Friday was a day filled with many movies. Three movies, to be exact. All three were enjoyable, but only one was good.
District 9 is good. It is very good. I need to see it again before I call it great. Because it was not quite the film I expected. I'm not sure what I expected, but...
Whatever. This film offers up so much. It is several films in one. It's a mockumentary, an action film, a sci fi flick, a buddy pick, a horror film, and on and on and on. And it does all of this stuff well. Mayhap I or you may have wanted more of one than the film provided, but that is more our problem than the film's.
Plus there's a fair bit of black comedy and social commentary. This film does so much, it is really quite impressive. As are the effects. This whole film is handheld, with a loose, rough look and feel. And the effects are seamless. Blows GI Joe out of the water.
As does the acting. The lead is just great, he is asked to do a lot and he does it all. And does it well. Compare how he starts off the film, to how he ends up. That's a hell of an ark. Hell, that's several arks. And he is not always likable, he doesn't always do the right thing.
I want to write more, I want to talk about all kinds of little details, but I won't. Because I know there will be no end of opportunities to do so. This is a film that people will talk about. Not just for the effects or what no, but for the strange places the story goes to, the ideas underneath it all.
The idea underneath The Wicker Man, is creepy. I can see it working as a great suspense film. I hear tell the original is just such a beast. But the Nic Cage remake is not. Not at all. It is funny though.
The last half the film is just crazy silly. The problem is that you have to get through the first half of the film. Which is remarkable only in how poorly it sets the mood. It tries for dread but only ends up with odd. There all sorts of choices made here that I do not understand. Shot choices, editing choices, script choices. Then Nic cage spends the night in a flooded crypt.
When he emerges, he puts on his crazy pants. And the film goes from odd to nutty.
I enjoyed the film, but not the way intended. I want to see the original, because I'm sure it will creep me out.
Like I mentioned above, there were a lot of questionable choices made in the making of The Wicker Man. But I do not question that the people involved made said choices for no reason. There was a plan, a purpose. It was just horribly misguided. I don't think the makers ofStreet Fighter: The Legend of Chun Lihad any sort of plan. The whole thing is just inept.
Laughable. There is nothing good about this film. Which is the only thing that is good about the film. The sets look like sets. The slums look like a nice outdoor market. The teeming mass of humanity that I'm sure they were aiming for look like a small crowd of extras. The actors look like kids playing dress up.
The whole thing comes across like a bad pilot for a crappy television series.
Just did a quick search over at IMDB. District 9 had the smallest budget by far. Just goes to show that passion and talent and attention to detail sometimes actually pay off.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
GI Joe is Better Than Transformers ROTF
I always want to call it Transformers ROFL. Except that film elicited no laughter from me. Which is the main reason why I prefer GI Joe. Itall a matter of tone.
Transformers is way too far up its own ass. Michael Bay has never not made a B movie. Except he doesn't know how to make a B movie. He makes silly genre films without the silliness.
This is how he approaches Transformers (please read the following in deadly serious monotone). This is the most important story about alien robots that transform into vehicles ever. Sometimes they don't even transform into vehicles, but people or ball bearings, and this is also very important. Sam's mother ate some pot brownies, this is seriously funny. These are the most important sweaty boobs running in slow motion in front of explosions in the history of forever.
And he works so hard at being so serious. Everything is sweaty and turned up to 11. And it just puts me off. It's like that scene in Total Recall when Arnold Schwarzenegger shoots that guy in the head because he sweats.
Stephen Sommers, however, may well be incapable of making anything but B movies. And I think he is totally fine with that. And so am I. He has made one truly awful film, Van Helsing, but he also made Deep Rising which just tickles me every time I see it.
Stephen knows what he is working with and works with it. Crazy concept, I know.
GI Joe eh? We'll need cool vehicles and guns and lasers that go pew pew and big battles and chases and swords. And hot chicks. And maybe I can have a scene where one of the hot chicks runs on a treadmill. Yeah, that would be cool. And Snake Eyes and Storm shadow have to fight lots, we can even have flashbacks to them fighting when they were kids, yeah that would be cool. And we'll give some of the Joes super suits so they can do even cooler stuff than usual.
It's just a light and fluffy concoction. And you don't really mind when some of the parts don't add up because it's just a light and fluffy concoction.
The chicks are hot, things blow up and it never ever stops moving forward. That Wayans brother isn't even all that annoying in this. That takes some skill.
The one area where Transformers trumps Joe is in the visuals. Transformers looks much better. A lot of the effects work in Joe looks rushed and somewhat sloppy. Bay's films have always looked shiny and artificial, so the giant robots fit right in.
Transformers is way too far up its own ass. Michael Bay has never not made a B movie. Except he doesn't know how to make a B movie. He makes silly genre films without the silliness.
This is how he approaches Transformers (please read the following in deadly serious monotone). This is the most important story about alien robots that transform into vehicles ever. Sometimes they don't even transform into vehicles, but people or ball bearings, and this is also very important. Sam's mother ate some pot brownies, this is seriously funny. These are the most important sweaty boobs running in slow motion in front of explosions in the history of forever.
And he works so hard at being so serious. Everything is sweaty and turned up to 11. And it just puts me off. It's like that scene in Total Recall when Arnold Schwarzenegger shoots that guy in the head because he sweats.
Stephen Sommers, however, may well be incapable of making anything but B movies. And I think he is totally fine with that. And so am I. He has made one truly awful film, Van Helsing, but he also made Deep Rising which just tickles me every time I see it.
Stephen knows what he is working with and works with it. Crazy concept, I know.
GI Joe eh? We'll need cool vehicles and guns and lasers that go pew pew and big battles and chases and swords. And hot chicks. And maybe I can have a scene where one of the hot chicks runs on a treadmill. Yeah, that would be cool. And Snake Eyes and Storm shadow have to fight lots, we can even have flashbacks to them fighting when they were kids, yeah that would be cool. And we'll give some of the Joes super suits so they can do even cooler stuff than usual.
It's just a light and fluffy concoction. And you don't really mind when some of the parts don't add up because it's just a light and fluffy concoction.
The chicks are hot, things blow up and it never ever stops moving forward. That Wayans brother isn't even all that annoying in this. That takes some skill.
The one area where Transformers trumps Joe is in the visuals. Transformers looks much better. A lot of the effects work in Joe looks rushed and somewhat sloppy. Bay's films have always looked shiny and artificial, so the giant robots fit right in.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Two Movies in One Day
On Tuesday this past week I saw two movies. Because Tuesday is cheap movie day. I saw Transformers 2 in the morning and Funny People at night.
Obviously, these are two very different movies. The biggest difference being that one is actually good.
The fight scenes in this new Transformers are so much better than the first film. It is still not all that easy to tell who is who, but what they are doing to each other is easy to follow and just plain cool looking. These robots know kung fu.
But I don't know how much Michael Bay had to do with these scenes. It doesn't seem like his style. Not enough cuts, the camera is pulled back.
I have a theory about Michael Bay: he is not a very confident director. That explains the quick cuts. Hey look, this is cool, and so is this, and this is too, HEY LOOK OVER HERE AT THIS COOL THING, it goes BOOOOOOOOM. He is not sure what the audience might like, so he shows us everything all the time. No pace, no mood, just BOOM.
Everything boom, everything shiny or sweaty, everything either too fast or slowed down. And when there is something dramatic going on, put that camera low and circle it around whatever it is that is supposed to be dramatic.
And don't get me started on his comedy. Michael Bay has no clue when it comes to comedy, which is sad because he crammed this flick full of his shitty humour. It drips flop sweat. Going back to the confidence theory, he has no faith in the jokes so he has the actors say the lines louder and faster.
And he just shift in and out of comedy. He shifts in and out of everything. Character come and go as the script dictates. Notice that I did not say plot. People show up for no reason, people do stuff counter-intuitive to the plot, or their character or both.
Here is where I spoil the end of the film. There is a big scene between Sam and his parents where he tells his dad that he has to let go. He has to run away and let Sam do what he has to do. Which would be a call back to a scene earlier in the movie, except the earlier scene was played for laugh and it was about the mother having trouble letting go. So the parents flee. They run away. They let Sam go. Sam says the same thing to his hot girlfriend but she sez "nuh-uh" and he sez "okay" and then they run together in slow motion.
Then Sam dies. And his parents are right fucking there for some reason.
Then Sam comes back to life and then some Transformer sacrifices his life to give Optimus Prime a power-up. Optimus Prime kills the bad guys and then just shrugs off the power-up/fallen comrade without a second thought.
To recap: fight scenes good, everything else is absolute shit. And I don't even want to get started on the ghetto-bots.
Funny People is the good film, in case you were wondering. In this film funny people do funny things. And these same funny people are sometimes mean people or selfish people and they do selfish things or mean things.
Which is a nice change from most films. Like Apatow's previous films, this is a messy film. There are plot threads that fall by the wayside, others that go around and around in circles.
It's nice, but also sometimes frustrating. A "Why did they do this, instead of that?" kind of thing. For me, personally, I wanted more behind the scenes stuff. The craft of comedy. It's in there, but I wanted more. Could have done with less of the third act romance. Or have it better integrated into the rest of the film. Having it be it's own distinct chunk, and that chunk being the end of the film was not the best move.
But the funny stuff? Funny. The polar opposite of Transformers. Funny stuff is said off offhandedly, just floated out there into the conversation. Loved that.
Still, there was a good half hour of fat that could be trimmed from the running time. It could be worse, though, Transformers 2 could lose about 2 hours, easy.
Just one more thing. People who defend Transformers 2 with the old "What did you expect, it's based on a bunch of toys?" are stupid. Indiana Jones was based on Saturday morning serials. It doesn't matter that the Transformers films are basically commercials for the toys. All films are commercials: for themselves, for their DVDs, for the awards season. Just put some care into your work, some thought, some fucking craft. Don't hide behind bullshit excuses.
Obviously, these are two very different movies. The biggest difference being that one is actually good.
The fight scenes in this new Transformers are so much better than the first film. It is still not all that easy to tell who is who, but what they are doing to each other is easy to follow and just plain cool looking. These robots know kung fu.
But I don't know how much Michael Bay had to do with these scenes. It doesn't seem like his style. Not enough cuts, the camera is pulled back.
I have a theory about Michael Bay: he is not a very confident director. That explains the quick cuts. Hey look, this is cool, and so is this, and this is too, HEY LOOK OVER HERE AT THIS COOL THING, it goes BOOOOOOOOM. He is not sure what the audience might like, so he shows us everything all the time. No pace, no mood, just BOOM.
Everything boom, everything shiny or sweaty, everything either too fast or slowed down. And when there is something dramatic going on, put that camera low and circle it around whatever it is that is supposed to be dramatic.
And don't get me started on his comedy. Michael Bay has no clue when it comes to comedy, which is sad because he crammed this flick full of his shitty humour. It drips flop sweat. Going back to the confidence theory, he has no faith in the jokes so he has the actors say the lines louder and faster.
And he just shift in and out of comedy. He shifts in and out of everything. Character come and go as the script dictates. Notice that I did not say plot. People show up for no reason, people do stuff counter-intuitive to the plot, or their character or both.
Here is where I spoil the end of the film. There is a big scene between Sam and his parents where he tells his dad that he has to let go. He has to run away and let Sam do what he has to do. Which would be a call back to a scene earlier in the movie, except the earlier scene was played for laugh and it was about the mother having trouble letting go. So the parents flee. They run away. They let Sam go. Sam says the same thing to his hot girlfriend but she sez "nuh-uh" and he sez "okay" and then they run together in slow motion.
Then Sam dies. And his parents are right fucking there for some reason.
Then Sam comes back to life and then some Transformer sacrifices his life to give Optimus Prime a power-up. Optimus Prime kills the bad guys and then just shrugs off the power-up/fallen comrade without a second thought.
To recap: fight scenes good, everything else is absolute shit. And I don't even want to get started on the ghetto-bots.
Funny People is the good film, in case you were wondering. In this film funny people do funny things. And these same funny people are sometimes mean people or selfish people and they do selfish things or mean things.
Which is a nice change from most films. Like Apatow's previous films, this is a messy film. There are plot threads that fall by the wayside, others that go around and around in circles.
It's nice, but also sometimes frustrating. A "Why did they do this, instead of that?" kind of thing. For me, personally, I wanted more behind the scenes stuff. The craft of comedy. It's in there, but I wanted more. Could have done with less of the third act romance. Or have it better integrated into the rest of the film. Having it be it's own distinct chunk, and that chunk being the end of the film was not the best move.
But the funny stuff? Funny. The polar opposite of Transformers. Funny stuff is said off offhandedly, just floated out there into the conversation. Loved that.
Still, there was a good half hour of fat that could be trimmed from the running time. It could be worse, though, Transformers 2 could lose about 2 hours, easy.
Just one more thing. People who defend Transformers 2 with the old "What did you expect, it's based on a bunch of toys?" are stupid. Indiana Jones was based on Saturday morning serials. It doesn't matter that the Transformers films are basically commercials for the toys. All films are commercials: for themselves, for their DVDs, for the awards season. Just put some care into your work, some thought, some fucking craft. Don't hide behind bullshit excuses.
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