Plotwise this is a terrible movie. The main protagonist's trajectory is only up, up, up. The only crisis in her trajectory is an incompetent professional rival who merely provides a platform for our protagonist to show how wonderful she is; and will she find a boyfriend. The main crisis in the film, the club's survival, is driven by a supporting character.
If you ignore that, it was loud (which might have something to do with the TV it was displayed on) and choppy (which might have something to do with the network it was streamed over).
Showing posts with label Movies 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies 2013. Show all posts
2013-12-28
2013-12-27
Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (IMAX-3D)
IMAX is really big. Too big, if you sit too close. So if you have to sit further back to make the big screen smaller, what's the point?
I preferred the HFR-3D that we watched the first part in, even if it seemed a little "darker" (visually, not story-wise). When you have a gigantic screen at the standard frame rates, fast movement is visually blocky, as in the monster is here - here - here, not flowing from point A to point B. HFR gives you more frames so there are more places for the monster to be in the same period of time, so the movement has to be much faster before it breaks down like that.
I am still not convinced that 3D is anything more than a gimmick. This one made me dizzy with a couple of camera moves though.
And oh yes there was a story.
My biggest complaint: so far there are no stakes for the heroes. Nobody has died yet. I mean in LoTR 1 you had Boromir step up and take one for the team and you got the message, hey this isn't some fairy tale where we're all going to live happily ever after, some of us will not make it out. In The Hobbit there are thirteen dwarves at the start of the journey and there are thirteen dwarves at the end of movie #2 and the most peril they've been in is one of them got sick. I know this is supposed to be a children's story, so all of our plucky heroes need to make it, but since we're showing gigantic spiders I don't think this is a children's movie even if it is a children's story. Orcs are being mowed down like storm troopers; let's loose a dwarf or two. In the noble sacrifice for the rest of the group, yes, sure, but come on.
I got a little tired of the action sequences, some of them were more than a little contrived; nearly all of them went on too long. Say, for example, the bit where one of the barrels bounces out of the water and across four or five orcs.
Speaking of contrived, I think that word sums up Legolas' inclusion in the story. Word is that Vigo Mortenson declined to reprise his role of Aragorn for The Hobbit on the grounds that it wasn't canon. Well, maybe Orlando Bloom needs the money, and frankly who is he to say no if someone wants to pay him?
Jenn wanted to know that since Gandalf knew for certain that Sauron was "back" so to speak, what was he messing around with for sixty years before LoTR's start, and why was he so horrified that Sauron was back in LoTR?
And-oh-by-the-way, the One Ring is a universal translator for evil?
Overall, this movie is weaker than the first one, even considering that part of the strength of the first one was that feeling that ok we've sat through all this the next two will make it all worth while, and frankly so far it isn't. This movie was too long, and together the first two movies are way too long. I'm getting the feeling that once the third movie comes out, someone could make a 120 minute supercut of all three together to tell a tight and coherent story without making us sit around for eight hours.
I preferred the HFR-3D that we watched the first part in, even if it seemed a little "darker" (visually, not story-wise). When you have a gigantic screen at the standard frame rates, fast movement is visually blocky, as in the monster is here - here - here, not flowing from point A to point B. HFR gives you more frames so there are more places for the monster to be in the same period of time, so the movement has to be much faster before it breaks down like that.
I am still not convinced that 3D is anything more than a gimmick. This one made me dizzy with a couple of camera moves though.
And oh yes there was a story.
My biggest complaint: so far there are no stakes for the heroes. Nobody has died yet. I mean in LoTR 1 you had Boromir step up and take one for the team and you got the message, hey this isn't some fairy tale where we're all going to live happily ever after, some of us will not make it out. In The Hobbit there are thirteen dwarves at the start of the journey and there are thirteen dwarves at the end of movie #2 and the most peril they've been in is one of them got sick. I know this is supposed to be a children's story, so all of our plucky heroes need to make it, but since we're showing gigantic spiders I don't think this is a children's movie even if it is a children's story. Orcs are being mowed down like storm troopers; let's loose a dwarf or two. In the noble sacrifice for the rest of the group, yes, sure, but come on.
I got a little tired of the action sequences, some of them were more than a little contrived; nearly all of them went on too long. Say, for example, the bit where one of the barrels bounces out of the water and across four or five orcs.
Speaking of contrived, I think that word sums up Legolas' inclusion in the story. Word is that Vigo Mortenson declined to reprise his role of Aragorn for The Hobbit on the grounds that it wasn't canon. Well, maybe Orlando Bloom needs the money, and frankly who is he to say no if someone wants to pay him?
Jenn wanted to know that since Gandalf knew for certain that Sauron was "back" so to speak, what was he messing around with for sixty years before LoTR's start, and why was he so horrified that Sauron was back in LoTR?
And-oh-by-the-way, the One Ring is a universal translator for evil?
Overall, this movie is weaker than the first one, even considering that part of the strength of the first one was that feeling that ok we've sat through all this the next two will make it all worth while, and frankly so far it isn't. This movie was too long, and together the first two movies are way too long. I'm getting the feeling that once the third movie comes out, someone could make a 120 minute supercut of all three together to tell a tight and coherent story without making us sit around for eight hours.
2013-11-19
Review: Thor - The Dark World
Pretty much what you'd expect for a comic book movie. Villains which are less than credible, lots of "magic", and plot holes big enough to park other movies in. But smashy smashy fun. I'm not the Loki fan that my wife is, but he's ok. And frankly at this point three movies in you have to respect the writer/director/producer's restraint from doing a M.C.Hammer "hammer time" joke.
2013-10-19
Review: Escape Plan
Not nearly as terrible as it should have been. The predictable plot problems, but really who goes to see these movies for plot? Also the wrap-up at the end was a little weak. But it hits its target, as long as that target is set low enough.
2013-10-14
Review: Rush
Excellent. Not sure that it will surpass Grand Prix as the seminal Formula One movie, but a very well done effort.
2013-09-17
Review: Riddick
Cheap night, best of a bunch of bad offerings, but I think I still overpaid. The machinations to get him out of the end of the previous one were a bit contrived, the entire pre-station piece is more of an introduction or prelude. After that it settles down to Riddick-being-Riddick set in a world of implausibly horrific monsters. The previous one was better, although one starts to suspect that it had a lot of other moving parts around the core Riddick-being-Riddick and the end result was an accident.
2013-09-07
Review: Star Trek - Into Darkness
This movie was easily the worst move I have seen this week. And that's considering that I watched The A-Team this week.
2013-09-05
Review: The A-Team
A terrible movie, redeemed somewhat by the fact that nobody expected it to be anything but a terrible movie.
Review: Pirates Of The Caribbean -- On Stranger Tides
After typing in that long a title, I think it needs a longer review than the "That. Was. Terrible." reaction that I had when it was finished, and this it that longer review.
2013-09-01
Review: Oblivion
I liked it but I'm honestly not sure why.
There were problems with the way the drones worked and the mechanics of the broken moon. But I liked it, even if the end was perhaps a little lower key than we might otherwise expect.
(Update: I paid to own it in HD, so I must like it.)
There were problems with the way the drones worked and the mechanics of the broken moon. But I liked it, even if the end was perhaps a little lower key than we might otherwise expect.
(Update: I paid to own it in HD, so I must like it.)
2013-08-20
Review: The Wolverine
Pretty good for a comic book movie. Not knowing the cannon made it easier to follow without guessing what will come next. Plot holes can be handwaved away with the "its a comic book" excuse. The credits teaser had problems.
2013-08-02
Review: Elysium
A little excessively violent and gory at times. A bit too much "District Nine" for me, but that is probably because we'd just watched that the night before. Worth watching, but not a DVD buy.
2013-08-01
Review: District Nine
Slide between faux documentary and drama was jarring. High on the violence/gore spectrum for me. Interesting ideas, especially since they were not really explored.
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