Because film studies has ruined it for me. Blog posts to do with movies: Reviews, my general excitement etc.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Angels and Demons + Tormented
Saw some more films lately. Not particularily great but here we go anyway….
Angels and Demons
Okay So I saw this a while ago but will try to remember it as much as possible.
Now I haven’t read the book/s so those who’ve read it may have a completely different opinion. It wasn’t that bad. When I went to see it I saw it because I could more so than I wanted to. The whole plot was quite complicated, filled with a lot of twists but it was alright as it wasn’t so complicated you couldn’t follow it and brought up a surprise everynow and again. I like this film for the main reason that I love puzzles, and I like films where you have to work out how it ends so you can feel clever when you work it out before anyone else (I love bieng that person who ruins it) but some of the puzzles in this films were a tad obscure, like at points when the characters seem to magically work out these clues very quickly. that nobody could possibly just click together right of the bat. Things like when the first statue has been uncovered by Langdon (Tom hanks) he’s never seen it before yet seems to magically understand that it must be the first clue on the trail.
However despite some plot holes such as this it was alright, it didn’t focus too much on the special effects (like explosions) however the camera work was a bit much, there was a lot of movement, it got quite confusing some times and even hurt my eyes.
Ewan Mcgreggor did a very good job acting as Priest McKenna, very well done. I love him so much. The main female lead, although rather good, was nonetheless not a very rememberable character, she didn’t do that much… Tom Hanks did very well though.
So overall it wasn’t a fantastic film but I’d still rate it slightly above average so I say
6 out of 10
So I would suggest seeing it but isn’t exactly a movie you should care about missing.
Tormented
So I went to see this originally because I had a date, however he told me the wrong time so I couldn’t find him. Luckily some of my friends were going to see the same film so I met them inside. Kinda hard to watch when Pet2 won’t stop talking xD
It was described as a horror film for the skins generation. And I have to say it was abosolutely hilarious! If only it had been on purpose. For the most part it was quite obvious that they were taking quite a light hearted aproach to the whole horror thing and a lot of it that was funny was done on purpose, however the actual horror elements were a bit…. ehh.
The main problem I had with this film was that the main horror, The dead boy who’d been picked on, was revealed way to early, they revealed his undead face earlier than half way through the film and so anything after that kind of… lost the potential tension. There should have been a lot more build up. So it was the case where whenever something creepy was happening the audience wasn’t thinking ‘Shit man… what’s gonna happen.’ they were thinking. ‘Oh hey it’s the fat kid’
The other problem was that the music was a bit too overpowering, they used too much music at some points, and there was a repeated scene of the characters all walking along to some heavy music, this particular set of scenes did work well at kind of showing how the main female leads social status was changing but the music was still a bit much.
I will give one thing for the film though, it actually had rather good sex scenes, usually films kinda mess it up, but it worked well, they had some dignity and didn’t show too much. There was a great contrast of a very romantic sex scene with two people who loved eachother and a couple who were more having a quickie with not much emotion involved.
The horror scenes half the time had a great amount of comedy in them, in that the way they handled it was just plain funny. sometimes it was on purpose but… seriously… drowning because a fat kid sat on you… dude…
Anyway. Overall this wasn’t a fantastic film. but it was actually really worth seeing and you should go see it. I did like the subject matter of a kid who got bullied getting revenge… made me happy.
7.5 out of 10
If you do see it for nothing else. see it for the end part just after some of the credits. that was the most fantastic part of the film.
So two films came out recently, I went out to see both of them. Let me give you a taste, AWESOME!
Let’s start with Star Trek
Now before I went to see this I watched some of the original T.V series to get me in the mood, absolutely hilarious, but I loved it. And I went to see Star trek hoping for something good but knowing I might be dissapointed…. I was wrong. it was so amazing! The acting was suberb! especially Zachary Quinto as Spock, he got the emotionless attitude of spock just right as well as the way he interacted with Kirk, the banter between them was just marvelous. Speaking of which Chris Pine also got the cocky attitude of Kirk down to a T. There was no actor who brought it down, I wasn’t a huge fan of Lt. Uhura at first but she warmed up to me. Oh and when Leanord Nemoy appeared I practically orgasmed. so cool. Simon Pegg as scotty was also quite brilliant.
The film had the makings of an action filled Sci fi, with explosions and balanced it out with some particularily hilarious moments everynow and again. I couldn’t help noticing we were the only ones in the theatre who got any of the jokes.
The effects were amazing and the camera work, I have to say I actually found it to be really fantastic, with films seeming to care about the camera making it look cool this film had a unique style that worked really well.
This film was a welcome break from some of the shite that’s been coming out lately and I have to give this
5/5 it was that awesome.
Coraline
I heard about this film coming out a long long while ago, I heard about it and was quite excited considering I read the book years ago. The book is very good, must re-read it (very freaky.) So with my free period we went out to see it… in 3D!!! .... yeah… people think 3D is gonna be the saviour of cinema… it’s really freakin not. Don’t get me wrong, didn’t ruin the film, I’d just rather my eyes didn’t hurt while watching it.
The film itself was fantastic. It came from the director of the nightmare before christmas and james and the giant peach (Henry Selick) and the style was instantly recognisable, it looked amazing with beautiful colours and great character design. I adored the other mother, she was done incredibly well, when she shed her skin her strange thin style was very reminiscent of the book and Henry Selick’s other films.
The voice acting was also very good, I love Dakota Fanning and she did the voice just right.
Overall I’d give this
4/5 it was soo good, however the whole 3D thing ruined it for me. Also, the colours were very good but it was a bit too bright through most of the film, I imagined that film bieng as dark as TNBC.
Some good films. I suggest you people go out and see them :3
So I went to the cinema to see this today. A good use of my new free lesson ^w^
However I was unfortunatly quite dissapointed. Now don’t get me wrong it’s not a BAD film, it’s actually alright, mainly because it has some of the good characters like Wolverine, Gambit and Sabretooth.
Hugh Jackman once again did the amazing job of playing Wolverine. Gambit is just awesome. When I was a kid I reeally didn’t like gambit, mainly because of the fact that I thought all he could do was throw cards, however I then realized his power was actually… to blow shit up, and who doesn’t love that? The problem was that Gambit was known for his very strong southern accent (Plus the blowing shit up) and Taylor Kitsch didn’t put it on enough, there was a subtle hint towards it but it wasn’t strong enough.
Sabretooth was also a success, he doesn’t look as animalistic as you might expect but Liev Schreiber plays the part incredibly well. The character was violent and his jumps really showed off his animalistic nature, even before it’s fully revealed how much of a beast he is you can see hints of his real nature
Certain points of the film did offer some very light comic relief but most of the film kept that sombre angsty style that Wolverine just seems to carry around with him like a freakin cloud.
The film was 109 minutes long but when your watching it, it just feels like the time is passing very quickly, the problem is that they focus so much on the begining, which feels very much like a proglogue, that it takes up half the film.
The main problem with this film, which I find is the problem with most films these days (Everytime I say that I feel old) is that they focus way too much on the action and the CGI, that isn’t what makes a good film people! Now their filling every film with as many explosions as possible to show it off, yeah just cause you CAN make really good effects and explosions doesn’t mean you HAVE too.
The final problem with this film, is all the inconsistancies.
I have always been a huge fan of the X-Men. The comics, the t.v series, the new t.v series, but I’ve never been a fan of the films. I guess it’s hard to enjoy a film based from a book I’ve read, and although I do like how they’ve done the story it just has quite a few inconsistancies with the comics, T.V series and it even has problems matching up to the other 3 films.
Overall the film was alright, could’ve been better but then again it could have been a LOT worse. I say, if you’re gonna watch it, illegally download it cause it isn’t worth the money, but it’s not bad enough to avoid altogether.
I give it a 2.5 out of 5.
As I hear it there is another X-Men Origins film coming out, scheduled for release in 2011, Magneto’s story has time to shine. I love magneto and I very much want that to be good because, as mik pointed out, his past goes into the holocaust, which should allow for a very plot driven film rather than action.
Hey guys ^^ I’m sorry but my Art exam is next week so I’ve got some problems with updating. I may show you some of my pieces though :3
On a side note I’m very excited about some the the films coming up this month.
We have X-Men Origins: wolverine, which looks awesome for many reasons, 1 HUGH JACKMAN! 2. GAMBIT! gambit is just generally one of the coolest characters ever. One of the problems I’m seeing with this is that it looks like they’ve gone over board on the effects however if they getting it straight from the comic it shouldn’t be too bad :3 I’ve heard some bad things of it but we’ll have to see. Am seeing it next week so will give a review then. (29th of April)
Next we have Coraline. I read the book when I was in secondary school, but because I was reading it in school I couldn’t apreciate it as much as I wanted to. I was sceptical but after reading it I was kind of like ‘ya know… that wasn’t actually that bad’ and I must say the film looks fantastic. the films been in production for quite a long while, I am very pleased that they used the same director as the nightmare before christmas and the style comes across as bieng recognisable as well. the animation is amazing and the surreality of the book really comes across in the film (or what I’ve seen in it) It looks like they’ve gotten some fantastic voice actors too. The voice of the cat is particularily well done and I may have to reread the book before I go see it.
Our final film coming out is the one I’m most excited about. Now I must say I was a bit sceptical at first, but at practically orgasming at the trailer I just cannot wait to see the Star Trek film. With a fantastic cast that could mimic the original and the improved Sci Fi effects of our time this film looks as though it is going to be epic. Starring such great actors as Wynona Rider, Chris Pine and Simon Pegg as scotty (A fantastic choice.) Now I’m not much of a trekky myself, but in my opinion Picard is the superior officer, HOWEVER this kirk has the oppurtunity to change my mind as he looks absolutely fantastic and the whole story behind him seems very enticing. I can’t help feeling however that this film isn’t going to do as well in the box office as the creators might hope, most of the fans of star trek are the ones who’re gonna go see it, and unfortunatly that will probably acount for almost all of those who go see it. Although there are a lot of trekkies out there so that may make up for it.
Hello ladies and germs. lot’s of school work will probably inhibit my work.
Now first of Watchmen. I recently read the graphic novel and it was absolutely fantastic, one of the greatest comics I ever read. The story was fantastic and the art style was amazing as well, unique yet somehow conventional, it reminded me of the style of old super hero comics (which was the point.) The characters were very well designed, the comedian was my favorite character and the way all of them were written made them all very realistic. I have to say I loved Rorscharch as well, his character was completely insane and yet he was calm and calculating (not to mention incredibly violent)
Now as for the film… I could not be more happy, I have never, in my life, seen a film that was more true to the book it was based on. The characters all looked EXACTLY the same as the book, the costumes (save for silk spectre II) were fantastic, they had that recognisable style of the originals and yet they had changed them just enough to make them look even more fantastic. The effects were just off the wall, I swear my heart stopped at the big explosions and I could feel the sound of everything punch. The actors not only looked the part but played the parts fantastically, the best bieng rorscharch and the comedian, they retained every fantastic, creepy and twisted quality of the original characters.
The one thing I did not like about this film was the music. Now the music for most of the film was alright, but at some points the songs they used just didn’t match up. I can appreciate the hilarious irony of ‘Halleluliah’ during a sex scene after the night owl had been impotent but the version they used just did not fit, had they used a softer version it may have worked. The funeral song, although the lyrics fit, the style of the song in general just did not fit.
All in all a fantastic film and I suggest you all go see it BUT I must warn that you are more likeyl to enjoy it if you read the book first. You can appreciate it’s trueness to the film so much more if you’ve read it.
On an unrelated note: To any of my viewers whom have seen my cakes, like them, live in east anglia, and would like a personalized cake for a special occasion I *may* be willing to sell one for somebody. Anyone interested (if that’s anyone) leave a comment on this post.
