Best picture posters:
http://tinyurl.com/ys67p4 ( http://www.movieposteraddict.com/2008/02/21/79-years-of-best-picture-winners-in-posters/ )
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wall-E
Wall-E is a good, solid addition to the Pixar legend. Certainly better than the disappointing Cars, but not reaching the heights of the Toy Story franchise, Wall-E is an environmental epic that tries to drive home the lesson that man needs to take care of the Earth.
I wouldn't be surprised if this movie had the least dialog of any blockbuster within the past decade. The first half of it features only the eponymous wall-e bot silently at work rearranging the Earth's trash, silent souvenirs of a departed humanity. I know it's somewhat overly harsh, but this is one of the problems with the movie ... what purpose was it serving? Apparently the only thing that needed to be dealt with in regards to trash is moving it out of the way. What a concept.
One of the more interesting takes on the movie is one analyzing the gender roles of the movie. The names are probably gender-tinged (Eva being female, Wally being male), but for the most part I think the movie avoids assigning a gender to their behaviour.
I wouldn't be surprised if this movie had the least dialog of any blockbuster within the past decade. The first half of it features only the eponymous wall-e bot silently at work rearranging the Earth's trash, silent souvenirs of a departed humanity. I know it's somewhat overly harsh, but this is one of the problems with the movie ... what purpose was it serving? Apparently the only thing that needed to be dealt with in regards to trash is moving it out of the way. What a concept.
One of the more interesting takes on the movie is one analyzing the gender roles of the movie. The names are probably gender-tinged (Eva being female, Wally being male), but for the most part I think the movie avoids assigning a gender to their behaviour.
Pineapple Express
A stoner action movie: Seth Rogen went around the promotional circuit bragging it was the first of its kind. I'm not quite so confident of that claim, although it sounds quite plausible; but it is at least a very welcome change from the outworn "stoner comedy" setup.
Seth Rogen plays Dale Denton, a slacker process server with a girlfriend in high school and an irrepressible taste for marijuana. After procuring some incredibly rare weed (the titular Pineapple Express) from his dealer, he witnesses a murder -- but in fleeing the scene, manages to leave a clue betraying his identity. Thus the scene is set for a movie in which Denton will be forced to confront violent drug dealers and the wayward nature of his life.
The movie may be more an action movie than a comedy, but it's careful to keep to a tone of farcical amusement. The actors certainly don't want the audience to ever make the mistake of getting too invested in what's happening ... they routinely telegraph what's going to happen in advance, then distract themselves and the audience with a drug-heavy pause ... and then deliver what the audience knew was going to come. It's certainly not perfect; the humor scenes routinely go a bit too long, as is the way of these things; but it's a fun ride. 3 stars , and perfect for a combination comedy/action distraction.
Seth Rogen plays Dale Denton, a slacker process server with a girlfriend in high school and an irrepressible taste for marijuana. After procuring some incredibly rare weed (the titular Pineapple Express) from his dealer, he witnesses a murder -- but in fleeing the scene, manages to leave a clue betraying his identity. Thus the scene is set for a movie in which Denton will be forced to confront violent drug dealers and the wayward nature of his life.
The movie may be more an action movie than a comedy, but it's careful to keep to a tone of farcical amusement. The actors certainly don't want the audience to ever make the mistake of getting too invested in what's happening ... they routinely telegraph what's going to happen in advance, then distract themselves and the audience with a drug-heavy pause ... and then deliver what the audience knew was going to come. It's certainly not perfect; the humor scenes routinely go a bit too long, as is the way of these things; but it's a fun ride. 3 stars , and perfect for a combination comedy/action distraction.
After-school special
Also released under the name Barely Legal, After-school Special is an American sex comedy about high school students who, in the interests of obtaining pocket money, decide to get into the pornography business and produce a film "for virgins, by virgins."
There's nothing distinctive about this movie; it's what you'd expect, given the summary. They make the film, discover self-confidence, get discovered by girls, and embarrass their enemies. It's an ideal movie for insomnia on Comedy Central (which is where I ran across it).
1.5 stars.
There's nothing distinctive about this movie; it's what you'd expect, given the summary. They make the film, discover self-confidence, get discovered by girls, and embarrass their enemies. It's an ideal movie for insomnia on Comedy Central (which is where I ran across it).
1.5 stars.
I Want Candy
Who knew Carmen Electra could star in a tidy little flick about the fun of filmmaking? I certainly wouldn't have pictured it, but it seems to have been the case. I Want Candy is a British sex comedy in which film students -- desperate to prove themselves and their dreams of creating a movie -- dive into the world of creating erotica after finding a pornography producer the only one willing to finance the production.
The story isn't all that original by the standards of this sort of sex comedy; similar plots are explored in After-school Special and Zach and Miri make a Porno. Unlike those two, however, this manages to have a much bigger heart. The virtues of having older students helps enormously -- rather than producing the film to explore the mysteries of sex, these are students producing the film to explore the mysteries of film making. Their assigned final project -- a 2 minute short film -- is simply blown off , not meeting their standards. Their working class background (after all, what British film is not centred on class?) means they're on a shoe-string budget, but they set into their project with the determination of a heist film, managing to procure the services of the hottest American porno actress around, Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra), the best student production crew at their school, and financing from a loathsome porn producer.
Other than that, though, it plays out as a British sex comedy. Innuendo, awkward misunderstandings, embarrassment, coming to a touching conclusion. I'll give it either 2.5 of 5 (3 if I'm feeling charitable) stars ; it's enjoyable if you're looking to pass the time, and it's better than the summary sounds.
The story isn't all that original by the standards of this sort of sex comedy; similar plots are explored in After-school Special and Zach and Miri make a Porno. Unlike those two, however, this manages to have a much bigger heart. The virtues of having older students helps enormously -- rather than producing the film to explore the mysteries of sex, these are students producing the film to explore the mysteries of film making. Their assigned final project -- a 2 minute short film -- is simply blown off , not meeting their standards. Their working class background (after all, what British film is not centred on class?) means they're on a shoe-string budget, but they set into their project with the determination of a heist film, managing to procure the services of the hottest American porno actress around, Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra), the best student production crew at their school, and financing from a loathsome porn producer.
Other than that, though, it plays out as a British sex comedy. Innuendo, awkward misunderstandings, embarrassment, coming to a touching conclusion. I'll give it either 2.5 of 5 (3 if I'm feeling charitable) stars ; it's enjoyable if you're looking to pass the time, and it's better than the summary sounds.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Transformers 1
I watched this in preparation for watching Transformers 2. In retrospect, this was better than the sequel ; pretty amazing, given how bad it is. Shia LeBoef is reasonably good on his own; when he's only talking to himself, he plays a convincing unknowing kid who gets in way over his head, and knows it.
The basic set up for the movie is that Shia's grandfather discovered something in the ice while exploring in the arctic north many years ago. He evidently wasn't able to turn this discovery into much financially, but does have a reputation that's worth something. Thus, when the kid needs some money to buy his first car, old relics go up on EBay in hopes of attracting a collector.
Without spoiling too much, the collectors that are interested in these items are more akin to EBay's servers than humanity. Somehow this all feeds into a showdown between the good guys and the bad guys, where Shia is drafted by the good guys into a showdown; the stakes prove planetary and the explosions many.
Bay has done this sort of movie before -- I am not an especial fan of his storytelling, but I can't recall ever seeing a movie of his that went this far off the track before. It's an awkward 3 act movie: shia is bumbling kid, they're trying to find the mcguffin, and they're trying to stop the decepticons from gaining ultimate power. The first and last bits feel strung out ... the director and/or writers wanted to have the story do X and Y, and forgot to string the scenes between them.
I've seen many critics complain that the fight scenes are confusing, since the robot characters are all chrome and jagged angles; I thought these concerns were ill-founded. The fights are pretty clear and, if there are brief instants where a photograph reveals confusion, the fights' momentum would reveal all to the diligent viewer. The main trouble is that Bay makes the robots too tough; no ranged weapon other than a particularly powerful one the US military has seems to make any impact on the machines, so these advanced robots end up punching each other. Somehow this does more damage than all the artillery they have at hand.
The basic set up for the movie is that Shia's grandfather discovered something in the ice while exploring in the arctic north many years ago. He evidently wasn't able to turn this discovery into much financially, but does have a reputation that's worth something. Thus, when the kid needs some money to buy his first car, old relics go up on EBay in hopes of attracting a collector.
Without spoiling too much, the collectors that are interested in these items are more akin to EBay's servers than humanity. Somehow this all feeds into a showdown between the good guys and the bad guys, where Shia is drafted by the good guys into a showdown; the stakes prove planetary and the explosions many.
Bay has done this sort of movie before -- I am not an especial fan of his storytelling, but I can't recall ever seeing a movie of his that went this far off the track before. It's an awkward 3 act movie: shia is bumbling kid, they're trying to find the mcguffin, and they're trying to stop the decepticons from gaining ultimate power. The first and last bits feel strung out ... the director and/or writers wanted to have the story do X and Y, and forgot to string the scenes between them.
I've seen many critics complain that the fight scenes are confusing, since the robot characters are all chrome and jagged angles; I thought these concerns were ill-founded. The fights are pretty clear and, if there are brief instants where a photograph reveals confusion, the fights' momentum would reveal all to the diligent viewer. The main trouble is that Bay makes the robots too tough; no ranged weapon other than a particularly powerful one the US military has seems to make any impact on the machines, so these advanced robots end up punching each other. Somehow this does more damage than all the artillery they have at hand.
Transformers 2
This movie is bad in so many ways that it basically defies description. The best attempt, I think, comes from topless robot, in the form of an awesome FAQ:
I would give spoiler warnings, but let's face it: this movie can't be spoiled.
What good is he dead?!
Ah! Remember the shard? Sam uses it to bring Jetfire back to life!
Not Optimus?
No! This way, Sam can get the symbols translated... so he can, er... find the ancient machine... that can, uh... possibly bring Optimus back to life.
...
Why would a robot need to fart, pee, or vomit? And why would it need testicles?
Michael Bay does not understand what a robot is.
I would give spoiler warnings, but let's face it: this movie can't be spoiled.
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