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You know, I was so eager to write that last post, I completely forgot that last night I watched
TANGLED
This is a Disney computer-animated film based on the story of Rapunzel. This movie was basically what I expected it to be from the promotional materials. That is, it's all purposefully irreverent, in a post-Shrek way, poking fun at the standard fairy tale tropes. Any tale about a girl named after lettuce is going to have it's quirks, but this movie, well, to quote the Dream Lord, "If you had any more tawdry quirks, you could open up a tawdry quirks shop."
I dunno. There were some funny lines, but the songs are score were just a B, B+. I'm a little tired of these spoofy fairy tales, and please, please, someone tell me why the heroine had to be another freakin' princess! Seriously, aren't there enough princesses out there? The marketing even makes a princess out of Mulan, for crying out loud.
Joined: Aug 09, 2008
Member#: 22196
Posts: 1875
Location: Roosendaal
Posted:
Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:50 am Post subject:
After a long two days of working I was already past my moment of sleep yesterday so I decided to watch two movies to keep track with all new ones who came out:
DARK SHADOWS: Unaware of the television series this was just another movie with Depp for me, and for that reason it's fun to see another character portrayed by him in his unique style. The situation (a vampire being released after 200 years) is obvious ground for some jokes but predictable. The rest of the cast is not convincing although Michelle Pfeiffer is not bad at all. The rest of the movie is based on special effects (as is the next movie:)
Average: 6.5/10 (mainly for Depp and Elfman)
SNOWWHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN:
Nice new approach of the fairytale with a dark twist but Charlize Theron is not bad enough in my view.
Again the storyline misses out on exploiting character development which was mostly available in the long scenes where people travel from one point to another. The art department picked up the marvel world of fairies they also created for "alice in Wonderland" and that showed as best piece in the movie. But again this movie was merely made for the SFX than for making a good movie.
6.5/10 (now for Production design and James Newton Howard, who made a fabulous score!!) _________________
Joined: Oct 20, 2007
Member#: 19134
Posts: 692
Location: Maryland
Posted:
Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:00 am Post subject:
I know there are a fair few LOK fans here on SST, even if you do not really take to cartoons, this is a definite must Adding to LadyI's remarks, it is so rare to have a show with a strong female lead and to add to that, her being a woman of color. It is awesome in its diversity and all the other points LadyI pointed out. I really wish they had released the A:TLA score, but I guess nick saw no market for its score. Both shows are great! _________________ The right song can turn an emperor into a laughing stock, can bring down dynasties. A song can last long after the events and people in it are dust and dreams are gone.
Last_Starfighter
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined: Jul 31, 2010
Member#: 29174
Posts: 62
Location: Burnaby, British Columbia
Posted:
Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:32 am Post subject: re: John Carter
SportsFan800 wrote:
John Carter
Overall I was very pleased with the outcome and would surely pay admission for a second time. I think people are missing out on a great story in this sci-fi epic. Its really a shame that it didn't perform at the box office as I would have liked it to, but the blame can fall squarely on Disney for poor marketing management. They could have something special with this story if done properly. No doubt a sequel is in the works and I am definitely looking forward to seeing it as a continuation of which I hope will be a handful of follow-ups to this first film adaptation.
Wow Sports, i'm surprised you enjoyed it so much. I actually went and gave the movie a shot myself a month after release, ignoring the poor box office numbers and confusing marketing by Disney. While I thought it had potential to be something great, sadly the box office total will probably not let a sequel see the light of day.
A few issues i had: I thought it couldn've been cut shorter...maybe lose about 15minutes. The actor for Carter?...looked the part but expressions were quite limited and because of his growly voice there were many lines where i had no idea what he said. I didn't mind the costumes too much, but some of the vehicle designs were kinda hokey. Either way still gets a C+ from me _________________ "Listen, Centauri. I'm not any of those guys, I'm a kid from a trailer park."
"If that's what you think, then that's all you'll ever be!"
- Alex Rogan to Centauri - from The Last Starfighter
It is so rare to have a show with a strong female lead and to add to that, her being a woman of color. ... I really wish they had released the A:TLA score, but I guess nick saw no market for its score. Both shows are great!
I got sucked into this movie and wound up taping it to see how it ended. (Yay DVR! Now I'm only 2 years behind the rest of the world; see my review below as well.) This film is the classic story of a small-town girl who goes to LA to make it as a singer and dancer. She becomes a dancer at a Burlesque club owned by Cher, which is so far in debt it can't see and will soon be turned into condos. It's no spoiler to say that everything ends happily for everyone. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. This is a stealth musical, though the songs are nothing special. But I had to give props to some of the plotting. In the end, it did actually make sense, and the solution didn't come out of nowhere.
TRON: LEGACY
So, this guy got sucked into a computer game almost 30 years ago, and somehow he got out and had a kid, an then his wife conveniently died and he disappeared again, so the kid (who should be in his 30s but is apparently only 20something) later gets sucked into same digital world, and they throw frisbees at each other, and .... ah, the heck with it.
This is a profoundly stupid movie. And no, I don't mean that as any kind of compliment. The plot made no sense, just one thing after another, there was wall-to-wall STUFF happening, none of it really interesting. Combine that with the dark color scheme, and it was just boring. It also had that pervasive, almost unconscious sexism that most action movies have, where they think that you only need one female character, as long as she's dewy and a goddess. Wait, there was another female, I forgot. A sexy siren type, who turned out to betray our hero. W00t.
I give credit to Jeff Bridges for basically playing three versions of himself. Two of them, Old Flynn and Clu (if you don't know who they are, it won't matter) share the only scene I found at all affecting, at the end when the creator and program (or father and son) confront each other over the former's mistakes. The human kid gets no such closure. Michael Sheen is criminally wasted in this as well, but I hope he enjoyed the paycheck.
I know what you're going to say, some of you. But a nifty score and a cool production design can't save 2 hours of making up the plot as you go. Feh. _________________ I have a book coming out. Wanna see it?
http://www.jessicalevai.com/sternendach-a-vampire-opera-in-verse/
alien_avatar
Captain
Joined: Oct 28, 2006
Member#: 16007
Posts: 1342
Location: Berlin
Posted:
Wed Jun 13, 2012 2:56 pm Post subject:
Sorry, but I have to disagree with our opinion about TRON: LEGACY, LadyI.
I've seen the original TRON movie sometime in the last millenium, meaning that I remember squat about the original plot. To me, the plot of Legacy was a pretty generic 'let's get out of this place before the evil overlord can get to me'.
Nothing to write home about, but entertaining enough.
About the lack of strong, female characters... you already said it yourself:
LadyInque wrote:
(...) that pervasive, almost unconscious sexism that most action movies have, where they think that you only need one female character, as long as she's dewy and a goddess.
It's a shame, but IMO opinion there are NO movies where the female characters aren't disproportionately 'dewy and a goddess'.
Personally, I adored the 'frisbee fights'. All of the CGI (or whatever) scenery in general.
And let's not forget the awesome, awesome soundtrack that fit the movie like a glove fits a hand.
I'm not saying that TRON: LEGACY is the best and most thoughtful movie ever, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable. _________________ "Welcome to the paranoia club; cheapest fees in the universe and membership lasts forever."
- Peter F. Hamilton, The Evolutionary Void
You and I simply have different tastes, alien. And just because you can't think of any movie with decent female characters doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. _________________ I have a book coming out. Wanna see it?
http://www.jessicalevai.com/sternendach-a-vampire-opera-in-verse/
alien_avatar
Captain
Joined: Oct 28, 2006
Member#: 16007
Posts: 1342
Location: Berlin
Posted:
Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:29 pm Post subject:
I cannot accept the fact that people have different tastes.
Surrender to my will, LadyInque!!!!! _________________ "Welcome to the paranoia club; cheapest fees in the universe and membership lasts forever."
- Peter F. Hamilton, The Evolutionary Void
I cannot accept the fact that people have different tastes.
*Sigh*
I know the feeling, alien. I know the feeling.
JadedTitan
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Oct 20, 2007
Member#: 19134
Posts: 692
Location: Maryland
Posted:
Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:31 am Post subject:
Prometheus had a really strong female lead, and omg there were three females in the movie!! *shock and awe* (though one is really minor) But really, it IS hard if not impossible to find strong females in films, but in my opinion Prometheus made Shaw a really great character who faced crazy obstacles but pulled through soaked in blood and goo. But maybe that goes back to the original Alien films where Ripley, possibly the most butt kicking woman in sci-fi, dominates those films. Shaw is not Ripley but Shaw makes her own way and still manages to rise above herself and do what she knows needs to be done!
On that note, Prometheus, while leaving you with a zillion question, was enjoyable for me. If nothing else, see it for Shaw (Noomie Rapace) cause I loved her in it _________________ The right song can turn an emperor into a laughing stock, can bring down dynasties. A song can last long after the events and people in it are dust and dreams are gone.
Dutchbat
Captain
Joined: Aug 09, 2008
Member#: 22196
Posts: 1875
Location: Roosendaal
Posted:
Sat Jun 16, 2012 2:03 am Post subject:
As my first attempt to put a PROMETHEUS (IMAX 3D) review in failed due to laptop, I'll be brief now:
It was long, long time ago that I've seen a good "Hollywood" blockbuster. Scott did an excellent job not overdoing it with the SFX.
Agreeing with Jaded on the female lead(s), I can add that Theron here did a much better job than her role in Snowwhite and the Huntsman.
Streitenfeld score was mehhh, could be better comparing it to his great work on Robin Hood.
7,5/10 _________________
Okay, before I go into my recent movie watching, I beg your indulgence for just a minute.
There is something I've been wanting to do for a while. It used to be easy for me, and it's not any more, and I miss it. What? I want to fall in love. I want to see a movie, or read a book, and find that I just can't get enough of the world it contains. I want to hear a score that makes me buy a CD and listen to it in the car over and over.
I know I'm probably asking a lot. And I know that some of the problem is just that I'm not as young as I was. I've seen, heard, and read a lot. I'm harder to impress, though I've always been kinda picky. So with this background, on to the review.
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
I have wanted to see this movie for so long. I've relished trailers. I've had the soundtrack on my wishlist at Amazon for a month. I avoided reviews. And I finally got a sitter on Saturday.
Oh, what a disappointment I found the film. So many wasted opportunities and storytelling dead ends. A queen who starts screaming in her third scene and doesn't stop, like Jeremy Irons in Dungeons and Dragons. A lack of consistency in the world and the story. A tired prophecy plot device, and fantasy tropes thrown in willy-nilly with no idea how to use them correctly. And a score that sounded phoned-in.
Finally saw this via Redbox. To me, the story of John Carter can be summed up by switching the gender in this song:
I read the book, and half the time I couldn't follow what the heck was going on. I think it was confusing and overlong. Woola was everything I hoped he'd be, though. Dang, that was an ugladorable creature.
BRAVE
Oh, I'm too tired to list my disappointments with this one. The first Pixar movie with a female lead. It looked gorgeous, but the story was stale and undeveloped (if that's possible). And I couldn't take the wall-to-wall Scottish stereotypes. In short, this film was almost as lazy as Snow White and the Huntsman. _________________ I have a book coming out. Wanna see it?
http://www.jessicalevai.com/sternendach-a-vampire-opera-in-verse/
anya
Commander
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Member#: 13601
Posts: 522
Location: France
Posted:
Fri Jul 06, 2012 3:08 am Post subject:
Quote:
BRAVE
Oh, I'm too tired to list my disappointments with this one. The first Pixar movie with a female lead. It looked gorgeous, but the story was stale and undeveloped (if that's possible). And I couldn't take the wall-to-wall Scottish stereotypes. In short, this film was almost as lazy as Snow White and the Huntsman.
Y'oure scaring me! First, I wasn't much into the movie and then, with the new trailers I thought that maybe I'd like it. But now... I'll wait for the reviews when it's released in France.
THE GREEN HORNET
I like Michel Gondry's movies in general and this one has the same great humor and the two leading characters are so great together! (Seth Rogen and Jay Chou).
I never heard of the serie, the story was all new for me and I even thought this was in fact a superhero movie (which is not at all). Very fun!
THOR
I've got a friend who loves superheroes movies and he really didn't like this one. Well, for sure, if you want a superhero movie with lots of fights and explosions... this is not the one to see. Though there are lots of things important badly treated (Thor's change of heart and mind, especially). But I truly liked Loki, he's fabulous, the photography and the music. I enjoyed it anyway ^_^
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LadyInque 
Dutchbat 
Adding to LadyI's remarks, it is so rare to have a show with a strong female lead and to add to that, her being a woman of color. It is awesome in its diversity and all the other points LadyI pointed out. I really wish they had released the A:TLA score, but I guess nick saw no market for its score. Both shows are great!
Last_Starfighter 
alien_avatar 
anya 
