No trailer shall... escape... my... sef--fuck it, I ain't a poet.
My opinions on the Green Lantern movie have been pretty polarized, swinging back and forth erratically on each piece of information that drops on it and how much I read into them. I want to like it certainly, I'm a big fan of what Green Lantern used to be and I like a fair amount of the Johns-era stuff (wearing my Red Lantern ring as I type this). But, some of the semi-realistic takes on the Corps designs, the chitinous, organic-looking armor, and, while I didn't feel the vitriol everyone else seemed to towards it, that first trailer didn't do much to alleviate fears. Although I do have to concede I hated the suits substantially less (daresay I even liked them) actually seeing them in motion, as I'd hoped would be the case. As they showed new footage at Wondercon this past weekend, however, we also got a new, full HD trailer for the film...
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
25.3.11
Movie review: Sucker Punch
Let me just get this out of the way right off the bat: Sucker Punch is not a good movie. That bit of the review behind us, it is, however, fucking awesome. It has the depth of a puddle, but it is a puddle of oil that someone threw a lighter into and set up a bunch of fireworks around just for the hell of it.
(Full disclosure: As I said on here I planned to see this in 3D, IMAX, the works. I did learn in the eleventh hour, however, that it was a 3D conversion done in post and I cannot in good conscience put my money towards that kind of atrocity, so instead I caught the 2D version we had at work.)
(Full disclosure: As I said on here I planned to see this in 3D, IMAX, the works. I did learn in the eleventh hour, however, that it was a 3D conversion done in post and I cannot in good conscience put my money towards that kind of atrocity, so instead I caught the 2D version we had at work.)
28.2.11
The Secret Oscars: Triple Threat!
And the nominees for Best Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Robert Downey Jr. Or Javier Bardem are...
And the winner is...
23.2.11
All-Star Superman
All-Star Superman came out this week, and while the trailers didn't exactly fill with me confidence about the project, I still rushed out to grab a copy based solely on how much I loved the books. And so I'm a little surprised to say I ended up far happier with the movie than I expected. Telling the story of Superman's last acts before his death, I loved it but have a hard time separating it from the original source material, hopefully managed to look at it both as an adaptation and its own merits.
Substance, Style, Sucker Punch
While I'm writing a couple of other things, figured I'd post this in the meantime:
Sucker Punch is one of the movies I'm most looking forward to this year. Zack Snyder has proven time and time again that he understands how to make a movie look amazing. I don't think I've ever actively disliked any of his movies*, but that is heavily dependent on the fact that he bolsters a mediocre-to-good story with some mind-blowing visuals. Sucker Punch is the first of his movies, though, not being adapted from some pre-existing work, and this leaves me with pretty high hopes for it. Often, a film with an original concept, with origins a visually-oriented filmmaker is more personally close to, is substantially better than same filmmaker's adapted works (see also: Tim Burton). But, like I said, I am psyched to see this film, regardless of content, for how God Damned Beautiful it looks. This trailer, especially, puts its best foot forward. No dialogue, no inkling of plot, no conceivable idea of what's going on, just straight-up pretty things to look at. It may turn out to be style over substance, but dang, that is enough style to make up for it if it is. This is going to be the first film I've seen since this brave new age of 3D that I'm going to actively seek out in an IMAX theater. I want this thing to be presented to me as big and shiny and fine-looking as possible.
*I haven't seen the owl one, and really don't plan to any time soon. But, more to my point, I will admit that at least the trailer was visually stunning.
10.2.11
Quick movie wrap-up: Biutiful and The Illusionist
I'll probably do a more in-depth write-up on a lot of the nominated films around the Academy Awards ceremony, but just wanted to jot down some thoughts on what I caught last night while they're still fresh in my mind.
Biuitiful (IMDb)
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Guillermo Estrella
This was a powerful film to watch, but like its esteemed competition Black Swan, I was more impressed with the acting than the film itself. I could see Bardem giving Firth a run for his money in the Best Actor category (as could Franco and Eisenberg, to be honest, this is probably going to be a tight race). The movie itself was a bit erratic, but the grounding element was Bardem's Uxbal, continually making bad decisions for the right reasons, digging himself into a deeper mess in the name of making a better life for his children and the people around him. The film bounced from family drama with his children and his estranged wife to dealing with elements of the Barcelona underground, and we saw the effects of this life effecting essentially with everyone who was within one degree of separation from Uxbal himself. There was a supernatural element I have to concede I didn't quite understand and might have appreciated more if I did. It could have been a cultural thing I'm just not familiar with; at times Uxbal seemed to act as a medium and conduit to the recently deceased, but it was used so infrequently and without much of an explanation to me that I just mostly felt lost. Ignoring that, though, the more mundane elements made it a powerful, relatable story. Only major complaint I might have is the length, the pacing at times borders on glacial and I was left very aware that I was watching a 160-minute movie.
The Illusionist (IMDb)
Directed by Sylvain Chomet, starring Jean-Claude Donda, Eilidh Rankin
I had seen Chomet's other works so I was excited to finally see this one, but I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. A story of the eponymous, down-on-his luck parlor magician and a girl from a small town in Scotland, Alice, who believes his "magic" is real seemed fairly simple. Initially, I was just impressed with the animation, this is some of the most beautiful traditional animation I've ever seen. The character design is brilliant, there's a sense of depth to the scenes and later on the landscapes around Scotland are simply breath-taking. After the fairly downbeat Biutiful, I may have been a little emotionally weakened but I was immediately struck by how adorable this story was, even in the face of some dark scenes. The brashness and naivety of Alice, the immediate paternal rapport form between the two main characters comes across powerfully and naturally, all done without dialog, other than a few words of quick or mumbled French, English or Gaelic. The cast of supporting characters was equally as colorful and rounded out the film quite well. We see the Illusionist carry on with his act and various odd jobs to try and help Alice and maintain the childlike naivety that charms him so, but in the end the film is less about him and more about Alice and having to finally face growing up. The overall tone takes something of a downward shift near the end, but overall the film manages to hit all levels of emotional highs and lows and in the end you're left seeing how each character affects each other for better and worse.
Biuitiful (IMDb)
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Guillermo Estrella
This was a powerful film to watch, but like its esteemed competition Black Swan, I was more impressed with the acting than the film itself. I could see Bardem giving Firth a run for his money in the Best Actor category (as could Franco and Eisenberg, to be honest, this is probably going to be a tight race). The movie itself was a bit erratic, but the grounding element was Bardem's Uxbal, continually making bad decisions for the right reasons, digging himself into a deeper mess in the name of making a better life for his children and the people around him. The film bounced from family drama with his children and his estranged wife to dealing with elements of the Barcelona underground, and we saw the effects of this life effecting essentially with everyone who was within one degree of separation from Uxbal himself. There was a supernatural element I have to concede I didn't quite understand and might have appreciated more if I did. It could have been a cultural thing I'm just not familiar with; at times Uxbal seemed to act as a medium and conduit to the recently deceased, but it was used so infrequently and without much of an explanation to me that I just mostly felt lost. Ignoring that, though, the more mundane elements made it a powerful, relatable story. Only major complaint I might have is the length, the pacing at times borders on glacial and I was left very aware that I was watching a 160-minute movie.
The Illusionist (IMDb)
Directed by Sylvain Chomet, starring Jean-Claude Donda, Eilidh Rankin
I had seen Chomet's other works so I was excited to finally see this one, but I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. A story of the eponymous, down-on-his luck parlor magician and a girl from a small town in Scotland, Alice, who believes his "magic" is real seemed fairly simple. Initially, I was just impressed with the animation, this is some of the most beautiful traditional animation I've ever seen. The character design is brilliant, there's a sense of depth to the scenes and later on the landscapes around Scotland are simply breath-taking. After the fairly downbeat Biutiful, I may have been a little emotionally weakened but I was immediately struck by how adorable this story was, even in the face of some dark scenes. The brashness and naivety of Alice, the immediate paternal rapport form between the two main characters comes across powerfully and naturally, all done without dialog, other than a few words of quick or mumbled French, English or Gaelic. The cast of supporting characters was equally as colorful and rounded out the film quite well. We see the Illusionist carry on with his act and various odd jobs to try and help Alice and maintain the childlike naivety that charms him so, but in the end the film is less about him and more about Alice and having to finally face growing up. The overall tone takes something of a downward shift near the end, but overall the film manages to hit all levels of emotional highs and lows and in the end you're left seeing how each character affects each other for better and worse.
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