an exhilirating, breathtaking, incredible epic adventure film that is a great conclusion to an amazing and truly epic trilogy. 5/5 stars.
The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey:
This highly anticipated film doesn't have quit the amount of star power that the original did, but some characters and actors are set to make appearances. It is, in fact, the first in a htree-part trilogy based on Tolkien's first book, The Hobbit. Young Bilbo Baggins is whisked from the comfort of the Shire to go on an adventure with a pack of dwarves and Gandalf the Grey to take back their kingdom from the evil dragon Smaug, running into various misadventures on the way, including: goblins, a creature known as Gollum, Orc warriors, giant spiders, rock giants, a mysterious ring, a necromancer who may have something to do with Sauron, and an Elven kingdom. The film has a great cast, featuring Sir Ian Mckellen, once again as the lovable, but bad-ass wizard Gandalf. Martin Freeman (from films like Nativity, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and BBC's hit show Sherlock) plays the titular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, Frodo's uncle, who is a kind, albeit cowardly hobbit, who gains courage and strength from his journey. He is my favorite Bilbo, just above the great Ian Holm. Richard Armtage plays Thorin, the bulky dwarve who has little fiaht in Bilbo, but grows to respect him. He's a bad-ass. the company of dwarves provide great comic relief. Returning cast members include Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee, and Cate Blanchett. Benedict Cumberpatch makes a cameo as The Necromancer, who's role will be expanded on in part two. Sylvester McCoy also appears as radagast the Brown, a somewhat crazy but hilarious wizard of the forests. This film is a lot less intense than the other films, but that benefits it, making it more open to people who are more sensitive. The use of heavy CGI initially bugged me but I grew to like it, not more than the other films, though. The final battle was such a letdown, but I think the sequel will make up for it. The ending stinger is so great, I can't wait until 2013! Although initially pissed that it was a three-parter, I was thankful, because this film alone in almost 3 hours long. We never see Smaug, a smart move by Peter Jackson. Guillermo del Toro also serves as a writer and producer, which I think benefits the film even more. A talent like him is much needed. Some parts, like the Pale Orc, are expanded upon, whereas other bits are cut completely. I was really looking forward to the Spider, and I was a bit disappointed that it didn't appear. I thought the Gollum sequence was funny but also intense, a good balance. The music is really good, as always, and I thought it was cool how they only used the origianl score when the One Ring would appear. Gandalf also gives this great look when he sees Bilbo stuff something into his pocket. The action sequences are fun, but not quite as epic as the original trilogy. I really enjoyed this film, to the point, where, like Skyfall and The Dark Knight Rises, I'd see it again in IMAX. This is a must-see, and is a great film to go see for the holidays. Can't wait for the second and third parts!! 5/5 stars.
Return of the King:
After the fall of Saruman, The warriors (Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli) recollect Merry and Pippin from Treebeard, and finally see the end of Grima and Saruman (extended version). They discover that Sauron plans to make a move on Gondor, the capital of Man in Middle-Earth. This city is where the King should sit, but in his absence, is being rule by douchebag Denethor (portrayed as noble in the books, portrayed as sinister here), father of Boromir, who treats his younger son Faramir like shit, even telling him he preferred Boromir to the point of telling Faramir he wished he had taken his brother's place in death. The warriors go there to defend the city, and The three main warriors (Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) travel to an ancient tomb to try to get the King of the Dead to help them. Aragorn is helped by the Elves to learn more about himself, and Merry and Pippin become warriors. Meanwhile, Sam and Frodo are on the brink of reaching Mordor, but Frodo's mind is being more Ring-oriented by the hour, becoming a mirror-image of Smeagol, before he became Gollum. Meanwhile, Gollum, while leading them through Mordor, secretly plots to lead them into the lair of Shelob, a giant, man-eating spider creature who guards the pass into Mordor. Rohan and it's warriors choose to help to defend Gondor, and Frodo and Sam begin to split apart thanks to Gollum;s coniving ways. Will our heroes defend Gondor and make it to Mordor? Or will they fall to the dark and evil forces of Sauron? The cast are excellent, and all the cast of the first two are back, with a couple new faces: like Thomas Robbins as Deagol, Smeagol's cousin in a flashback to his origin, and Lawrence Makoare as The Witch King, Lord of the Nazgul, a threatening and powerful new villain, who is a bad-ass, whom Andy Serkis provides his voice for. Paul Norell also appears as the creepy but overall good King of the Dead. And, if you didn't watch the second movie in extended mode, John Noble makes his first appearance as the sinister and conniving Denethor, who is anything buy noble. This is my favorite film, although the plot is a bit complex. The action is through the roof. We see ghost warriors and elves and dwarves and men fighting orcs and demons and dragons and The Witch King. The special effects are incredible. The castle of Gondor, The Great Eye, Mordor, The Nazgul dragons, the orc armies, Shelob, and Gollum are great technological feats. The battle of Gondor is incredible and lasts a good hour, and the final showdown at Mordor between Gollum, Sam, and Frodo is great. (There is also a great How It Should Have Ended that basically shows how all this trouble could have been avoided.) The scene where Frodo fights off Shelob and then Sam must fight Shelob to save Frodo from being eaten is also very thrilling. Although I feel the wrap-up, at like 45 minutes long, is wayyyyy over-long, Return of the King is an exhilirating, breathtaking, incredible epic adventure film that is a great conclusion to an amazing and truly epic trilogy. 5/5 stars.
The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey:
This highly anticipated film doesn't have quit the amount of star power that the original did, but some characters and actors are set to make appearances. It is, in fact, the first in a htree-part trilogy based on Tolkien's first book, The Hobbit. Young Bilbo Baggins is whisked from the comfort of the Shire to go on an adventure with a pack of dwarves and Gandalf the Grey to take back their kingdom from the evil dragon Smaug, running into various misadventures on the way, including: goblins, a creature known as Gollum, Orc warriors, giant spiders, rock giants, a mysterious ring, a necromancer who may have something to do with Sauron, and an Elven kingdom. The film has a great cast, featuring Sir Ian Mckellen, once again as the lovable, but bad-ass wizard Gandalf. Martin Freeman (from films like Nativity, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and BBC's hit show Sherlock) plays the titular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, Frodo's uncle, who is a kind, albeit cowardly hobbit, who gains courage and strength from his journey. He is my favorite Bilbo, just above the great Ian Holm. Richard Armtage plays Thorin, the bulky dwarve who has little fiaht in Bilbo, but grows to respect him. He's a bad-ass. the company of dwarves provide great comic relief. Returning cast members include Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee, and Cate Blanchett. Benedict Cumberpatch makes a cameo as The Necromancer, who's role will be expanded on in part two. Sylvester McCoy also appears as radagast the Brown, a somewhat crazy but hilarious wizard of the forests. This film is a lot less intense than the other films, but that benefits it, making it more open to people who are more sensitive. The use of heavy CGI initially bugged me but I grew to like it, not more than the other films, though. The final battle was such a letdown, but I think the sequel will make up for it. The ending stinger is so great, I can't wait until 2013! Although initially pissed that it was a three-parter, I was thankful, because this film alone in almost 3 hours long. We never see Smaug, a smart move by Peter Jackson. Guillermo del Toro also serves as a writer and producer, which I think benefits the film even more. A talent like him is much needed. Some parts, like the Pale Orc, are expanded upon, whereas other bits are cut completely. I was really looking forward to the Spider, and I was a bit disappointed that it didn't appear. I thought the Gollum sequence was funny but also intense, a good balance. The music is really good, as always, and I thought it was cool how they only used the origianl score when the One Ring would appear. Gandalf also gives this great look when he sees Bilbo stuff something into his pocket. The action sequences are fun, but not quite as epic as the original trilogy. I really enjoyed this film, to the point, where, like Skyfall and The Dark Knight Rises, I'd see it again in IMAX. This is a must-see, and is a great film to go see for the holidays. Can't wait for the second and third parts!! 5/5 stars.
Lord of the Rings series Part I
Today, I look at the epic Lord of the Rings series. I will not go into the amazingly long backstory (about thei history of Middle-Earth or the rel-life story of author J.R.R. Tolkien), or the 1978 animated film, which is worth a watch, too. (On a side-note: These films has obvious title-drops that are fun to find.) (Spoilers ahead!!)
The Fellowship of the Ring:
In the realm of Middle-Earth, the dark lord Sauron forges The One Ring, an all-powerful ring which possesses and controls it's wearer with Sauron's dark power. Sauron was defeated temporarily, and the rings Sauron had created go to the different races: Dwarves, Elves, etc. But the One Ring went to the King of Man, and the King became corrupt, and the Ring betrayed him, later being found by a former Hobbit named Smeagel, now a heinous creature known as Gollum. Through various misadventures, it came into the ownership of a happy Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. his nephew Frodo and his powerful wizard friend Gandalf the Grey discover the Ring, and then dsicover that Sauron has risen again, and Gandalf's fellow wizard Saruman the White is on Sauron's side. They discover Saruman is using dark magic to birth any army of disgusting Orcs and Goblins, beings of pure evil. Frodo and his friends Sam, Merry and Pippin begin a journey across Middle-Earth, bringing Gandalf, and running into various friends and foes, including: Aragorn the Ranger, Legolas (an Elven archer), Gimli (a warrior dwarf), the Elven leaders, the warrior Boromir, and the evil and devious Ring-Wraiths (fallen Kings of Man that have succumbed to the Ring's power and now hunt it). Peter Jackson (of cult films such as Braindead, Meet the Feebles, and Bad Taste) directs an all-star cast in his first major blockbuster, including: Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, John-Rhys Davies, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Martin Csokas, Ian Holm, and Christopher Lee. The plot may thicken, and the film is a good 2 hours overlong (in fact, this should have been two parts), but it stays mostly true to Tolkien's writings, and the characters are fun to watch and can be relatable. The special effects are just incredible. The make-up effects are fantastic, and the Orcs and Goblins are terrifying. This is also an example of CGI done right, with the computer needed to do effects on giant landscapes, castles, demons, dragons, etc. Also, the New Zealand location shoots are astounding. The music score is epic, nad has become a classic and recognizable film score. The trend of cult directors making big blockbusters has carried on, as Sam Raimi of Evil Dead fame would make Spider-Man a year later, and is now a major Hollywood player. Jackson also originally intended to remake the classic King Kong, but he couldn;t do it, so he went to Plan B, and then, after getting his name out there, he remade Kong as another 3-hour epic with an all-star cast in 2005. The action sequences aren;t as prominent as in the 3rd film, but when action does happen, it's on a large scale, with epic music, big-budget effects, and sword-fighting galore. The Fellowship of the Ring may not be the best of the series, but it's a great film, worth multiple viewings, but maybe in segments. (recommend extended version) 5/5 stars.
The Two Towers:
The Fellowhsip (Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Boromir, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas) are split up all over Middle-Earth. Gandalf and Boromir are dead. Frodo and Sam have decided to jounrey to Mordor (center of Sauron's army) themselves to destroy the Ring, Merry and Pippin have been kidnapped by Orcs, and the three warriors are off to rescue the Hobbits from certain death at the hands of Sauron's armies. Meanwhile, in Rohan, Kingdom of Man, King Theoden, a noble man, is being controlled by the now evil Saruman, who is being told by Sauron his amries must whipe out all man, because Sauron has caught wind of the fact that the descendant of the king who defeated him (Aragorn) is coming back, and that's not good for him. Plan: Whipe out all men, you'll eventually kill Aragorn. Grima (a treacherous servant) is is helping by letting Saruman possess Theoden. During a battle, Merry and Pippin get lost in the woods, and come across the ancient being Treebeard, who befriends them. They then come across Gandalf the White, the new white wizard, and Gandalf helps Theoden overcome Saruman's power and take control of Rohan once more. While Frodo and Sam continue their trek towards Mordor, they come across the enigmatic and bipolar Gollum (finally seen on film), who steals the show. He guides them towards Mordor, with his true intenions being to kill them and steal back his "precious" Ring. They also come across Bormir's younger brother, Faramir, prince of Gondor, who insists upon bringing it to Gondor because his dad, the King, his a douchebag (not so in the book). The warriors, minus Sam and Frodo, go to the battle of Helm's Deep to destroy Saruman's forces at the "two towers". The all-star cast of the original returns, better than ever, with a few new faces as well, like: Andy Serkis (a motion-capture performer, who under heavy CG makeup, gives some heartfelt proframcnes, and steals every show), Bernard Hill, Karl Urban, Miranda Otto, Craig Parker, David Wenham, and John Noble (extended version only, which I recommend). All act marvelously and really make the characters come alive. Andy Serkis gives a great, somewhat pitiful, performance as Gollum, one the Academy should've nominated. The action scene at the climax is incredible, and the special effects are even more amazing in this. The makeup on the Orcs is even more disgusting than ever, and the CGI on Gollum and on the landscapes is awesome. The landscape shot and location shoots are unbelievable. I love this movie, and I feel it's equal to Fellowship. The Two Towers is a great addition to the LOTR trilogy, but my favorite is coming up next time. 5/5 stars.
Next time: I conclude with Return of the King and The Hobbit.
(Photos: Wikipedia)
The Fellowship of the Ring:
In the realm of Middle-Earth, the dark lord Sauron forges The One Ring, an all-powerful ring which possesses and controls it's wearer with Sauron's dark power. Sauron was defeated temporarily, and the rings Sauron had created go to the different races: Dwarves, Elves, etc. But the One Ring went to the King of Man, and the King became corrupt, and the Ring betrayed him, later being found by a former Hobbit named Smeagel, now a heinous creature known as Gollum. Through various misadventures, it came into the ownership of a happy Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. his nephew Frodo and his powerful wizard friend Gandalf the Grey discover the Ring, and then dsicover that Sauron has risen again, and Gandalf's fellow wizard Saruman the White is on Sauron's side. They discover Saruman is using dark magic to birth any army of disgusting Orcs and Goblins, beings of pure evil. Frodo and his friends Sam, Merry and Pippin begin a journey across Middle-Earth, bringing Gandalf, and running into various friends and foes, including: Aragorn the Ranger, Legolas (an Elven archer), Gimli (a warrior dwarf), the Elven leaders, the warrior Boromir, and the evil and devious Ring-Wraiths (fallen Kings of Man that have succumbed to the Ring's power and now hunt it). Peter Jackson (of cult films such as Braindead, Meet the Feebles, and Bad Taste) directs an all-star cast in his first major blockbuster, including: Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, John-Rhys Davies, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Martin Csokas, Ian Holm, and Christopher Lee. The plot may thicken, and the film is a good 2 hours overlong (in fact, this should have been two parts), but it stays mostly true to Tolkien's writings, and the characters are fun to watch and can be relatable. The special effects are just incredible. The make-up effects are fantastic, and the Orcs and Goblins are terrifying. This is also an example of CGI done right, with the computer needed to do effects on giant landscapes, castles, demons, dragons, etc. Also, the New Zealand location shoots are astounding. The music score is epic, nad has become a classic and recognizable film score. The trend of cult directors making big blockbusters has carried on, as Sam Raimi of Evil Dead fame would make Spider-Man a year later, and is now a major Hollywood player. Jackson also originally intended to remake the classic King Kong, but he couldn;t do it, so he went to Plan B, and then, after getting his name out there, he remade Kong as another 3-hour epic with an all-star cast in 2005. The action sequences aren;t as prominent as in the 3rd film, but when action does happen, it's on a large scale, with epic music, big-budget effects, and sword-fighting galore. The Fellowship of the Ring may not be the best of the series, but it's a great film, worth multiple viewings, but maybe in segments. (recommend extended version) 5/5 stars.
The Two Towers:
The Fellowhsip (Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Boromir, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas) are split up all over Middle-Earth. Gandalf and Boromir are dead. Frodo and Sam have decided to jounrey to Mordor (center of Sauron's army) themselves to destroy the Ring, Merry and Pippin have been kidnapped by Orcs, and the three warriors are off to rescue the Hobbits from certain death at the hands of Sauron's armies. Meanwhile, in Rohan, Kingdom of Man, King Theoden, a noble man, is being controlled by the now evil Saruman, who is being told by Sauron his amries must whipe out all man, because Sauron has caught wind of the fact that the descendant of the king who defeated him (Aragorn) is coming back, and that's not good for him. Plan: Whipe out all men, you'll eventually kill Aragorn. Grima (a treacherous servant) is is helping by letting Saruman possess Theoden. During a battle, Merry and Pippin get lost in the woods, and come across the ancient being Treebeard, who befriends them. They then come across Gandalf the White, the new white wizard, and Gandalf helps Theoden overcome Saruman's power and take control of Rohan once more. While Frodo and Sam continue their trek towards Mordor, they come across the enigmatic and bipolar Gollum (finally seen on film), who steals the show. He guides them towards Mordor, with his true intenions being to kill them and steal back his "precious" Ring. They also come across Bormir's younger brother, Faramir, prince of Gondor, who insists upon bringing it to Gondor because his dad, the King, his a douchebag (not so in the book). The warriors, minus Sam and Frodo, go to the battle of Helm's Deep to destroy Saruman's forces at the "two towers". The all-star cast of the original returns, better than ever, with a few new faces as well, like: Andy Serkis (a motion-capture performer, who under heavy CG makeup, gives some heartfelt proframcnes, and steals every show), Bernard Hill, Karl Urban, Miranda Otto, Craig Parker, David Wenham, and John Noble (extended version only, which I recommend). All act marvelously and really make the characters come alive. Andy Serkis gives a great, somewhat pitiful, performance as Gollum, one the Academy should've nominated. The action scene at the climax is incredible, and the special effects are even more amazing in this. The makeup on the Orcs is even more disgusting than ever, and the CGI on Gollum and on the landscapes is awesome. The landscape shot and location shoots are unbelievable. I love this movie, and I feel it's equal to Fellowship. The Two Towers is a great addition to the LOTR trilogy, but my favorite is coming up next time. 5/5 stars.
Next time: I conclude with Return of the King and The Hobbit.
(Photos: Wikipedia)
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Killing Them Softly review
Today I look at the neo-noir crime film from director Andrew Dominik, based on the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins.
Killing Them Softly:
When two amateur thieves rob a mob bosses' poker game, the mob hires hitman Dylan to take them and anyone else involved out. But when Dylan can't pull the job due to illness, he calls his his fellow hitman Cogan, a mysterious, cold, professional, menacing, calculating, and all around brutal man with very little morality and a high sense of cynicism. As the plot thickens, Cogan must betray and befriend individuals to get the job done. Now, the film is beautifully shot and scored (with 70's soft rock as the soundtrack), certain scenes in slow-motion and several camera angles are very clever. Brad Pitt, although appearing 20 minutes into the film, is remarkable as Cogan, who reminds me of Ryan Gosling's character in Drive. But, his character is far too cold, distant, cynical, and overall unrelatable to really care about. In fact, the film really goes nowhere, and overall is anti-climactic and leaves you feeling empty inside. People are saying this is the great crime movie (like Drive) to kick-start the crime genre, which has been a bit stale in the past few years. But really, I miss films like The Departed and Gangs of New York, films that were brutal and cold, like this film, but had a three act-structure, and had characters, although questionable and sometimes outright diabolical, that still were very entertaining, and made you feel like you really had a great experience after you left the theater. Characters that you coud even relate to or care for. This film sort of lacks that. James Gandolfini (a veteran of the crime and gangster genre, having appeared in True Romance and The Sopranos) makes a brief appearance as this washed-up hitman whose only cares are booze and hookers. In fact, his role really goes nowhere other than to say "Hey, James Gandolfini's in this movie, see it!" Richard Jenkins (an underrated actor from HBO's Six Feet Under and Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods) plays Driver, a mob representative, who, again, has a character who goes nowhere, and is just there to say "Hey, Richard Jenkins is in this movie!" Other actors who give some good performances are Ray Liotta, who is a great mob movie actor, Ben Mendelsohn (Daggett from The Dark Knight Rises), and Scoot McNairy. The movie also takes place in 2008, but has a very 70's tone to it, and has a weird political undertone. Overall, Killing Them Softly is a good crime movie, but it's devoid of any real structure, climax, relatable characters, action, and really just leaves you empty and cold, like the character of Cogan himself. 3/5 stars.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
Killing Them Softly:
When two amateur thieves rob a mob bosses' poker game, the mob hires hitman Dylan to take them and anyone else involved out. But when Dylan can't pull the job due to illness, he calls his his fellow hitman Cogan, a mysterious, cold, professional, menacing, calculating, and all around brutal man with very little morality and a high sense of cynicism. As the plot thickens, Cogan must betray and befriend individuals to get the job done. Now, the film is beautifully shot and scored (with 70's soft rock as the soundtrack), certain scenes in slow-motion and several camera angles are very clever. Brad Pitt, although appearing 20 minutes into the film, is remarkable as Cogan, who reminds me of Ryan Gosling's character in Drive. But, his character is far too cold, distant, cynical, and overall unrelatable to really care about. In fact, the film really goes nowhere, and overall is anti-climactic and leaves you feeling empty inside. People are saying this is the great crime movie (like Drive) to kick-start the crime genre, which has been a bit stale in the past few years. But really, I miss films like The Departed and Gangs of New York, films that were brutal and cold, like this film, but had a three act-structure, and had characters, although questionable and sometimes outright diabolical, that still were very entertaining, and made you feel like you really had a great experience after you left the theater. Characters that you coud even relate to or care for. This film sort of lacks that. James Gandolfini (a veteran of the crime and gangster genre, having appeared in True Romance and The Sopranos) makes a brief appearance as this washed-up hitman whose only cares are booze and hookers. In fact, his role really goes nowhere other than to say "Hey, James Gandolfini's in this movie, see it!" Richard Jenkins (an underrated actor from HBO's Six Feet Under and Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods) plays Driver, a mob representative, who, again, has a character who goes nowhere, and is just there to say "Hey, Richard Jenkins is in this movie!" Other actors who give some good performances are Ray Liotta, who is a great mob movie actor, Ben Mendelsohn (Daggett from The Dark Knight Rises), and Scoot McNairy. The movie also takes place in 2008, but has a very 70's tone to it, and has a weird political undertone. Overall, Killing Them Softly is a good crime movie, but it's devoid of any real structure, climax, relatable characters, action, and really just leaves you empty and cold, like the character of Cogan himself. 3/5 stars.
Photo credit: Wikipedia