As the title says, there is nothing for today. I never wanted to have a day where there was no movie review posted, but unfortunately that is exactly what happened. Basically, I have been smothered by anxiety from the moment I woke up, and it was just kind of all consuming on my day. I knew I wanted to do something on here, but there was just nothing that I had in me to give, if that makes sense.
So, I apologize and hope that it does not happen again, at least any time soon. One might think that being off work right now would leave lots of time for watching movies and writing about them, and some days it most certainly does. Other days, not so much. My hope is to next do back to back reviews of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, first doing the original and then the remake. It is interesting that both of these movies have almost the same running time and share the exact same rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I hope to watch both of them and see just how comparable they are, and if one stands out from the other.
And I like both of the directors. And I like both of the actresses who play the girls with the dragon tattoos. Those seem like ample reasons to watch them both.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Hannah's Pick: 12 Monkeys
It is Wednesday once again, so that means the movie reviewed will be one that has been recommended (and supplied) by my sister in-law, Hannah. This time around it is the 1995 sci-fi thriller 12 Monkeys, starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. It is a film that I had wanted to take in for a long time, and I was not sure if it would happen ever since it disappeared off of Netflix's lineup a few months ago.
The premise of the movie is that a virus kills most of the human race, leaving the survivors to continue existing underground in a semi-steampunk sort of environment. The task of the survivors is to determine the source of the virus so a cure could be made. Convicted criminal James Cole (Willis) is 'volunteered' to gather information from the surface, and upon returning is promoted to shooting from the hip style of time travel that can not guarantee the exact time the traveler will arrive in. When Willis arrives in 1990 (six years before the outbreak which he was supposed to investigate) he is brought into a mental institution (on account of claiming he is from the future) where he meets Jeffrey Goines (Pitt) who befriends Cole. From this point on, it is an up and down experience for Cole, as he tries to piece together the facts about the attack, as well as personal memories that he has of that time.
This is one crazy movie, I will say that right away. It focuses on sane people who are crazy, crazy people who think they are sane, and a story line that starts to blur those lines of sanity. Director Terry Gilliam (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) does what he can to ensure that the balance of sanity is not portrayed only by the actors, but through the style of shooting as well. In the scenes where insanity is around (or knocking on the doorstep) he uses different camera angles and framing than he does during the calmer points of the movie. I think he teeters on the point of over-indulgence with the crooked camera shots, but it never got to the point of being overly distracting. Sometimes, perhaps, directors try to rely on the talent to portray all of the emotions so it is nice when someone tries to use all of the tools at their disposal to communicate to the audience.
As far as the acting goes, Brad Pitt brings the same level and enthusiasm for un-restrained insanity as Gilliam. There is no hesitance at all with him in this role, and he becomes the focal point of almost every scene he is in. If mental stability is the north pole, Brad Pitt is the south. His portrayal of Jeffrey Goines earned him an Oscar nomination, and rightly so, because it is a stand out performance.
Another aspect that this film commits heavily to is the feel and atmosphere of the future. From the costumes, to the rooms, nothing was looked over for creating a setting that had no reminder of the present that we know. The environment takes us off guard and leaves us open and accepting of the reality that it has created. It is easy to ask the audience for some suspension of disbelief if the physical setting itself looks as bat-shit crazy as the people in the film. That is exactly what it does: the visuals that are void of familiarity open our doors for acceptance of things like time travel and humanity ending viruses.
I just keep coming back to the style of shooting, though. As I said, it boarders on over-indulgence and perhaps that is what is keeping me from being just head over heels for this film. I do think that a bit more restraint would have been fine, as I did feel a little assaulted at times with the 'throw you off your guard' style of shooting. And the monkey music didn't quite do it for me. Please do not think that these are monstrous issues that I had with this movie, it is just that they were present enough to keep this from being a perfect four star film.
Those minor qualms aside, this is a terrific movie. If you like calm and sane, you very well may have a hard time with 12 Monkeys. It is a journey in itself, an all out assault on sanity at times, without the drug-trip feel that some movies take. While there may be some end moments that are a bit predictable, it is worthy of the time spent to arrive at the conclusion. It is good, ole sci-fi fun. The best thing about it is that if you ever feel like you are starting to lose your mind, this film will leave you feeling like a model of sanity.
Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars
not only is it different in feel, but is also in a way that allows the beginning of the question of sanity
The premise of the movie is that a virus kills most of the human race, leaving the survivors to continue existing underground in a semi-steampunk sort of environment. The task of the survivors is to determine the source of the virus so a cure could be made. Convicted criminal James Cole (Willis) is 'volunteered' to gather information from the surface, and upon returning is promoted to shooting from the hip style of time travel that can not guarantee the exact time the traveler will arrive in. When Willis arrives in 1990 (six years before the outbreak which he was supposed to investigate) he is brought into a mental institution (on account of claiming he is from the future) where he meets Jeffrey Goines (Pitt) who befriends Cole. From this point on, it is an up and down experience for Cole, as he tries to piece together the facts about the attack, as well as personal memories that he has of that time.
This is one crazy movie, I will say that right away. It focuses on sane people who are crazy, crazy people who think they are sane, and a story line that starts to blur those lines of sanity. Director Terry Gilliam (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) does what he can to ensure that the balance of sanity is not portrayed only by the actors, but through the style of shooting as well. In the scenes where insanity is around (or knocking on the doorstep) he uses different camera angles and framing than he does during the calmer points of the movie. I think he teeters on the point of over-indulgence with the crooked camera shots, but it never got to the point of being overly distracting. Sometimes, perhaps, directors try to rely on the talent to portray all of the emotions so it is nice when someone tries to use all of the tools at their disposal to communicate to the audience.
As far as the acting goes, Brad Pitt brings the same level and enthusiasm for un-restrained insanity as Gilliam. There is no hesitance at all with him in this role, and he becomes the focal point of almost every scene he is in. If mental stability is the north pole, Brad Pitt is the south. His portrayal of Jeffrey Goines earned him an Oscar nomination, and rightly so, because it is a stand out performance.
Another aspect that this film commits heavily to is the feel and atmosphere of the future. From the costumes, to the rooms, nothing was looked over for creating a setting that had no reminder of the present that we know. The environment takes us off guard and leaves us open and accepting of the reality that it has created. It is easy to ask the audience for some suspension of disbelief if the physical setting itself looks as bat-shit crazy as the people in the film. That is exactly what it does: the visuals that are void of familiarity open our doors for acceptance of things like time travel and humanity ending viruses.
I just keep coming back to the style of shooting, though. As I said, it boarders on over-indulgence and perhaps that is what is keeping me from being just head over heels for this film. I do think that a bit more restraint would have been fine, as I did feel a little assaulted at times with the 'throw you off your guard' style of shooting. And the monkey music didn't quite do it for me. Please do not think that these are monstrous issues that I had with this movie, it is just that they were present enough to keep this from being a perfect four star film.
Those minor qualms aside, this is a terrific movie. If you like calm and sane, you very well may have a hard time with 12 Monkeys. It is a journey in itself, an all out assault on sanity at times, without the drug-trip feel that some movies take. While there may be some end moments that are a bit predictable, it is worthy of the time spent to arrive at the conclusion. It is good, ole sci-fi fun. The best thing about it is that if you ever feel like you are starting to lose your mind, this film will leave you feeling like a model of sanity.
Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars
not only is it different in feel, but is also in a way that allows the beginning of the question of sanity
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Gone Baby Gone
Well, I know I will no do this movie justice. If you have ever had an anti-anxiety pill, you will know that the little pill packs a punch of goodness. While it helps calm the emotional oceans, it also makes operating heavy machinery a bad idea. Myself, I am a lightweight with medications. I hardly ever take a pill for anything, so while most people take one full anti-anxiety pill, I only take a quarter and life is good. I think I have had multiple quarters of that happy little pill by this point, so I may not be quite all with us. Soldier on, that's what I shall do. Or something like that. Perhaps a nap. More than likely, this will be a bit of a shorter review.
Anywho, the movie I am reviewing today is Gone Baby Gone (now available on Netflix), and it is Ben Affleck's directorial debut. While many people line up to criticize the acting capabilities of this man, his skill behind the camera really needs to be respected as he is extremely gifted in telling a story. The movie follows a young couple who are private investigators that specialize in missing persons, Patrick (Casey Affleck) and Angie (Michelle Monaghan). When a young girl goes missing, the aunt and uncle of the abducted child hire Patrick and Angie to assist the police in bringing her home safely. During the investigation, there are many twists and turns as Patrick begins to unravel a case that is much bigger than he imagined.
Ben Affleck does an amazing job in creating the atmosphere for this film. There is a lot of attention put into showing cutaway shots of the neighbourhood, focusing both on the physical nature of it, but also the personal side of it. We get an idea of the residents, what they are like, the conditions they live in, and their way of life. This is furthered by the dialogue, which I will admit was a bit hard to follow at times with the New England accents, but it just furthered the sense of authenticity of the movie. There were a number of tense scenes that were not over dramatic, like some movies, but more focused on the nuanced street smarts that Patrick uses to get by. I should mention that Casey Affleck has a wonderful performance in this movie.
Affleck walks the hard ground with this movie, as the topic of child abduction is a very loaded one to create a story around. There is a great emotional response that the audience can have to such a plot point, and it is treated with respect, but also used in a way that allows us to feel the proper amount of unease, disgust, and also hope in the safe return of the missing Amanda. It plays well to the thriller aspect with run-ins with ever so creepy environments and characters.
The best part about this movie, though, is that it has another level to it. It is an interesting watch and a very good movie, but it also serves as a discussion point on ethics and morals. The movie culminates around right and wrong, justice, and the subjective nature to which people view each of those things differently. Watching it, I got a clear sense of the ethical structure that people on opposite sides of the argument were bringing to the table and felt no pull from the director that we were to lean one way or another. When a movie entertains, bravo. When it entertains and makes me think, that's when the money and the time spent were more than well worth it.
Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars
Anywho, the movie I am reviewing today is Gone Baby Gone (now available on Netflix), and it is Ben Affleck's directorial debut. While many people line up to criticize the acting capabilities of this man, his skill behind the camera really needs to be respected as he is extremely gifted in telling a story. The movie follows a young couple who are private investigators that specialize in missing persons, Patrick (Casey Affleck) and Angie (Michelle Monaghan). When a young girl goes missing, the aunt and uncle of the abducted child hire Patrick and Angie to assist the police in bringing her home safely. During the investigation, there are many twists and turns as Patrick begins to unravel a case that is much bigger than he imagined.
Ben Affleck does an amazing job in creating the atmosphere for this film. There is a lot of attention put into showing cutaway shots of the neighbourhood, focusing both on the physical nature of it, but also the personal side of it. We get an idea of the residents, what they are like, the conditions they live in, and their way of life. This is furthered by the dialogue, which I will admit was a bit hard to follow at times with the New England accents, but it just furthered the sense of authenticity of the movie. There were a number of tense scenes that were not over dramatic, like some movies, but more focused on the nuanced street smarts that Patrick uses to get by. I should mention that Casey Affleck has a wonderful performance in this movie.
Affleck walks the hard ground with this movie, as the topic of child abduction is a very loaded one to create a story around. There is a great emotional response that the audience can have to such a plot point, and it is treated with respect, but also used in a way that allows us to feel the proper amount of unease, disgust, and also hope in the safe return of the missing Amanda. It plays well to the thriller aspect with run-ins with ever so creepy environments and characters.
The best part about this movie, though, is that it has another level to it. It is an interesting watch and a very good movie, but it also serves as a discussion point on ethics and morals. The movie culminates around right and wrong, justice, and the subjective nature to which people view each of those things differently. Watching it, I got a clear sense of the ethical structure that people on opposite sides of the argument were bringing to the table and felt no pull from the director that we were to lean one way or another. When a movie entertains, bravo. When it entertains and makes me think, that's when the money and the time spent were more than well worth it.
Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars
Monday, November 4, 2013
Red Tails
Right now I am settling into my chair for a bit of a long haul. I have this movie review to write, a box office analysis piece that I write twice a week for a friend's blog, and then after that the goal is to write three thousand words of some sort of content. Why this goal? Well, it is a task to do that will exercise the mind, and it is also a step towards getting used to pumping out a large amount of words daily. Perhaps one day I will seek an anvenue here or there with writing to make a few dollars, so I may as well get used to the process.
As the title states, the movie that I am reviewing today is Red Tails, the 2012 movie about the Tuskegee Airmen in the 2nd World War that had George Lucas as the executive producer. Now, while Lucas was EP on this project, there were a lot of his finger prints all over the movie, most notably the visual effects, that would indicate to me that he was a very hands on producer. The film was directed by Anthony Hemingway, and was his first feature film though he did do some assistant directing on movies such as Changing Lanes and Ali. That being said, I am not sure just how representative this movie was of him, as it came across more as a George Lucas film....
The story of the film is about the 332nd fighter group, which was made up of African American pilots who were given meaningless tasks and assignments. Desiring desperately to get into the fight and help out, Colonel Bullard (Terrence Howard) advocates from the group back in the States in an effort to get them into the battle. It has become clear that most fighter escorts for bombing runs leave the bomber's side and chase down dog fights when they can, leaving the bombers unprotected and free to get shot down by the Luftwaffe. After the 332nd is able to prove themselves in a key operation, they are then given the task to escort the bombers on their runs and make a name for themselves by sticking to their objectives. And then everything that you could predict would happen, does happen.
The content of this movie is incredibly great, and a story that desperately needs to be told. I enjoy a good WWII documentary, and they are pretty much absent of anyone other than Caucasian soldiers. Perhaps that was the way of the times, but it is sad that the history that we are taught re-enforces that and leaves out tales such as the Tuskegee Airmen. This content was very close to Lucas' heart, as he did a lot of the financing himself because studios did not want to get behind a movie where there were no prominent white roles. It was a project that could have gone so far in educating, entertaining, and creating discussion around racial treatment in war as well as the on-going issue in cinema. It could have... but it didn't.
Sometimes there is a lot that can be gleaned from the first line of dialogue in a movie as to the tone or even the quality of the script. The very first words spoken in this film were tacked on, un-organic lines of expository dialogue. Sometimes it is needed when there are so many complexities that someone just needs to come out and say it so the audience understands and recognizes, but it was nothing of that level in this film. The script was incredibly basic, filled with out of place lines to inform the audience of what was going on (I think that was the sole role of the bomber pilot's dialogue) as well as very cliche lines about war time, or fighting, or honour, or something like that. This content is passionate in its very nature. There is an immense weight of hundreds of years of mis-treatment that are being represented here, and the script fell so far short of what it needed to be to properly honour the content.
I did mention the visual element being the finger print of George Lucas. I will say this, the man really is a visionary who sees all things technical about twenty years before anyone else. That is one of the downfalls of this film, though. Over the last ten plus years he has relied so heavily on simulated environments, opting for CGI first before other options. While digital effects can create images that would otherwise not be achievable, I do not think they were needed to create every aspect of the planes, right down to the instrument gauges. Something tells me someone could have created instrument gauges that would have looked good. Or they could have just gone the even easier route and shot pre-existing instrument gauges.
The biggest hole created by the visual effects was in the dog fight scenes. This is a movie who's story and content deserve respect and are probably best delivered in a manner that feels real and palpable. That element is not achievable with the dog-fighting visuals as the planes look great and real at some points, but other times they look exactly like what they are... pixels. The one flaw that I noticed in Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is that everything looks a little too good. Things look fake, not lived in. Not properly scratched and marred, but a little to well lit in perfect soft lighting and in pristine conditions. There was just such an absence of the signs of wear, tear, and war on the planes. Everything just looked too good. The aero-dynamics of the dog-fights seemed quite amped up as well, which made me feel more like I was watching X-Wings and Tie Fighters than WWII aircrafts. The visual effects supervisor for the film stated, 'reality is not always as exciting or as good-looking as you would want,' and I totally disagree with that. What better way to make me think there was a real plane on the side of the runway than to put a real plane on the side of the runway?
Why does this visual issue mean so much to this movie? It is simple: the content demands respect. If people are going to be properly educated on something then all of the right teaching tools need to be put in place. In this case, we really need to know the experience these men were facing, both with racism on the ground and with their unity in combat. If we see one full minute of combat and only 59 seconds look real, that one other second starts a disconnect in our brains. The intensity of the story and the peril that they face is lessened. Have you ever watched a movie and had to take a deep breath at the end it? That's because you felt like it was a real place that you were co-inhabiting with the characters, and that is very hard to accomplish when we are constantly reminded that this is nothing more than a next-gen video game.
In amongst this, there were some good performances. That needs to be remembered. I am a big fan of Terrence Howard because he is naturally soft spoken, so when he delivers powerful lines they really have a habit of standing out. Bryan Crantson fans will be happy to see him deliver a great little cameo. There are moments, here and there, but this movie does have moments.
When the action is happening, it can be a fun film, but that is all it was able to achieve with me. There should be a lot more elements to a story such as this than just 'fun.' I should have felt such an investment in the characters that I cheered for them, or wanted to punch those racist jack-asses in the face, but I didn't. It is hard to get that into a movie that is so weak at the core. Good script and great locations/visuals are such an important part of creating any kind of emotional connection, and both of those missed the mark in the largest ways. I normally am not a fan of re-makes, but I look forward to the day that Steve McQueen or Lee Daniels revisits this part of history, because then the audiences will really benefit from the full potential of the tale.
Rating - 2.5 out of 4 stars
As the title states, the movie that I am reviewing today is Red Tails, the 2012 movie about the Tuskegee Airmen in the 2nd World War that had George Lucas as the executive producer. Now, while Lucas was EP on this project, there were a lot of his finger prints all over the movie, most notably the visual effects, that would indicate to me that he was a very hands on producer. The film was directed by Anthony Hemingway, and was his first feature film though he did do some assistant directing on movies such as Changing Lanes and Ali. That being said, I am not sure just how representative this movie was of him, as it came across more as a George Lucas film....
The story of the film is about the 332nd fighter group, which was made up of African American pilots who were given meaningless tasks and assignments. Desiring desperately to get into the fight and help out, Colonel Bullard (Terrence Howard) advocates from the group back in the States in an effort to get them into the battle. It has become clear that most fighter escorts for bombing runs leave the bomber's side and chase down dog fights when they can, leaving the bombers unprotected and free to get shot down by the Luftwaffe. After the 332nd is able to prove themselves in a key operation, they are then given the task to escort the bombers on their runs and make a name for themselves by sticking to their objectives. And then everything that you could predict would happen, does happen.
The content of this movie is incredibly great, and a story that desperately needs to be told. I enjoy a good WWII documentary, and they are pretty much absent of anyone other than Caucasian soldiers. Perhaps that was the way of the times, but it is sad that the history that we are taught re-enforces that and leaves out tales such as the Tuskegee Airmen. This content was very close to Lucas' heart, as he did a lot of the financing himself because studios did not want to get behind a movie where there were no prominent white roles. It was a project that could have gone so far in educating, entertaining, and creating discussion around racial treatment in war as well as the on-going issue in cinema. It could have... but it didn't.
Sometimes there is a lot that can be gleaned from the first line of dialogue in a movie as to the tone or even the quality of the script. The very first words spoken in this film were tacked on, un-organic lines of expository dialogue. Sometimes it is needed when there are so many complexities that someone just needs to come out and say it so the audience understands and recognizes, but it was nothing of that level in this film. The script was incredibly basic, filled with out of place lines to inform the audience of what was going on (I think that was the sole role of the bomber pilot's dialogue) as well as very cliche lines about war time, or fighting, or honour, or something like that. This content is passionate in its very nature. There is an immense weight of hundreds of years of mis-treatment that are being represented here, and the script fell so far short of what it needed to be to properly honour the content.
I did mention the visual element being the finger print of George Lucas. I will say this, the man really is a visionary who sees all things technical about twenty years before anyone else. That is one of the downfalls of this film, though. Over the last ten plus years he has relied so heavily on simulated environments, opting for CGI first before other options. While digital effects can create images that would otherwise not be achievable, I do not think they were needed to create every aspect of the planes, right down to the instrument gauges. Something tells me someone could have created instrument gauges that would have looked good. Or they could have just gone the even easier route and shot pre-existing instrument gauges.
The biggest hole created by the visual effects was in the dog fight scenes. This is a movie who's story and content deserve respect and are probably best delivered in a manner that feels real and palpable. That element is not achievable with the dog-fighting visuals as the planes look great and real at some points, but other times they look exactly like what they are... pixels. The one flaw that I noticed in Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is that everything looks a little too good. Things look fake, not lived in. Not properly scratched and marred, but a little to well lit in perfect soft lighting and in pristine conditions. There was just such an absence of the signs of wear, tear, and war on the planes. Everything just looked too good. The aero-dynamics of the dog-fights seemed quite amped up as well, which made me feel more like I was watching X-Wings and Tie Fighters than WWII aircrafts. The visual effects supervisor for the film stated, 'reality is not always as exciting or as good-looking as you would want,' and I totally disagree with that. What better way to make me think there was a real plane on the side of the runway than to put a real plane on the side of the runway?
Why does this visual issue mean so much to this movie? It is simple: the content demands respect. If people are going to be properly educated on something then all of the right teaching tools need to be put in place. In this case, we really need to know the experience these men were facing, both with racism on the ground and with their unity in combat. If we see one full minute of combat and only 59 seconds look real, that one other second starts a disconnect in our brains. The intensity of the story and the peril that they face is lessened. Have you ever watched a movie and had to take a deep breath at the end it? That's because you felt like it was a real place that you were co-inhabiting with the characters, and that is very hard to accomplish when we are constantly reminded that this is nothing more than a next-gen video game.
In amongst this, there were some good performances. That needs to be remembered. I am a big fan of Terrence Howard because he is naturally soft spoken, so when he delivers powerful lines they really have a habit of standing out. Bryan Crantson fans will be happy to see him deliver a great little cameo. There are moments, here and there, but this movie does have moments.
When the action is happening, it can be a fun film, but that is all it was able to achieve with me. There should be a lot more elements to a story such as this than just 'fun.' I should have felt such an investment in the characters that I cheered for them, or wanted to punch those racist jack-asses in the face, but I didn't. It is hard to get that into a movie that is so weak at the core. Good script and great locations/visuals are such an important part of creating any kind of emotional connection, and both of those missed the mark in the largest ways. I normally am not a fan of re-makes, but I look forward to the day that Steve McQueen or Lee Daniels revisits this part of history, because then the audiences will really benefit from the full potential of the tale.
Rating - 2.5 out of 4 stars
Sunday, November 3, 2013
The Secret of NIMH
It was very hard to get the motivation to blog today. So much of me wanted to create any excuse that would allow me to give it a pass today. It was a bit of an anxious day, so my mind was able to come up with many a reason to put it aside and do absolutely nothing. Sometimes when we breakdown we find ourselves in a sort of fetal position, and that is almost the process that today's movie pick took. I reached for something that was a key element of my childhood and took a look at it to see if it could remind me of those simpler times. The movie is The Secret of NIMH (which is available on Netfilx), a much viewed film in my childhood, captured on a well worn VHS cassette tape.
One thing that is hard when looking back at something that I once held dear is to view it for what it actually is, and not what I am reminded of it being. That being said, not only was I able to view the movie with fresh eyes close to thirty years later, but I was all the while reminded of those emotions that the movie took me through when I was a young boy.
The film centres around the field mouse Mrs Brisby, who is now a single mother of four with one of them suffering from pneumonia. It is the time of year that the farmer ploughs the field, which means all of the occupants must vacate (mice, rabbits, and the like) but Mrs Brisby is unable to move her family because of the ill young Timothy. She then goes on a quest to get help, and ends up encountering a community of super-smart rats that live on the property, and begins to realize that her late husband's name carries a lot of respect.
It took me absolutely no time at all to once again feel like young Scott, with dreadfully unruly,curly hair and wearing track pants (that's all I ever wore as a child). They say the key to real estate is 'location, location, location' and that mantra is one of the things that make this movie such a quality children's movie. The different segments of the movie happen in very neat and well conceptualized venues, and we are hardly in the same place twice (with the exception of the Brisby home). These locations create a playground for the imagination of the young child, and are done in a way that we can feel a longing to be a part of it. Another element that these locations are able to bring to the movie is the emotional tone of different scenes. They very well guide us and draw us in to the emotions that the characters on the screen are going through.
Another aspect of this movie that I always loved were the voices. They are just done so well, and recorded in such a way that made me feel like the animals were truly talking. I don't know if you have ever watched animated movies and felt that the voices and the characters are not one. It can distract us from being engaged, but that is not the case here. The characters also are performed with such passion, from a frantic nature at times, to speaking in dark, devious whispers.
Through everything, we get a wonderful tale that presents a believable (or as believable as an anthropomorphic mouse could be) strong leading lady. Movies are too male dominated. That is just the awful fact of Hollywood. The beloved franchise of Oz saw a bout of that curse back in the winter when the wizard arrives in a land with very powerful women who are just waiting around until the prophesy of a man to lead them is fulfilled. Why do we get garbage like that? Why cannot the lead be a fully capably, determined, and admirable female? Whatever the answer to that question is, we get just that in The Secret of NIMH. We get a character who could just live off of the good nature that her late husband's name brings, but instead it is her very nature to never be passive and continually press forward. Roles like this need to be remembered, because for every great female lead there are thirty awful ones that help send gender equality back another five years. Okay, that rant is over.
At only 82 minutes, this movie just motors along and almost feels like it is finished way too soon. It has anything and everything an adventurous young child could want in a movie, from chases to sword fighting. It is a movie that stands well the test of time, and is as good today as it was when I first saw it as a child. If you had seen it in your younger years, I don't think it will fail in catapulting you back to that time and place. Heck, even if you have not seen it, it may make you feel like a child again. It is a dark tale in the land of mysterious rats that brings with it much fun and adventure.
Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars
One thing that is hard when looking back at something that I once held dear is to view it for what it actually is, and not what I am reminded of it being. That being said, not only was I able to view the movie with fresh eyes close to thirty years later, but I was all the while reminded of those emotions that the movie took me through when I was a young boy.
The film centres around the field mouse Mrs Brisby, who is now a single mother of four with one of them suffering from pneumonia. It is the time of year that the farmer ploughs the field, which means all of the occupants must vacate (mice, rabbits, and the like) but Mrs Brisby is unable to move her family because of the ill young Timothy. She then goes on a quest to get help, and ends up encountering a community of super-smart rats that live on the property, and begins to realize that her late husband's name carries a lot of respect.
It took me absolutely no time at all to once again feel like young Scott, with dreadfully unruly,curly hair and wearing track pants (that's all I ever wore as a child). They say the key to real estate is 'location, location, location' and that mantra is one of the things that make this movie such a quality children's movie. The different segments of the movie happen in very neat and well conceptualized venues, and we are hardly in the same place twice (with the exception of the Brisby home). These locations create a playground for the imagination of the young child, and are done in a way that we can feel a longing to be a part of it. Another element that these locations are able to bring to the movie is the emotional tone of different scenes. They very well guide us and draw us in to the emotions that the characters on the screen are going through.
Another aspect of this movie that I always loved were the voices. They are just done so well, and recorded in such a way that made me feel like the animals were truly talking. I don't know if you have ever watched animated movies and felt that the voices and the characters are not one. It can distract us from being engaged, but that is not the case here. The characters also are performed with such passion, from a frantic nature at times, to speaking in dark, devious whispers.
Through everything, we get a wonderful tale that presents a believable (or as believable as an anthropomorphic mouse could be) strong leading lady. Movies are too male dominated. That is just the awful fact of Hollywood. The beloved franchise of Oz saw a bout of that curse back in the winter when the wizard arrives in a land with very powerful women who are just waiting around until the prophesy of a man to lead them is fulfilled. Why do we get garbage like that? Why cannot the lead be a fully capably, determined, and admirable female? Whatever the answer to that question is, we get just that in The Secret of NIMH. We get a character who could just live off of the good nature that her late husband's name brings, but instead it is her very nature to never be passive and continually press forward. Roles like this need to be remembered, because for every great female lead there are thirty awful ones that help send gender equality back another five years. Okay, that rant is over.
At only 82 minutes, this movie just motors along and almost feels like it is finished way too soon. It has anything and everything an adventurous young child could want in a movie, from chases to sword fighting. It is a movie that stands well the test of time, and is as good today as it was when I first saw it as a child. If you had seen it in your younger years, I don't think it will fail in catapulting you back to that time and place. Heck, even if you have not seen it, it may make you feel like a child again. It is a dark tale in the land of mysterious rats that brings with it much fun and adventure.
Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Side By Side
As I type this, Rachel (my wife) is away for the night so I am feeling mighty kingly (and this also means that I am once again without a proofreader). I am the sole ruler of the domain, and I have precious few hours to enjoy the power trip. I don't believe I have talked much about my anxiety in the last few blogs, but that does not mean that it has disappeared. In actuality, it has been kind of running my life the last little bit so now I am on sick leave from work to try and conquer this beast. Sometimes when I am feeling like I need to ground myself I watch crappy movies, hence the Sharknado review. Other times I enjoy being informed, and that is why today I am reviewing the documentary Side By Side (which can be found on Netflix), a look at the evolution of digital movie making and the comparison with standard film format.
Side By Side is hosted by Keanu Reeves and follows him as he interviews many different members of the film industry, most notably directors such as James Cameron, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, and Lars von Trier. Some documentaries focus on bringing about emotional reactions in the audience, and others are more about delivering factoids for the minds that crave information. This one fits in the category of sharing information, and for folk like me, it is a gold mine because we not only see the quantitative info, but it also shows the human side of accepting, rejecting, and pioneering, which I always find fascinating.
Side By Side is hosted by Keanu Reeves and follows him as he interviews many different members of the film industry, most notably directors such as James Cameron, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, and Lars von Trier. Some documentaries focus on bringing about emotional reactions in the audience, and others are more about delivering factoids for the minds that crave information. This one fits in the category of sharing information, and for folk like me, it is a gold mine because we not only see the quantitative info, but it also shows the human side of accepting, rejecting, and pioneering, which I always find fascinating.
If you like documentaries that feed very
interesting nuggets of information about the evolution of products, behaviours,
or art then this will probably be a very interesting watch for you. If you enjoy the technical conversation
around how movies are made, this will be a very interesting watch for you. It is well constructed and does not waste its
time with filler segments that I sense some documentaries do to pad their
running time. This one not only looks at
the technical transition from film to digital, but takes the time to look at
numerous aspects and production jobs that have been changing during that
transition.
The depth of interviewees adds great context and
variety to this discussion, and we get a sense of what drives the early
adopters and what holds back the non-adopters.
There is no particular stance that the documentary takes, other than to
feed us the facts and capture the opinions and emotions of those who are
pushing the process or caught within it.
While one camp may talk about film as being the true form of art, you
also see the passion of those who use digital and catch their excitement when
they share story telling methods they can now use for the art form that were
not a possibility before.
A good documentary may leave you pondering on an issue or two, and I definitely had a moment where I wanted to scream at the screen and weigh in on what was being said. The point was brought up that the creation of high quality cameras that are affordable means that anyone can make a
movie. For some, like Richard Linklater ( Dazed and Confused, Before Midnight), this is exciting because it means
that the artist has the freedom to make the film they want. For others, they see it as destructive, that
it cheapens it if everyone has the ability to make a movie. There is less good and refined products, and more poorly made movies. They believe that the future of movies is now in jeopardy
because if everyone is able to do it there is no longer a tastemaker
involved.
I see it completely
differently, and I think Keanu did as well.
There are already a whole lot of sterilized products coming from the massive
studios right now, where is the tastemaker there? The low budget offers people to create
stories that would no longer be told on the big screen, because large budgets are portioned out to the potential future franchises and not the films with something to say. It allows new voices. It allows new thoughts. We get more variety than ever before, and
that does not mean we will be inundated with garbage. Yes, perhaps there will be exponentially more crappy movies being made, but poorly made movies will never get very far,
and it is the quality ones that will get recognition at festivals and gain
distribution rights. Blogs give anyone
the opportunity to write (such as riff raff like myself), but that has not meant
that the publishing industry has collapsed into a pile of tasteless rubbish.
I digress. A lot, apparently. As you can see, it left me with something to say. It left me with my mind active and analytical. If you enjoy disecting information and trends the same way that I do, the I believe you just may find Side By Side to be a very good use of your time. I most definitely recommend it for both the analytical thinkers who enjoy case studies of early adopters and non adopters, and people with a fascination with the evolution of technology.
Rating - 3 out of 4 stars
Friday, November 1, 2013
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Some days we need a feel good film. On days where we can see no traces of the sun's existence, when the wind is no longer refreshing, but a gusting tormentor. Days when we wake up and the house is just not as warm as we would like it to be, and we find ourselves lightly shivering as we try to operate the devices that will bring us our coffee or tea. It may be on a day like this when our bare foot finds a fresh hairball on the floor. Or, it could be the kind of day when the bills are due and you cannot remember which account needed which password. Days like this need a feel good movie. They can bring us companionship, allow us to temporarily forget about aches and pains, and can just aid in putting a positive spin on a day of the grey dreary.
Such a movie that is perfect for accomplishing this is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a British dramatic comedy that came out in limited release in May of 2012 and can be found on Netflix. The film takes the concept of the outsourcing of services to a ludicrous level, as it is basically about a retirement hotel in India that will allow people to ship off the elderly for a reasonable price, and have them dealt with by someone else. While it is a concept that is absurd down to the core, it is pulled off so well in a touching movie that I will eagerly recommend it to every single person I meet.
The movie starts off by showing us the lives of a number of seniors who are in transition stages of their lives, facing the reality of their age, their health, and their finances. They all end up embarking to India to live at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, where they can enjoy their retirement in luxury. Upon arriving at the exotic accommodations, they find that perhaps it is not as lavish as they were lead to believe.
This oddball concept of the movie allows a great tale that combines both fish out of water aspects and an old dog learning new tricks. In this new environment, the characters, who still have brought a lot of their own personal baggage with them, must learn how to deal with this foreign environment where nothing resembles anything they have ever known. Some are terrified of what lurks beyond the walls of the hotel, and others are almost re-born as they experience exploration, adventure, and life once again.
You will not get anything out of the box with this film, and it will not push the boundaries of any genre. It follows a formula fairly closely, and is fairly predictable. However, it gets you so connected to the characters that even though you can foresee how things may turn out, you still find yourself clinging to the outcomes. One way that it does this is through the brilliant cast which consists of names like Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, and Bill Nighy. They all embody their characters so well that we see them as people and start gaining some solid empathy for their situation. The acting is also helped by the wonderful script of the film, which brings about some great conversations and many a great joke.
While it pokes fun at the outsourcing relationship nations have with India (and a comedic irony that Judi Dench ends up working in an Indian call centre), it does not focus on showing the country in any kind of depressed light. We are captive to beautiful scenary and locations that show a majesty that this land has to offer. The colours and the culture are painted in a great light, but it also does take a moment to recognize some of the darker aspects of the culture. It only scratches the surface of that, though, because remember, this is a feel good movie.
The only moment when the movie struggle for me was near the very end. Perhaps I just felt it was almost too clean and cookie cutter how one element of the story got tied up. But, at the same time, there were some very passionate and emotional story lines reaching their crux as well, which ended up diverting my attention from the one thing I did not like and reminding me that five other things were happening that were causing some serious movement within my soul.
If you have Netflix, you are wasting your subscription money if you have not watched this movie. If you don't have Netflix, it is very worth the money spent on a rental. It is designed for the days where the factors of life are not adding up to what we want. Its purpose it to give us a break from all of the mundane that piles up around us and bring us respite when our hearts are sitting low in our chest. So on those types of days, stop focusing on the stuff around you, and outsource your problems to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel because it will leave a smile in your heart. That's why it is perfect for those downer days, as it will lift you up and perhaps give you a boost of energy to continue. As the last line of the movie states, 'everything will be alright in the end. And if it's not alright, then trust me, it's not yet the end.'
Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars
Such a movie that is perfect for accomplishing this is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a British dramatic comedy that came out in limited release in May of 2012 and can be found on Netflix. The film takes the concept of the outsourcing of services to a ludicrous level, as it is basically about a retirement hotel in India that will allow people to ship off the elderly for a reasonable price, and have them dealt with by someone else. While it is a concept that is absurd down to the core, it is pulled off so well in a touching movie that I will eagerly recommend it to every single person I meet.
The movie starts off by showing us the lives of a number of seniors who are in transition stages of their lives, facing the reality of their age, their health, and their finances. They all end up embarking to India to live at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, where they can enjoy their retirement in luxury. Upon arriving at the exotic accommodations, they find that perhaps it is not as lavish as they were lead to believe.
This oddball concept of the movie allows a great tale that combines both fish out of water aspects and an old dog learning new tricks. In this new environment, the characters, who still have brought a lot of their own personal baggage with them, must learn how to deal with this foreign environment where nothing resembles anything they have ever known. Some are terrified of what lurks beyond the walls of the hotel, and others are almost re-born as they experience exploration, adventure, and life once again.
You will not get anything out of the box with this film, and it will not push the boundaries of any genre. It follows a formula fairly closely, and is fairly predictable. However, it gets you so connected to the characters that even though you can foresee how things may turn out, you still find yourself clinging to the outcomes. One way that it does this is through the brilliant cast which consists of names like Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, and Bill Nighy. They all embody their characters so well that we see them as people and start gaining some solid empathy for their situation. The acting is also helped by the wonderful script of the film, which brings about some great conversations and many a great joke.
While it pokes fun at the outsourcing relationship nations have with India (and a comedic irony that Judi Dench ends up working in an Indian call centre), it does not focus on showing the country in any kind of depressed light. We are captive to beautiful scenary and locations that show a majesty that this land has to offer. The colours and the culture are painted in a great light, but it also does take a moment to recognize some of the darker aspects of the culture. It only scratches the surface of that, though, because remember, this is a feel good movie.
The only moment when the movie struggle for me was near the very end. Perhaps I just felt it was almost too clean and cookie cutter how one element of the story got tied up. But, at the same time, there were some very passionate and emotional story lines reaching their crux as well, which ended up diverting my attention from the one thing I did not like and reminding me that five other things were happening that were causing some serious movement within my soul.
If you have Netflix, you are wasting your subscription money if you have not watched this movie. If you don't have Netflix, it is very worth the money spent on a rental. It is designed for the days where the factors of life are not adding up to what we want. Its purpose it to give us a break from all of the mundane that piles up around us and bring us respite when our hearts are sitting low in our chest. So on those types of days, stop focusing on the stuff around you, and outsource your problems to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel because it will leave a smile in your heart. That's why it is perfect for those downer days, as it will lift you up and perhaps give you a boost of energy to continue. As the last line of the movie states, 'everything will be alright in the end. And if it's not alright, then trust me, it's not yet the end.'
Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars
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About Me
- Scott Martin
- I'm smarter than a bat. I know this because I caught the little jerk bat that got in my apartment, before immediately and inadvertently bringing him back in. So maybe I'm not smarter than a bat.