If you've read me before, you know how I feel about Mark Rufallo. Well, if you read my discussion of a movie he'd been in. I don't normally talk about him. Really. Not even that one time., 'cause what I actually said was, "Hark! Buffalo!" Because while you were busy looking at me, I was looking at you and right behind you walked this 800 pound bison and I was just trying to tell you. I;m sure you remember that.
I'll make this short and to the point and will never mention it again. Mark Raffalo does not drag down every movie he is in or make the room you are in stink every time he appears on screen. Because every would include his whole body of work and he didn't bring down this movie or make the room stink just because he was on screen. That was the cat. The last bit that is.
What do you need to know about this movie? There are two things, but only the first one is essential to getting the most for your viewing dollar, which in my case was $0.00 because I got it from the library and it was worth every penny, and the fact of the matter is that you only need to pay attention to the first item as the second one is just an observation I made. First, listen to the voice over at the beginning. It will tell you everything you need to know to fully appreciate this movie. Everything one of the mains says to anyone else regarding magic or the nature of magic is directed at you, the audience member. The second item, is French women are hot, but you probably already knew that and so did they.
Now You See Me on IMDb
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Friday, September 06, 2013
Escape from Planet Earth (2013)
I think I might now be through watching animated movies. Well, I should qualify that - mass market films aimed at kids and made by Americans, oh, and computer animated that is supposed to look computer animated. The exception to this rule is if they ever actually make that sequel to the Incredibles - I'll watch that. But really, I am through with this genre. I think I've been feeling this way for a while, but have kept watching them in hopes of finding another Incredibles. I haven't. But, to be fair, these movies aren't aimed at me, I just watch them because I'm on familiar terms with my library and watch a lot of things I wouldn't otherwise.
This film has the requisite slimming and close up on the computer animated hair/fur. It also has the requisite list of big name stars doing the voices, though I have got to say that this was voiced particularly well - likely the best work that William Shatner has ever done. There are the standard characters: hero who doesn't believe in him/herself at the beginning, cowardly wise-cracking sidekick, super-strong/tough sidekick with a heart-of-gold, brawny characters who are dimwitted and brainy characters who are scrawny in comparison.
Look, I'll be as objective as I can - this is on par with Despicable Me or Aliens Vs Monsters. If that is a good thing to you, or you're watching this with younger children, then go for it; but if my comparison is a bad thing to you, then pass on this one.
Escape from Planet Earth on IMDb
This film has the requisite slimming and close up on the computer animated hair/fur. It also has the requisite list of big name stars doing the voices, though I have got to say that this was voiced particularly well - likely the best work that William Shatner has ever done. There are the standard characters: hero who doesn't believe in him/herself at the beginning, cowardly wise-cracking sidekick, super-strong/tough sidekick with a heart-of-gold, brawny characters who are dimwitted and brainy characters who are scrawny in comparison.
Look, I'll be as objective as I can - this is on par with Despicable Me or Aliens Vs Monsters. If that is a good thing to you, or you're watching this with younger children, then go for it; but if my comparison is a bad thing to you, then pass on this one.
Escape from Planet Earth on IMDb
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
I had completely forgotten that Famke Janssen was in this movie, so it's an unexpected addition to my, apparently, ongoing Famke Film Extravaganza (FFE). She neither plays Hansel nor Gretel in this film, and since there are such few other possibilities, you should have already guessed that she's the main witch. She pulls it off well enough.
This movie is exactly what I expected it to be. That is such a loaded statement I realize and I do mean it in the good and bad ways implied. This is not a high concept film, it's an action flick trying to find a niche in the supernatural thriller / action subgenre. Lots of shooting, hit and blowing shit up, but not a lot of character development or complex storylines. That sentence is both the good and the bad. I would have loved to have seen some more character development - this is a short film so they could have another 10 minutes in and nobody would have minded. Or they could have used it more humor. They had some bits that were kind of funny and they could have expanded on those and perhaps thrown in a few more. To be completely honest, I don't really mind that they didn't. This film is comparable to Van Helsing, though Jeremy Renner is a poor man's Hugh Jackman, but Gemma Arterton who is new to me, is easily as good as Kate Beckinsale, maybe even better. Which is kind of funny since the other movies this is comparable to are the Underworld series.
There is one thing that I really dislike about this movie, and that is the use of language by the characters, especially Hansel & Gretel, who do have more lines than anyone else. I don't mean profanities, 'shit' and 'fuck' have been in use for hundreds of years, I mean that modernity with which they speak. The story is set in Victorian times and while I certainly don't expect to be hearing 'doth' and 'thee', I don't want to hear the phrases "shitty little berg" and "fucking hillbillies" Berg and hillbillies would be completely foreign to the English then, and quite possibly still are. They just wouldn't know those phrases.
To counterbalance the language, there is one thing they did which I really like - Gretel. She totally kicked ass and took names, but even more importantly, at least as far as overcoming gender stereotypes, she took a beating, in almost every single instance far worse than Hansel takes. It's not because she's weaker, quite the opposite. Gretel is the dominant of the two and puts herself right int the thick of it. And she manages to do it while looking hot. Related to this is the fact that peolpe in this movie are allowed to get dirty / bloody, and stay that way until they get a chance to clean up. It seems more real, somehow. It certainly fits in with the graphic nature of this film.
This movie ends with a nice hook for potential sequels. It completely ties up all the lose ends, so you needn't worry about that, it just also shows you what might be at some future time. And I for one will gladly watch a sequel.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters on IMDb
This movie is exactly what I expected it to be. That is such a loaded statement I realize and I do mean it in the good and bad ways implied. This is not a high concept film, it's an action flick trying to find a niche in the supernatural thriller / action subgenre. Lots of shooting, hit and blowing shit up, but not a lot of character development or complex storylines. That sentence is both the good and the bad. I would have loved to have seen some more character development - this is a short film so they could have another 10 minutes in and nobody would have minded. Or they could have used it more humor. They had some bits that were kind of funny and they could have expanded on those and perhaps thrown in a few more. To be completely honest, I don't really mind that they didn't. This film is comparable to Van Helsing, though Jeremy Renner is a poor man's Hugh Jackman, but Gemma Arterton who is new to me, is easily as good as Kate Beckinsale, maybe even better. Which is kind of funny since the other movies this is comparable to are the Underworld series.
There is one thing that I really dislike about this movie, and that is the use of language by the characters, especially Hansel & Gretel, who do have more lines than anyone else. I don't mean profanities, 'shit' and 'fuck' have been in use for hundreds of years, I mean that modernity with which they speak. The story is set in Victorian times and while I certainly don't expect to be hearing 'doth' and 'thee', I don't want to hear the phrases "shitty little berg" and "fucking hillbillies" Berg and hillbillies would be completely foreign to the English then, and quite possibly still are. They just wouldn't know those phrases.
To counterbalance the language, there is one thing they did which I really like - Gretel. She totally kicked ass and took names, but even more importantly, at least as far as overcoming gender stereotypes, she took a beating, in almost every single instance far worse than Hansel takes. It's not because she's weaker, quite the opposite. Gretel is the dominant of the two and puts herself right int the thick of it. And she manages to do it while looking hot. Related to this is the fact that peolpe in this movie are allowed to get dirty / bloody, and stay that way until they get a chance to clean up. It seems more real, somehow. It certainly fits in with the graphic nature of this film.
This movie ends with a nice hook for potential sequels. It completely ties up all the lose ends, so you needn't worry about that, it just also shows you what might be at some future time. And I for one will gladly watch a sequel.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters on IMDb
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
The Road to the Avengers: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Of the comic that make up the basis for which the Avengers and it's prequels are based on, Captain America is the one that I loved as a kid After a few years of reading it, I was introduced to the Avengers and then the West Coast Avengers, which i doubt we will see a movie about. While following Steve Rogers as the Captain as he lived the nomadic life around the U.S. I was also collecting old comics from the early 70s when Captain America teamed up with Falcon. Somewhere in here, others portrayed Captain America as Steve Rogers lost his way. And so did I. I was a fan of Marvel's Paladin, our lawful good hero who did what was needed because it was for his country and every question he had he kept to himself because a good soldier doesn't question his orders. This was interesting to me, fighting for the system even though you are becoming disillusioned by the system. And then when you can take it no more, the hero removes himself from the system. I would have continued to read the series had it continued to follow Rogers as teh main character and shown me how a true patriot deals with a government that is less than it is supposed to be. Sure, they could have had someone else playing at Captain America, but that should have been in the background, as Rogers was the key. But, they didn't do that. You could go issues at a time without even a whisper of Rogers and then it would be a couple of panels about how he was out finding himself. Instead we got comics about fighting without any of the turmoil. I was genuinely sad the day I cancelled my subscription, especially so because I also ended my Batman subscription at the same time (Batman had just wrapped up the Year One storyline which I thought was brilliant, and went back to that 80s whack-a-doodle of the month format - they guy who ran the comic shop tried to get me to hold on a little longer because Year Two was about to start, but I couldn't do it) I had moved to the X-Men as my main Marvel title by this point, though I still kept getting the Amazing Spiderman. I actually stopped collecting those within another year as I had discovered Vertigo and Image comics and was reading a lot of one-offs and mini series by small presses. Pretty soon, I even stopped buying those and was putting all of my money into AD&D even when our group broke up to go to college because I was reading the pulp fantasy novels set in the Forgotten Realms and buying the books and maps to set my own games there which never properly materialized.
This movie had little to do with any of my memories of Captain America. This Captain is based on the updated story, with the updated costume. This Captain America is a soldier first and a super hero only incidentally because someone needed to step up and he could and did. I have read some of the modern Captain America related series - trying to get through that whole Dark Avengers thing and ultimately taking a break which has lasted about a year and a half now, because it was too many series pulling in too many directions. Captain America in these comics was okay. I completely missed the whole Ultimates thing in the Marvel Universe and have always intended to read it, but haven't yet, so don't what influence that had on this film, but I suspect little.
Watching Captain America rushing into a battle while firing away with his pistol is hard to get used to but ultimately I can accept this interpretation because He's a soldier first. The harder thing to accept is Chris Evans face/head attached to the skinny actor that played the pre-serum Steve Rogers body. That is just freaky looking and more than a little unsettling.
Ultimately, I liked this movie. The character of Captain America stays true to himself and like this whole solider-out-of-time angle that they bring us at the end. The comic book aside for a moment, this is also the most accessible film of the four in the series I've watched so far. They really should have had more of Rogers in the modern times at the end. He's certainly got to be upset that everyone he knew is dead or in their late 80s or beyond. It's also a little sad that the second most interesting female lead of the four films (after Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts) won't be making a return unless it's in flashbacks - I though Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter was one of the better characters I've seen so far in any of these films.
Captain America: The First Avenger on IMDb
This movie had little to do with any of my memories of Captain America. This Captain is based on the updated story, with the updated costume. This Captain America is a soldier first and a super hero only incidentally because someone needed to step up and he could and did. I have read some of the modern Captain America related series - trying to get through that whole Dark Avengers thing and ultimately taking a break which has lasted about a year and a half now, because it was too many series pulling in too many directions. Captain America in these comics was okay. I completely missed the whole Ultimates thing in the Marvel Universe and have always intended to read it, but haven't yet, so don't what influence that had on this film, but I suspect little.
Watching Captain America rushing into a battle while firing away with his pistol is hard to get used to but ultimately I can accept this interpretation because He's a soldier first. The harder thing to accept is Chris Evans face/head attached to the skinny actor that played the pre-serum Steve Rogers body. That is just freaky looking and more than a little unsettling.
Ultimately, I liked this movie. The character of Captain America stays true to himself and like this whole solider-out-of-time angle that they bring us at the end. The comic book aside for a moment, this is also the most accessible film of the four in the series I've watched so far. They really should have had more of Rogers in the modern times at the end. He's certainly got to be upset that everyone he knew is dead or in their late 80s or beyond. It's also a little sad that the second most interesting female lead of the four films (after Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts) won't be making a return unless it's in flashbacks - I though Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter was one of the better characters I've seen so far in any of these films.
Captain America: The First Avenger on IMDb
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
The Road to the Avengers: Thor (2011)
I figure that after two nights of one mythological strong-man, it was time for another.
I noticed something this time through the movie that I missed the first time, probably because I was bedazzled by all the pretty things, but in the opening when Odin is relating the war a thousand years ago with the Frost Giants, at the end when Odin has claimed victory over the Frost Giant king, someone who is dressed in the same armor Loki wears picks up the glowy crystal power source to take back for safe keeping to Asgard, but then we cut to a later point where Odin is relating the same story to a young Thor and a young Loki. Is this a snafu or was the kind of armor just really popular among the forces of Asgard? In the battle scenes, you don't see anyone else dressed in it, implying it is a particular individual...who is not Loki. Do I even need to mention that there is also a very strong guy wielding a hammer against the Frost Giants? Okay, so the Loki armor is the armor he wore int eh comic book, not the stuff he wears in the movie, and the strong guy with the hammer has a winged helmet like the comic book. I guess I kind of answered my own question here - that it's rather an homage to the comic than a snafu.
But then, who knows, right? I mean we see Odin put his rune on Mholner right after he exiles Thor, but then we see the older scientist flipping through a book of Norse mythology and there is a picture of Mjolnir with the symbol on it. Maybe Odin was just activating what was already there?
Just like iwth the Hulk, I was never that big of a fan of the Thor comic though I really like the look of the Asgardians and read it from time to time. I think as an adult, it might appeal to me more, assuming that it is written for an adult of course. Also like with the Hulk it is not surprising that I like the movie better than the comic book. But, surprisingly I actually like this movie. Sure, it's got Natalie Portman and I'll watch anything she does and at least like her role in it, Black Swan withstanding as I didn't like any part of that movie. Anthony Hopkins is great as Odin, all beardy and buff. And Chris Hensworth is good as Thor. I can't imagine anyone pulling it off better, because it's not his acting that is chesy, it's the character.
I think a lot of people dismiss this movie as the one Avengers prequel you can skip. I even understand their reasons, on an intellectual level, but the fanboy in me thinks this is cool and the most like the comic book of any of the Marvel movies. Well, there is that Dr. Strange movie that is right on, but it's animated so not really in the same league. Thos is the most accurate portrayal of the comic book it is based on of any of the Marvel live-action movies. You have to accept a little cheesiness and let go of the mythological Thor.
A funny thing happened while watching the credits of Thor. I couldn't remember what the little scene was after they rolled. I thought on it as they rolled and realized that I don't think I had made it that far the first time. Which is kind of unlike me, so I let the credits roll and lo and behold, there is the little scene with the Doctor and Nick Fury looking at the cube, but of course the Doctor can see Loki who is telling him what to say. I knew the Doctor was in the Avengers, and Loki and the cube of course, but had missed this link in the chain. I also realized that it makes more sense for Thor to be viewed after Captain America, a that is the movie in which we first see the cube.
Thor on IMDb
I noticed something this time through the movie that I missed the first time, probably because I was bedazzled by all the pretty things, but in the opening when Odin is relating the war a thousand years ago with the Frost Giants, at the end when Odin has claimed victory over the Frost Giant king, someone who is dressed in the same armor Loki wears picks up the glowy crystal power source to take back for safe keeping to Asgard, but then we cut to a later point where Odin is relating the same story to a young Thor and a young Loki. Is this a snafu or was the kind of armor just really popular among the forces of Asgard? In the battle scenes, you don't see anyone else dressed in it, implying it is a particular individual...who is not Loki. Do I even need to mention that there is also a very strong guy wielding a hammer against the Frost Giants? Okay, so the Loki armor is the armor he wore int eh comic book, not the stuff he wears in the movie, and the strong guy with the hammer has a winged helmet like the comic book. I guess I kind of answered my own question here - that it's rather an homage to the comic than a snafu.
But then, who knows, right? I mean we see Odin put his rune on Mholner right after he exiles Thor, but then we see the older scientist flipping through a book of Norse mythology and there is a picture of Mjolnir with the symbol on it. Maybe Odin was just activating what was already there?
Just like iwth the Hulk, I was never that big of a fan of the Thor comic though I really like the look of the Asgardians and read it from time to time. I think as an adult, it might appeal to me more, assuming that it is written for an adult of course. Also like with the Hulk it is not surprising that I like the movie better than the comic book. But, surprisingly I actually like this movie. Sure, it's got Natalie Portman and I'll watch anything she does and at least like her role in it, Black Swan withstanding as I didn't like any part of that movie. Anthony Hopkins is great as Odin, all beardy and buff. And Chris Hensworth is good as Thor. I can't imagine anyone pulling it off better, because it's not his acting that is chesy, it's the character.
I think a lot of people dismiss this movie as the one Avengers prequel you can skip. I even understand their reasons, on an intellectual level, but the fanboy in me thinks this is cool and the most like the comic book of any of the Marvel movies. Well, there is that Dr. Strange movie that is right on, but it's animated so not really in the same league. Thos is the most accurate portrayal of the comic book it is based on of any of the Marvel live-action movies. You have to accept a little cheesiness and let go of the mythological Thor.
A funny thing happened while watching the credits of Thor. I couldn't remember what the little scene was after they rolled. I thought on it as they rolled and realized that I don't think I had made it that far the first time. Which is kind of unlike me, so I let the credits roll and lo and behold, there is the little scene with the Doctor and Nick Fury looking at the cube, but of course the Doctor can see Loki who is telling him what to say. I knew the Doctor was in the Avengers, and Loki and the cube of course, but had missed this link in the chain. I also realized that it makes more sense for Thor to be viewed after Captain America, a that is the movie in which we first see the cube.
Thor on IMDb
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