Avatar April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 12/19/09
Avatar was a fun movie. Plot wise there were lots of familiar and predictable tropes so there weren’t many surprises. It got heavy handed with the themes of the evil imperialists against the magic natives at several times though. There were some sympathetic characters and the interplay between the scientists and the marines butting heads was entertaining.
The biggest fault of the movie was it didn’t fully set up the reason for strip-mining the planet. I believe one of the trailers mentioned something about saving Earth, but that wasn’t in the film, save for a throw-away line near the end about a dying world. Otherwise it was just that the fantastic mineral unobtanium (which was a perfect name for this film) was worth a lot of money and it was all for a greedy corporation. Aside from that, the film did have some characters you could care about and there was some good drama to it. Plus there was plenty of epic action, so while it’s not going to win any Oscars it was definitely engaging and fully entertaining.
The movie’s strengths of course were its visuals, which is to be expected. It was a huge spectacle of modern CGI wizardry, but it also had soul to it. The world they created was in equal turns breathtakingly beautiful, definitely alien and absolutely dangerous. The designs of the flora and fauna were amazing and showed a lot of care went into their design. Every scene immersed you in this wonderful alien landscape and it was a beautiful ride. The first night scenes with a forest aglow with bioluminsecence was very emotionally evocative.
Then of course there are the exotic Na’vi. They were beautiful to look at and there were several shots of fan service appreciating their alien beauty. Beyond that though, the character design was well thought out and intriguing. The size difference between the humans and 8-foot giants was an interesting twist and their slender and elongated forms played well into the design of the lower-gravity world.
Story wise Avatar is much better than Ferngully but not as good as Dances With Wolves, both films it shares plot themes with.
For ratings,
Story: 3/5 stars
Visuals: 5/5 stars
Overall 4/5 stars
Fantastic Mr. Fox and Where the Wild Things Are April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 12/07/09
Fantastic Mr. Fox is probably the most accessible Wes Anderson film, though it’s still quirky in places, especially with the odd dialog and affected character deliveries. However, the the visual flairs that his films are known for were a treat to watch. The stop-motion puppetry was a little jarring at first, and the tall and thin character designs looked a little odd, but it was easy to get pulled into the world they created.
The movie both embraced, and at points highlighted, the limitations of the medium, but in a nice way and the film was wonderfully charming. There were spots where the previously mentioned dialog dragged things down a bit, but on the whole it was a lot of fun. The film might not be for everyone, especially if you don’t appreciate at least some indie film styling. It might also be a little weird for young kids, but older children and hip teens and adults could dig it.
Where the Wild Things Are was a surprisingly good adaptation and expansion on a children’s picture book. It’s more of a film for adults who remember what it was like to be a kid, with all the joys and heartaches than it is a kid’s movie as it might be a bit emotionally intense for at least young kids. It’s a lot like other Spike Jonze’s films (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind) where the story is more about characters’ relationships than a lot of action happening, so based on that you’ll either love or hate the film.
It was very engaging and moving, emotional, sweet, disturbing and sad, and I appreciated how evocative it was. The character design and animation of the Wild Things was wonderful, giving them both physical realness, but with some cartoony physics, to make interesting and fantastic visuals.
Paranormal Activity April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 10/22/09
I saw Paranormal Activity tonight. I had mixed feelings about the film, but it was interesting to watch and discuss afterwards at dinner.
What the film gets right, it does quite well at. It was effective at being understated and not needing to explain too much for the most part. The nighttime shots started out slow and built the tension very effectively and there were several scenes that were quite creepy and unsettling.
But there were some threads that seemed too overstated, both in trying to show and trying to explain too much. A scene with a ouija board was too deliberate and kind of over the top at the end. And while the movie built the tension well, there were some parts in the middle act that dragged on too much and took away that energy.
The camera-POV style of shooting, like Blair Witch or Cloverfield was pretty good, but at the same time the characters didn’t totally work for me, especially the annoying boyfriend. Paul and I both wanted to slap him but we also came to independent questions as to whether or not there was some subtext on relationships, with the hapless woman and the controlling alpha male. I have to think some of that was deliberate, which made for an interesting layer to the horror story.
The movie was a mixed bag and it didn’t totally work for me, but it was worth checking out. It’d be a good rental if you like this kind of film.
Zombieland and Surrogates April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 10/02/09
I got to unwind with a movie tonight. Zombieland pretty much kicked all kinds of ass, and it exactly lived up to my expectations from the trailer. It slowed down a little in the middle, but it was a fun ride and very clever and hella funny.
The intro and opening credits were a blast, including a zombie montage set to Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” which set the stage for the film well. And the last act was a set piece with fighting off a zombie horde at an amusement park at night, score!
I was trying to figure out what park it was. It was set in the LA area and there were calling it Pacific Playland, so at first I thought it might be Six Flags Magic Mountain, but you didn’t see any mountains in the background. I didn’t see it listed in the credits, but they did say the film was shot on location in Georgia.
Also, I saw Surrogates last week which was really underwhelming. Once again Rotten Tomatoes (40%) was right. I was hoping for a fun action film which had some interesting thoughts behind it, but it was neither.
It asked some questions how robotic avatars would change the world, but the scenario wasn’t believable and they never managed to sell the idea as plausible, plus some of the technology was just plain goofy. And it was a pretty tepid action film, barely a thriller that turned out to be an uninspired and boring murder mystery. Even Bruce Willis couldn’t liven it up.
Inglorious Basterds April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 08/25/09
I went down to CT to visit Shawn and then Lonnie this past weekend. On Saturday night Shawn and I saw Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino’s new WW2 action flick. The trailer made it look like a romping good time with black comedy and stylish violence. It certainly delivered that, but there was a lot more to it as well; the movie had a surprising amount of drama to it as well.
It was effectively two films in one, with parallel story lines. One plot line followed the eponymous bastards, a group of Jewish-American soldiers who were recruited to fight guerrilla warfare against the Nazi’s in occupied France. Tarantio used his typical flare with style and comedic elements, to good and enjoyable effect. The characters were lovable comedic archetypes and it was a lot of fun.
The other half of the movie was a taut emotional drama which added a lot of depth to the film. Tarantino used pacing to wonderful effect here. There were several scenes where the dialog plays out over a long stretch, but unlike in the mental masturbation of Death Proof, it works superbly well here. Several times it draws you in and lulls you into a false sense of security, before pulling the rug out from under you, or conversely it sets up a tense scene and leaves the viewer on edge wondering what’s going to happen.
The film worked so well on both levels, as both the drama and the fun darkly-comic action film. It was very good to see Tarantino at the top of his game again.