The R.E.V.I.E.W.

Remarks Ensuing from a Viewer Ignorant of Enigmatic Ways A blog where I discuss movies I've seen without the burden of an excess of knowledge about film.

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Despicable Me 2

Okay, I'm a little behind on my reviewing, and  I apologize, so here we go. 

I saw Despicable Me 2 about a week ago and it was, without a doubt, very adorable. As with most children's movie sequels it was not as good as the first one. But then again it's pretty hard to garner the cuteness overload that is Agnes freaking out over a fluffy unicorn a second time around.

There were certain aspects of the plot that I didn't really feel needed to be included. Such as the super pushy friend who kept trying to set Gru up with women. I mean, yes, he's a middle aged man who doesn't date but we don't need a character whose entire purpose is to point that out to us. Do we?

I did love seeing the girls characters develop more in this movie. Especially Margo, since a lot of what she did in the first movie was be a sort of mother-figure for her younger sisters. It was nice to see her grow on her own.

It really was quite an adorable movie and full of some nice laughs. I mean, who doesn't love a movie where tiny yellow creatures are misguided because of their love of ice cream.

Until next time, eat guacamole out of chip-sombreros. 

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Elysium

So I went to see Elysium the other night. I wasn't really all that interested in seeing it, but my roommate wanted to so I went. I did not enjoy the movie.

The story was somewhat interesting. I mean, it's essentially Wall-e but before the Earth gets so bad that they have to evacuate everyone, so only the rich have left. The Earth-living just looked so awful, which I understand was a key point but I mean, LA is overcrowded now and I don't know why anyone would want to live there, so if it was like that even more in the future, I just don't see the point.

The exoskeleton suit that Matt Damon gets was pretty superfluous. There isn't anything all that cool he does to make it worth having. Also, I disliked all the action scenes. It seemed as though they couldn't get a good choreographer so they just made the fights really shaky so that no one could tell what was happening. Which in turn just made me want to throw up.

And finally, let's get to one of Matt Damon's antagonist, a sleeper agent on Earth. He is an awful, awful person. And it seems as though the movie makers were trying to characterize him as a very rough manly-man who eats huge chunks of meat and shoots things for fun and is always dirty and scruffy. Almost like they wanted him to be a cool villain. But here's the things, he also has no respect at all for women or their personal space/decision making/worth as anything but objects to use for sex. Which is what I took issue with the most in this movie. I just can't get behind a film that wants to make a rapist look cool. That perpetuates the wrong things. And it is not okay.

So, as you can see, I didn't like the movie. Some of the concepts are cool, like a big orbiting space station thing with its own atmosphere. But mostly, it was just not good.

Until next time, don't go see Elysium

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Pacific Rim (again)

Alright, so I went and saw Pacific Rim again. In regular theater 'Imax' (it's not real imax you guys, I'm telling you, the real deal is so much better and gives you so much less of a headache). And it was still really awesome the second time.

Via my main tumblr I follow someone who's quite obsessed with Pacific Rim, so going into it this time there was a lot more that I was aware of, plot-wise, character-wise, and feminist-wise (if that's a word?).

Plot-wise and character-wise it is impressive in this movie to see how important all the characters are. Every single character is integral to the plot working out as it does. No one is there simply for comic relief or to be a pretty face. There is a reason that Charlie Day is waltzing around with his Kaiju obsession. There is a reason that the triplets and the Russian pilots are included (even though they get wiped out of the story too soon). It's refreshing. 

That being said, there is also so much more that could have been done with the characters. And I know, it was only a two hour long movie (two hours and eleven minutes according to IMDb) so you really can't develop to many characters aside from the main ones. But with Jeager pilots you automatically have such a good way to develop characters. Literally going into someone's brain and looking at random memories that tell you a lot about a person is not a non sequitur. Why couldn't we have a learned a little more about the triplets or the Russian pilots?

On the subject of Mako, I know last time I discussed this film I was a little upset with the fact that she was essentially the only female character. And I still I am. I don't want to give anybody gold stars for going one step above the average male-dominated sci-fy mold. However, I feel as though I did not give her enough credit for how badass she is and how realistic she is as a character. Mako is not that woman they put in who looks sexy in a skin-tight suit and never cries because she's so strong and only knows what she wants when she has a man by her side.

Not at all. She's an excellent fighter who puts time and dedication into her training and research. She has a complicated and heartbreaking backstory that continues to complicate her life in the movie. She is the one who sexualizes Chris Hunnam when we get a look and his perfectly formed body (not the other way around). She is a real human being with a lot of different dimensions and personality traits that can be explored. Which is awesome! 

My main thoughts the second time around were still 'Oh my goodness look at these giant robots fighting these giant aliens' because that really is the best part about this movie. Giant robots fighting giant aliens. My other main thought was 'I have a headache, I wish movie theater 3D wasn't so awful' but what can you do.

My advice is still go see this movie. Go see this movie. Go see this movie. In real imax.

Until next time, go see this movie

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24 Hour Party People

This movie was too long and too centered around the beginnings of the punk scene in England (which I have little interest in) for me to like it all that much. It follows Tony Wilson, who is producing punk bands in Manchester and also owns a venue in town. 

I am sure if I knew more about punk or Manchester in the late 70's to early 90's I would have liked this movie a lot more. It's in the top hundred according to some list that I forget the name of. Which is great. And made me quite interested in the movie. But then the movie kept going. And the overarching plot was not enticing enough to draw me in.

Now, the movie is pretty funny, in a nice dry, British sort of way. It also gives an interesting perspective on the way music was produced during that time period, as well as what it means to run a club and a label. It's interesting because, from what I can tell (which doesn't mean much since, like I've stated, I really don't know anything about the punk music scene of the time) it seems like the movie is a fairly accurate representation of what was going in the lives of people like this at that time.

But have I mentioned that it was really long? I mean, in the beginning it's a lot of fun exploring the beginnings of the punk world in Manchester. And then signing some bands. And then look at those bands work to put on shows or create records. But then the movie just keeps going. And going. And my goodness, I don't care that Tony Wilson spent too much money on a strangely shaped table in the office for his record company that he acquired to late in the game. Even if it is important to the story.

The movie definitely didn't keep me engaged enough to enjoy watching it up until the end, but it had a lot of good funny moments so that was nice. 

Until next time, listen to some 70's punk

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Cockneys vs Zombies

Sorry for the silence, I've actually been seeing a lot of movies, I've just been bad about writing down my thoughts about them.

A week-ish ago I went and saw Cockney's vs Zombies. I'd intended to see if during SIFF, however with school and work and volunteering that didn't happen. But thanks to the Uptown Theater, I was able to watch it. And I"m glad I did.

The movie definitely has the sort of 'Shaun of the Dead' feel to it, since it's a funny zombie movie. It also has some pretty decent zombies. (Although I felt as though a few were repeated in different parts of town, but I'll chalk that up to the budget of the film. I really enjoyed the fact that the zombies were slow because all of this fast zombie nonsense is getting to me. I also liked London's method for a zombie outbreak: containment.

The CG blood was a little bothersome, but again I'll assume that with the budget the movie had that was probably the best route. 

Overall it was a very enjoyable movie. It was fun to watch and there were laughs to be had. The story didn't necessarily draw me in completely, but the fact that there was a curmudgeonly old grandpa and a badass old lady made it pretty worthwhile.

Until next time, don't get bit

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The Conjuring

So, I like horror movies, but I'm not the biggest fan of ones with ghosts and spirits and devils and hauntings and all that. I normally wouldn't go see a movie like this. But, I was back in Boise for a week and a friend wanted to go, so I did.

Now, first of all, this movie is rated R simply because it is so scary. No foul language, no scenes with half-naked people, no crude humor. Just terror. And on this basis, I feel it may not have deserved that rating.

The movie did have a lot of good things going for it. It's the age-old template, a family moves into an old farmhouse, finds things from a previous owner, and is then haunted. The movie had a nice amount of exposition and small, creepy ghost things that occurred before we really got into possession and all that. It also had a good mix of moments that built tension and led to nothing contrasted with moments that built tension and led to something scary happening.

Really, the reason I didn't like the movie as much as some horror movies is the fact that two demon hunters come to help the family and use latin and religion to dispel the haunting. And, personally, when people start talking about the need to believe in God and his grace to help them in ghost-situations, I tend to laugh. (Actually, I did laugh at a few of the more religious moments in the movie, wich was not necessarily appreciated by the audience around me.)

Also, one of the 'scarier' moments (I assume the scariest for most, judging by the scream of the girl behind me) panned onto a scary looking ghost thing, which was supposed to surprise the audience. But it panned just slowly enough that you already saw there was something 'where there shouldn't be' before the full figure came into view.

Overall, I didn't find it all that scary. I prefer to get the R rating from gore than from scares that don't work for everyone. The movie did a good job of building tension and, for most of the audience, it was pretty terrifying. Most people will probably be able to have the socks scared off of them.

Until next time, make sure the old houses you buy aren't haunted.

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Pacific Rim

This movie was awesome. I went to see it at the Pacific Science Center last night (which means it wasn't the theater imax nonsense, it was real, huge, six story tall screen imax). I fully recommend seeing it on a real imax screen.

This movie has a lot of really great aspects. Giant robots. Giant aliens. Giant robots fighting giant aliens. Idris Elba. Charlie Day. Charlie Hunnam. 

They also made the decision to use as little dialogue as possible. Which is almost always a good decision in action movies. All these movies recently that are full of witty banter really just take up time that could be used to show fighting. Now there was some dialogue (it is a somewhat necessary thing) and it wasn't great. Alright, it was ridiculous at times. But when Idris Elba is 100% invested in telling you that he's canceling the apocalypse, you believe him.

Often times when I got to imax movies I have to stop watching partway through because it's all just to much for my brain to track. Especially movies with lots of action. But I was so captivated by the fights in this movie that I didn't notice any issues. I was busy watch a giant robot punch a giant alien in the head. The fight scens were wonderful. The different weapons that both sides had, that often times cam very unexpectedly, were awesome. The fact that someone could envision those moments and translate them into cg reality was impressive.

I still wish they could start making sci-fi movies with more than one important female character. Or hey, one where they let female characters interact with one another. 

But aside from that, this movie is fantastic. Mostly the fighting. Because that's the only thing that matters in this movie. Giant robots fighting giant aliens. Really really cool giant robots fighting really really cool giant aliens. Go see this movie. As soon as you can.

Until next time.

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White House Down

I went to this movie because my roommates wanted to see it and all I was told was "Channing Tatum is in it". I was not expecting much from this movie, however it ended up being quite enjoyable. It didn't take itself too seriously which was probably the best way to go.

The plot of the movie was really a secondary focus of the movie for me, my main enjoyment came from the character's interactions. Channing and the president were a fun pair to watch. They were ridiculous and funny and agitated with each other often. 

I also enjoyed the music for this film. It added to it in really helpful ways that weren't too in your face. And any composers who know how to add good horn parts in deserve a thumbs up in my book.

Another part of the movie that I just really appreciated (SPOILER ALERT: skip this paragraph if you don't want to know what happens partway through) was that when the vice-president's plane was blown up they didn't try to make it an okay thing where some people survived. Nope. It was destroyed and that was that. The way it would happen in real life if a plane exploded. I hate it when they don't kill off certain characters in movies because they're afraid the audience will be sad or something after putting those characters in situations that would obviously end their lives.

Okay thats done. Overall this was a really fun movie to watch. There were cool explosions and cool helicopters and cool guns. And there were snarky characters. I liked it quite a bit.

Until next time.

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World War Z

Let me start off by warning you that I've seen a lot of zombie movies. A lot. My roommates and I went through a phase last year and scouted out all of the not-too-terrible choices from Scarecrow Video (and some of the terrible choices). And in my opinion, this was not the greatest for a zombie movie.

My biggest problem was the lack of gore. I mean, yes many zombies were killed and some even up close, but this movie was much more focused on large explosions than on one-on-one kills. And I like my zombie flicks with as much gore as possible.

This really is just wrapped up in the fact that while most zombie movies focus on a very small area of outbreak, this one was focused on a global/military approach to a zombie outbreak. Which is an interesting aspect to think of, but it means you get a movie much more focused on large missions and mass amounts of people than on small group dynamics and close up kills.

I also did not like this zombies. Zombies are creatures that have risen from the dead (although have to allow that people bitten can turn into zombies as well or no movie ever would count as a zombie movie). They are slow and bumbling. They are not fast ant-like creatures. Also, none of the zombies in the movie were particularly scary, aside from the doctor zombie. With a movie of this budget I would much rather see close-up shots of well-done zombie makeup than three helicopters blowing up.

The movie is entertaining, though, and has some good heart-pounding moments. I think most people will be quite pleased with it. Also Brad Pitt is in it, so there's that. Personally though, I'll stick with the more classic zombie flicks, even if they are cheesy.

Until next time, don't drop dead.

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Monsters University

Now we all know that sequels to kids movies are not often good. Even a little. They get ridiculous in terms of story and don't recapture characters well. However, Pixar does work hard to get sequels done right. With this sequel (well, prequel) I think they did a lovely job.

Let's start with the music, because on of my favorite things about sequels/prequels/whatever is hearing the music again and connecting moments in the new movie to feelings associated with that melody from the old one. Monsters University definitely ran with that concept. But I mean, when Randy Newman does the music what else do you expect.

I also really enjoyed the attention to detail in regard to the monsters working at Monsters Inc. As you get brief glimpses of the work floor during different points in Mike's life, the animators began adding in more and more characters that work with Mike and Sully in the future. I was very pleased with this aspect of continuity. 

Overall, I'd say the movie was cute. It was funny and colorful and a very good children's movie.

Until next time, stay scary.

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This Is The End

I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this movie. I like the concept quite a bit, since it seems like most 'end of the world movies' these days involve zombies, harsh weather, or invasions. (Alright, so this one did have an invasion, technically, but it's quite different from any other doomsday movie I've seen in a while.) I also like Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson which caused me to enjoy the movie. And any movie that adds the Back Street Boys dancing on clouds is a good one in my book.

However, there were a lot of jokes that I just stopped appreciating appreciating as the film went on. I mean, I get it, you guys have penises and think it's funny to joke about them or put penis imagery everywhere. It's funny the first few jokes. And then it's not. Come on, there have to be other funny things you can put in the movie.

And let's not even get started on Jay Baruchel, because unless he's training dragons I really don't want to deal with the guy.

But hey, any movie that has a little cannibalism and Emma Watson wielding an ax is alright in my book.

Until next time.

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Frances Ha

If you are a girl in your twenties go see this movie. I am not at the stage where the main character of the film is (i.e. a 27 year old trying to figure out what to do with her life when her dreams aren't exactly panning out) however, I still found the main character extremely believable and well executed.

The film is in black and white, which I could have done without, but it was an artistic decision so whatever.

I've heard a decent amount of people saying the movie has a Girls-esque feel to it. Which I understand and can agree with to a point. Except, the characters in this film are approached in a totally different manner. For me personally, I don't relate well to any of the characters in Girls but I felt a strong sense of understanding towards the main character and her best friend in this movie.

The main character is a little weird, and lazy at times, and can't really find a group of people she totally clicks with.

I liked the writing, the storyline, the characters, and the heartfelt moments. I definitely will be rewatching this movie at some point. It might not resonate quite as well with the male population, but I would still recommend seeing it, just because it's a well done film.

Until next time, don't turn down a good day job.

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Now You See Me

I saw this movie at least a week ago and completely forgot to write up a little something about. This is mostly due to the fact that I have little to really say about this movie.

It wasn't very good. I really don't like Jesse Eisenburg because he always comes off like a tool, in a bad way. The big illusions they were doing owed a lot to technology and money, not to actually being able to create illusions.

If you wan to see a movie with good magic, go watch the documentary Make Believe, which follows six teenagers who are competing in the World Magic Teen Competition. Now those are some damn good illusions, Especially the ones produced by the guy from Japan.

But back to the movie at hand, it wasn't that great. Which is to bad because you could tell that the creators put a lot of thought into the storyline and the different illusions that would occur. It was just a bit silly overall. However, while being not-so-good it also not a boring movie, and you can definitely watch the whole thing with interest despite the fact that you don't much enjoy what's going on.

Until next time, stay magical.

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The Girl With Nine Wigs

This is probably going to end up being my favorite film at SIFF. I loved this movie. It follows the story of a 21 year-old girl dealing with a rare form of cancer and is based on a true story.

The acting is really what made this movie for me. All of the actors were able to slip beautifully into these very serious and dramatic roles in a way that fit each moment perfectly. The main actress, especially, did a fantastic job. I was impressed with the way such a young and inexperienced actress was able to portray such intense feelings.

Maybe it was just me (it wasn't, I noticed others in the theater) but within the first fifteen minutes of the film I'd already started shedding tears. And I don't usually cry during movies. But the way they worked out the main character discovering she had cancer and telling her friends just really hit me. The other actors truly seemed to feeling the pain they would feel if their daughter/sister/best friend was diagnosed with cancer.

Also, the lead actress and the woman who this movie was based on (the movie's actually based on a book she wrote about the whole ordeal) were there after the film for a short Q&A. They are so adorable, they're really good friends, which I thought was so sweet. They seemed to be having a wonderful time in Seattle and talked as if they spent most of their time shopping and laughing with each other.

Definitely one of my two favorite movies at SIFF this year.

Until next time.

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Moon Man

This is the second animated children's movie I've gone to see at SIFF this year (although not the last, because Monsters University is next weekend). It's about, you guessed it, the man on the moon. Although in the movie, he comes down from the moon. Overall the film was very cute, but a little disjointed.

The animation was lovely. (There was a technical difficulty that resulted in the movie being played from a DVD instead of the digital copy, so the resolution was not as good as it could have been, but honestly I don't really notice the difference.) Especially these nighttime scenes where the moon man was floating down a river with flowers around him. Have you ever had one of those pieces of paper where you can scratch away the black top layer and underneath is a rainbow? So, you can make pictures where the lines are rainbows? Well, this is how it looked like they did the flowers in contrast to the black water. It was pretty.

Also, this scientist guy in the movie gets around by yo-yo. He puts a yo-yo under one foot and pulls the string to make it spin. Not all that feasible, but fun to watch.

The movie was a little jerky though. They kept putting in these weird, somewhat unrelated, asides that I could have done without. I assume the thought was 'children have short attention spans and will like this interesting extra bit'. It got too off base for me and I found myself wishing the film would just flow smoothly.

Also, at first the moon man couldn't speak so he just grunted a lot. Which I found really off-putting. His grunts didn't always seem all that related to whatever emotion he was trying to express.

And there was a sex scene. I mean, children's movie, so two people were behind a screen and then we watched a close up of lava lamp lava oozing together and apart. But still. I guess the kids had no idea. 

But, overall it was a cute movie and it was enjoyable to watch. I probably won't actively watch it a second time, but it was a pretty thing to watch while it lasted.

Until next time, keep wishing upon stars.

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Fuck Up

Last Thursday my roommates and I went to see this. Full disclosure: I was not in a good mood when the film started because a slightly intoxicated man had been harassing people outside. Which really put a damper on the whole movie experience. And caused me to wish I was elsewhere. So I don't have a glowing review to give. But it's likely that that was not the fault of the film, but my mindset as it was going on.

Regardless, let me tell you what I didn't like about it. 

First off, the subtitles were a little weird at times. Grammar was off. It was in Norwegian, which one of my roommates speaks a little. He thought they were trying to convey colloquialisms since the main characters were supposed to be from a tiny town. I thought they just hire sub-par people to do the subtitles.

I also didn't feel as like the characters were people I could really get invested in. They were just three dumb screw-ups and this poor successful lady being dragged down who had all been friends since childhood. Everyone kept focusing on the fact that the main character repeatedly made mistakes that hindered a well-functioning adult life, but no one seemed to care that two of his best friends also had the same exact issue.

Also, it was unclear how large the town they were in actually was. The characters often walked to get from place to place. However when a shot of the town from a rooftop was shown it seemed as though walking in the time span allotted would not have been possible.

Like I said, I was in a bad mood when I saw the film, so it's probably better than I am leading you to believe. I guess there were some funny bits.

Until next time, don't let people get you down.

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The Kings of Summer

Okay, let me just rant about the most unbelievable part of this film for a moment because it'll get a lot more positive from there. This film centers around some kids who run away and build a house in the woods. And this is where I got upset. Being a child with the intentions of building a fort/club house let me tell you right now, this cannot be done. Now I know, these are high school kids (my attempts were all pre-middle school) who must have some ability to build a cool fort in the woods, right? Wrong. No three kids can A) get the necessary materials for a fort of this magnitude, B) drag these materials into the woods somewhere, or C) obtain real windows to install in the fort. I really had to work to willingly suspend my disbelief. Because three kids doing this is completely ludicrous. Have any of you ever attempted to build a two-story house in the middle of nowhere without any real knowledge of what you're doing? No. Because that would completely improbably.

That was the biggest issue I had with the this movie. There were also some other not-so-believable parts. (For example, if I ever had children who ran away from home I would hope that the police would do a search of the surrounding woods. You know, the logical course of action.) And they sort of made a joke out of the fact that one of the characters didn't feel he really identified with a gender. 

But aside from these things, I will say that it was a funny movie and a pretty movie. There were a lot of nice shots of lovely Ohio forest (I was previously unaware Ohio had pretty things, so that was something) and cute wildland creatures. (Spoiler alert: at one point one of the main characters skinned a rabbit and everyone in the audience seemed really shocked and unnerved which I didn't understand. The kid's trying to survive in the wild, this is what you do when you need to cook meat.) There were also a decent amount of funny moments throughout. Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally were both in it which added nicely to the movie.

One of the main characters attended and did a Q&A after the movie. He told the audience about how interesting it was to get to improv with actors like Nick and Megan. Which I'm sure would be a wonderful opportunity, especially as a young actor. He also shared the fact that the film was shot in about 26 days. 26 days. Woah.

Also, there's a really cool scene where the three main characters are hitting sticks against an old pipe in the forest. Which fits in really nicely with the opening of the movie. Turns out it was improved. They were all just hanging out in the woods on a day off and started banging on a pipe. I thought it was impressive that they were able to fit it into the film.

I've recalled another thing that bothered me about the movie, going along with the comedic scenes and the pretty nature shots. These contrasting ideas got a little confusing. At times it felt like the movie was trying to be artsy and a cool indie flick. But at other times it seemed more so like a movie that was trying to connect with and reach the generic audience member.

Overall, I thought the film was entertaining and fun to watch, but also unbelievable. It's not one of my favorites. I do think audiences will love it and a lot of people will rave about how wonderful it is and what an interesting depiction of growing up it is. I'd recommend seeing it, because you'll probably really like it.

Until next, keep trying to build those forts.