G'Bye March!
Its a record! Now if I hadn't been so lazy these days and not slept in, I would have seen two more films! Fortunately I was... leaving me with only eleven to review o_o This is going to take all day!
It isn't actually a record, back in 2007 I saw twelve in one month.
Anyhoo!
Films of March
The Incredible Hulk
What can be said about the Hulk? He's a scientist who turns into a giant green monster that's really angry. I was skeptical going into this film, what with the bad taste in my mouth that was the Ang Lee film. Urgh.
But... for what it was this wasn't half bad. I found myself sympathising with the great green lump a lot more than in the first film, while the comedic tones were certainly welcome... they even tried explaining the "stretchy shorts"! Haha, that always bugged me.
The CG is respectable, the plot is pretty average, but it was entertaining.
Rocknorolla
Its a Guy Ritchie film!
Can I leave it at that? You can imagine it surely. A Russian gangster is building a stadium in England, but needs to settle a deal with a local mob boss who owns the land. In doing so the mob boss acquires the Russian's "lucky painting" which promptly goes missing.
Thus begins a manic hunt involving several characters with their own agendas, its all a matter of who comes out on top. Gerald Butler is pretty funny in this I must admit, and overall its a decent film for any Guy Ritchie, or gangster comedy, fan.
Alice in Wonderland 3D
Leaving the cinema from this film, I can say I definitely enjoyed it. A day or so later, I felt how empty and really quite shallow the entire experience really was. What might have been awesome is ultimately quite average.
If it were called something like "Alice in Wonderland 2" I would have understood what it was doing! This is a spiritual sequel to the original story, not a remake. It takes place in a war-torn Wonderland, Alice returning now much older, leading to darker proceedings but not without familiar scenarios.
Johnny Depp wasn't as nuts as I feared (this film is not as bad as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!) but the Mad Hatter does have a lot more presence here than many will be used to.
I felt the ending came out of nowhere, certainly the film is short and I cannot believe I would ask for a little bit more in this case! While the CG has some gorgeous visuals - got to love the card knights! - the film is just wacky; no real meaning or moral... except maybe "it's okay to be mad"?
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" ....... "I have no idea."
Saw III
I reluctantly push myself further into the car crash that is the Saw series. I was thoroughly unimpressed with Saw II, the series obviously stumbling with the transition from an awesome stand-alone concept to full franchise.
Saw III was better in my opinion... but this isn't saying much. Jigsaw is on his death bed and has a surgeon kidnapped so she can prolong his life for one final deadly game. Naturally the "plot", or rather Jigsaw's intentions, are revealed at the bitter end, leaving the rest of the film open to bloody, unpleasant death traps.
Ultimately I never had an opportunity to bond with the characters in peril, making the proceedings feel like an excuse to twist people's limbs off.
Which.... it is.
The Hurt Locker
The film that shocked us all with winning Best Picture and Best Director of 2009, though I worry that its hype might in fact kill it. The Hurt Locker is your classic war based drama, set in Iraq (of course) and following a military bomb disposal squad.
I have to admit though, the film had my attention throughout, mostly thanks to a pressure cooker atmosphere created from lack of music tracks; the event of disposing a bomb reduced to the quietest and most delicate sounds made by the soldiers' fingers.
Ultimately it is a very tense and uncomfortable film, throw in one of the best sniper duels in a long while, and it gets quite unbearable.
Great photography of explosions, dust flying and metal reverberating. Certainly a middle-east war film you should see.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Hm.
This film flounders around like it isn't sure what it wants to be. I imagined DTESS to be a blockbuster but one with brains, standing out with an intellectual edge. Unfortunately the remake takes the iconic Gort character and turns him into a world-destroying monster.
Now while most things do nod to elements mentioned in the original (Gort does have the ability to destroy the world, we just never see it) somehow the characters here are weaker. Certainly Jaden Smith's character was annoying, you just want to punch him! Keanu Reeves as Klaatu worked well - yes, wooden actor in a perfect role, har-har.
It does have a strong message about climate change (the original being about nuclear power) which I liked... I don't know, it just didn't have enough of a soul for me to care about what was happening.
Syriana
I really don't want to talk about this one. Its boring.
Middle east, politics, oil companies, terrorists, undercover operatives, sounds interesting until you quadruple the amount of politics and oil companies. It does try to grab your attention with doing nasty things to George Clooney for little or no reason, he's pretty unlucky in this film.
Alright... so its very, veeeerry slow, a drama were the exciting things happen off screen. Now I am not someone who needs explosions every ten minutes, but come on, Syriana doesn't do anything.
Don't Say a Word
Caught this on TV, Michael Douglas, Sean Bean and Famke Janssen? Sounds good.
A lot of people talk about plot holes a mile wide here, I can't say I saw them, but the proceedings felt quite unoriginal. A mentally disturbed girl knows a series of numbers to a cache of (rather cheap looking) precious stones, stones that resident bad british guy Sean Bean wants. While his daughter is held captive, psychologist Michael Douglas must help the girl remember the numbers.
A rather weak psychological thriller without much bite or surprises. Average, an okay way to waste an afternoon.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Okay, now I knew it was a foreign film... but Swedish!? That took me at least the first ten minutes to wrap my head around; I didn't have an ear for the sounds. But with that out the way, the film sure isn't pleasant.
A reporter looking to redeem himself teams up with a troubled young woman to resolve a disappearance 40 years ago.
Involving murder, sexual abuse, torture and Nazis... you can see the film is the intense sort of thriller. But while I did warm to the protagonists I thought the film dragged a bit too long, and when Nazis are involved... can you honestly tell me the culprits and their motivations aren't obvious?
It is a good film, its been a while since I saw a proper 18 certificate in the cinema! I appreciate that. Though I see Hollywood is already remaking it...
For the love of God... GET YOUR OWN MATERIAL!
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Phew, I get to review this while the remake is fresh in my mind.
I find this is a classic example of remakes that don't do the originals justice. This film is preciously simple, with little more than two or three locations, no more than half a dozen characters, and a notion that is food for thought.
Aliens arrive on Earth wishing to speak to all the world's leaders about an impending crisis they wish to resolve, but humans being as paranoid and selfish as they are, make it near impossible with almost disastrous consequences.
While the remake goes for a blockbuster, this film is entirely about the human element, about how flawed people are and when pushed into a corner, will act selfishly. If you can forgive the 50s soundtrack and effects, it is a good movie. Watch both this and the remake for a perfect example of more money doesn't necessarily make a better film.
Franklyn
Now I liked this film!
Quite hard to explain without giving the plot entirely away, but it involves two different worlds and four disparate characters, all of whom are troubled, yet may be more entwined than they know. One world is the one we know, the other is "Meanwhile City", a Gothic and shadowy fantasy world were people have formed religions about almost everything (from traditional religions to dish washer instructions!) as a means of controlling the populous.
The film has some gorgeous visuals, especially within Meanwhile City, a steampunk-like society surrounded in gothic architecture. The masked vigilante character Preest was a favourite.
Certainly, I did feel a little lost at first; the film starts with several characters without any distinct linkage between them, which at points got a little frustrating, but I enjoyed how they were slowly drawn together! As such I think it requires more than one viewing to fully comprehend.
What can I say? I am a sucker for dark fantasy visuals.
Games of March
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 (360)
I don't know... whoever did the testing on this game needs to be seen to! Honestly, cars driving through walls, wheels disappearing and reappearing, and regardless of who's first in a race, it always comes up "JKun".
:P
Alright in all seriousness now, I thought it was a fun game. Codemasters always seem to make games which are just, fun, simple as. In fact I'm sure you could put giant buckets and spades into the beach buggy races and call it Micro Machines.
I wasn't inspired enough to go for lots of achievements though, and while I could have upped the difficulty, it felt pretty easy. The other drivers are pretty funny to listen to, they can become your best friend even though your ramming them off the road!
Scene It! (360)
Played very briefly! Good fun I thought, movie trivia can be entertaining (though sometimes frustrating as hell!) Some of the games were impossible though, for example the anagrams game were in a time limit you are shown several anagrams of one movie title. Why lots!? I have enough trouble with one!
There were a lot of clips from ancient black and white movies I haven't seen... which I found quite irritating, but I chalk that down to bad luck.
Finished! Now I virtually have to go to work! Wooo, productive day.
Incidentally, I've fixed my router now! But unfortunately... I managed to lose a lot of Dragon Age achievements in the process =(
It isn't actually a record, back in 2007 I saw twelve in one month.
Anyhoo!
Films of March
The Incredible Hulk
What can be said about the Hulk? He's a scientist who turns into a giant green monster that's really angry. I was skeptical going into this film, what with the bad taste in my mouth that was the Ang Lee film. Urgh.
But... for what it was this wasn't half bad. I found myself sympathising with the great green lump a lot more than in the first film, while the comedic tones were certainly welcome... they even tried explaining the "stretchy shorts"! Haha, that always bugged me.
The CG is respectable, the plot is pretty average, but it was entertaining.
Rocknorolla
Its a Guy Ritchie film!
Can I leave it at that? You can imagine it surely. A Russian gangster is building a stadium in England, but needs to settle a deal with a local mob boss who owns the land. In doing so the mob boss acquires the Russian's "lucky painting" which promptly goes missing.
Thus begins a manic hunt involving several characters with their own agendas, its all a matter of who comes out on top. Gerald Butler is pretty funny in this I must admit, and overall its a decent film for any Guy Ritchie, or gangster comedy, fan.
Alice in Wonderland 3D
Leaving the cinema from this film, I can say I definitely enjoyed it. A day or so later, I felt how empty and really quite shallow the entire experience really was. What might have been awesome is ultimately quite average.
If it were called something like "Alice in Wonderland 2" I would have understood what it was doing! This is a spiritual sequel to the original story, not a remake. It takes place in a war-torn Wonderland, Alice returning now much older, leading to darker proceedings but not without familiar scenarios.
Johnny Depp wasn't as nuts as I feared (this film is not as bad as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!) but the Mad Hatter does have a lot more presence here than many will be used to.
I felt the ending came out of nowhere, certainly the film is short and I cannot believe I would ask for a little bit more in this case! While the CG has some gorgeous visuals - got to love the card knights! - the film is just wacky; no real meaning or moral... except maybe "it's okay to be mad"?
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" ....... "I have no idea."
Saw III
I reluctantly push myself further into the car crash that is the Saw series. I was thoroughly unimpressed with Saw II, the series obviously stumbling with the transition from an awesome stand-alone concept to full franchise.
Saw III was better in my opinion... but this isn't saying much. Jigsaw is on his death bed and has a surgeon kidnapped so she can prolong his life for one final deadly game. Naturally the "plot", or rather Jigsaw's intentions, are revealed at the bitter end, leaving the rest of the film open to bloody, unpleasant death traps.
Ultimately I never had an opportunity to bond with the characters in peril, making the proceedings feel like an excuse to twist people's limbs off.
Which.... it is.
The Hurt Locker
The film that shocked us all with winning Best Picture and Best Director of 2009, though I worry that its hype might in fact kill it. The Hurt Locker is your classic war based drama, set in Iraq (of course) and following a military bomb disposal squad.
I have to admit though, the film had my attention throughout, mostly thanks to a pressure cooker atmosphere created from lack of music tracks; the event of disposing a bomb reduced to the quietest and most delicate sounds made by the soldiers' fingers.
Ultimately it is a very tense and uncomfortable film, throw in one of the best sniper duels in a long while, and it gets quite unbearable.
Great photography of explosions, dust flying and metal reverberating. Certainly a middle-east war film you should see.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Hm.
This film flounders around like it isn't sure what it wants to be. I imagined DTESS to be a blockbuster but one with brains, standing out with an intellectual edge. Unfortunately the remake takes the iconic Gort character and turns him into a world-destroying monster.
Now while most things do nod to elements mentioned in the original (Gort does have the ability to destroy the world, we just never see it) somehow the characters here are weaker. Certainly Jaden Smith's character was annoying, you just want to punch him! Keanu Reeves as Klaatu worked well - yes, wooden actor in a perfect role, har-har.
It does have a strong message about climate change (the original being about nuclear power) which I liked... I don't know, it just didn't have enough of a soul for me to care about what was happening.
Syriana
I really don't want to talk about this one. Its boring.
Middle east, politics, oil companies, terrorists, undercover operatives, sounds interesting until you quadruple the amount of politics and oil companies. It does try to grab your attention with doing nasty things to George Clooney for little or no reason, he's pretty unlucky in this film.
Alright... so its very, veeeerry slow, a drama were the exciting things happen off screen. Now I am not someone who needs explosions every ten minutes, but come on, Syriana doesn't do anything.
Don't Say a Word
Caught this on TV, Michael Douglas, Sean Bean and Famke Janssen? Sounds good.
A lot of people talk about plot holes a mile wide here, I can't say I saw them, but the proceedings felt quite unoriginal. A mentally disturbed girl knows a series of numbers to a cache of (rather cheap looking) precious stones, stones that resident bad british guy Sean Bean wants. While his daughter is held captive, psychologist Michael Douglas must help the girl remember the numbers.
A rather weak psychological thriller without much bite or surprises. Average, an okay way to waste an afternoon.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Okay, now I knew it was a foreign film... but Swedish!? That took me at least the first ten minutes to wrap my head around; I didn't have an ear for the sounds. But with that out the way, the film sure isn't pleasant.
A reporter looking to redeem himself teams up with a troubled young woman to resolve a disappearance 40 years ago.
Involving murder, sexual abuse, torture and Nazis... you can see the film is the intense sort of thriller. But while I did warm to the protagonists I thought the film dragged a bit too long, and when Nazis are involved... can you honestly tell me the culprits and their motivations aren't obvious?
It is a good film, its been a while since I saw a proper 18 certificate in the cinema! I appreciate that. Though I see Hollywood is already remaking it...
For the love of God... GET YOUR OWN MATERIAL!
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Phew, I get to review this while the remake is fresh in my mind.
I find this is a classic example of remakes that don't do the originals justice. This film is preciously simple, with little more than two or three locations, no more than half a dozen characters, and a notion that is food for thought.
Aliens arrive on Earth wishing to speak to all the world's leaders about an impending crisis they wish to resolve, but humans being as paranoid and selfish as they are, make it near impossible with almost disastrous consequences.
While the remake goes for a blockbuster, this film is entirely about the human element, about how flawed people are and when pushed into a corner, will act selfishly. If you can forgive the 50s soundtrack and effects, it is a good movie. Watch both this and the remake for a perfect example of more money doesn't necessarily make a better film.
Franklyn
Now I liked this film!
Quite hard to explain without giving the plot entirely away, but it involves two different worlds and four disparate characters, all of whom are troubled, yet may be more entwined than they know. One world is the one we know, the other is "Meanwhile City", a Gothic and shadowy fantasy world were people have formed religions about almost everything (from traditional religions to dish washer instructions!) as a means of controlling the populous.
The film has some gorgeous visuals, especially within Meanwhile City, a steampunk-like society surrounded in gothic architecture. The masked vigilante character Preest was a favourite.
Certainly, I did feel a little lost at first; the film starts with several characters without any distinct linkage between them, which at points got a little frustrating, but I enjoyed how they were slowly drawn together! As such I think it requires more than one viewing to fully comprehend.
What can I say? I am a sucker for dark fantasy visuals.
Games of March
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 (360)
I don't know... whoever did the testing on this game needs to be seen to! Honestly, cars driving through walls, wheels disappearing and reappearing, and regardless of who's first in a race, it always comes up "JKun".
:P
Alright in all seriousness now, I thought it was a fun game. Codemasters always seem to make games which are just, fun, simple as. In fact I'm sure you could put giant buckets and spades into the beach buggy races and call it Micro Machines.
I wasn't inspired enough to go for lots of achievements though, and while I could have upped the difficulty, it felt pretty easy. The other drivers are pretty funny to listen to, they can become your best friend even though your ramming them off the road!
Scene It! (360)
Played very briefly! Good fun I thought, movie trivia can be entertaining (though sometimes frustrating as hell!) Some of the games were impossible though, for example the anagrams game were in a time limit you are shown several anagrams of one movie title. Why lots!? I have enough trouble with one!
There were a lot of clips from ancient black and white movies I haven't seen... which I found quite irritating, but I chalk that down to bad luck.
Finished! Now I virtually have to go to work! Wooo, productive day.
Incidentally, I've fixed my router now! But unfortunately... I managed to lose a lot of Dragon Age achievements in the process =(