Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Oscars, briefly
Best Picture:
Amour – In theaters, but not convenient ones.
Argo – Seen it.
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Could watch on video.
Django Unchained – Seen it.
Les Misérables – Seen it. My pick to win, at the moment.
Life of Pi – Seen it.
Lincoln – Still in theaters. Some interest in seeing it.
Silver Linings Playbook – In theaters. Interest in seeing it.
Zero Dark Thirty – Not going to see it.
Django Unchained
After much delay, I saw Django Unchained.
First and foremost, this is Tarantino. This is Tarantino doing a Western, but it’s still Tarantino – it’s crass, it’s vulgar, it’s bloody, and above all it’s as offensive as he can manage. Depending on who’s counting, the N word is used 108 or 109 times. Now, this is a movie set in the South in the Civil War-era, and the main character is a freed slave, and nearly all of the plot deals with slavery. It is appropriate to use that word in that context. This being Tarantino, however, his (over)use of it is gratuitous.
Despite that, this is actually a very good movie. It has a solid plot – twisty but not too twisty; it reminded me of a very long game of Fiasco. Speaking of which, it is very long, mainly because there’s a lot of plot to get through. The acting is excellent. Christoph Waltz stands out as Dr Schultz. Leo DiCaprio is wonderfully hate-able, and Sam Jackson gets to drop his MF-bomb. The cinematography is quite good. Tarantino has always had style, but this time he had a significant budget, and it shows. The sets, locations, and costumes are utterly believable. There is a scene wherein the only source of light is supposed to be handheld candelabras, and I think he actually shot the damn thing by candlelight – or if he didn’t, it sure looks convincing.
This does not rank higher on my list for a couple reasons. One, this is a very strong year for movies I like (remember, the ranking is totally subjective). Two, while I appreciate what Tarantino does, it’s not really quite my style. I don’t mind violence in movies, but he’s so over-the-top, especially about the blood, that I’m reminded of B horror movies.
If you can handle extreme violence and racism, this movie is worth watching (in my opinion). I appreciate when a filmmaker has a vision, and then executes that vision well, and delivers an entertaining result.
This is my last review for the calendar year 2012. The next movie I see will be (temporarily at least) number one for 2013. I will make a new post on that subject soon.
I’m aware that there are movies not on this list that considered worth seeing. It’s possible that Oscar nominations will convince me to go see them, or catch them on video. However, keep in mind that I primarily watch movies to be entertained, not to be educated or challenged. If you, dear reader, don’t like my editorial choices, you’re quite welcome to start a list of your own.
1. Les Miserables
2. The Avengers
3. The Hobbit
4. Wreck it Ralph
5. The Amazing Spiderman
6. Brave
7. The Cabin in the Woods
8. Django Unchained
9. Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away
10. Looper
11. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
12. The Secret World of Arrietty
13. Argo
14. Skyfall
15. Cloud Atlas
16. The Dark Knight Rises
17. Men in Black 3
18. The Man With the Iron Fists
19. Prometheus
20. Hunger Games
21. The Lorax
22. Snow White and the Huntsman
23. Total Recall
24. Bourne Legacy
25. Mirror, Mirror
26. Life of Pi
27. Dark Shadows
28. John Carter
2. The Avengers
3. The Hobbit
4. Wreck it Ralph
5. The Amazing Spiderman
6. Brave
7. The Cabin in the Woods
8. Django Unchained
9. Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away
10. Looper
11. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
12. The Secret World of Arrietty
13. Argo
14. Skyfall
15. Cloud Atlas
16. The Dark Knight Rises
17. Men in Black 3
18. The Man With the Iron Fists
19. Prometheus
20. Hunger Games
21. The Lorax
22. Snow White and the Huntsman
23. Total Recall
24. Bourne Legacy
25. Mirror, Mirror
26. Life of Pi
27. Dark Shadows
28. John Carter
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away
Unlike Life of Pi, I got exactly what I was expecting from Worlds Away. I’ve been to a few Cirque shows, and they all, including this one, are fantastical and surreal. There is technically a plot in this movie, but as with their other shows I’ve seen, it’s a thinly veiled excuse to transport the audience from one set of tricks and performances to another. There is very little dialogue. There isn’t particularly a resolution. But that doesn’t matter – it’s about the journey, and the journey is wonderful.
I’m not sure how much of the content of the movie is actually new. It appears that they took elements from a lot of the shows that reside in Vegas and threw them into a movie-length collection. I have not seen any of the Vegas shows, so I don’t know. Some of the pieces have to be new, given the staging requirements, and even the recycled ones are shown from angles you’d never see from the audience.
This movie is very much what happens when James Cameron decides he wants to film Cirque, and this is not a bad thing.
In sum, going to this movie is a lot like going to a live Cirque show, but closer and a lot less expensive, and with angles and slow-mo that you can’t get live. Do see it in 3D if you can, though. If any movie deserves to be in 3D, this is it.
1. Les Miserables
2. The Avengers
3. The Hobbit
4. Wreck it Ralph
5. The Amazing Spiderman
6. Brave
7. The Cabin in the Woods
8. Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away
9. Looper
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
11. The Secret World of Arrietty
12. Argo
13. Skyfall
14. Cloud Atlas
15. The Dark Knight Rises
16. Men in Black 3
17. The Man With the Iron Fists
18. Prometheus
19. Hunger Games
20. The Lorax
21. Snow White and the Huntsman
22. Total Recall
23. Bourne Legacy
24. Mirror, Mirror
25. Life of Pi
26. Dark Shadows
27. John Carter
2. The Avengers
3. The Hobbit
4. Wreck it Ralph
5. The Amazing Spiderman
6. Brave
7. The Cabin in the Woods
8. Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away
9. Looper
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
11. The Secret World of Arrietty
12. Argo
13. Skyfall
14. Cloud Atlas
15. The Dark Knight Rises
16. Men in Black 3
17. The Man With the Iron Fists
18. Prometheus
19. Hunger Games
20. The Lorax
21. Snow White and the Huntsman
22. Total Recall
23. Bourne Legacy
24. Mirror, Mirror
25. Life of Pi
26. Dark Shadows
27. John Carter
Life of Pi
Life of Pi was not really what I was expecting – more to the point, I didn’t actually give much thought to what the movie was about before deciding to see it. I had not planned on watching it, but my sister insisted that I should, and the trailer was pretty enough that I agreed. Fundamentally, however, I am not the target audience for this film.
Visually, the movie is stunning. I did not get to see it in 3D, but that’s ok. The ocean sequences were plenty impressive in 2D.
The plot, however, is a spiritual journey that edges past “inspirational” to “preachy.” I understand what they were trying to do, and they did it pretty well, and I know that there is a very large audience for this sort of message. It was even clever in places, but it is not a story that I appreciate on the level it was intended to be appreciated.
1. Les Miserables
2. The Avengers
3. The Hobbit
4. Wreck it Ralph
5. The Amazing Spiderman
6. Brave
7. The Cabin in the Woods
8. Looper
9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
10. The Secret World of Arrietty
11. Argo
12. Skyfall
13. Cloud Atlas
14. The Dark Knight Rises
15. Men in Black 3
16. The Man With the Iron Fists
17. Prometheus
18. Hunger Games
19. The Lorax
20. Snow White and the Huntsman
21. Total Recall
22. Bourne Legacy
23. Mirror, Mirror
24. Life of Pi
25. Dark Shadows
26. John Carter
2. The Avengers
3. The Hobbit
4. Wreck it Ralph
5. The Amazing Spiderman
6. Brave
7. The Cabin in the Woods
8. Looper
9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
10. The Secret World of Arrietty
11. Argo
12. Skyfall
13. Cloud Atlas
14. The Dark Knight Rises
15. Men in Black 3
16. The Man With the Iron Fists
17. Prometheus
18. Hunger Games
19. The Lorax
20. Snow White and the Huntsman
21. Total Recall
22. Bourne Legacy
23. Mirror, Mirror
24. Life of Pi
25. Dark Shadows
26. John Carter
Les Miserables
I saw Les Mis.
Disclaimers: I have not read the book. I have not seen the play. I think I might have seen a film version before – maybe the ’98 one? but I’m not positive. So what I’m saying is that I don’t have the whole damn thing memorized back to front like some people I know. I can only judge the film based on its own merits.
It has rather a lot of merits. The acting was phenomenal, especially Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway. Russell Crowe was excellent as well. The singing was mostly very good. The parts I didn’t care for were parts where several people were singing at once (which is something I’ve always had a problem hearing) or where I didn’t understand the rhyme scheme.
The cinematography and staging were excellent. In fact, the only complaint I have about the whole film, other than issues with hearing words, as noted above, is that nearly all of the close-ups happen on the right side of the screen, and we were left of center.
The film is fairly religious, and it is, of course, a musical. If you can deal with those two things, go watch it. Sit to the right of center. Enjoy.
Disclaimers: I have not read the book. I have not seen the play. I think I might have seen a film version before – maybe the ’98 one? but I’m not positive. So what I’m saying is that I don’t have the whole damn thing memorized back to front like some people I know. I can only judge the film based on its own merits.
It has rather a lot of merits. The acting was phenomenal, especially Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway. Russell Crowe was excellent as well. The singing was mostly very good. The parts I didn’t care for were parts where several people were singing at once (which is something I’ve always had a problem hearing) or where I didn’t understand the rhyme scheme.
The cinematography and staging were excellent. In fact, the only complaint I have about the whole film, other than issues with hearing words, as noted above, is that nearly all of the close-ups happen on the right side of the screen, and we were left of center.
The film is fairly religious, and it is, of course, a musical. If you can deal with those two things, go watch it. Sit to the right of center. Enjoy.
1. Les Miserables
2. The Avengers
3. The Hobbit
4. Wreck it Ralph
5. The Amazing Spiderman
6. Brave
7. The Cabin in the Woods
8. Looper
9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
10. The Secret World of Arrietty
11. Argo
12. Skyfall
13. Cloud Atlas
14. The Dark Knight Rises
15. Men in Black 3
16. The Man With the Iron Fists
17. Prometheus
18. Hunger Games
19. The Lorax
20. Snow White and the Huntsman
21. Total Recall
22. Bourne Legacy
23. Mirror, Mirror
24. Dark Shadows
25. John Carter
2. The Avengers
3. The Hobbit
4. Wreck it Ralph
5. The Amazing Spiderman
6. Brave
7. The Cabin in the Woods
8. Looper
9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
10. The Secret World of Arrietty
11. Argo
12. Skyfall
13. Cloud Atlas
14. The Dark Knight Rises
15. Men in Black 3
16. The Man With the Iron Fists
17. Prometheus
18. Hunger Games
19. The Lorax
20. Snow White and the Huntsman
21. Total Recall
22. Bourne Legacy
23. Mirror, Mirror
24. Dark Shadows
25. John Carter
The Hobbit
Tonight I finally saw The Hobbit (in 2D, at 24 fps, thank you very much).
NOTE: There will be a spoiler section at the bottom of this review. Please do not comment on any of the spoilers in such a way as to reveal the spoilers. Feel free to message me if you want to talk spoilers. Scroll past it to see the current ordered list. There is plenty of warning space.
NOTE: There will be a spoiler section at the bottom of this review. Please do not comment on any of the spoilers in such a way as to reveal the spoilers. Feel free to message me if you want to talk spoilers. Scroll past it to see the current ordered list. There is plenty of warning space.
I am pleased. I tried to keep my expectations low, but I was positively giddy when the opening music started. This is not a movie without flaws, but it is an excellent movie. It stayed true enough to the book not to offend me, and I believe I understand why certain things were done the way they were, which helps. More on that below, in the spoiler section.
Things I like: the music: brilliant. The dialogue: some of it was taken verbatim from the book. The dragon, or more properly the lack of dragon: I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that there is no good shot of Smaug, which adds to the mystery and menace. Gollum: Andy Serkis is a bloody genius; I can’t say enough good things about the man and his work; he dominates the screen. The props and effects: as always, Weta brings detail, nuance, and physicality that makes the movie seem real.
Things I don’t like: much of this will be in the spoiler section below. Without spoiling anything: Jackson’s obsession with tall objects falling into each other while people are standing on them. If you thought the staircase sequence in Moria (in Fellowship) was ludicrous (and it was), be prepared for more of the same. Not once, but twice.
Deciding where to place this movie was difficult. I loved the Avengers, and there was very little wrong with it. I had some problems with the Hobbit. Not many, and not substantial ones, but still some. So while the Hobbit is a brilliant movie, and I’m going to see it again, and I highly recommend it, I’m ranking it #2.
Things I like: the music: brilliant. The dialogue: some of it was taken verbatim from the book. The dragon, or more properly the lack of dragon: I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that there is no good shot of Smaug, which adds to the mystery and menace. Gollum: Andy Serkis is a bloody genius; I can’t say enough good things about the man and his work; he dominates the screen. The props and effects: as always, Weta brings detail, nuance, and physicality that makes the movie seem real.
Things I don’t like: much of this will be in the spoiler section below. Without spoiling anything: Jackson’s obsession with tall objects falling into each other while people are standing on them. If you thought the staircase sequence in Moria (in Fellowship) was ludicrous (and it was), be prepared for more of the same. Not once, but twice.
Deciding where to place this movie was difficult. I loved the Avengers, and there was very little wrong with it. I had some problems with the Hobbit. Not many, and not substantial ones, but still some. So while the Hobbit is a brilliant movie, and I’m going to see it again, and I highly recommend it, I’m ranking it #2.
Now it’s time for the spoiler section.
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Ready? Stop reading if you don’t want spoilers. Go watch the movie, then come back and read this part. It will still be here.
Things I like, spoiler edition:
Gandalf can’t remember the names of the two blue wizards. Brilliant. I love it.
Things I don’t like, spoiler edition:
Radagast. He’s pretty much unnecessary. While I don’t object to the movie being silly in places – it’s based on a kids book, after all – Radagast was out-of-place-silly, tonally offset from the surrounding scenes. Much of his piece of the plot involves actions that were, in canon, taken by Gandalf. Gandalf is the one who probed Dol Guldur. Where, by the way, he obtained the map from Thrain. So they messed with the timeline and causality for no reason other than to include Radagast, who isn’t important anyway. Speaking of which,
Silly chase to Rivendell. The equivalent chase scene in Fellowship wasn’t great, with respect to logic and distance; this was worse. Ugh. Speaking of which,
Azog. I understand what Jackson is doing here. Smaug is a distant villain, and cannot be relied upon for tension. The events of the book are largely episodic, which again does not create tension between scenes. So Jackson dropped Azog in to create a unifying foe, and a face for the antagonists. He did the same thing with Lurtz in Fellowship. It’s not how the book goes, though, and that bothers me some. Not a lot, really, but some. Also, by the time of the Hobbit, Azog is dead. Dain killed him in a great battle outside Moria.
My last gripe is with Bilbo. I understand wanting to make him more proactive – in the book, he’s pretty passive most of the time, and that doesn’t make for a great leading man. I’m even prepared to accept handing him Gandalf’s role in outwitting the trolls. I thought that was quite well done. But having him rescue Thorin from Azog – by tackling an orc and then beating some in combat – is going a bit too far.
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Ready? Stop reading if you don’t want spoilers. Go watch the movie, then come back and read this part. It will still be here.
Things I like, spoiler edition:
Gandalf can’t remember the names of the two blue wizards. Brilliant. I love it.
Things I don’t like, spoiler edition:
Radagast. He’s pretty much unnecessary. While I don’t object to the movie being silly in places – it’s based on a kids book, after all – Radagast was out-of-place-silly, tonally offset from the surrounding scenes. Much of his piece of the plot involves actions that were, in canon, taken by Gandalf. Gandalf is the one who probed Dol Guldur. Where, by the way, he obtained the map from Thrain. So they messed with the timeline and causality for no reason other than to include Radagast, who isn’t important anyway. Speaking of which,
Silly chase to Rivendell. The equivalent chase scene in Fellowship wasn’t great, with respect to logic and distance; this was worse. Ugh. Speaking of which,
Azog. I understand what Jackson is doing here. Smaug is a distant villain, and cannot be relied upon for tension. The events of the book are largely episodic, which again does not create tension between scenes. So Jackson dropped Azog in to create a unifying foe, and a face for the antagonists. He did the same thing with Lurtz in Fellowship. It’s not how the book goes, though, and that bothers me some. Not a lot, really, but some. Also, by the time of the Hobbit, Azog is dead. Dain killed him in a great battle outside Moria.
My last gripe is with Bilbo. I understand wanting to make him more proactive – in the book, he’s pretty passive most of the time, and that doesn’t make for a great leading man. I’m even prepared to accept handing him Gandalf’s role in outwitting the trolls. I thought that was quite well done. But having him rescue Thorin from Azog – by tackling an orc and then beating some in combat – is going a bit too far.
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I saw the Hobbit again, this time in 48fps (high frame rate) 3D.
The 3D is excellent. The best I’ve seen. It’s as un-gimmicky as 3D gets – it enhances the picture rather than distracting from it.
The HFR was a non-issue for me. I forgot that that’s the version I was seeing before it started, and didn’t remember until the end, which is to say that I didn’t particularly notice a difference between it and the 24fps 2D showing I saw the first time.
The 3D is excellent. The best I’ve seen. It’s as un-gimmicky as 3D gets – it enhances the picture rather than distracting from it.
The HFR was a non-issue for me. I forgot that that’s the version I was seeing before it started, and didn’t remember until the end, which is to say that I didn’t particularly notice a difference between it and the 24fps 2D showing I saw the first time.
My opinion of the movie itself is unchanged. It’s a solid adventure film with wonderful scenery, music, cinematography, and costuming. It has some bloat, but I didn’t find it overlong or slow. It has a great chase-action sequence, and one truly fabulous, brilliant scene for which I can dream that Andy Serkis will get a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
1. The Avengers
2. The Hobbit
3. Wreck it Ralph
4. The Amazing Spiderman
5. Brave
6. The Cabin in the Woods
7. Looper
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
9. The Secret World of Arrietty
10. Argo
11. Skyfall
12. Cloud Atlas
13. The Dark Knight Rises
14. Men in Black 3
15. The Man With the Iron Fists
16. Prometheus
17. Hunger Games
18. The Lorax
19. Snow White and the Huntsman
20. Total Recall
21. Bourne Legacy
22. Mirror, Mirror
23. John Carter
Wreck It Ralph
Wreck It Ralph
Yay! Fantastic movie!
The short film that preceded the main feature was completely adorable, and admirably set the stage for one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.
Now, I’m a sucker for video games, especially retro games – the style of the arcade elements of Wreck It Ralph reminds me strongly of Rampage, which was one of my favorite arcade games when I was a kid. I’m also a sucker for Pixar films, and while this is not actually a Pixar film, it might as well be.
The film does a beautiful job of interweaving the 8-bit graphics of the arcade with modern animation and knitting them into a coherent and believable hidden world. The interaction of the hidden world with the (still animated) real world is also extraordinarily well done. In short, great setting.
Add to that a solid story – who can’t relate to someone who is tired of doing the same thing day after day, and wants to be appreciated? – and good acting, and you get a great movie. It’s still a kid’s movie, so there are a number of juvenile elements (including an extended sequence of poop jokes), but as with most of the Pixar films, the movie is eminently accessible to adults as well.
That’s about all I can say without diving into plot, except this: find time for this movie. Bring a friend to laugh with. Remember it’s a kid’s movie, and plan accordingly for the presence of kids (the kids in my showing were very well-behaved; yay!).
1. The Avengers
2. Wreck it Ralph
3. The Amazing Spiderman
4. Brave
5. The Cabin in the Woods
6. Looper
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
8. The Secret World of Arrietty
9. Argo
10. Skyfall
11. Cloud Atlas
12. The Dark Knight Rises
13. Men in Black 3
14. The Man With the Iron Fists
15. Prometheus
16. Hunger Games
17. The Lorax
18. Snow White and the Huntsman
19. Total Recall
20. Bourne Legacy
21. Mirror, Mirror
22. John Carter
Yay! Fantastic movie!
The short film that preceded the main feature was completely adorable, and admirably set the stage for one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.
Now, I’m a sucker for video games, especially retro games – the style of the arcade elements of Wreck It Ralph reminds me strongly of Rampage, which was one of my favorite arcade games when I was a kid. I’m also a sucker for Pixar films, and while this is not actually a Pixar film, it might as well be.
The film does a beautiful job of interweaving the 8-bit graphics of the arcade with modern animation and knitting them into a coherent and believable hidden world. The interaction of the hidden world with the (still animated) real world is also extraordinarily well done. In short, great setting.
Add to that a solid story – who can’t relate to someone who is tired of doing the same thing day after day, and wants to be appreciated? – and good acting, and you get a great movie. It’s still a kid’s movie, so there are a number of juvenile elements (including an extended sequence of poop jokes), but as with most of the Pixar films, the movie is eminently accessible to adults as well.
That’s about all I can say without diving into plot, except this: find time for this movie. Bring a friend to laugh with. Remember it’s a kid’s movie, and plan accordingly for the presence of kids (the kids in my showing were very well-behaved; yay!).
1. The Avengers
2. Wreck it Ralph
3. The Amazing Spiderman
4. Brave
5. The Cabin in the Woods
6. Looper
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
8. The Secret World of Arrietty
9. Argo
10. Skyfall
11. Cloud Atlas
12. The Dark Knight Rises
13. Men in Black 3
14. The Man With the Iron Fists
15. Prometheus
16. Hunger Games
17. The Lorax
18. Snow White and the Huntsman
19. Total Recall
20. Bourne Legacy
21. Mirror, Mirror
22. John Carter
The Man With the Iron Fists
The Man With the Iron Fists.
This movie was pretty much exactly what I expected. It’s a Chinese martial arts film directed by and starring RZA, and promoted by Quentin Tarantino. So it’s hyper-violent with lots of wire-fu, blood, and cheesy action.
And I liked it. It’s not strictly speaking a good movie, but I like Chinese action films in general, and I appreciate a movie that embraces what it is.
There’s no point writing a long review of this – go watch the trailer if you think you might be interested. If you still are, go watch it. If not, there are lots of other movies to watch.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
8. Argo
9. Skyfall
10. Cloud Atlas
11. The Dark Knight Rises
12. Men in Black 3
13. The Man With the Iron Fists
14. Prometheus
15. Hunger Games
16. The Lorax
17. Snow White and the Huntsman
18. Total Recall
19. Bourne Legacy
20. Mirror, Mirror
21. John Carter
This movie was pretty much exactly what I expected. It’s a Chinese martial arts film directed by and starring RZA, and promoted by Quentin Tarantino. So it’s hyper-violent with lots of wire-fu, blood, and cheesy action.
And I liked it. It’s not strictly speaking a good movie, but I like Chinese action films in general, and I appreciate a movie that embraces what it is.
There’s no point writing a long review of this – go watch the trailer if you think you might be interested. If you still are, go watch it. If not, there are lots of other movies to watch.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
8. Argo
9. Skyfall
10. Cloud Atlas
11. The Dark Knight Rises
12. Men in Black 3
13. The Man With the Iron Fists
14. Prometheus
15. Hunger Games
16. The Lorax
17. Snow White and the Huntsman
18. Total Recall
19. Bourne Legacy
20. Mirror, Mirror
21. John Carter
Skyfall
Skyfall
Bond review, the quick version. This is not a great movie. The pacing was slow. Like the director decided it needed to be stately, so he made oddly long scenes. They began a few seconds early, and lasted a few seconds too long.
Also, all of the bits relating to computers were laughably bad. Painfully bad. Atrociously bad.
The action scenes were generally good. The sort of contrived, large set pieces we expect from Bond.
Mostly what bothered me was the plot. The new set of Bond movies was supposed to modernize the franchise, but this one spends a lot of time talking about the past, and navel-gazing.
Still, it was Bond, and it was entertaining.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
Bond review, the quick version. This is not a great movie. The pacing was slow. Like the director decided it needed to be stately, so he made oddly long scenes. They began a few seconds early, and lasted a few seconds too long.
Also, all of the bits relating to computers were laughably bad. Painfully bad. Atrociously bad.
The action scenes were generally good. The sort of contrived, large set pieces we expect from Bond.
Mostly what bothered me was the plot. The new set of Bond movies was supposed to modernize the franchise, but this one spends a lot of time talking about the past, and navel-gazing.
Still, it was Bond, and it was entertaining.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
8. Argo
9. Skyfall
10. Cloud Atlas
11. The Dark Knight Rises
12. Men in Black 3
13. Prometheus
14. Hunger Games
15. The Lorax
16. Snow White and the Huntsman
17. Total Recall
18. Bourne Legacy
19. Mirror, Mirror
20. John Carter
11. The Dark Knight Rises
12. Men in Black 3
13. Prometheus
14. Hunger Games
15. The Lorax
16. Snow White and the Huntsman
17. Total Recall
18. Bourne Legacy
19. Mirror, Mirror
20. John Carter
Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas
This is a monster of a movie – long, convoluted, and beautiful. It’s almost three hours long, and takes place in six different time settings with mostly the same actors in different but theoretically related roles.
I’m good at following complicated narratives, and I’m a sci-fi fan who is accustomed to multi-part story lines of this sort. I was in a good mood and paying attention. The theater was quiet, and most of the dialogue was understandable (not all of it, sadly). So when I say that this movie didn’t make a lot of sense, I think I’m on pretty solid ground.
My best guess at the plot is maybe they were trying to say something about the inherent fallacies involved in the subjugation of one group of people by another on the basis of some presumed innate superiority. Not all the timelines include this theme, however. There was also a lot of talk about love and destiny. Maybe the movie would have made more sense if I was a fruity new age believer in past lives – but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t. I strongly suspect that the only way this movie would actually be understandable was if I’d read the book. Which I haven’t.
That said, I still enjoyed this movie. It was engaging, entertaining, gorgeous, and at times brutal and heartwrenching. So much so that I’m not overly disappointed that it never really came together into a cohesive plot.
I should note that this movie stars two of my least favorite actors, but I’m reasonably sure that my bias in that regard did not much affect my enjoyment or understanding of the film.
If nothing else, this movie absolutely will be nominated for best makeup. Some really, really great work (and also some not-great work, but only in a couple places).
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
This is a monster of a movie – long, convoluted, and beautiful. It’s almost three hours long, and takes place in six different time settings with mostly the same actors in different but theoretically related roles.
I’m good at following complicated narratives, and I’m a sci-fi fan who is accustomed to multi-part story lines of this sort. I was in a good mood and paying attention. The theater was quiet, and most of the dialogue was understandable (not all of it, sadly). So when I say that this movie didn’t make a lot of sense, I think I’m on pretty solid ground.
My best guess at the plot is maybe they were trying to say something about the inherent fallacies involved in the subjugation of one group of people by another on the basis of some presumed innate superiority. Not all the timelines include this theme, however. There was also a lot of talk about love and destiny. Maybe the movie would have made more sense if I was a fruity new age believer in past lives – but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t. I strongly suspect that the only way this movie would actually be understandable was if I’d read the book. Which I haven’t.
That said, I still enjoyed this movie. It was engaging, entertaining, gorgeous, and at times brutal and heartwrenching. So much so that I’m not overly disappointed that it never really came together into a cohesive plot.
I should note that this movie stars two of my least favorite actors, but I’m reasonably sure that my bias in that regard did not much affect my enjoyment or understanding of the film.
If nothing else, this movie absolutely will be nominated for best makeup. Some really, really great work (and also some not-great work, but only in a couple places).
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
8. Argo
9. Cloud Atlas
10. The Dark Knight Rises
11. Men in Black 3
12. Prometheus
13. Hunger Games
14. The Lorax
15. Snow White and the Huntsman
16. Total Recall
17. Bourne Legacy
18. Mirror, Mirror
19. John Carter
10. The Dark Knight Rises
11. Men in Black 3
12. Prometheus
13. Hunger Games
14. The Lorax
15. Snow White and the Huntsman
16. Total Recall
17. Bourne Legacy
18. Mirror, Mirror
19. John Carter
Argo
Argo
Some movies entertain, some educate; this one does both – sort of. This is a good movie: tense, gripping, well acted. It covers a very important part of recent history, one which has direct bearing on the current state of American international affairs. It also deliberately misrepresents some of these events.
I’m not particularly complaining, actually. I expect that any movie “based on a true story” will be modified to make a better movie. I am somewhat concerned that the vast majority of moviegoers will not have that expectation. Nor are they likely to immediately go home and read the Wikipedia articles on the Canadian Caper and the Iranian Hostage Crisis.
The movie was entertaining. The Wikipedia articles describe actual events. There is a reasonable amount of overlap between the two.
If you’re looking for a quality thriller, this is one. It ranks as low as it does because I can’t quite get over historical inaccuracies, and because key parts of the ending were forced.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
Some movies entertain, some educate; this one does both – sort of. This is a good movie: tense, gripping, well acted. It covers a very important part of recent history, one which has direct bearing on the current state of American international affairs. It also deliberately misrepresents some of these events.
I’m not particularly complaining, actually. I expect that any movie “based on a true story” will be modified to make a better movie. I am somewhat concerned that the vast majority of moviegoers will not have that expectation. Nor are they likely to immediately go home and read the Wikipedia articles on the Canadian Caper and the Iranian Hostage Crisis.
The movie was entertaining. The Wikipedia articles describe actual events. There is a reasonable amount of overlap between the two.
If you’re looking for a quality thriller, this is one. It ranks as low as it does because I can’t quite get over historical inaccuracies, and because key parts of the ending were forced.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
8. Argo
9. The Dark Knight Rises
10. Men in Black 3
11. Prometheus
12. Hunger Games
13. The Lorax
14. Snow White and the Huntsman
15. Total Recall
16. Bourne Legacy
17. Mirror, Mirror
18. John Carter
9. The Dark Knight Rises
10. Men in Black 3
11. Prometheus
12. Hunger Games
13. The Lorax
14. Snow White and the Huntsman
15. Total Recall
16. Bourne Legacy
17. Mirror, Mirror
18. John Carter
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Disclaimers: I am not familiar with the book on which the movie is based. I went to this movie only because it co-stars Emma Watson.
This is not the kind of movie I normally go to see, which makes it difficult to rank on my list. This is a high school misfit-coming-of-age-story. This is not a romantic comedy, though. While there are certainly funny, lighthearted portions, the movie also has dark parts – much darker than I was expecting.
This is a movie with heart, which does not pull punches, and which is impeccably written and acted. In short, this is a very good movie. And as a bonus, Emma Watson is hot.
I had some difficulty relating to it, though, both because high school was half my life ago and because my high school social experience was not similar to that in the movie. So my recommendation comes with a caveat: it was intended for a younger audience than me.
Still, very good movie, and I give the filmmakers major props for not shying away from the brutal parts.
Re-reading my review (not one of my best, sorry), I feel the need to add that the movie is not depressing. Its message is “it gets better.”
Trigger warning for child abuse/rape.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
Disclaimers: I am not familiar with the book on which the movie is based. I went to this movie only because it co-stars Emma Watson.
This is not the kind of movie I normally go to see, which makes it difficult to rank on my list. This is a high school misfit-coming-of-age-story. This is not a romantic comedy, though. While there are certainly funny, lighthearted portions, the movie also has dark parts – much darker than I was expecting.
This is a movie with heart, which does not pull punches, and which is impeccably written and acted. In short, this is a very good movie. And as a bonus, Emma Watson is hot.
I had some difficulty relating to it, though, both because high school was half my life ago and because my high school social experience was not similar to that in the movie. So my recommendation comes with a caveat: it was intended for a younger audience than me.
Still, very good movie, and I give the filmmakers major props for not shying away from the brutal parts.
Re-reading my review (not one of my best, sorry), I feel the need to add that the movie is not depressing. Its message is “it gets better.”
Trigger warning for child abuse/rape.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
8. The Dark Knight Rises
9. Men in Black 3
10. Prometheus
11. Hunger Games
12. The Lorax
13. Snow White and the Huntsman
14. Total Recall
15. Bourne Legacy
16. Mirror, Mirror
17. John Carter
7. The Secret World of Arrietty
8. The Dark Knight Rises
9. Men in Black 3
10. Prometheus
11. Hunger Games
12. The Lorax
13. Snow White and the Huntsman
14. Total Recall
15. Bourne Legacy
16. Mirror, Mirror
17. John Carter
Looper
Looper.
I was not planning to see this movie. I watched the trailer and said “Blah, time travel movies usually suck.” Then Sherief said it was one of the best movies he’s seen this year, and I reconsidered.
This is a good movie. This is a very good movie. This is not quite the movie that the trailer makes it out to be. It’s about the title character struggling with the presence of his future self, yes, but there’s a whole other plotline that isn’t directly referenced in the trailer, and about which I can say very little without spoilers.
So instead of going there, I’ll say that this is a movie with excellent emotional grounding. You can watch a tentpole action movie for the bangs and crashes without caring overly much about the characters or the ramifications of their actions. A movie like this will still deliver the gun fights and the chases, but it will also make you cringe, and make you ache. The Hunger Games movie chickened out (to an extent) on displaying the brutality of the book. This movie never chickens out, never pulls punches. I admire the filmmakers for taking the story and really going for it.
That said, this movie come in at number 5 on the year for me, just under Cabin in the Woods. Why? Integrity. It’s hard to do time travel in a way that makes sense. That is, after all, why I was planning on skipping this movie. And while it is absolutely worth seeing, I can’t help being annoyed that they didn’t quite get the logic all the way right. They provided a framework for how the rules of time travel work, but the frame doesn’t hold together under close examination.
This would ruin the movie except that the filmmakers and actors have done such a good job with the characters, and have otherwise executed so well.
So: if you can suspend disbelief and resist nitpicking too hard, and are in the mood for a very R-rated action sci-fi thriller, you could do a whole heck of a lot worse than Looper.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
I was not planning to see this movie. I watched the trailer and said “Blah, time travel movies usually suck.” Then Sherief said it was one of the best movies he’s seen this year, and I reconsidered.
This is a good movie. This is a very good movie. This is not quite the movie that the trailer makes it out to be. It’s about the title character struggling with the presence of his future self, yes, but there’s a whole other plotline that isn’t directly referenced in the trailer, and about which I can say very little without spoilers.
So instead of going there, I’ll say that this is a movie with excellent emotional grounding. You can watch a tentpole action movie for the bangs and crashes without caring overly much about the characters or the ramifications of their actions. A movie like this will still deliver the gun fights and the chases, but it will also make you cringe, and make you ache. The Hunger Games movie chickened out (to an extent) on displaying the brutality of the book. This movie never chickens out, never pulls punches. I admire the filmmakers for taking the story and really going for it.
That said, this movie come in at number 5 on the year for me, just under Cabin in the Woods. Why? Integrity. It’s hard to do time travel in a way that makes sense. That is, after all, why I was planning on skipping this movie. And while it is absolutely worth seeing, I can’t help being annoyed that they didn’t quite get the logic all the way right. They provided a framework for how the rules of time travel work, but the frame doesn’t hold together under close examination.
This would ruin the movie except that the filmmakers and actors have done such a good job with the characters, and have otherwise executed so well.
So: if you can suspend disbelief and resist nitpicking too hard, and are in the mood for a very R-rated action sci-fi thriller, you could do a whole heck of a lot worse than Looper.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. Looper
6. The Secret World of Arrietty
7. The Dark Knight Rises
8. Men in Black 3
9. Prometheus
10. Hunger Games
11. The Lorax
12. Snow White and the Huntsman
13. Total Recall
14. Bourne Legacy
15. Mirror, Mirror
16. John Carter
6. The Secret World of Arrietty
7. The Dark Knight Rises
8. Men in Black 3
9. Prometheus
10. Hunger Games
11. The Lorax
12. Snow White and the Huntsman
13. Total Recall
14. Bourne Legacy
15. Mirror, Mirror
16. John Carter
Bourne Legacy
Bourne Legacy.
As an action movie, this was pretty good. It took a while to get going, and even then was slow in places, but when the action happened, it was good action. Fights, chases on foot, chases on the road, and only a couple points where I absolutely don’t believe you can do that on a motorcycle.
As a spy movie, again, this was pretty good. It took a while for all the pieces to fall into place, but I always expected that they would and had ideas about where it was going, unlike the Dark Knight, which was obtuse for the sake of being obtuse. I’m not convinced that the central motivation of the villains actually made sense, but I can shrug and buy it.
This was not a spectacular movie, though, only a serviceable one. The first Bourne film was a revelation, a return to the smart, taut spy thriller that the Bond franchise wasn’t. The Bond franchise has picked up, though, while Bourne keeps on the same track. It’s not a bad track, necessarily,
but neither is it particularly memorable.
Also, shaky cam is annoying. It wasn’t as bad as I remember the second one being, but the directive of the film seems to have been “keep that camera zoomed as far in as you possibly can, no matter what!”
The good news is that the franchise doesn’t suffer in the switch from Jason Bourne to the new guy. The bad news is that the film isn’t even memorable enough for me to remember the new guy’s name.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. The Dark Knight Rises
7. Men in Black 3
8. Prometheus
9. Hunger Games
10. The Lorax
11. Snow White and the Huntsman
12. Total Recall
As an action movie, this was pretty good. It took a while to get going, and even then was slow in places, but when the action happened, it was good action. Fights, chases on foot, chases on the road, and only a couple points where I absolutely don’t believe you can do that on a motorcycle.
As a spy movie, again, this was pretty good. It took a while for all the pieces to fall into place, but I always expected that they would and had ideas about where it was going, unlike the Dark Knight, which was obtuse for the sake of being obtuse. I’m not convinced that the central motivation of the villains actually made sense, but I can shrug and buy it.
This was not a spectacular movie, though, only a serviceable one. The first Bourne film was a revelation, a return to the smart, taut spy thriller that the Bond franchise wasn’t. The Bond franchise has picked up, though, while Bourne keeps on the same track. It’s not a bad track, necessarily,
but neither is it particularly memorable.
Also, shaky cam is annoying. It wasn’t as bad as I remember the second one being, but the directive of the film seems to have been “keep that camera zoomed as far in as you possibly can, no matter what!”
The good news is that the franchise doesn’t suffer in the switch from Jason Bourne to the new guy. The bad news is that the film isn’t even memorable enough for me to remember the new guy’s name.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. The Dark Knight Rises
7. Men in Black 3
8. Prometheus
9. Hunger Games
10. The Lorax
11. Snow White and the Huntsman
12. Total Recall
13. Bourne Legacy
14. Mirror, Mirror
15. John Carter
14. Mirror, Mirror
15. John Carter
Total Recall
Total Recall – First things first: this is not, strictly speaking, a remake. Both this movie and the previous one of the same name are loosely based on a short story by Philip K Dick. The credits for this one say “inspired by.”
So, I won’t compare this at all to the other, except to say that the three-breasted girl was better looking in this one.
This film was somewhat disappointing. Most of the best action sequences were in the trailer. It dragged oddly at the beginning – I suppose that was to establish the setting and characters, but it felt slower than it needed to be. The action sequences themselves, while generally well done, lacked excitement in places, and tended to be overly long: we’re having a car chase, great, this is fun; and, we’re still having a car chase; yep, still chasing; ooh, action, that was cool; still chasing… The effects were very nice, though.
The movie did have flashes of promise. There were a few great lines, and there were times when I felt like the filmmakers were ready to make a grand statement about the nature of humanity and how we fit into the world – but they didn’t. They created a setting that could have been – should have been – compelling, thought provoking, challenging. Then, instead of using that setting to its potential, they made a pretty good action film instead.
This film isn’t Blade Runner. It’s not A Scanner Darkly. It’s closer to Minority Report, but they did better than this. I think it’s what happens when you handle Philip K Dick limply, without the resolve to take the ideas along with the trappings and use them to make a mark on the world. This film will not leave a mark.
Footnote: I had to re-read my review of Snow White and the Hunstman in order to rank this movie, and was reminded of another thing I didn’t like about Total Recall: the heavy breathing. Honestly, I know that you need to show that your characters are working hard, and in danger, but there’s a limit to how many closeups of characters breathing heavily that I can handle.
Postscript: believe it or not, I still enjoyed this movie. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t a waste of time.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. The Dark Knight Rises
7. Men in Black 3
8. Prometheus
9. Hunger Games
10. The Lorax
11. Snow White and the Huntsman
12. Total Recall
13. Mirror, Mirror
14. John Carter
So, I won’t compare this at all to the other, except to say that the three-breasted girl was better looking in this one.
This film was somewhat disappointing. Most of the best action sequences were in the trailer. It dragged oddly at the beginning – I suppose that was to establish the setting and characters, but it felt slower than it needed to be. The action sequences themselves, while generally well done, lacked excitement in places, and tended to be overly long: we’re having a car chase, great, this is fun; and, we’re still having a car chase; yep, still chasing; ooh, action, that was cool; still chasing… The effects were very nice, though.
The movie did have flashes of promise. There were a few great lines, and there were times when I felt like the filmmakers were ready to make a grand statement about the nature of humanity and how we fit into the world – but they didn’t. They created a setting that could have been – should have been – compelling, thought provoking, challenging. Then, instead of using that setting to its potential, they made a pretty good action film instead.
This film isn’t Blade Runner. It’s not A Scanner Darkly. It’s closer to Minority Report, but they did better than this. I think it’s what happens when you handle Philip K Dick limply, without the resolve to take the ideas along with the trappings and use them to make a mark on the world. This film will not leave a mark.
Footnote: I had to re-read my review of Snow White and the Hunstman in order to rank this movie, and was reminded of another thing I didn’t like about Total Recall: the heavy breathing. Honestly, I know that you need to show that your characters are working hard, and in danger, but there’s a limit to how many closeups of characters breathing heavily that I can handle.
Postscript: believe it or not, I still enjoyed this movie. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t a waste of time.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. The Dark Knight Rises
7. Men in Black 3
8. Prometheus
9. Hunger Games
10. The Lorax
11. Snow White and the Huntsman
12. Total Recall
13. Mirror, Mirror
14. John Carter
The Dark Knight Rises
Dark Knight Rises. This is a long film, and a difficult one to review. It’s a must-see for anyone who has seen the first two, which should be roughly everyone.
Its ending is brilliant, among the best I’ve seen in terms of wrapping up, delivering on promises made to the audience, and teasing more. Really good stuff, there.
Anne Hathaway as Catwoman is wonderful. Great character, great performance.
As a movie, though… it has some problems. Nolan spends a fair amount of time establishing that Bane is a badass, and a bad guy, without giving us any idea of what he wants or why we care. His plan is eventually revealed, but an hour is a long time to wait for a clue as to what the plot might be. At no point, until the very end, is Bane actually an interesting character.
The dialogue is frequently hard to hear. Part of this is Bane’s machine-filtered voice and lack of lips to read. Part of it is a failure of the sound editors to get the balance right. Which is weird, because on the whole, the sound was brilliantly executed.
The fight scenes, at least the ones involving hand-to-hand combat, were boring, and frequently illogical. When Batman jumps into the middle of a group of men with guns, no one pulls the trigger? Some scenes looked like old Hong Kong action films, where the bad guys line up to come in one at a time, patiently waiting out of range for their turn to come.
Bruce Wayne’s character arc was more or less uninteresting until very far into the movie. The best character arc wasn’t even his – it was Catwoman’s.
That’s a lot of negative things. There were good things as well. The acting was superb, as were the sets and the effects. The vehicular combat scenes were easily as good as the hand-to-hand ones were bad. The overall plot was actually quite decent, once they got around to actually telling us what it was. And the ending, the ending was brilliant. A fitting conclusion to the trilogy as a whole. And it’s Batman. And Christopher Nolan. The thing has style, and cool.
It’s possible that I would feel differently about the ranking I’m giving it were I to see it again, with more rest and with foreknowledge of the plot. I’m not going to see it again (in the theater), though. I had to see it, to see it through, and I’m glad I did. It’s a good movie, flaws and all. Go see it.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. The Dark Knight Rises
7. Men in Black 3
8. Prometheus
9. Hunger Games
10. The Lorax
11. Snow White and the Huntsman
12. Mirror, Mirror
13. John Carter
Its ending is brilliant, among the best I’ve seen in terms of wrapping up, delivering on promises made to the audience, and teasing more. Really good stuff, there.
Anne Hathaway as Catwoman is wonderful. Great character, great performance.
As a movie, though… it has some problems. Nolan spends a fair amount of time establishing that Bane is a badass, and a bad guy, without giving us any idea of what he wants or why we care. His plan is eventually revealed, but an hour is a long time to wait for a clue as to what the plot might be. At no point, until the very end, is Bane actually an interesting character.
The dialogue is frequently hard to hear. Part of this is Bane’s machine-filtered voice and lack of lips to read. Part of it is a failure of the sound editors to get the balance right. Which is weird, because on the whole, the sound was brilliantly executed.
The fight scenes, at least the ones involving hand-to-hand combat, were boring, and frequently illogical. When Batman jumps into the middle of a group of men with guns, no one pulls the trigger? Some scenes looked like old Hong Kong action films, where the bad guys line up to come in one at a time, patiently waiting out of range for their turn to come.
Bruce Wayne’s character arc was more or less uninteresting until very far into the movie. The best character arc wasn’t even his – it was Catwoman’s.
That’s a lot of negative things. There were good things as well. The acting was superb, as were the sets and the effects. The vehicular combat scenes were easily as good as the hand-to-hand ones were bad. The overall plot was actually quite decent, once they got around to actually telling us what it was. And the ending, the ending was brilliant. A fitting conclusion to the trilogy as a whole. And it’s Batman. And Christopher Nolan. The thing has style, and cool.
It’s possible that I would feel differently about the ranking I’m giving it were I to see it again, with more rest and with foreknowledge of the plot. I’m not going to see it again (in the theater), though. I had to see it, to see it through, and I’m glad I did. It’s a good movie, flaws and all. Go see it.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. The Dark Knight Rises
7. Men in Black 3
8. Prometheus
9. Hunger Games
10. The Lorax
11. Snow White and the Huntsman
12. Mirror, Mirror
13. John Carter
The Amazing Spiderman
Amazing Spiderman is amazing. I was tempted to leave the review there, because the tautological meme amuses me. But no, I’ll write an actual review, inasmuch as any of my reviews are actual.
This is an excellent movie. Easily better than anything in the previous franchise. It’s not my new number one only because the Avengers was a broader and (frankly) happier film, which equates to “more fun” in my mind. As a reminder, these rankings are my purely subjective ordering of enjoyment, not an absolute statement of quality.
Good things about Amazing Spiderman, in no particular order: acting, dialogue, plot, sets, effects, thematic trueness to the essence of Spiderman.
Bad things about Amazing Spiderman: the lead actor’s affect might be annoying to some people. It didn’t quite grate on me, but it was right at the edge of overacting; the effects, despite being good, were sometimes more obviously CGI than I would like.
Special award: a character who could have been boringly one dimensional like so many others of his (stereo)type surprised me by being smart, reasonable, and flexible in addition to practical, serious, and tough.
Extra special award: the director’s name is Webb.
Oh: there is, as usual, a teaser in the credits, but they don’t make you wait all the way to the end for it. Nice of them.
In Sum: This movie is in turns moving, insightful, suspenseful, action-packed, funny, and (rarely) cheesy. It captures Spiderman perfectly, never feels like a retread of the previous franchise, and deserves sequels of its own. And, importantly, it has humanity. Of all Marvel’s heroes, Spidey may be the most human, with the most human of problems. His story is not about aliens, or the fate of the human race, or the struggle of one group against another – Spiderman is more personal than that, and the writers of this movie understood that. Good for them.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. Men in Black 3
7. Prometheus
8. Hunger Games
9. The Lorax
10. Snow White and the Huntsman
11. Mirror, Mirror
12. John Carter
This is an excellent movie. Easily better than anything in the previous franchise. It’s not my new number one only because the Avengers was a broader and (frankly) happier film, which equates to “more fun” in my mind. As a reminder, these rankings are my purely subjective ordering of enjoyment, not an absolute statement of quality.
Good things about Amazing Spiderman, in no particular order: acting, dialogue, plot, sets, effects, thematic trueness to the essence of Spiderman.
Bad things about Amazing Spiderman: the lead actor’s affect might be annoying to some people. It didn’t quite grate on me, but it was right at the edge of overacting; the effects, despite being good, were sometimes more obviously CGI than I would like.
Special award: a character who could have been boringly one dimensional like so many others of his (stereo)type surprised me by being smart, reasonable, and flexible in addition to practical, serious, and tough.
Extra special award: the director’s name is Webb.
Oh: there is, as usual, a teaser in the credits, but they don’t make you wait all the way to the end for it. Nice of them.
In Sum: This movie is in turns moving, insightful, suspenseful, action-packed, funny, and (rarely) cheesy. It captures Spiderman perfectly, never feels like a retread of the previous franchise, and deserves sequels of its own. And, importantly, it has humanity. Of all Marvel’s heroes, Spidey may be the most human, with the most human of problems. His story is not about aliens, or the fate of the human race, or the struggle of one group against another – Spiderman is more personal than that, and the writers of this movie understood that. Good for them.
1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Brave
4. The Cabin in the Woods
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. Men in Black 3
7. Prometheus
8. Hunger Games
9. The Lorax
10. Snow White and the Huntsman
11. Mirror, Mirror
12. John Carter
Brave
Brave: Beautiful, fun, charming, Disney/Pixar. I have some quibbles with minor logic points, but overall a very good movie. Excellent 3D, as well.
I liked the story. It didn’t go the direction I thought it was going to, which is kinda refreshing. It is predictably Disney in places, but I’m okay with that. It’s fundamentally a coming-of-age story, as many Disney movies are, and as usual, it’s done well.
This movie isn’t my favorite of the year in part because I’m not totally on board with the central message of the film. I’m somewhat more pessimistic than the filmmakers on the subject of fate (and I’m not spoiling anything there – the trailer mentions fate).
This might be my worst review ever, but I’m tired. Deal with it.
I liked the story. It didn’t go the direction I thought it was going to, which is kinda refreshing. It is predictably Disney in places, but I’m okay with that. It’s fundamentally a coming-of-age story, as many Disney movies are, and as usual, it’s done well.
This movie isn’t my favorite of the year in part because I’m not totally on board with the central message of the film. I’m somewhat more pessimistic than the filmmakers on the subject of fate (and I’m not spoiling anything there – the trailer mentions fate).
This might be my worst review ever, but I’m tired. Deal with it.
ed note: Clearly not my worst review. Refer to The Green Hornet, below
2. Brave
3. The Cabin in the Woods
4. The Secret World of Arrietty
5. Men in Black 3
6. Prometheus
7. Hunger Games
8. The Lorax
9. Snow White and the Huntsman
10. Mirror, Mirror
11. John Carter
Men in Black 3
Men in Black 3
If you liked the first two, you should like this one. Action, comedy, wacky gadgets, Will Smith being snarky and talking too much, Tommy Lee Jones being gruff and deadpan, ridiculous word-ending plot – it has all those things. Plus it has Josh Brolin channeling Tommy Lee Jones, and a quite endearing macguffin.
It’s silly fun, enthusiastically so. I liked it.
If you liked the first two, you should like this one. Action, comedy, wacky gadgets, Will Smith being snarky and talking too much, Tommy Lee Jones being gruff and deadpan, ridiculous word-ending plot – it has all those things. Plus it has Josh Brolin channeling Tommy Lee Jones, and a quite endearing macguffin.
It’s silly fun, enthusiastically so. I liked it.
On a related note, after a night’s reflection I decided to re-grade Prometheus to #4. MIB3 then replaces it as my new #4 partially on the basis of having a better plot (/snark).
Note that the line below which I no longer recommend a movie is currently after Mirror, Mirror. It’s been a pretty good year so far.
Note that the line below which I no longer recommend a movie is currently after Mirror, Mirror. It’s been a pretty good year so far.
1. The Avengers
2. The Cabin in the Woods
3. The Secret World of Arrietty
4. Men in Black 3
5. Prometheus
6. Hunger Games
7. The Lorax
8. Snow White and the Huntsman
9. Mirror, Mirror
10. John Carter
2. The Cabin in the Woods
3. The Secret World of Arrietty
4. Men in Black 3
5. Prometheus
6. Hunger Games
7. The Lorax
8. Snow White and the Huntsman
9. Mirror, Mirror
10. John Carter
Prometheus
Prometheus.
Difficult to know what to say about this. I’ve seen the other two Alien movies (and Alien 3, but that doesn’t count). It’s been a while, though, and I was never a devotee. I appreciate that they are very good movies, but I don’t believe I watched either more than once. I am also not a horror fan.
I liked this movie very much. Not everyone in the theater did, though, and it’s difficult for me to say why. Were they hard-core Alien fans who were disappointed? I overheard one person after the show complaining about a creature design decision. Another person complained that the plot was not original. And honestly, the plot is not substantially different from The Cabin in the Woods, but with better sets and production values.
And oh, the sets and production values. This is a gorgeous movie. Spectacular. Sumptuously sci-fi even when using aerial shots of Iceland. The acting, also, is superb, particularly Michael Fassbender.
From where I sat, the plot and dialogue were perfectly fine; what they might have lacked in actual originality was made up for in Alien-ness.
I would be less reservedly enthusiastic if I had not heard complaints, I suppose. And certainly if you’re squeamish you should stay the heck away from this movie. But this is my number three for the year so far, which isn’t bad at all.
TLDR: beautiful, well acted, wonderful atmosphere, icky in places.
I liked this movie very much. Not everyone in the theater did, though, and it’s difficult for me to say why. Were they hard-core Alien fans who were disappointed? I overheard one person after the show complaining about a creature design decision. Another person complained that the plot was not original. And honestly, the plot is not substantially different from The Cabin in the Woods, but with better sets and production values.
And oh, the sets and production values. This is a gorgeous movie. Spectacular. Sumptuously sci-fi even when using aerial shots of Iceland. The acting, also, is superb, particularly Michael Fassbender.
From where I sat, the plot and dialogue were perfectly fine; what they might have lacked in actual originality was made up for in Alien-ness.
I would be less reservedly enthusiastic if I had not heard complaints, I suppose. And certainly if you’re squeamish you should stay the heck away from this movie. But this is my number three for the year so far, which isn’t bad at all.
TLDR: beautiful, well acted, wonderful atmosphere, icky in places.
1. The Avengers
2. The Cabin in the Woods
3. Prometheus
4. The Secret World of Arrietty
5. Hunger Games
6. The Lorax
7. Snow White and the Huntsman
8. Mirror, Mirror
9. John Carter
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