tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30164544704239571572024-03-09T21:45:57.223-05:00Film Reviews from the Cosmic CatacombsFilm reviews of all genres. Science fiction and horror movies are among the most frequent. I watch an absurd amount of films, and this is where I will share my obsession with the world. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.comBlogger182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-7479299560492523722013-12-30T08:50:00.000-05:002013-12-30T08:50:44.902-05:00After Earth (2013) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D2ZF24O/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00D2ZF24O&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D2ZF3GQ/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00D2ZF3GQ&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FPH6AXE/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00FPH6AXE&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by M. Night Shyamalan: </b>The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, The Happening</span></span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> M. Night Shyamalan</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Jaden Smith, Will Smith</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Adventure</div>
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It's really not as bad as so many might lead you to believe.<br />
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Yes, the science is completely ridiculous and unbelievable, the story and universe are riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies, it's completely predictable, the special effects are at times lacking visually (they do look nice at other times though), the action could have been more exciting, the film comes off as a bit too serious at times to the point where certain scenes are sort of cheesy, and the whole thing with the birds is the goddamn silliest thing I've ever seen in my life.<br />
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I never said this was a good film. It's just not an awful one. Mediocre, really. I did like the premise, though. It's essentially a plane crash survival flick set on a post-apocalyptic Earth. But this was a very ideal set-up to display what the story is really about: a father and his son.<br />
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The son, Kitai, lives under the scrutiny of his hero-father, Cypher Raige (it's assumed that in the future we will all have names equivalent to Xbox LIVE gamertags). Not only does Kitai have high expectations to live up to, he also senses that his father blames him for letting his sister get killed by an alien creature called an Ursa many years before.<br />
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So when the ship that Kitai and his father are on crash lands on an abandoned Earth, Kitai must go and retrieve a rescue beacon from the other half of the ship which landed some ways away (his father, the badass war hero, can't do it because his legs were conveniently broken). Kitai does however have his father to guide and support him via a control room from the ship, from which his father can communicate with him and watch him through various cameras (the scrutinizing eye of dad is always watching!). During his adventure, Kitai stumbles upon some prehistoric cave drawings which would usually take an archaeologist a lifetime to find, and he meets a very kind and caring bird who also happens to be a deus ex machina. But it isn't until Kitai's cameras break and he loses contact with his father (he was already dozing off in the control room anyway) that he really gets to prove himself. Kitai must prove that he can do the right thing without being ordered to do it and in a final showdown he alone faces the inner demon of his past that was haunting him: an Ursa, like the one that killed his sister, which he must overcome.<br />
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Yeah, it's cheesy and predictable but I sort of liked the premise and thought parts of it were executed pretty well. A nice little father-son drama / inner discovery story. I also liked the whole fear aspect as well, especially how it functioned in relation to the aliens: they can smell your fear, ergo if you overcome your fear you become invisible to them (yeah, I know it's biologically implausible).<br />
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Where I think a lot of people are wrong is in their criticism of Will Smith's performance as the father. He plays the role perfectly in my opinion. Claims that Smith was disinterested are absurd (he produced the film and wrote the story, plus his own son is in it! He was most certainly involved! There's even rumors that he secretly directed the film). He's playing a father who was hardened by war and can't quite find the right way to connect with his son. A character so obsessed with eliminating fear that he often forgets how to express his other emotions as well. Will Smith fucking nailed the character. He's very strict, uptight, and stern but also knows how to sprinkle little hints of emotion and feeling in there at just the right times.<br />
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The problem is that Will Smith is only in a supporting role. His son, Jaden Smith, really plays the lead. He does an okay job (sometimes a little hammy) but I think he may not yet be a strong enough actor to carry a film on his own.<br />
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<i>After Earth</i> is not a great film but it's competent in a lot of areas. At times awful, at times decent, but mostly mediocre.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsHL3uQmhW8kwgugF_-ehPTyRtuCxAF5ie5Lqs0pAIf6_gNhC5B8g7fcGwTQEaCG3218jgC0rQXxdRsX-J4jgqCu2PmHH0RfvB4SqFhU-gxQsgDE_moLd1aLM8WPpIeUn-P9LmsStjwAy/s1600/scifi2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2/5 stars" border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsHL3uQmhW8kwgugF_-ehPTyRtuCxAF5ie5Lqs0pAIf6_gNhC5B8g7fcGwTQEaCG3218jgC0rQXxdRsX-J4jgqCu2PmHH0RfvB4SqFhU-gxQsgDE_moLd1aLM8WPpIeUn-P9LmsStjwAy/s320/scifi2.png" title="2/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-16257902121926464092013-12-10T17:26:00.001-05:002013-12-10T17:26:59.587-05:00TV: Spaced (1999-2001) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzabZimFJ81W0KqbZM1xese4I9HaEW5y7xoAEruCLLpKvrv_Tl3PxAw3adUDieDWP7JW_hyphenhyphen-z_fE68DHp6GhDQoJjxIu18pHxtwAJ5o2e5Iq2D596uGYQ-myAaDFoDRB6p8-bjAiuMPmpv/s1600/Spaced+Tekken+Daisy+Wins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Spaced Daisy Tekken" border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzabZimFJ81W0KqbZM1xese4I9HaEW5y7xoAEruCLLpKvrv_Tl3PxAw3adUDieDWP7JW_hyphenhyphen-z_fE68DHp6GhDQoJjxIu18pHxtwAJ5o2e5Iq2D596uGYQ-myAaDFoDRB6p8-bjAiuMPmpv/s200/Spaced+Tekken+Daisy+Wins.jpg" title="Spaced Daisy Tekken" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganJG8T6bV772QjtAmG635xQCtdo4YL0QS1O6SKGtJh3_87khBTntF8SMAYpUW24_5zlyAJZn1bn-6v5UMochXXjQG6S_JRyOdH1BaNbSr0HIGWMjKyIyxmhtHjhNzmUQz9tZpxG0iue8r/s1600/Spaced+Tim+playing+Resident+Evil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Spaced Tim playing Resident Evil" border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganJG8T6bV772QjtAmG635xQCtdo4YL0QS1O6SKGtJh3_87khBTntF8SMAYpUW24_5zlyAJZn1bn-6v5UMochXXjQG6S_JRyOdH1BaNbSr0HIGWMjKyIyxmhtHjhNzmUQz9tZpxG0iue8r/s200/Spaced+Tim+playing+Resident+Evil.jpg" title="Spaced Tim playing Resident Evil" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019MFY3Q/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0019MFY3Q&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Films by Edgar Wright: </b>Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The World's End</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar shows:</b> The Office (UK), Black Books, The IT Crowd</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwmU_uVtL6_lXwYdsrB78PkTGe-DTlpjRMarpDWKx2pyr2NUP6tqEQ2dr3hs_EiU76bgyeSPM45uIbE_YRtl3qavZCoNOU8XgaXFHSfIUIAmS6hjKXg0rDN5C-cT-1NHS28se4kjG1fBlO/s592/Gunhed+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
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<b>Director:</b> Edgar Wright</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson, Nick Frost, Mike Heap</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Sitcom</div>
<i><br />Spaced</i> is a British sitcom consisting of 14 episodes split into 2 seasons that originally aired in the late 90s and early 2000s. The show follows pseudo-couple Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Stevenson), who lied about being a couple in order to rent a "Couples Only" apartment, and their neighbors Marsha the alcoholic landlady (Deakin), Brian the slightly crazy painter (Heap), Mike the military nut (Frost), and Twist the self-obsessed bitch (Carmichael). <br />
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The heart of <i>Spaced</i> is its characters. <b>The characters are all fairly common stereotypes, but the show brings these stereotypes to life.</b> It shows that stereotypes are not just seen on TV, but in real life also, and it somehow does that through a TV show. They're not the type of characters that make you think they're "just another television archetype" but rather the type that make you think "I know someone just like that, it's so spot on."<br />
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<i>Spaced</i>, like its characters, is the sort of show that will grow on you. You may not be that into it after only an episode or so, but well before the first season is over you'll likely feel as much a part of the world as the characters, who'll surely feel like your best friends.<br />
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The stars of the show, Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, also write each episode, with Edgar Wright directing. Fans of <i>Shaun of the Dead</i>, <i>Hot Fuzz</i>, or <i>The World's End</i> will surely be familiar with the Wright-Pegg-Frost trio and much of their signature humor.<br />
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The show, to be frank, is hilarious. But not hilarious in a way you're probably used to. No, this is <b>a completely unique brand of humor.</b> <b>Wright's creative, involving, never pretentious directing combined with some wonderfully unconventional editing blend with the actual jokes so well that everything seems, and indeed is, well executed. The jokes themselves are a mix of vocal, visual, and stylistic references to things from Scooby-Doo to <i>The Shining</i> to <i>Pulp Fiction</i>, a sort of absurdist surreal humor, unpredictability, juxtaposition, and of course the characters and situations themselves are more often than not jokes.</b><br />
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<b>The show never at any point becomes dull or formulaic. The punchline to a joke may be in a line of dialogue, or it may be visual</b>--in a camera movement, a character action, or a cut to another scene altogether. For example, in one scene where Tim and Daisy are talking, Daisy tells Tim to not talk so loudly as "you never know who's listening." Tim replies confidently "no one's listening," and then there's a cut away from the scene and we see a brief clip of a man sitting in a room with a tape recorder, listening to the conversation that just happened.<br />
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There's plenty of scenes done in this nature, and plenty done in different ways as well. One of my favorite scenes has the video game <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swVgfA-6fG8"><i>Tekken</i> mirroring an argument between Tim and Daisy</a>, only to end in the reflection seeping into one with reality. Or another episode where nearly the whole <a href="http://youtu.be/f1ci-3yy7pU">episode revolves around Tim playing <i>Resident Evil 2</i></a>.<br />
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<i>Spaced</i> will transport you to a world of slackers with big dreams, a world of Playstation and <i>The Phantom Menace</i> and absurd occurrences. A world that, as it <b>shows the surreal that hides under the mundane</b>, will likely turn out to be very similar to your own life. With <b>tons of references to films, television, comic books, and video games</b>, it is a world created by its influences and references but also one that uses just that to craft something entirely new. Originally pitched as "a cross between <i>The Simpsons</i>, <i>The X-Files</i>, and <i>Northern Exposure</i>," <i>Spaced</i> certainly lives up to the task and as a result is <b>one of the greatest sitcoms ever made.</b><br />
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With only 14 episodes adding up to less than 6 hours, the show can be watched in a single day and it's good enough that you'll probably want to watch it in a single day, and rewatch it again the next. <b>A must-see for fans of Pegg, Frost, and Wright, and for anyone who may consider themselves a geek, whether it be a fan of sci-fi films, comic books, or video games, or even just for people who can relate to the slacker lifestyle of early twenty year olds.</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJMUSP6IMmhzOaUkRc7kygSl0VvcMK-liXkVVxfy58Ge_GIHwK7w_lxIXOZaa8k5Wyuhq-gS3-m8HuI57NOyVXgrQGrowMLM243Ykb4plNvPM4AMSvrz58Dj9Kes0_B5d_cWfPDsyAGPt/s1600/comedy4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="4/5 stars" border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJMUSP6IMmhzOaUkRc7kygSl0VvcMK-liXkVVxfy58Ge_GIHwK7w_lxIXOZaa8k5Wyuhq-gS3-m8HuI57NOyVXgrQGrowMLM243Ykb4plNvPM4AMSvrz58Dj9Kes0_B5d_cWfPDsyAGPt/s320/comedy4.png" title="4/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-55710447419554636062013-11-08T14:35:00.001-05:002013-11-08T14:35:13.814-05:00Frankenstein's Army (2013) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi72rBHJeCgMBwkFrAEBCn-07MTQhEWUjfxciEpkxYa94clqHB3q6e4gwusPkRfX1m5ABntAXg9CN_cncPgCVE_DWGyEeRk5mCYpR4WrRNVTMjGLMIfb2LX5c_G1p7t_0ptTKiv1yJQ0Go/s1600/Frankenstein's+Army+monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Frankenstein's Army monster" border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi72rBHJeCgMBwkFrAEBCn-07MTQhEWUjfxciEpkxYa94clqHB3q6e4gwusPkRfX1m5ABntAXg9CN_cncPgCVE_DWGyEeRk5mCYpR4WrRNVTMjGLMIfb2LX5c_G1p7t_0ptTKiv1yJQ0Go/s200/Frankenstein's+Army+monster.jpg" title="Frankenstein's Army monster" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcyidaXKRGcG-BYRA4VpozOJD8Xr82me-0poJE0ZefPr8K_m78sDY5yrMOXVK5TpzdqICyVSKOX6SCdF6IVS8YL9ngnsQgvZXvMR4-ZlAUqOLiEjrUWLQiuGMhgsHHDDuzqBFhMVnz4sI/s1600/Frankenstein's+Army+Viktor+Frankenstein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Frankenstein's Army Dr. Viktor Frankenstein" border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcyidaXKRGcG-BYRA4VpozOJD8Xr82me-0poJE0ZefPr8K_m78sDY5yrMOXVK5TpzdqICyVSKOX6SCdF6IVS8YL9ngnsQgvZXvMR4-ZlAUqOLiEjrUWLQiuGMhgsHHDDuzqBFhMVnz4sI/s200/Frankenstein's+Army+Viktor+Frankenstein.jpg" title="Frankenstein's Army Dr. Viktor Frankenstein" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyblakFwZqfztym6J7WvZt1ySwj1cxySg2t6v2udRouCe6mxRJn1MypsWjl5PKdASau3JawEZ_I2udWY3h3xZc-xF6DfWOn8XMG5P4LL6zkaGg2TX5XQVomU6k6EuFSMn732sHSTprJvp/s1600/Frankenstein's+Army+saw+monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Frankenstein's Army saw monster" border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyblakFwZqfztym6J7WvZt1ySwj1cxySg2t6v2udRouCe6mxRJn1MypsWjl5PKdASau3JawEZ_I2udWY3h3xZc-xF6DfWOn8XMG5P4LL6zkaGg2TX5XQVomU6k6EuFSMn732sHSTprJvp/s200/Frankenstein's+Army+saw+monster.jpg" title="Frankenstein's Army saw monster" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CERJINC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CERJINC&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CERJJ68/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CERJJ68&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5QM8UA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00E5QM8UA&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pros:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Awesome monster design</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Good special effects</span></span></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cons:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Poor writing</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><b style="background-color: white;"></b><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Underwhelming execution</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> Dead Snow </span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Richard Raaphorst</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Karel Roden, Joshua Sasse</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Horror, War</div>
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The rough concept of <i>Frankenstein's Army</i> is that essentially it's the <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486282112/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486282112&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Frankenstein</a></i> story set in WWII instead of the 19th century. Keep in mind it's a very loose <i>Frankenstein</i> story; that is, it really only shares a few basic themes, i.e. a scientist who assembles monsters.<br />
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But I like the concept of a group of Russian soldiers going on a mysterious mission and having to fight off weird Nazi creatures while descending into a hellish laboratory. Horror movie + War movie? Awesome. I just wish the execution of this concept was a bit better.<br />
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<b>The writing isn't all that great.</b> The writers felt the need to add some internal conflict within the group of Russian soldiers, which was honestly unnecessary. If it had been done well maybe I'd think differently, but it's not. The dramatic parts (and luckily there's not many of them) are pretty pointless and cliched. <b>The characters are also pretty dull and almost all their action/reactions are completely unbelievable. It doesn't help that the acting is only ever decent at best.</b><br />
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It's shot from a loose found footage first person perspective. I say loose because it's not very strict about it. There's plenty of cuts and stuff that defy the form. And while the shooting style does have a slight narrative purpose, it's really just there so that no actual quality cinematography had to be done. Which, ya know, for a low-budget horror movie it's understandable.<br />
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It's not that scary either. Usually POV found footage films don't take much effort to be made scary, but this one is relatively action orientated.<br />
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It basically plays out like an on-rails shooter. This could have easily been a spin-off of the <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WCQWR6/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000WCQWR6&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">House of the Dead</a></i> video game series. Seriously; there's the first-person perspective, there's a a variety of monsters that just pop out randomly from behind doors, the monsters often just stand in front of the camera and attack the air, and much of the camera movement is nearly identical to something you'd see in an on-rails shooter (quick turn arounds, looking left and right around a room, peaking around corners, etc.). Monsters come out and the soldiers shoot at them for awhile while we observe from a soldier's point-of-view and then the monsters die and the soldiers continue on through some more corridors. This is a video game. Actually, I think this film would be more enjoyable if you get a light-gun (preferably a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PKE5EM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000PKE5EM&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">NES Zapper</a>) and pretend to shoot at the monsters while you watch the movie. I think it'll actually work out pretty well and you may even trick yourself into thinking you're playing a video game.<br />
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The best thing about this movie is easily the monsters. <b>The creature design is pretty awesome</b> (Mosquito Man!) and the s<b>pecial effects are done very well, even if they do sometimes look silly or unbelievable.</b> They're over-the-top (monsters like these would be completely ineffective in actual warfare) but they look great. The main problem is that they don't really do much. The monsters pop out and dance around a while for the camera and then just die. If this movie is essentially a non-interactive on-rails shooter, then it's severely lacking a cool boss battle.<br />
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Watch for the interesting monster design. That's about all that's worthwhile here. <b>It's not bad, it's certainly watchable and mostly enjoyable, it's just nothing really special or impressive.</b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-16292753404758240152013-10-30T19:18:00.000-04:002013-11-08T14:50:54.814-05:00Movie 43 (2013) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5gIsktKPjfV6t6bxAYWkt3Gws6iFN28p6epdhMeI-b8loUutu3Ybac4PK_Oa1jukqPMRGyDVMe41cxJzrLRkhXCrD7caKgkBRrAs4CwI79YAUBQ6PwYBhOIqXG3HfJd5Gd7lPfuCjXn5/s1600/Emma+Stone+in+Movie+43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Emma Stone in Movie 43" border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5gIsktKPjfV6t6bxAYWkt3Gws6iFN28p6epdhMeI-b8loUutu3Ybac4PK_Oa1jukqPMRGyDVMe41cxJzrLRkhXCrD7caKgkBRrAs4CwI79YAUBQ6PwYBhOIqXG3HfJd5Gd7lPfuCjXn5/s200/Emma+Stone+in+Movie+43.jpg" title="Emma Stone in Movie 43" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrm9KW7tGWSJVp1UB2fosrrBChdz0xP1M-Fk_6Y3oLCXH2qe3dO4haut36oI2Bp9oqkpEcvSt2xn54vE8L8rrekv0YYt9_vzbp3za8ulujnnyjg3ugFvdzVNdd9xybFtgxH2CYEgQLDGak/s1600/Kristen+Bell+and+Justin+Long+as+Supergirl+and+Robin+in+Movie+43;+one+of+the+unfunniest+scenes+ever+put+to+film.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kristen Bell and Justin Long as Supergirl and Robin in Movie 43; one of the unfunniest and embarrassing scenes ever filmed" border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrm9KW7tGWSJVp1UB2fosrrBChdz0xP1M-Fk_6Y3oLCXH2qe3dO4haut36oI2Bp9oqkpEcvSt2xn54vE8L8rrekv0YYt9_vzbp3za8ulujnnyjg3ugFvdzVNdd9xybFtgxH2CYEgQLDGak/s200/Kristen+Bell+and+Justin+Long+as+Supergirl+and+Robin+in+Movie+43;+one+of+the+unfunniest+scenes+ever+put+to+film.jpg" title="Kristen Bell and Justin Long as Supergirl and Robin in Movie 43; one of the unfunniest and embarrassing scenes ever filmed" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BN3ED8I/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BN3ED8I&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BN3EDRE/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BN3EDRE&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DBT6SI0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00DBT6SI0&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> Scary Movie</span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Various</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Anna Faris, Kate Winslet, Kristen Bell, Gerard Butler, Emma Stone, Uma Thruman, Elizabeth Banks, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Halle Berry</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Sketch Comedy</div>
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Along perhaps with <i>A Haunted House</i> this is the easy film of 2013 to hate. But I still tried to give it a chance when I watched in on Netflix. Unfortunately, it really is just that bad. It's awful.<br />
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I like Absurdist Sketch Comedies. I foolishly had a slimmer of hope that this may be a sort of throwback to great films like <i>And Now for Something Completely Different</i>, <i>The Meaning of Life</i>, or <i>The Kentucky Fried Movie</i>, with the hilarious humor of something like <i>Airplane!</i>, <i>The Naked Gun</i>, or <i>Top Secret!</i>. Not the case. The Absurdist Parody truly died with things like <i>Scary Movie</i> and <i>Epic Movie</i>. Gone are the days of Monty Python and Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, and all we are left with is Seltzer-Friedberg, the Wayans Bros., and of course the Farrelly Bros. <i>Movie 43</i> is merely a continuation of this unfunny trend.<br />
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And unfunny is really all it is. I have a dark, arguably twisted humor; I often laugh at things that most would consider to be in bad taste or even sick. If something is tasteless and funny then I'll laugh at it. But when something like <i>Movie 43</i> comes along, which is tasteless but unfunny, then what's the point? The sketches in this film just aren't funny. They're unfinished jokes. They set up a scenario and go nowhere with it. The situation never works with the humor, like, say, a <i>Flying Circus</i> sketch would. 94 minutes later and I'm still waiting for the punchline. But there is none.<br />
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And the humor itself seemingly attempts to shock, but it does so in the worst possible way. Films like <i>Airplane!</i> or <i>Naked Gun</i> constantly shocked the audience, but they didn't do so with vulgarities and period blood, they did it with the unexpected, the surreal. Wikipedia describes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surreal_humour">Surreal Humor</a> as "arising from a subversion of audience's expectations, so that amusement is founded on unpredictability, separate from a logical analysis of the situation. The humor derived gets its appeal from the fact that the situation described is so ridiculous or unlikely." It takes wit to craft comedic literalisms and illogical yet clever punchlines. <i>Movie 43</i> may be absurd, with things like leprechauns and neck balls, but it never utilizes those things to form a joke; those things are the jokes.<br />
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A good Absurdist Comedy will make the audience laugh by playing with their expectations. Shocking, surprising, and amusing the viewer when they bring the nonsensical out of something completely ordinary. A situation that people are used to seeing play out in other films or in their own lives will be used to show the viewer something in a different way, and make them laugh while doing it. This is where <i>Movie 43</i> fails. It tries to shock with mere vulgarities and taboos, but in that it becomes so very predictable. It never shows you anything from a new perspective, it never turns the ordinary into the extraordinary, it never surprises you with an actual joke. In one sketch a girl wants her boyfriend to poop on her; that's the shocking part, but I know where it's going to end before it even gets there: with a bunch of poop everywhere. <i>Movie 43</i> starts with the surprises, and thus its punchlines never surprise. A movie like <i>Airplane!</i> will start with the regular and explore the irregular through that, always ending on a hilarious and unpredictable punchline, that isn't so much a lack of logic as it is a twisting of logic; unexpected but never random. A bit from <i>Airplane!</i>:<br />
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<i>"You got a letter from headquarters this morning."</i><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></blockquote>
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<i>"What is it?"</i><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></blockquote>
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<i>"It's a big building where generals meet, but that's not important."</i> </blockquote>
It's a simple joke and hardly one of <i>Airplane!</i>'s funniest, but it's a good example of a play on casual reasoning; the shock comes from the defiance of expectations. When he asks what is it we naturally understand that he's talking about the letter, not about headquarters. But the film shows you a different way of looking at it. <i>Movie 43</i> says: hey wouldn't it be funny if a guy had balls on his neck, or if a girlfriend wanted her boyfriend to poop on her, or if some guy actually caught a leprechaun; but it never does anything with those ideas. It never forms an actual joke. Those things are unexpected, sure, and yes they may be ridiculous and unlikely, but they're also random and directionless. It starts with the punchline instead of building up to it.<br />
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The amount of wasted talent in this film exceeds perhaps any other movie ever made. There's some great actors in here, but the film never demands any worthwhile acting from them anyway. It's embarrassingly unfunny, tasteless without wit, and justifies itself by pretending to be satirical (it's not). It's not "a <i>Kentucky Fried Movie</i> for the modern age," as the producer described it. It's just a shitty modern age comedy. There's not many movies worse than this one.<br />
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Reportedly, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and the Zucker Bros. were initially involved with the film but eventually all backed out. It's not hard to imagine why. While I'm sure we would have gotten a slightly better film if they had stayed on board, I'm also glad they didn't waste their talents and soil their names on something so pointless.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-62971276411625573742013-10-18T20:22:00.001-04:002013-10-18T23:27:51.138-04:00An Analysis of Escape From Tomorrow (2013)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSDYfp8Dnn8nUSayZ19pX328MqOsyMNSwqyfN7pBToetf-WZXTKE1kUExWu5xSTtnNXIkhE0F7mWHF8osfVSqhaq1f3-evnydOGCZf0Af7-e3DM16OuPzwGWGCfwZDmdgWRQgjO6tPdos/s1600/Escape+from+Tomorrow+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow poster" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSDYfp8Dnn8nUSayZ19pX328MqOsyMNSwqyfN7pBToetf-WZXTKE1kUExWu5xSTtnNXIkhE0F7mWHF8osfVSqhaq1f3-evnydOGCZf0Af7-e3DM16OuPzwGWGCfwZDmdgWRQgjO6tPdos/s320/Escape+from+Tomorrow+poster.jpg" title="Escape From Tomorrow poster" width="213" /></a></div>
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When people talk about <i>Escape From Tomorrow</i>, a movie filmed in Disney World without Disney's permission, all they ever seem to focus on is the development side of it. While it is an impressive accomplishment in guerrilla filmmaking, I feel that the film itself deserves more attention. The what, to me, is just as impressive and fascinating as the how. </div>
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This will be less of a review and more of an analysis and interpretation of <i>Escape From Tomorrow</i>. Of course this is only my personal interpretation and doesn't necessarily mean it's correct. It's just how I viewed it. This is intended for people who have already seen the film and assumes that you are at least somewhat familiar with the plot and production of the film. Naturally spoilers will follow. </div>
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The film's title tells us a lot. The film's main character, Jim, is a husband and father who is severely displeased with his life and wants to escape this life he's created for himself, he wants to alter his life to lead to a more agreeable future. The film's title also suggests a kind of child-like mentality: the idea of living completely in the present, embracing the moment and not worrying at all about the future or any consequences it might bring. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puer_aeternus">puer aeternus</a> complex, or peter pan syndrome, if you will. </div>
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The films starts with a scene shot on a roller coaster. As the plot unfolds it will prove to be one big roller coaster ride, but for now it seems like a perfectly normal, happy, fun environment. That is, of course, until a passenger on the coaster is startlingly decapitated by a low-hanging archway. This opening establishes a number of things right away: (1) not everything is sunshine and roses, (2) be prepared for the worst, and (3) Disney World is a place where someone can easily lose their head, both figuratively and literally. In the case of our main character Jim, it's the former. </div>
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Jim, along with his wife, son, and daughter, is on the last day of his vacation at Disney World when he receives a phone call from his boss informing him that he's lost his job. This is important because it gives the push Jim needed to really examine, and even attempt to change, his life. Jim seemingly loves his children, but him and his wife, Emily, are constantly at odds with each other and seem to be not only always arguing and bickering, but to be severely depressed and unhappy as well. Jim, faced with an existential midlife crisis analogous to perhaps David Byrne in the song <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12spb_talking-heads-once-in-a-lifetime_music">Once in a Lifetime</a> ("You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?"), comes to realize that he's not happy with his lifestyle and that his family isn't quite the dream family he may have imagined when he got married. In a fusion of sadness, confusion, helplessness, and the vibrant overwhelming happiness that is Disney World, Jim's mind starts to not just wander but delude as well. He doesn't just want to let the days go by and let things continue the same as they ever were. He wants change. </div>
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The film takes place almost completely from Jim's perspective. The world we see is the world of Jim's delusion. The first chance Jim sees for escape is in two young, beautiful French girls, who he imagines are flirting with him and leading him on. He spends much of the film following these two French girls around through the park and on rides, often imagining himself riding with them. All the meanwhile, any time spent with his wife only makes him retreat further into delusion. He can't even seem to kiss or dance with his wife. On one ride he hallucinates and imagines his wife turning to him and saying that she hates him and that their son isn't really his. This does two things: (1) it supports Jim's suspicions that his wife doesn't love him and (2) it makes it easier for him to breakaway from his family; it's a convenient excuse: he convinces himself that his wife doesn't even love him and that his child isn't even really his; so why worry about them?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZj9qbR9pqoVpefqerrkKSkmw3tq2TMe7BLOW0M8IirUdcOYqBOtAYaQC11rPNCAs5nAfvvcPEWMpj5ZM3KIWqqAqqD9c74VllPfBg7Cr9VFZQuNLknH3zJvWfH4d20yGZ_Eiv18sMdks/s1600/screenshot006.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow Emily" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZj9qbR9pqoVpefqerrkKSkmw3tq2TMe7BLOW0M8IirUdcOYqBOtAYaQC11rPNCAs5nAfvvcPEWMpj5ZM3KIWqqAqqD9c74VllPfBg7Cr9VFZQuNLknH3zJvWfH4d20yGZ_Eiv18sMdks/s320/screenshot006.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow Emily" width="320" /></a></div>
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Jim continues to chase these French girls around, at one point almost even confronting them in a pool, only to be stopped by his wife and left to depressingly float face down in the water ("let the water hold me down"). He also encounters a nurse, whom he goes to because his daughter scraped her knee, who he imagines is flirting with him. When he leaves the nurse's office the nurse begins to weep. Again, this is all from Jim's perspective. He <i>imagines</i> that the nurse was so disappointed that she couldn't have him that she began to cry. Later in the film Jim imagines that the employees dressed up as Disney Princesses are part of a prostitution ring. This all just supports his delusion that the world is his to take; that he can have any and every woman he wants if he so chooses. His delusion began because he was unhappy with his current lifestyle; to escape this lifestyle he creates a delusion that is welcoming. A fantasy that offers an ideal and convenient alternative to his unhappy marriage. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSxAe14NCp7OVkG9DQE058LheDNDESOcuaavx8Pt4558xKSc6VXTJonCotXAXY3xpsZJg7B9N7DNlPE3m4Y1cWWg85N4wZpV88vIww9hpOUWEpdEec7U3mSNqo6lWWq58SHL3wkkikZv9/s1600/screenshot053.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow Jim in pool" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSxAe14NCp7OVkG9DQE058LheDNDESOcuaavx8Pt4558xKSc6VXTJonCotXAXY3xpsZJg7B9N7DNlPE3m4Y1cWWg85N4wZpV88vIww9hpOUWEpdEec7U3mSNqo6lWWq58SHL3wkkikZv9/s320/screenshot053.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow Jim in pool" width="320" /></a></div>
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Later he meets an older woman. A succubus. She wears a gemstone amulet around her neck that entrances Jim. She tells him that the turkey leg he's eating is actually Emu meat. "Why don't they just call it that?" Jim asks, still enjoying the meat. "Would you really buy it if they did?" she replies. Here we see at work the theme of getting something you didn't ask for. Jim wanted a perfect marriage but what he got was an unhappy one. He would have never got married if he knew it'd be unhappy beforehand, just as he'd of never bought Emu meat. Next thing you know Jim blacks out and wakes up in the middle of having sex with this temptress, his hands tied to the bed posts. After she climaxes he takes his daughter and quickly leaves the temptress's hotel room, feeling slightly ashamed. It's sort of an awakening for Jim; it doesn't take him out of his delusion but it does make him slightly aware of it and its consequences. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBM12wb_XPSD6FBR1kQDsyNt4nETUBfohSr3au0phVdrrX1BT8TxPbwc1EnEfmHQ5B7trZsLdeF41qJmuB7q1JMm9IepjADrYDDGHJfLx7gNO4ldCHs3QTxZ39YJbFzE_O0PB0bh2Zb1fs/s1600/screenshot037.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow temptress" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBM12wb_XPSD6FBR1kQDsyNt4nETUBfohSr3au0phVdrrX1BT8TxPbwc1EnEfmHQ5B7trZsLdeF41qJmuB7q1JMm9IepjADrYDDGHJfLx7gNO4ldCHs3QTxZ39YJbFzE_O0PB0bh2Zb1fs/s320/screenshot037.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow temptress" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dEsVsi2qYmXHs_3sE69MTReGiWswoLPJfsygRIPCCyc9hKgJOki4MdJ6Z6UEgEg_Py_CJ6yvlpa_jx1Y2TIS-UjaLYMZnTT-k1MSS4WwF7ciVOJLUId8lQGD9ucANeqyRbeG9InH7XCM/s1600/screenshot036.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow amulet" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dEsVsi2qYmXHs_3sE69MTReGiWswoLPJfsygRIPCCyc9hKgJOki4MdJ6Z6UEgEg_Py_CJ6yvlpa_jx1Y2TIS-UjaLYMZnTT-k1MSS4WwF7ciVOJLUId8lQGD9ucANeqyRbeG9InH7XCM/s320/screenshot036.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow amulet" width="320" /></a></div>
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In a confusion and semi-self-awareness, Jim starts drinking and gets more drunk than he should, as he and his wife only continue to argue. For a brief moment Emily sees into Jim's delusion. But of course she doesn't see the playful French girls that Jim sees. When she looks at one of the French girls she sees nothing but a twisted and evil face, the real evil and destruction that they really are. She begins piecing things together: him telling their son that she's beautiful in an "Emily Dickinson type of way," him staring at the French girls in the pool and nearly approaching them, him reading a book about learning French, the mysterious phone call he received at the beginning of the film. She sees that Jim is deluded. </div>
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Jim once again retreats into his delusions, riding on the Epcot ride called Soarin', his head high in the clouds, he imagines a beautiful woman before him. "Soon you'll be mine, Jim." She is the antithesis to Emily. She's beautiful and embracing. She is his dream wife. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIOYEauMJqbs8ZN8PNsiy1TkL6cCE_EFGEpuR5Em_ovdWDavU8gcBKLwWdJuNGwh39Qd0-b8GtXE_d1k4gVQltFFhsul_Oid5dpGsNBhtfqwRd_dr6mdwcTaMNv2PbJKsqAxux4ATllDq/s1600/screenshot069.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow naked dream wife" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIOYEauMJqbs8ZN8PNsiy1TkL6cCE_EFGEpuR5Em_ovdWDavU8gcBKLwWdJuNGwh39Qd0-b8GtXE_d1k4gVQltFFhsul_Oid5dpGsNBhtfqwRd_dr6mdwcTaMNv2PbJKsqAxux4ATllDq/s320/screenshot069.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow naked dream wife" width="320" /></a></div>
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The first act of the film was Jim's journey into temptation and delusion. The second act was Jim drinking himself away in confusion and denial. The third act, as we'll see, is Jim's struggle to save his reality. </div>
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Right before the third act begins Jim imagines one of the two French girls walking up to him and kissing his daughter on the cheek, and then the three of them joining hands and cheerfully walking off onto a spaceship (the spaceship represented by the ride Spaceship Earth). This is a very revealing scene. It isn't merely sexual desire Jim wants. It isn't just polygamy or lashing out at his wife that drives him. It's the desire for the perfect family. But something brings him back down to reality for a moment: the spaceship doesn't launch him into his dreams, it explodes with him and his daughter inside it. This is Jim's revelation. He finally realizes his naivete and that his desires are unrealistic and can only lead to his and his family's destruction. </div>
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Back in reality, which Jim finally inhabits, one of the French girls walks up to him and asks him to come with her. "You speak English?" Jim says, surprised. We're back down on Earth now. Jim always imagined that the girls spoke only French because he saw them as being something exotic and new. A foreign, escapist desire. The reality is that they're just two French girls, very possibly even from America, who of course speak English. "I can't," Jim says, no longer delusional, "I'm afraid that if I come with you something bad is going to happen." He confronts his inner demons and resists them. But messing with the devil has its consequences. "But if you don't, something will," she responds, and spits in his face, giving Jim a "cat flu" (a clever antipode to Mickey Mouse) that was reportedly going around the park. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2am49akKTX_amMOM3CTUjWi4fo9vn5WBSCq8BporHJugkP5MYCA5lc7ryLGBigWWaIwQ0HrQSVDZdVfm1qP1FaerRBC09CfD77duUT4wLI-QM9QhutEXVD5uSo6y4Mxl_SMSlPrF_PnP_/s1600/screenshot078.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow French girl spitting" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2am49akKTX_amMOM3CTUjWi4fo9vn5WBSCq8BporHJugkP5MYCA5lc7ryLGBigWWaIwQ0HrQSVDZdVfm1qP1FaerRBC09CfD77duUT4wLI-QM9QhutEXVD5uSo6y4Mxl_SMSlPrF_PnP_/s320/screenshot078.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow French girl spitting" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1tzSoWrhfSxcID1cScoAK4QmH-jr2Aw3ZF80a_QH58V3foznXpP1iJd5IlsFXkyZGdNerNwBCo_pK3Y3PTrP-U2MeJ5H6MTLJmtoDOBFEzOe3wgqRSDIe9Z5D8-mxTR59Zv_bOaLQDJy/s1600/screenshot082.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow French girl spitting on Jim" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1tzSoWrhfSxcID1cScoAK4QmH-jr2Aw3ZF80a_QH58V3foznXpP1iJd5IlsFXkyZGdNerNwBCo_pK3Y3PTrP-U2MeJ5H6MTLJmtoDOBFEzOe3wgqRSDIe9Z5D8-mxTR59Zv_bOaLQDJy/s320/screenshot082.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow French girl spitting on Jim" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpbgiNrF-BFilFKVe7oLrF0WfBrmGqbqMMN6UYDKrFUqGqVz0BEEPV9RE24KtETavIMR-lQ7mZBQHKHUvZRpt1recnOcVQaToOIEFlwvaiXAFjonDjoLAkOLFyHKpedtR7BI3kr8WSMxv/s1600/screenshot081.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow Jim getting spat on" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpbgiNrF-BFilFKVe7oLrF0WfBrmGqbqMMN6UYDKrFUqGqVz0BEEPV9RE24KtETavIMR-lQ7mZBQHKHUvZRpt1recnOcVQaToOIEFlwvaiXAFjonDjoLAkOLFyHKpedtR7BI3kr8WSMxv/s320/screenshot081.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow Jim getting spat on" width="320" /></a></div>
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Perhaps Jim is still partly delusional, or perhaps he's experiencing immediate symptoms of cat flu, or perhaps reality is revealing its own surreal nature, but either way Jim soon finds himself captured by what seems to be a German robot scientist who has a secret base under Spaceship Earth. The scientist delves into Jim's imagination and we see all of his previous delusions flash before us. "You've got quite an imagination," the scientist remarks, "just like old W[alt Disney]. He died, while all this [Disney World] was still in its early stages." The comparison between Jim and Walt Disney is an odd one but perhaps a relevant one. Just like Walt Disney had never lived long enough to see Disney World completed, Jim will not live long enough to see his own kingdom, his family fully built. But Jim doesn't want that. If he is still in his delusion he's aware of it and is fighting to escape it. He breaks free and goes to find his daughter, who he's lost in the confusion. He somehow finds himself pulled towards the temptress's room from earlier, which he enters using the key card he accidentally took from her. Inside he finds his daughter dressed as Snow White lying in a bed of flowers. He runs to her and awakens her with a loving kiss. He tries to take his daughter and leave but the temptress's amulet is preventing him and threatening to bring him back into delusion. He is tempted by this witch but at the same time she is taking his family (directly represented here by his daughter) away from him. It is only once his own daughter grabs the amulet and shatters it that the spell is broken. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZooFNjWseB1-HOOqcRz36HLEbfl87qnG1a9wyGGCd6aOZ6zf2kHETLu102stBFrZhxJ427KYw1fddAmuXHEm7VZaVN9GxCgI2s8LbT9edrQl-nyAri8OhVRdhlfSTneYUXC-bnN-JJufy/s1600/Escape+from+Tomorrow+Epcot+Spaceship+Earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow Epcot Spaceship Earth" border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZooFNjWseB1-HOOqcRz36HLEbfl87qnG1a9wyGGCd6aOZ6zf2kHETLu102stBFrZhxJ427KYw1fddAmuXHEm7VZaVN9GxCgI2s8LbT9edrQl-nyAri8OhVRdhlfSTneYUXC-bnN-JJufy/s320/Escape+from+Tomorrow+Epcot+Spaceship+Earth.jpg" title="Escape From Tomorrow Epcot Spaceship Earth" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhba-0urTBkVHor89vgawMBpTC3kla2N3VY6HAEhi3vTdFZHGwzPKiylg9CUKBK6UuevoZJkC1VCSR-I7gP3bfE06JHEbiMojt4lcomDYtyvFb0etYtqWkPCPKnwa543P9Edo3hsqYadUSF/s1600/screenshot092.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow Snow White" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhba-0urTBkVHor89vgawMBpTC3kla2N3VY6HAEhi3vTdFZHGwzPKiylg9CUKBK6UuevoZJkC1VCSR-I7gP3bfE06JHEbiMojt4lcomDYtyvFb0etYtqWkPCPKnwa543P9Edo3hsqYadUSF/s320/screenshot092.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow Snow White" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bdG9kZiymjgvP0HAp_9QRI9qnp_JsyEbFQDadgjy8Ttg6k8MMQWd3D0PUG4w1pLBv1aPzz8gH1yWu0ATlhzG38JTohbcyi9WkljqzDbnmq2Nqo-WChUUzauYf3vX1brQWhU-Xg9swSW_/s1600/screenshot093.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow witch amulet" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bdG9kZiymjgvP0HAp_9QRI9qnp_JsyEbFQDadgjy8Ttg6k8MMQWd3D0PUG4w1pLBv1aPzz8gH1yWu0ATlhzG38JTohbcyi9WkljqzDbnmq2Nqo-WChUUzauYf3vX1brQWhU-Xg9swSW_/s320/screenshot093.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow witch amulet" width="320" /></a></div>
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Jim gets back to his hotel room, where his wife and son are already sleeping, and puts his daughter to bed, singing her "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_a_Long_Long_Trail_A-Winding">There's a Long Trail A-Winding</a>" ("There's a long, long trail a-winding/Into the land of my dreams/Where the nightingales are singing/And the white moon beams/There's a long, long night of waiting/Until my dreams all come true/Till the day when I'll be going down/That long, long trail with you). He himself goes into the bathroom and suffers his cat flu full on. It ends up killing him. His wife finds him dead in the morning with cat eyes, a big smile on his face, and a bloodied bathroom. Hilarious looking nazi-like Disney employees arrive and clean up the bathroom and haul away Jim's corpse in a body bag. Now, whether or not Jim really had cat flu is arguable. It could have been just a delusion of its own. We could still be seeing the world from Jim's perspective even after he's dead; or seeing it from how Jim imagined it would happen. As if he sort of constructed his own death. There's a few things to support this: all the things that happen when he dies had been planted in the film beforehand: (1) it was the nurse who told Jim about cat flu, (2) Jim mentioned to the nurse that he takes Vitamin C pills, which is what he tried to remedy his cat flu with while he was dying, (3) earlier in the film, from his balcony, he saw a van arrive and a Disney employee get out of it; the same type of employee that would later carry his body away and the same type of van that his corpse would be loaded into. His subconscious could have fabricated his death based on various memories from the last day. Cat flu could very easily be part of his delusion. He could have died any number of ways, perhaps he killed himself, overdosing on his own pills. Either way isn't really important, but I found it worth noting. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6kt-DWxW11dq7e0epAISJDbLH4uznLKuUTM0zQo_VXwi2lb6UGAjEhBfznyyYID2wT32PtyqV6Zp0hIJHI3XfJqxhZLwVYmoL5UQD_7WyBa64R7-yKHw-UKSgBbCHu2L4koYhI2CUZ_o9/s1600/screenshot101.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow cat flu eyes" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6kt-DWxW11dq7e0epAISJDbLH4uznLKuUTM0zQo_VXwi2lb6UGAjEhBfznyyYID2wT32PtyqV6Zp0hIJHI3XfJqxhZLwVYmoL5UQD_7WyBa64R7-yKHw-UKSgBbCHu2L4koYhI2CUZ_o9/s320/screenshot101.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow cat flu eyes" width="320" /></a></div>
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In the last moments of the film we see the van holding Jim's corpse drive away from Disney World, back to reality, and at the same time we see an SUV pull up and Jim gets out, dressed in fancier clothes (the same clothes he wore in his imagination when the German scientist looked into his mind), with his dream wife (the same one from the Soarin' ride) and two different children, and checks into Disney World. He failed to make his dream a reality and he died in his fantasy. He died in Disney World. His fantasy can never exist in reality, but Disney World is separated from reality. It is the land of fake smiles and impossible happiness. ("Time isn't holding us, time isn't after us.") Eventually the cat catches up with the mouse. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCtjkS7QqXdh0QjA3XSVRLX8eKgqi9ZwsFMuODot8tV3s5vnVCowNaOfNXrwKvwdGhSiCLfaCLlwzX6TqvPygK8q6rt32Sh4HSbWjz-9Gm3b_HuPuStzK4wZxke0YnQpBgMTB1NI-JZMeT/s1600/screenshot106.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow dream family" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCtjkS7QqXdh0QjA3XSVRLX8eKgqi9ZwsFMuODot8tV3s5vnVCowNaOfNXrwKvwdGhSiCLfaCLlwzX6TqvPygK8q6rt32Sh4HSbWjz-9Gm3b_HuPuStzK4wZxke0YnQpBgMTB1NI-JZMeT/s320/screenshot106.png" title="Escape From Tomorrow dream family" width="320" /></a></div>
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Disney World/Disneyland really was the perfect setting for a film of this kind. Having a family crumble and seeing a man who never got the perfect family he wanted break down in the Magic Kingdom, "The Happiest Place on Earth," seems only suiting. "You can't be happy all the time," the temptress remarked at one point in the film. But yet Disney World sort of has that perfect family aesthetic. That Sears catalog neatness. Even to this day Disney gives off that 1950s American <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_family">nuclear family</a> ideal (Disneyland was built in the 1950s, Disney World in the 60s). But this film takes us on a black-and-white journey to the most colorful place on Earth. Happiness like that, perfection like that, just isn't realistic. Jim found that out. </div>
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<i>Escape From Tomorrow</i> is almost like a dysfunctional 1950s film. It's shot in black-and-white like many films of the 50s, but it lacks the precise and calculated lighting that so defined those Hollywood movies. It deals with a nuclear family but it lacks the perfection and happy ending. It has a score reminiscent of 50s Hollywood movies, almost of Disney movies, yet the score isn't orchestrating melodrama, it's orchestrating the surreal destruction of a man. It's based around fantasies but it's no fairy tale. It can somewhat be seen as a comment on 1950s ideals, and of the non-stop-happiness that Disney tries to maintain. </div>
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The title of the film really is perfect. The film is about a man not liking where his life is headed but who also hasn't really grown up yet. He wants to live in his fantasy forever. But, unlike Peter Pan, and unlike the temptress witch that threatens him, he must grow up and face the harsh reality in order to save his daughter and family. Because of Jim's delusions of a perfect life, represented by Disney World, his family is constantly punished with the consequences. Only he can stop their suffering. </div>
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One element I failed to talk about, mostly because I couldn't really figure out how to fit it in, was Jim's son, Elliot. If Jim is puer aeternus then Elliot is certainly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_complex">Oedipus</a>. Throughout the film it constantly seems as if Elliot is slowly taking Jim's place; is this one of Jim's fears that lead to his delusion or is it a part of his delusion? Towards the beginning of the film Elliot intentionally locks his father out of the hotel room, and then cuddles up in the same bed with his mother/Jim's wife. In fact, it seems Elliot is always sleeping in the same bed as his mother, and indeed the mother seems to more enjoy spending time with her son than with her husband. She also treats Jim like a child and Elliot like an adult. And to be fair, Elliot is more mature than Jim is. At one point, when Jim is throwing up on a ride, Elliot laughs at him. At another point, when we first see the French girls on the train, Jim seems to imagine them being flirty toward shim, but from the viewer's perspective it looks like they're looking at Elliot. Again, at the end of the film, we see Jim in the bathroom dying and he pleads for help from his son but what does Elliot do? He shuts the bathroom door on him and goes back to sleep, leaving him to die. Another interesting part is when after Jim has died and the Disney employees are cleaning up, one of the employees puts his hand on Elliot's head in a sort of Vulcan mind-meld fashion and gives Elliot the memories of riding the Buzz Lightyear ride and then gives him a Buzz Lightyear pin (because no one can be sad in Disney World, even if their dad dies!). Elliot had been begging his father to take him on the Buzz Lightyear ride all day but his father never did. Jim had rather of been in the spinning tea pots with the Frecnh girls than waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride with his son and when the ride was shut down it was, as we find out later from the German robot, indirectly Jim's fault. Elliot couldn't get what he wanted until his father died. Quite sinister. But, if you subscribe to the idea that I offered before, that even after Jim's death we are seeing things from his perspective, that he imagined what his death and post-death would be like, then it could be viewed that Jim finally did end up giving his son what he wanted, at least in his mind. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71CVsqTT0xY5vIil8pKt_bFfxB-vuS1QMidvqedR3_s4e7urgcpcu1K1CS6Do7Aj6NL38kyYCymIQRTVbXDyIZieOnyyNR4PE0T4Tms3ox7WtZvSbp7eTOeAEKIzpB9IXw16di7VqeZNd/s1600/Escape+from+Tomorrow+Elliot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Escape From Tomorrow Elliot" border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71CVsqTT0xY5vIil8pKt_bFfxB-vuS1QMidvqedR3_s4e7urgcpcu1K1CS6Do7Aj6NL38kyYCymIQRTVbXDyIZieOnyyNR4PE0T4Tms3ox7WtZvSbp7eTOeAEKIzpB9IXw16di7VqeZNd/s320/Escape+from+Tomorrow+Elliot.jpg" title="Escape From Tomorrow Elliot" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Oedipal nature of Elliot could also bring up another alternative interpretation: that we aren't seeing the world from Jim's perspective, but rather from Elliot's. Elliot holds a sort of resentment for his father and he imagines his father to be the despicable and adulterous man we see him as. Could Elliot be the delusional one? Creating fantasies to support his own hatred of his father? Not only that, but Elliot also seems to set his father up to make him look bad in the eyes of his mother. After all, he did tell her that he said she looked like Emily Dickinson. Maybe Elliot even told his father that it was the Dumbo necklace she wanted instead of the Minnie Mouse one. Or maybe he told her about the French girls he was following. Innocent child or evil mastermind? Curious. I still subscribe to the idea that the film is through Jim's eyes, but it's an interesting thought nonetheless. </div>
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<i>Escape From Tomorrow</i> can be viewed many ways. In fact, that's what I like about it. It never felt incoherent or convoluted, it just felt challenging. It leaves the figuring out up to you and it's designed in such a way that can support varying interpretations. It's an interesting film that, I feel, goes further than a simple Disney satire. It's a film that I'd imagine will leave me with different interpretations as time goes on.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-1538201445008573342013-10-11T15:37:00.002-04:002013-10-29T22:05:36.047-04:00Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Edward L. Cahn: </b>Zombies of Mora Tau, Invasion of the Saucer Men, <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/04/it-terror-from-beyond-space-1958-review.html">It! The Terror from Beyond Space</a>, Invisible Invaders</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2012/10/night-of-living-dead-1968-review.html">Night of the Living Dead</a></span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Edward L. Cahn</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Richard Denning, Angela Stevens, Tristram Coffin</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Zombie</div>
<i><br /></i>An American gangster teams up with a German scientist to get revenge on his enemies by controlling corpses reanimated with atomic energy.<br />
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The monster movies of the 30s used electricity, the ones of the 50s used atomic energy. Both themes <span style="text-align: left;">were </span><span style="text-align: left;">certainly products of their times. The story of <i>Creature with the Atom Brain</i> was written by legendary sci-fi/horror screenwriter Curt Siodmak. You've almost certainly watched one of his stories; he's written some real classics: <i>The Invisible Man Returns</i>, <i>Invisible Agent</i>, <i>Black Friday</i>, <i>The Ape</i>, <i>The Wolf Man</i>, <i>Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man</i>, <i>I Walked With a Zombie</i>, <i>Son of Dracula</i>, <i>House of Frankenstein</i>, <i>The Beast With Five Fingers</i>, <i>Bride of the Gorilla</i>, <i>The Magnetic Monster</i>, <i>Riders to the Stars</i>, and the list goes on. He's certainly left a large impact on the world of sci-fi and horror films, and largely carried the genres through the 1940s. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><i>Creature with the Atom Brain</i> is one of Siodmak's lesser-known scripts, and it's <b>definitely not his best work, but it remains enjoyable nonetheless. </b></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The story involves remote controlled reanimated corpses doing the evil bidding of a gangster. This film is a <b>fine example of a pre-Romero non-voodoo zombie movie.</b> Most pre-<a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2012/10/night-of-living-dead-1968-review.html">Romero </a>zombie movies (including Siodmak's own <i>I Walked With a Zombie</i>) had mindless, enslaved zombies that were controlled by voodoo magic and followed the desire of their master, not the desire to eat brains. <i>Creature with the Atom Brain</i> <b>represents a bit of a half-way point between voodoo zombies and flesh-eating zombies.</b> In other words, it's a modernized evolution of the voodoo zombie. The role of the zombies here are very similar to voodoo zombies: they are created by a scientist rather than a necromancer and controlled with science rather than brainwashed with magic, but nonetheless function like a voodoo zombie. They still lack the animality of Romero zombies. That being said, they do strongly resemble Romero zombies and this film helped to move the zombie away from voodoo and more towards science--more towards the type of zombie we're familiar with today. </span></div>
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The film was directed by Edward L. Cahn, who is a bit of a legend in his own right as well. This marks his first science-fiction film, having previously done mostly crime films, most of which have since been forgotten. This shift to science-fiction surely worked out well for him; after this film he went on to direct minor classic like <i>Zombies of Mora Tau</i> (another good pre-Romero zombie film), <i>Invasion of the Saucer Men</i>, <i>It! The Terror from Beyond Space</i>, <i>Invisible Invaders</i>, and plenty of other 50s b-movies. Cahn was a surprisingly competent director. In this film we see <b>some very interesting scenes and camerawork</b>, from the beautifully shot opening to the mostly well shot driving scenes. </div>
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Rounding out the trio is Sam Katzman, who produced the film. Katzman produced a lot of films throughout his career, many of them fitting into the <span style="text-align: left;">b-movie </span>horror category, like <i>The Corpse Vanishes</i> and <i>The Giant Claw</i>. </div>
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There wasn't much make-up involved in <i>Creature with the Atom Brain</i>. The "creatures" at the very most may have had some make-up that made them look a bit paler, but most likely not. All they had was a strip across their foreheads representing that their brains were operated on. One effect, though, was actually quite ahead of its time. This film is notable for being one of the very first films to utilize what are known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squib_(explosive)">squibs</a>, a miniature explosive device used to simulate gunshot wounds. We're used to seeing this effect nowadays, being that countless films since have utilized it, but I'm sure it seemed very realistic and impressive (and indeed unnerving) to movie-goers of the time. </div>
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Richard Denning, who you may recognize from <i>Creature from the Black Lagoon</i> or <i>Target Earth</i> or <i>Day the World Ended</i> or <i>The Black Scorpion</i>, plays the main character in here. He does a good job. In fact, <b>all the actors in here do a very solid job</b>; somewhat of a rarity for these sort of movies. </div>
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Like so many 50s b-movies of the sci-fi or horror persuasion, <i>Creature with the Atom Brain</i> <b>lacks the budget for exciting effects or impressive action or amazing performances or interesting concepts. Because of this there's nothing really noteworthy about it. It's not exactly boring--it's enjoyable enough--but it's not exactly memorable or interesting either. </b></div>
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It'd be wrong to call <i>Creature with the Atom Brain</i> a good movie. It's not. Is it bad? Not quite. There's certainly better films out there, though, even among the 50s b-movie crowd. If you like these types of movies like I do, then you'll have some fun with it though I can guarantee you've seen better. <b>If you're interested in exploring the history of zombie films, then this is a worthwhile footnote to explore.</b> Otherwise, it's not a necessary watch.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-24009594208456213842013-10-07T15:41:00.000-04:002013-10-07T15:41:35.240-04:00World Without End (1956) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TSAAS8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002TSAAS8&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0790731215/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0790731215&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">VHS</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Edward Bernds: </b>Return of the Fly, Queen of Outer Space</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> The Time Machine, Planet of the Apes</span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Edward Bernds</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Hugh Marlowe, Rod Taylor, Nancy Gates</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic</div>
<i><br /></i>A spaceship's crew is returning from a trip to Mars when something goes wrong and they find themselves transported to a post-apocalyptic future where mankind has been forced underground to survive.<br />
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<i>World Without End</i> undoubtedly took inspiration from H.G. Well's classic novel <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1453767525/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1453767525&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">The Time Machine</a></i> (coincidentally, Rod Taylor who plays Herbert in this film later went on to star in the 1960 film adaptation of <i>The Time Machine</i>). Obviously it was Wells that pretty much invented the modern concept of the time-travel story, but the similarities go even further. In <i>The Time Machine</i> we see an advanced human race living on the surface of Earth and a savage mutated species living underground. <i>World Without End</i> sort of reverses this, but it's the same idea nonetheless: advanced humans live safely underground while savage beasts roam the surface. Also like in <i>The Time Machine</i>, the advanced humans in <i>World Without End</i> have lost their confidence and will to fight.<br />
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<i>World Without End</i> perhaps lacks some of the powerful commentary and originality that the H.G. Wells novel had, but as far as time-travel tales go it gets the job done.<br />
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When we look back on the science-fiction films of the 1950s most of us first think of the campy b-movies with low budgets and cheap effects. It's true that many sci-fi films of the 50s had very low budgets and because of the low budgets had almost always been in black-and-white and lacked a wide-screen format. Don't let the Technicolor in <i>World Without End</i> fool you: it's most certainly a low-budget b-movie. The film's poster proudly states that it's "CinemaScope's first Science-Fiction Thriller," but don't let this fool you either. While most 50s sci-fi was in black-and-white, plenty of larger-budgeted sci-fi movies like <i>Destination Moon</i>, <i>When Worlds Collide</i>, <i>The War of the Worlds</i>, <i>This Island Earth</i>, <i>Forbidden Planet</i>, et al were shot in color. So <i>When Worlds Collide</i> is far from being the first Technicolor sci-fi film. Nor is it the first sci-fi film shot in wide-screen, with that credit going to <i>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</i> from 1954. It's also not really a "thriller" like it claims to be.<br />
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It's exaggerated and misleading poster only fits the film more neatly into the many sci-fi b-movies of its time. (Oh yeah, and that awesome looking crystal-like giant holding that giant clock on the poster? Not in the actual movie.)<br />
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The reason <i>World Without End</i> was shot in Technicolor and CinemaScope despite having a low-budget and coming out in a time when most b-movies were in black-and-white is because Allied Artists, who produced the film, had a bad "poverty row" reputation that they wanted to shake. To do this they gave a little extra money to this film, allowing it to be shot in color and wide-screen and to exceed the 60-70 minutes runtime that many of the studio's other films had. Too bad there still wasn't enough budget for anything besides the technical aspects.<br />
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<b>Some of the special effects look very good. </b>The spaceship scenes are visually engaging. The design and costume work of the one-eyed mutated beasts is also impressive; they look both grotesque and unique. Some of the other effects aren't quite as good. The giant mechanical spiders that the main characters encounter in a cave look terribly lifeless and rubbery. The sets and costumes of the underground society, though charming, have that very cheesy retro-futuristic look. They still look pretty good at times anyway. <br />
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Edward Bernds directed this feature. He directed tons of b-movies throughout the 40s all the way to the 60s. Perhaps his most remembered work, along with a handful of <i>Three Stooges </i>movies, is <i>Return of the Fly</i> starring Vincent Price, which was a sequel to classic monster movie <i>The Fly</i>. If anyone has watched <i>Queen of Outer Space</i> or <i>Valley of the Dragons</i>, both directed by Bernds, then they may recognize the same mechanical spiders that were used in this film. (Again: not a big budget director.)<br />
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Hugh Marlowe stars in here, who also starred in 1951's <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still </i>and later in <i>Earth vs. the Flying Saucers</i>. His performance isn't exactly good (according to the director Marlowe only got the role because he was willing to work for a very low salary, and he was often lazy and unprepared) but it's passable. <b>The real star here is pre-fame Rod Taylor. This was his first major role and he does a great job.</b> He'd later go on to star in films like <i>The Time Machine</i>, <i>The Birds</i>, and he even made an appearance in <i>Inglorious Basterds</i>. Another possibly recognizable face is that of the beautiful Nancy Gates. She does a good job as the ultra-mini-skirt wearing babe (it's no surprise that all the girls in here are not only beautiful but also dressed in very revealing clothing; Alberto Vargas, one of the most notable pin-up girl artists of all-time, worked on the costume and set sketches for the film).<br />
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<b><i>World Without End</i> is an enjoyable film throughout. For a low-budget film it's extremely watchable.</b> It features some interesting themes (even if most of them are ripped straight from Wells) and some cool special effects and set/costume design (even if most of the time it looks cheesy and dated). Its low budget certainly shows but at the same time its use of color and wide screen format help separate it from the countless other b-movies of the 50s. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the best 50s sci-fi has to offer--far from it. But solid nonetheless. Not terribly impressive compared to other works; merely enjoyable.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-13166958162738060462013-10-04T18:32:00.001-04:002013-10-04T18:49:52.045-04:00Gravity (2013) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LAIIGM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B005LAIIGM&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LAIIGW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B005LAIIGW&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pros:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Stunning visuals/cinematography</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Great use of setting</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Good use of sound and silence</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Thrilling</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Well crafted</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Good acting</span></span></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cons:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Too much use of music/dialogue</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><b style="background-color: white;"></b><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Sentimentality occasionally feels overdone</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Holds the viewer's hand a bit </span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Alfonso Cuaron: </b>And Your Mother Too, Children of Men</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> Moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/09/silent-running-1972-review.html">Silent Running</a>, The Tree of Life</span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alfonso Cuarón</span></span></div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Sandra Bullock, George Clooney</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Thriller</div>
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Veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski and newbie Dr. Ryan Stone are on a space shuttle mission in the orbit of Earth when unexpected debris from an exploded satellite causes them more trouble than they asked for. Trapped in space with oxygen running low, they must find a means of getting back to Earth. <br />
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The concept is very straight-forward. <b>It's narrative is very linear and to-the-point, but its execution is something else entirely.</b> The entire film takes place in space and features only two characters, but the distant Earth is constantly present in the background and in the characters' minds that it almost feels like an unreachable second setting and space plays so active a role that it almost feels like a third character in and of itself.<br />
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And man, does this film utilize its setting well. James Cameron called it "the best space film ever done" and I might just agree with him. Ultra wide shots (the film only used wide angle lenses) and multiple long takes help <b>convey the vastness and solitude of space.</b> Even the 3D did well to add an extra sense of depth to the massive abyss. On the other hand, <b>great use of POV shots and extreme close-ups help to put you in the shoes of the main character. You will often feel as dizzy and disoriented as the main character</b> (not that space even has an inherent orient), you'll feel the same helplessness, desperation, and even lack of breath.<br />
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Space is alive in its nothingness, active in its indifference. "I hate space," Sandra Bullock's character mumbles at one point. <i>Gravity</i> shows us emotional people reacting to an unfeeling void. Space is a constant source of danger and suspense. <b>The tension in this film is crazy. It's edge-of-your-seat stuff.</b> The idea of losing grip and drifting away into space with no control over your movement is such a scary thought, both physically and psychologically, and the film knows this. It at times has as unnerving of an atmosphere as a horror film might. <b>As a thriller it is certainly incredibly thrilling. </b><br />
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<b>There's some good use of sound, but more importantly, great contrasting use of silence.</b> The silence of course reinforces the massiveness and desolation of space. There is a musical score, done by Steven Price, and while the score itself is fine, it's certainly no rival to the silence. As the director has said, "There's no sound in space, but there's music in movies." That is of course true, and of course music is used to build tension or help convey the emotions of a scene, but <b>I would have liked to have seen less music and more silence, as I feel that the silence is one of <i>Gravity</i>'s best tools, far more valuable and effective than the music. </b><br />
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There was also, I felt, too much dialogue. For a film largely about one person floating through space, you'd expect less. Some of it is perfectly warranted, like transmitting "in the blind" to Mission Control in hopes they'll receive the message, and even Sandra Bullock's character talking to herself felt natural most of the time as she was established as a very solitary person, so it's completely believable that she'd occasionally murmur a thing or two to herself. Still though, there could have been less talking and, again, more use of space's inherent silence. A lot of the dialogue felt unnecessary. There's also a lot of sentimentality in here (the scene with Bullock's character and the Chinese guy on the radio was terribly unenjoyable). Again, a lot of it is warranted, especially if you view the film as an allegory for grieving and rebirth, but some of it felt overdone or unnecessary.<br />
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The film does hold your hand a little bit. Only a little though. Sandra Bullock will talk to herself just to remind the audience that there's satellite debris hurling towards her. Even the beginning of the film felt the need to inform the viewer that there is no sound in space because there is no air for the vibrations to travel through. As if anyone over 12 isn't aware of such a common scientific fact.<br />
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But we should be thankful that <i>Gravity</i> didn't end up being a typical Hollywood blockbuster, which it very well could have been. The two characters could have easily fallen into numerous romance conventions, scenes taking place on Earth could have easily been implemented, more characters added, etc. Luckily director Alfonso Cuarón is of much more talent than that.<br />
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Another behind-the-scenes talent is cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. He's worked on many of Cuarón's previous works as well as many of Terrence Malick's films (including <i>The Tree of Life</i> which not only has equally beautiful cinematography as <i>Gravity</i> but curiously deals with many of the same themes as well). As if you couldn't already guess, <b>the cinematography here is amazing</b> and Lubezki, along with Cuarón, undoubtedly played a major part in making the film as stunning as it is. The engulfing blackness is humbling, the distant stars beautiful, and the massive Earth jaw-dropping.<br />
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In front of the camera Sandra Bullock and George Clooney do a fine job as well. <b>Bullock carries the film</b>, being the only character on-screen for the majority of the film. I haven't seen many Bullock films, but it wouldn't surprise me if this is one of the best performances of her career. Clooney has a less frequent role, playing a character we're all familiar with from Clooney: laid-back and suave. <b>While this is definitely Bullock's movie, Clooney adds a welcomed dimension to the film</b>, contrasting Bullock's character with his likable, calm, and humorous personality. The two are, for movie stars, fairly convincing astronauts (the director didn't allow them to wear any make-up, which adds a bit of realism to their appearances).<br />
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Like the other big Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro, who, with <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/07/pacific-rim-2013-review.html">Pacific Rim</a></i> earlier this year, made the film he would have wanted to watch as a child, a film which relies on stunning visuals that just weren't possible no more than 15 years ago; Alfonso Cuarón, quoted as saying that he made the film that he would have loved to see when he was young, achieved very much the same thing with <i>Gravity</i>. <i>Gravity</i> is a technical masterpiece, a milestone in special effects, and just completely awe-inspiring and stunning. Much like <i>Pacific Rim</i>. And <i>Gravity</i> does, at times, feel like a mindless special effects roller coaster thrill ride, being little more than a demonstration of technical ability. But there is more to <i>Gravity</i> than that. In movies every shot serves a purpose, every scene a motive, and every word a meaning. If you care enough to watch closely it's nearly impossible to miss the clear depth, symbolism, and metaphor that the director crafted.<br />
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[Spoilers in this paragraph:] Dr. Ryan Stone is mourning her daughter; she takes escape to its utmost extreme: she literally leaves Earth. In this orbit she experiences a rebirth. She often accepts death, whether it be from the debris flying towards her or the seemingly impossible task of getting back down to Earth; she has nothing to live for. But gravity pulls and Dr. Stone must fall before she can get back up (get it? Stone? Ha!). There was always a reason for her to live, for her to try and survive, and it was always there tugging at her, she just had to realize it. She had to allow gravity to do its job. Allow herself to be pulled back down to Earth, back down to reality, back down to solid ground. This is her rebirth, her umbilical cord-like tether has been cut and she must find herself alone. And when she gets back to Earth and finally reaches land for the first time in the entire film, something she can finally plant her feet on, she nearly falls back down while trying to get up (remember, she just spent the whole film floating in zero gravity and swimming. Walking is a foreign concept to her body.) "No, not this time," she says, her face nearly hitting the sand, and rises to her feet. She's done falling. Gravity doesn't need to pull her back down anymore, she's already grounded, all she has to do is stand up.<br />
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There's even more subtle, less meaningful things you may have missed in the film. For example, in the Russian space station there's chess pieces flying around and in the Chinese space station there's a ping pong paddle floating around. There's some other light-hearted moments like this throughout the film, and some not so light-hearted, but I'll leave them for you to find on your own.<br />
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In conclusion, <b><i>Gravity</i> is an amazing visual spectacle but it proves that that's not all it is. It is genius in its minimalism and thrilling in its execution.</b> It is one of the greatest films of the year, and will likely prove to be one of the greatest of all-time. Arguably Cuarón's best work to date and a worthwhile experience for any lover of cinema.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-25681479055427704702013-09-30T16:16:00.000-04:002013-09-30T16:16:08.922-04:00You're Next (2011) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfvas85ZRwPwtVQjiD2ToVbHNiqJ-aG_VAHRvJMSUNvb0928yEqq5c67rM-Sm3jQTG042hYMdCPI7pU6ra39i9TNx9kWsUyFiHNYAzqEzsAKf1O4wbagIBS5BtsU_3-y2A32GpjJKGcda/s1600/A.+J.+Bowen+in+You're+Next.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="AJ Bowen in You're Next" border="0" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfvas85ZRwPwtVQjiD2ToVbHNiqJ-aG_VAHRvJMSUNvb0928yEqq5c67rM-Sm3jQTG042hYMdCPI7pU6ra39i9TNx9kWsUyFiHNYAzqEzsAKf1O4wbagIBS5BtsU_3-y2A32GpjJKGcda/s200/A.+J.+Bowen+in+You're+Next.jpg" title="AJ Bowen in You're Next" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BEIYNIW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BEIYNIW&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BEIYNPA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BEIYNPA&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Masato Harada: </b>Pop Skull, A Horrible Way to Die</span></span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Adam Wingard</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Sharni Vinson, AJ Bowen, Barbara Crampton, Amy Seimetz, Wendy Glenn, Ti West</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Horror, Black Comedy</div>
<i><br /></i>I went into <i>You're Next</i> fully hoping to like it. It's gotten nothing but praise since it first screened at a festival in 2011, and the trailers seemed interesting enough. It's been said to play with genre conventions and is funny, scary, and unique. Unfortunately, I didn't find those things to be exactly true.<br />
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Three brothers and their girlfriends/wives along with their sister and her boyfriend go to visit their parents in their vacation home for a family reunion. However, during the family dinner, much to their surprise, they are attacked by mysterious crossbow-wielding men in masks, who leave them trapped in their own home and seem intent on picking them off one by one.<br />
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I've always believed that while a film that avoids convention is almost always a good thing, a film that uses such conventions to its advantage and shows them to the viewer in a new way takes a very special talent. To my dismay, I didn't quite find that in <i>You're Next</i>. <b>It doesn't play with tropes, it's just filled with them.</b> From the "final girl" trope to the predictable twists.
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The first half of the film has a fair amount of enjoyable suspense and mystery. You're constantly wondering why these people are being attacked and who it is that's attacking them. Are these masked men really even <i>men</i>? The answers to these questions are hardly satisfactory. In the second half, the unknown and mysterious protagonists become familiar and understandable. Their motives are made clear and thus the mystery and much of the suspense is lost; we see their weakness and thus much of the terror is lost. <span style="text-align: left;"><b>After the first twist the film goes from being suspenseful and scary to merely thrilling and gruesome.</b> </span><span style="text-align: left;">The first half builds up their power and ability, whereas the second half shows their vulnerability and stupidity. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">I understand that a mystery can't necessarily stay mysterious forever. I understand that motives will eventually be made known. I understand that suspense must be building up to something else. But <b>the mystery reveals itself to be predictable, the motives to be idiotic, and the suspense to be building towards little more than straight up gory violence.</b> The film worked much better in the first half with suspense and mystery, but it seemed to not know where to go from there and failed to capitalize on a solid opening. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b>The film is extremely repetitive</b> because of this. One of the most repetitive movies I've ever seen. The entire film consists of people trying to kill people inside of a house. It never really becomes anything more than that and it gets pretty old fast. The opening is exciting, as are the first few kills, but after that it's purely cyclical. Kill after kill, escape after escape, trap after trap. <b>This wouldn't be so bad if the kills were unexpected or creative, but they're not</b> (okay, the one kill involving a certain kitchen appliance was sort of cool). The film becomes stale long before its 95 minutes are up. </span></div>
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Unlike many slashers that consist of mostly teenage characters, <i>You're Next</i> has the interesting setup of having the characters be a family. This obviously opens up a fantastic avenue for not only natural feeling character development but for compelling character relationships, drama, and unique humor as well. <i>You're Next</i> does realize this potential to a certain extent, not so much when it comes to character development but certainly when it comes to relationships and humor. <b>It does at times almost feel like a dysfunctional family sitcom placed in the middle of a horror movie. </b>Some of the funniest moments come from Joe Swanberg as Drake and his relationship with his brother Felix. </div>
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Though I was still expecting there to be a bit more comedy in here. <b>Obviously the humor that is in here is very dark, but there's really not too much of it. </b>Nothing that funny anyway. Sure, the whole film kind of has a metafiction/self-conscious feel to it, but that doesn't make it inherently funny or clever, especially being that it does little with its meta-ness. <b>It's not very much of a satire or parody, nor is it a reworking or deconstruction of the genre. It's really just a fairly typical slasher / home-invasion thriller with a few mildly enjoyable moments. </b></div>
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<b>For the most part the acting was acceptable</b>, save for a few scenes (notably the horrendously acted first scene with the mother and father). Sharni Vinson as Erin the Super Australian (in fact, I think <i>Super Australian</i> would have been a more suiting title for the film. Probably would have sold more tickets, too. What kind of name is <i>You're Next</i> anyway?) does a good job kicking a lot of ass (because, of course, she conventionally was raised in a survivalist camp) and playing a fairly likable and empowered character (scream queen she is not). <b>You never really get to know or care for the characters that much. For the most part the characters are performed as dully as they are written.</b> Which is a disappointment being that the family aspect had potential. Oh yeah, and Ti West is in here for a few minutes. And scream queen Barbara Crampton as well. </div>
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<b>My favorite part of the entire film is probably the soundtrack.</b> The whole film was definitely going for an 80s slasher vibe and it's most evident in the repetitious synth score that dominates the latter half of the film. Along with the great electronic music there's the also repetitious use of Dwight Twilley's "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xq0ykm_SrM">Looking for the Magic</a>," which is used to great effect. The end credits song was also a joy. </div>
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<b>I don't regret the time and money I spent on <i>You're Next</i>, I enjoyed myself while watching it, but it certainly didn't impress me</b> and due to the rave reviews it was a bit of a let down. As a fan of the horror genre I didn't find it to be anything but typical. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPqqsj5M-2f7-PrBuXg1VAWNGSt7leVvpGG-DLZtHhzx5Hro3W6BNa83pzxRLTlsv3VmXwtNRyRq4saQb9GsMKrWGHbgdggUE47z8cfgskgf46v1RewITTJCNa5v7ZsE0yaMRIdqkDDAK/s1600/horror2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2/5 stars" border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPqqsj5M-2f7-PrBuXg1VAWNGSt7leVvpGG-DLZtHhzx5Hro3W6BNa83pzxRLTlsv3VmXwtNRyRq4saQb9GsMKrWGHbgdggUE47z8cfgskgf46v1RewITTJCNa5v7ZsE0yaMRIdqkDDAK/s320/horror2.png" title="2/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-52013189543315706902013-09-27T18:35:00.000-04:002013-09-27T18:42:46.826-04:00Film Adaptations of 1984 by George Orwell<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>[A <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/p/series.html">series</a> in which I go through the film adaptations of novels, authors, comics, television shows, video games, etc.]</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYWUGRcdtzseRcw9qabeG-QOcMjPl-0t6K94-l1vTdF70a1wi9siuQzKmI-a7fTRPx-3oHco74TdlOuyLeEKwUMLWvfxumFWhBxmfcB1bmNEJ8LRZmX-dhaB99GR5Lk48QGwN4q8tGZr-/s1600/1984-book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="1984 by George Orwell paperback" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYWUGRcdtzseRcw9qabeG-QOcMjPl-0t6K94-l1vTdF70a1wi9siuQzKmI-a7fTRPx-3oHco74TdlOuyLeEKwUMLWvfxumFWhBxmfcB1bmNEJ8LRZmX-dhaB99GR5Lk48QGwN4q8tGZr-/s320/1984-book.jpg" title="1984 by George Orwell paperback" width="190" /></a><i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i> [<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451524934/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451524934&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">1984</a></i>] is a dystopian novel written by George Orwell in 1948. It's a brilliant book that tells the story of a totalitarian society, a tyrannical Big Brother, and a man who rebels and finds love. Orwell had previously written the also political warning that is <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451526341/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451526341&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Animal Farm</a></i>, which, like <i>1984</i>, shows that out-of-check politics can be a very scary thing. Orwell himself was a devoted socialist, so devoted in fact that he made it his goal with all his writings to warn people of false-socialism and how it can be abused by leaders. I think it is without doubt that he achieved that goal. Terms like "Big Brother" and "doublethink" have worked their way into everyday vocabulary, and we owe <i>1984</i> for that. Even the author's name is constantly used to describe similar works, with nearly every dystopian work that followed <i>1984</i> being called "Orwellian" by at least someone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhNof8Z_8vEQH8fOthApr0x9Kb21q3ChoE7WTAPBSar3bN9dSZKmWnma_4i75AjzFL0LSb4Y8F02fNFixS0k4TCLVvKdvBU5BJGfEhYYRia-a2Bbtf72yJ1DfNl-0f-iI8nqQkvmCpYrO/s1600/george-orwell-508x675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="George Orwell on a typewriter" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhNof8Z_8vEQH8fOthApr0x9Kb21q3ChoE7WTAPBSar3bN9dSZKmWnma_4i75AjzFL0LSb4Y8F02fNFixS0k4TCLVvKdvBU5BJGfEhYYRia-a2Bbtf72yJ1DfNl-0f-iI8nqQkvmCpYrO/s200/george-orwell-508x675.jpg" title="George Orwell on a typewriter" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">During the first half of the 20th century there were many popular dystopian (or perhaps better called Negative Utopian) novels written, many even before </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">1984</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">, like Zamyatin's </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140185852/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0140185852&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">We</a></em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> or Huxley's </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060776099/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060776099&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Brave New World</a></em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">. It's not hard to see why; two World Wars and the beginning of a paranoid-filled Cold War all in less than half a century tend to cause people to reevaluate their governments and societies. Orwell wasn't quite original in his concept of a dystopian future, but he undoubtedly was in his delivery and details. </span></span><br />
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Before watching any movies based on <i>1984</i>, I would highly recommend reading the original novel, as it is unmatched by any imitators or adaptations.<br />
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Along with its massive influence on the genre of dystopian fiction, <i>1984</i> spawned many adaptations in all fields of media and art. Countless musicians and bands such as The Clash or Radiohead or The Kooks or Bad Religion have turned the novel into song. It's been adapted to radio plays and stage plays and even operas. Even other authors have paid tribute to <i>1984</i> with Anthony Burgess's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316116513/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0316116513&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">1985</a></i> or Haruki Murakami's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307476464/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307476464&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">1Q84</a></i>.<br />
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But today I point my focus towards the film adaptations. I will go through them chronologically and compare each one to the novel and, in the end, conclude which one is not only the best of the lot, but also the most faithful. Spoilers will follow.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>1984</i> (1953)</b></span><br />
The first ever screen adaptation aired on September 21, 1953 on the CBS anthology series Studio One in Hollywood. It starred Eddie Albert as Winston, Norma Crane as Julia, and Lorne Greene as O'Brien. Directed by Paul Nickell.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONg_E0lkp_-_2G0tXNSzP9kfvwFkvCoSgGa6TBukrrNTSxj6nlLIEP6KYWUzftvIBdZhv5QZXJ8Ka5pEcSuJc3t5_v4zWMKTFIixGbCC0CIsAmNDJmpKVG1rUSF-TM4ddlu26K5TAclfV/s1600/1984+1953+Studio+One.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="1984 - Studio One - Title Screen" border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONg_E0lkp_-_2G0tXNSzP9kfvwFkvCoSgGa6TBukrrNTSxj6nlLIEP6KYWUzftvIBdZhv5QZXJ8Ka5pEcSuJc3t5_v4zWMKTFIixGbCC0CIsAmNDJmpKVG1rUSF-TM4ddlu26K5TAclfV/s200/1984+1953+Studio+One.jpg" title="1984 - Studio One - Title Screen" width="200" /></a>The first thing any <i>1984</i> fan will notice while watching this is how many classic lines and quotes from the novel it misses, including the famous <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever," or </span> the famous proclaiming of love towards Big Brother at the end. Then again, this was made less than five years after the book was published so maybe they didn't adore those quotes as we do today, perhaps it took time to reach the iconic status. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The plot gets all the basics down, though the total run-time is less than an hour so some </span>necessary<span style="font-family: inherit;"> simplification was required. The one disappointing scene (unsurprisingly) was the torture/</span>interrogation<span style="font-family: inherit;"> scene with Winston and O'Brien. It's incredibly hard to live up to how excellent that part was in the novel but this portrayal of it was much of a let down. Also, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emmanuel Goldstein's name was, for one reason or another, changed to Cassandra. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNCwlsJmv-4tIcHauarv1eSjbkV8vUCCA0pUY8tPANpDctq4urc1uEhXqirMjAekeciMwRxbV_zxf3v0J5r5ukUQbM3PRhtsLvQ-nqD8FyVijfz9BE5TsJbAlasyaBqSYfvl7-gGhgWCz/s1600/1984+1953+Studio+One+Winston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Eddie Albert in Studio One's 1984" border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNCwlsJmv-4tIcHauarv1eSjbkV8vUCCA0pUY8tPANpDctq4urc1uEhXqirMjAekeciMwRxbV_zxf3v0J5r5ukUQbM3PRhtsLvQ-nqD8FyVijfz9BE5TsJbAlasyaBqSYfvl7-gGhgWCz/s200/1984+1953+Studio+One+Winston.jpg" title="Eddie Albert in Studio One's 1984" width="200" /></a>The characters are pretty accurate to the novel's, but they just didn't feel real. Maybe it was a lack of passion on the acting part or an over-simplification in the writing, but they just didn't feel likable or even believable.<br />
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The rendition of "Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me" sounds very good here. It's a chilling and haunting delivery.<br />
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Overall it's not a terrible adaptation and it never strays too far from the novel, but at the same time it misses many of the novel's best traits and in the end fails to capture its essence. There are, as we will get to, better alternatives to this first screen adaptation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i> (1954)</b></span><br />
Only a year after the first screen adaptation another one was broadcast in the UK by BBC. Created by director-writer duo of <i>The Quatermass Experiment</i> fame Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Kneale and starring pre-Hammer Films Peter Cushing. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2MeCkzx9FeYnI7LnFKNIJcFEmGbB_KzVewyfzm83dsb6AyXBhi9s7iaorL4I4C1Tw5OLvpBtqcZNemH9Kk52m6Et0cyNkLXDcav2RMMny5e84uC5UfgDyKfyDO8s33TqX_Vyg23raqhD/s1600/1984a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Peter Cushing as Winston with Julia in Nineteen Eighty-Four" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2MeCkzx9FeYnI7LnFKNIJcFEmGbB_KzVewyfzm83dsb6AyXBhi9s7iaorL4I4C1Tw5OLvpBtqcZNemH9Kk52m6Et0cyNkLXDcav2RMMny5e84uC5UfgDyKfyDO8s33TqX_Vyg23raqhD/s200/1984a.jpg" title="Peter Cushing as Winston with Julia in Nineteen Eighty-Four" width="140" /></a>This live teleplay, which runs for nearly two hours, captures the novel's plot excellently. Just about all of it is there, including, unlike the last adaptation, all the best quotes. I was actually fairly surprised how truthful it stayed to the novel. It does have the advantage of being double the running time of the American television adaptation, but everything is very well executed. As one must expect from a film adapting a much longer novel, not everything is as thawed out or as well paced as the novel, but the effort is impressive.<br />
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I did feel like it might be a bit confusing for people watching it that have never read the book. It's visuals didn't relay all the information as well as the novel's words did. Someone who didn't read the novel may feel a bit lost at times. It's hard, however, for me to say whether this is absolutely true or not, being that I am indeed familiar with the novel, but it's just the way I felt while watching.<br />
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One of my favorite scenes was the scene where Winston and Julia were arrested. I found that scene in particular to be very well executed, with the telescreen on the wall being vocalized so well. The torture/interrogation scene, though an improvement over the last film's, could have been better, I think. It wasn't bad but it again lacked the intensity and length it had in the novel. Some scenes were done fantastically, some were bit lackluster, some were just decent.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqHqHYgiCvgtxmEFYsejyG3zfTFLsMPeIBOq0y_huiBIjhxHCGWXVMKjVy4i2iFYkJPAukxBURPioCijVimSGG8_xGwBdGjH3B6H9d-lIx_NMXoSgb0i8R5VKHjIcfI-sWHhEyqT_BnVw/s1600/Big+brother+1984+1954.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Big Brother in 1954 BBC teleplay of Nineteen Eighty-Four" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqHqHYgiCvgtxmEFYsejyG3zfTFLsMPeIBOq0y_huiBIjhxHCGWXVMKjVy4i2iFYkJPAukxBURPioCijVimSGG8_xGwBdGjH3B6H9d-lIx_NMXoSgb0i8R5VKHjIcfI-sWHhEyqT_BnVw/s200/Big+brother+1984+1954.png" title="Big Brother in 1954 BBC teleplay of Nineteen Eighty-Four" width="200" /></a>The characters here are also very spot on. The marvelous Peter Cushing portrays Winston excellently, there is no doubt there, but it is not only the acting that make the characters very accurate, but the writing too. The writing really did capture Winston, Julia, and even Syme very well. O'Brien was well written and solidly performed, but for some reason I felt he could have been better.<br />
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When it aired it flared much controversy with people complaining of the film's "subversive content and horrific nature," which, I think, is a good indication that the film captures the essence of the novel. <i>1984</i> is indeed a frightening story.<br />
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Overall this is a very good adaptation, and though not perfect it is an impressive effort and a largely under-appreciated work.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>1984 </i>(1956)</span></b><br />
Here is the first theatrical adaptation and, at the time, the largest budgeted and highest produced adaptation. And it certainly shows.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEder98ITCQrLWJS2JlVrIw23NIgossK_YyYXMi3m-usUCXadhHMKUlF23QnvichckV5-cn8_ancQVBWX7t3wCExYxpgDRGpJTX1tFElPh2ooIY34Ipmckc99iQn44OzaS8J6EmDOM3vn/s1600/1984+1956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Big Brother in 1984 (1956)" border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEder98ITCQrLWJS2JlVrIw23NIgossK_YyYXMi3m-usUCXadhHMKUlF23QnvichckV5-cn8_ancQVBWX7t3wCExYxpgDRGpJTX1tFElPh2ooIY34Ipmckc99iQn44OzaS8J6EmDOM3vn/s200/1984+1956.jpg" title="Big Brother in 1984 (1956)" width="200" /></a>Like the 1954 version, this is a UK production, though it feels more like the 1953 American version. This makes sense being that the same writer from the 1953 American version, William Templeton, also co-wrote this one. However, not only does this film have connections with the 1953 one, but it also does with the 1954 in that Donald Pleasence, who played Syme in the 1954 version, returns here as Parsons.<br />
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The film is nowhere near as faithful as the 1954 one was, unfortunately. It's an improvement over the first one in 1953 both in terms of faithfulness and quality, but the Peter Cushing 1954 one still has it beat when it comes to faithfulness. The story here seems to focus more on the love between Winston and Julia and turns it almost completely into a love story. That's terribly unfortunate; as any <i>1984</i> fan knows it is far more than a love story. However, despite its inaccuracy, the love story, I thought, was very well done.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisa6cqSNWiSKIg6mfMsASGAIBcQ3zj5r7zqOVPoboPulVZlwWufEFLQgKYmU2dLmL4oJhCYihEJrUczhz0_V7j1OC9ZWx-JNZAnw7wb8VCcFk-FaHMwIguD_dY1jrBRhx0m7nL9-PGJVFe/s1600/1984+1956+Winston+Julia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Winston and Julia in 1984 (1956) movie" border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisa6cqSNWiSKIg6mfMsASGAIBcQ3zj5r7zqOVPoboPulVZlwWufEFLQgKYmU2dLmL4oJhCYihEJrUczhz0_V7j1OC9ZWx-JNZAnw7wb8VCcFk-FaHMwIguD_dY1jrBRhx0m7nL9-PGJVFe/s200/1984+1956+Winston+Julia.jpg" title="Winston and Julia in 1984 (1956) movie" width="200" /></a>The torture scene was the best hitherto, though it still had room for improvement. The film has absolutely beautiful cinematography and what the camera angles did so well during the torture scene was to put you in the same position as Winston. During the torture scene much of it plays out through Winston's perspective, like a POV shot, so it makes you feel like you're Winston. What made the torture part in the book so effective was that it put you in Winston's shoes; this film adaptation attempted to achieve the same thing and, all in all, succeeded.<br />
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As expected, the film changed a few minor things from the novel. Again, as with Templeton's last <i>1984</i> screenplay, Emmanuel Goldstein's name is changed, this time to Cellador. O'Brien is also changed to O'Connor, my guess being in order to avoid confusion between actor Eddie O'Brien who played Winston. The film missed a few great quotes from the novel, but it manages to get some of them. The ending was solid.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRwylSsyuFwV1MFL_aKP5mWTYd5LJULCnhmP3pSJIyKmXB1KF1aEKfqD4fcZJYdIb3_EPXgUxdskPVDtuhabHyj2zqyupsVCMJ5pL06AZW3eg2bfIBoJQICuVDBWfh41WAetiZjOGXgtJo/s1600/1984+1956+ministry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="1984 (1956) movie" border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRwylSsyuFwV1MFL_aKP5mWTYd5LJULCnhmP3pSJIyKmXB1KF1aEKfqD4fcZJYdIb3_EPXgUxdskPVDtuhabHyj2zqyupsVCMJ5pL06AZW3eg2bfIBoJQICuVDBWfh41WAetiZjOGXgtJo/s200/1984+1956+ministry.jpg" title="1984 (1956) movie" width="200" /></a>All the characters were portrayed very well, especially Julia and O'Connor. Winston, however, was not very good at all. Eddie O'Brien is a fine actor, but he's just no Winston. He doesn't look like Winston, talk like Winston, act like Winston. It was a terrible casting decision, especially since the last two adaptations had pretty good Winstons.<br />
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This adaptation is not as faithful as the 1954 one, but as a film I feel it is better. Its larger budget and high production values really make clear the difference between film and teleplay. It's a worthy adaptation, though far from perfect.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>1984</i> Commercial (1984)</span></b><br />
This isn't exactly a film, it's actually a 1 minute advertisement for the Apple Macintosh that aired during Superbowl XVIII. It was directed by Ridley Scott, of <i>Alien</i> and <i>Blade Runner</i> fame.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG83fddSKQLiDMJC7nKkR1q5b0fsrtY8Mx0hyWJT0_rnHhD0s6LRZc0yJA-RkrS_B3IEHfjRwIYZ1jx1WKgBGTUNj27rPpCurTMYSMsoB5_P8ZjE4g0frF_dBUeZpAuYg1AO4B6gYqUWPK/s1600/Ad_apple_1984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="1984 Apple Macintosh superbowl commercial" border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG83fddSKQLiDMJC7nKkR1q5b0fsrtY8Mx0hyWJT0_rnHhD0s6LRZc0yJA-RkrS_B3IEHfjRwIYZ1jx1WKgBGTUNj27rPpCurTMYSMsoB5_P8ZjE4g0frF_dBUeZpAuYg1AO4B6gYqUWPK/s200/Ad_apple_1984.jpg" title="1984 Apple Macintosh superbowl commercial" width="200" /></a>Obviously there's not much of a plot here, and in terms of faithfulness to the novel, it has little. It has a nameless heroin whom is not from the novel and the only character recognizable is Big Brother, played wonderfully by David Graham.<br />
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The commercial intended to associate Apple with non-conformity and IBM with the power-hungry Big Brother (a bit ironic by today's standards). It's often hailed as one of the greatest commercials of all time and it certainly is very well-made. Ridley Scott directed this on a budget of $900,000. Yes, nearly one million dollars just to make the one-minute commercial, and that's not even accounting for the money they paid for the Superbowl spot.<br />
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It has cinematic nods to<i> Metropolis</i> (another great dystopian work) and it's a very beautiful looking world (as expected from the man behind <i>Blade Runner</i>). I just felt I should mention this, though it's not really an adaptation. Hell, it's only one minute long, go <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxShzoUjiAQ">watch it on YouTube</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i> (1984)</span></b><br />
This is the film that most people will think of first when thinking of Orwell films. A British production, directed by Michael Radford and, very appropriately, released in the year 1984.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xDAaqjYCWjKz_G3j91Y6o54u1wKj1ijeU5uaDLTnflrXknLZHiFPfvyuWaOCkc0S-53EOwVHOVzzKoDvaw1EirhAEVA6lJkNkoh6ODC5bc6uyaVqvLGyzQQ71mQiVvVEBEEoS2YEXsnf/s1600/Nineteen-Eighty+Four+1984+Big+Brother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)" border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xDAaqjYCWjKz_G3j91Y6o54u1wKj1ijeU5uaDLTnflrXknLZHiFPfvyuWaOCkc0S-53EOwVHOVzzKoDvaw1EirhAEVA6lJkNkoh6ODC5bc6uyaVqvLGyzQQ71mQiVvVEBEEoS2YEXsnf/s200/Nineteen-Eighty+Four+1984+Big+Brother.jpg" title="Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)" width="200" /></a>The plot here follows the novel's story very closely. Of course there were the obligatory omissions, as a 2 hour film can rarely adapt everything from a 300-plus page book. But what it does do it does well, and stays faithful to the source text. It does a fantastic job of maintaining Orwell's vision, world, and message.<br />
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The film visualizes a very melancholy and depressing world, devoid of color and emotion. Like the novel, it's a world that is dystopic yet believable. The film's sets and color schemes definitely match the tone of the novel. It's quite the downer of the film, not unlike the novel, but that is the job of a warning, after all. In contrast to the industrial visuals, Winston imagines a world of green grass and love, with a landscape less resembling a Hugh Feriss sketch and more like an Andrew Wyeth painting.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQswUjrsxd_dn9B7chUBsebcQGA0UaIvxcgajA_axYcib9AMbqboA7ah8P7cA4cErIr-k4xtdUG4Eq9XjgfJauCg7WXitO0BLDTl-OliZzmv7UEnKTGaeIHhwiSAQgaotqYAQkRabF4ZTT/s1600/Nineteen-Eighty+Four+1984+Julia.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Suzanna Hamilton as Julia in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)" border="0" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQswUjrsxd_dn9B7chUBsebcQGA0UaIvxcgajA_axYcib9AMbqboA7ah8P7cA4cErIr-k4xtdUG4Eq9XjgfJauCg7WXitO0BLDTl-OliZzmv7UEnKTGaeIHhwiSAQgaotqYAQkRabF4ZTT/s200/Nineteen-Eighty+Four+1984+Julia.png" title="Suzanna Hamilton as Julia in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)" width="200" /></a>The characters are written and portrayed great. They're mostly carbon copies of their prose counterparts, and the performances here are very impressive. John Hurt as Winston is perfect, capturing the weariness and helplessness of the character. Richard Burton is great as the intimidating though somewhat sympathetic O'Brien. Suzanna Hamilton as Julia is good here also.<br />
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The 1954 teleplay still stays a bit more faithful, but the larger production values and wonderful performances make this one a very worthwhile adaptation. It also conveys the atmosphere of the novel, I feel, better than any other adaptation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Brazil</i> (1985)</b></span><br />
Directed by former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, <i>Brazil</i>, which was developed under the working titles <i>The Ministry</i> and <i style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">1984 ½ </i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">(a nod not only to the novel but to Fellini's <i>8</i></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><i>½</i></span> as well),</span> is perhaps the loosest Orwell adaptation there is. Terry Gilliam has even admitted that he wrote the script before ever even reading the novel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlien0I4u1SkOBivCR3kHMSmebsr55XWp4libdvoha0x1jL-VbQ-tTzXn64GPmGKtoKlntBhsIZccEG083lyQLea6PTk26ntEVsxRcpKCs32d5ODoIpkR3gkfaHwca0waGYpYSE-bsb4Is/s1600/Brazil+1985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Typewriter in Brazil (1985)" border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlien0I4u1SkOBivCR3kHMSmebsr55XWp4libdvoha0x1jL-VbQ-tTzXn64GPmGKtoKlntBhsIZccEG083lyQLea6PTk26ntEVsxRcpKCs32d5ODoIpkR3gkfaHwca0waGYpYSE-bsb4Is/s200/Brazil+1985.jpg" title="Typewriter in Brazil (1985)" width="200" /></a>Expectedly, the film's story isn't very faithful to the novel; aside from some similarities and parallels, it's very much a work of its own. What <i>Brazil</i> does share with <i>1984</i> though is the totalitarian themes and dystopian world. It achieves almost all of the same messages and warnings that <i>1984</i> did, and in that respect is a faithful adaptation. <br />
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It's also interesting to see an adaptation done by someone who has never read the source material. It brings a certain freshness and unique perspective to the Orwellian dystopia. It also goes to show just how much Orwell's novel has seeped into the public consciousness and culture, making itself familiar to people who haven't even read it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh310uwZeJiqeXhMBlsC1VWJavENrpBXx5BpHo3_yXt4mjvHuFngrgGKocu4JHxMUowMqsFeG_IiksUly3tGZLNNYQxbUtl_NiXwlVEKA9U8LVH2NCNHD13-WQPerMEv_KL4fc1ZhPf51iH/s1600/Brazil+1985+baby+face+mask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Baby face mask from torture scene in Brazil (1985)" border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh310uwZeJiqeXhMBlsC1VWJavENrpBXx5BpHo3_yXt4mjvHuFngrgGKocu4JHxMUowMqsFeG_IiksUly3tGZLNNYQxbUtl_NiXwlVEKA9U8LVH2NCNHD13-WQPerMEv_KL4fc1ZhPf51iH/s200/Brazil+1985+baby+face+mask.jpg" title="Baby face mask from torture scene in Brazil (1985)" width="200" /></a>The visual style evokes not only a dystopian aesthetic but a a blend of German expressionism, film noir, retro futurism, and surrealism as well. Mixed with comedy and fantasy, this may not be the <i>1984</i> adaptation one would expect, but it's undoubtedly a masterful work that, at its core, I'm sure would do Orwell proud.<br />
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This also, out of all the adaptations, has possibly the best rendition of the torture scene.<br />
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A loose adaptation that touches on many of the same things Orwell did. If anything an enjoyable film for its visuals and set design.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></b><br />
Though very rarely does an adaptation outdo its source, there have been some interesting adaptations of Orwell's novel. None of them are perfect, and none are, I'd argue, as good as the novel, but every one is worth watching at least once.<br />
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Best Winston portrayal: John Hurt in <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029ATTAQ/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0029ATTAQ&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a></i> (1984)<br />
Most faithful adaptation: <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083CV8NK/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0083CV8NK&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a></i> (1954)<br />
Least faithful adaptation: <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0783225903/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0783225903&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Brazil</a></i> (1985)<br />
Best film: <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00361EWJK/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00361EWJK&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">1984</a></i> (1956)<br />
Worst film: <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E1HCQY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001E1HCQY&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">1984</a></i> (1953)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-14485493436112981272013-09-23T12:43:00.000-04:002013-10-02T14:11:32.341-04:00Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006IIPIK/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0006IIPIK&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AEBB9T6/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00AEBB9T6&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IZA9NK/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000IZA9NK&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a></span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Kerry Conran</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Giovanni Ribsi, Angelina Jolie</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Adventure</div>
<i><br />Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow</i> is a dieselpunk fan's dream come true, with an unforgettable visual style and a fun pulp-style adventure.<br />
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The story concerns Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan and his ex-lover Polly Perkins, a newspaper reporter. Together they aim to stop the mysterious Dr. Totenkopf, who they believe has been terrorizing the world with giant robots and is plotting to put an end to the world, and partake in an Indiana Jones-like adventure.<br />
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<b>Like many pulp adventure stories, the plot is simple yet somehow manages to make little sense.</b> There's plenty of plot holes and questionable logic at play here. But a lot of it seems very intentional. The film is definitely <b>an homage to old pulp adventure and detective stories.</b> This is sort of a double-edged sword, though. While a homage can be enjoyable for fans of that which is being paid tribute to, that still doesn't necessarily excuse the inherited flaws. A poor plot is a poor plot regardless. In this way it can be hard for a homage to both pay tribute and avoid the unenjoyable aspects of that which it is tributing, all while maintaining the necessary style and themes.<br />
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<i>Sky Captain</i> certainly does have a ridiculous plot that likely shatters most people's suspension of disbelief. And it does have cliched characters and plot elements. It certainly provides nothing you haven't seen before when it comes to those things. But all that doesn't hurt the film...too much. I felt it did detract from it a bit, because it was harder for me to care about the characters and the plot was terribly predictable, but at the same time it still managed to be fun. Really, you have to be in the right mind-state to overlook the flaws. You need to trick yourself into embracing the flaws; laugh at them.<br />
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The most notable and indeed noticeable thing about the film is easily its visual style. <i>Sky Captain</i>, along with some other films like <i>Sin City</i>, is one of the earlier films to be shot entirely on a digital backlot, which means that it was entirely shot in front of a blue or greenscreen, with the entire background being computer generated. The benefits of this are obvious: you can achieve things you couldn't in real life, and on a smaller budget. The problem is that CGI mixed with live action often looks very fake and artificial. However, <i>Sky Captain</i>, like <i>Sin City</i>, bypasses this unwanted side-effect by employing <b>a unique visual style that doesn't conform to realism.</b><br />
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The visual style of <i>Sky Captain</i> is in a way simultaneously new and old. Impressive and cheesy. Good and bad. It nails the sci-fi pulp noir 1930s style, yes, but it also manages to look very...silly at the same time. This goes back to the idea that <i>Sky Captain</i> is in many ways intentionally bad. But yet, I wouldn't call its visuals bad, and they're actually very creative. It's hard to explain. It's like a cutscene from the video game <i>Wing Commander III</i>: its backdrops are very clearly fake and as a result it all looks kind of cheesy, but at the same time what it manages to achieve is actually pretty impressive. <i>Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow</i> is very similar to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_motion_video">full motion video (fmv) games</a> from the 90s; like a weird hybrid of <i>Wing Commander III</i> and <i>Tex Murphy</i>.<br />
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The CGI isn't very impressive itself either. It looks like what it is: early 21st century CGI, i.e. not at all convincing by today's standards. Many of the models lack detail and come off looking like an early Playstation 2 game. <span style="text-align: left;">But somehow <i>Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow</i> takes the poor CGI, the cheesy greenscreens, the 30s pulp style, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieselpunk#Dieselpunk">dieselpunk</a> aesthetics and combine them into something that actually works quite well. I can't really explain why it works; I think maybe it does because it feels not only like a homage, but <b>like something that really would be made in the 1930s if they had today's technology.</b> The director said that they "wanted the film to feel like a lost film of that era." Of course it's unconvincing as a lost film from the 30s, as we can recognize the modern technology being used, but what it does achieve is feeling like a a lost film from an <i>alternate</i> 1930s; a 1930s that, just like in the film's story, has the same style but different technology. </span><br />
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A better descriptor for <i>Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow</i>'s style, better even than pulp or dieselpunk, is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro-futurism">retrofuturism</a>. That is, the future as seen from the past. Think of a style along the lines of <i>Brazil</i> or <i>Fallout</i>. It's no surprise that this film took much influence from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_New_York_World%27s_Fair">1939 New York World's Fair</a>, a fair that set its focus on the future, and, as the fair's slogan was "the world of tomorrow", the place where this film gets part of its name.</div>
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At the end of the day though, <i>Sky Captain</i> does have <b>some gorgeous imagery.</b> My particular favorite being the part where two characters are talking while <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> plays in the background. Some of the landscape shots, particularly the snow and city ones, just look stunning as well. </div>
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<b>The cast here is solid.</b> There's no great performances and everyone seems to be acting intentionally wooden, but a solid cast nonetheless. The beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow does a fine job as a clumsy news reporter. Giovanni Ribisi does a charming job as the Sky Captain's friend. Angelina Jolie's talents were certainly underused here, not just in screentime but in writing as well. Though she still does an okay job. The only one who sort of let me down here was the Sky Captain himself, played by Jude Law, who often felt uninterested and lacked any real emotion in his acting. </div>
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<b>The film, and even its technology, isn't incredibly innovative or revolutionary.</b> It does little new: it tells a story we've all heard with character we've all met. But yet, <i>Sky Captain</i> feels more like <b>a culmination of its influences rather than an evolution. It doesn't build upon them, it basks in them.</b> It's homage through and through. And I can understand why many would see such a thing as a detractor. In a way, I do too. I wouldn't ever call <i>Sky Captain</i> a great or important film, but for what it does it's enjoyable and I think it achieved what it set out to do: to be a homage that sees the future from the past rather than from the present, to not be prophetic but to be intentionally wrong, and to have fun the with it the whole way through.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl7_CxWTF1PLy2YEOsu3FdtQ7e8k3m2QALV_in_5RIZJ2ow4N594yBOpMpROKzw9p-Q3GDY9lNTskD-Ef2wvSVzvtUh0kRxtJ8_P97sFWkUn8yULl-xr1IHtIw41v8K0jco-ttVZju-jT/s1600/scifi3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="3/5 stars" border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl7_CxWTF1PLy2YEOsu3FdtQ7e8k3m2QALV_in_5RIZJ2ow4N594yBOpMpROKzw9p-Q3GDY9lNTskD-Ef2wvSVzvtUh0kRxtJ8_P97sFWkUn8yULl-xr1IHtIw41v8K0jco-ttVZju-jT/s320/scifi3.png" title="3/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-72129740629148985982013-09-20T14:41:00.000-04:002013-09-20T14:41:39.065-04:00Any and Every Which Way (2010)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Director:</b> Shoichiro Masumoto</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Tomomi Miyauchi, Yoshiki Kanahashi, Hoka Kinoshita, Sotaro, Kotono</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Pink Film, Sex Comedy</div>
<i><br />Any and Every Which Way </i>(<i>Ushiro kara mae kara</i>), not to be confused with <i>Every Which Way but Loose</i> starring Clint Eastwood and an orangutan,<i> </i>is a low-budget Japanese Sex Comedy, a Pinku eiga (pink film), that I came across randomly on Netflix (it's currently available for streaming) and was allured by its cover (namely the cleavage part).<br />
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It's about a lackluster taxi driver who has completely forgotten her past, but over time slowly remembers certain things. She encounters a man who just got out of prison for accidentally killing someone in a car accident, and is on his way back to his wife to see if she'll take him back.<br />
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In between all that there's some prostitution, some panty stealing, and...frogs. Like many Sex Comedies from all parts of the world, <b>the plot is rather simple and predictable</b>. Apparently it's a remake of an older film (directed by Koyu Ohara I think).<br />
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The appeal of this film (and indeed the only reason I ever clicked play) is the sex. And that part of it ain't so bad. <b>The girls are beautiful, there's plenty of nudity, and the sex scenes are shot well.</b> There's a few sex scenes, one of them is a lesbian scene (there's also a questionable rape scene). If you want to see naked Japanese girls, which is perfectly natural don't be embarrassed, then the film satisfies (while you possibly satisfy yourself).<br />
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<b>The humor here is actually occasionally funny. I laughed a few times and thought that some scenes were genuinely hilarious.</b> The scene in the hotel is classic; the main character gets horny every time someone holds her in their arms (it's a long story) and it leads to some funny moments (it also leads to a lot of sex). <span style="text-align: left;">There's also that hint of Japanese ridiculousness that never fails to amuse. It's certainly not the height of comedic wit, but it's enjoyable. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">I don't know if it was just the version I watched, but the video quality is pretty bad. It's as if it was shot on a camcorder in areas with shitty lighting. It's not bad enough that it's unwatchable though; once you get used to it it's not that bad. Maybe there are better versions though.</span><br />
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<b>For what it is, which is essentially softcore porn, it's not that bad.</b> It may be worth a watch if you're in the right mood, it's running time is on the short side. Not a great film, but not awful. Just have to be the right person and in the right mood for it.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-54207916737903081182013-09-16T15:01:00.000-04:002013-09-16T15:01:29.194-04:00Incident at Loch Ness (2004) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4wG1HWzO3ckrdze2wXAIdFOeUWcmk7JXfg4hDo3VvOBFhcQXFHAw8ggVMc4A8vH2LnpQ27QQ1dPBiJgbiXDUrttd0roOdN9AmC1LoMOK-iAmzGHwHVhawPWyD7TBWhXlZKvSdYoexVlH/s1600/Incident+at+Loch+Ness+Kitana+Baker+sonar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Incident at Loch Ness Kitana Baker sonar girl in bikini" border="0" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4wG1HWzO3ckrdze2wXAIdFOeUWcmk7JXfg4hDo3VvOBFhcQXFHAw8ggVMc4A8vH2LnpQ27QQ1dPBiJgbiXDUrttd0roOdN9AmC1LoMOK-iAmzGHwHVhawPWyD7TBWhXlZKvSdYoexVlH/s200/Incident+at+Loch+Ness+Kitana+Baker+sonar.jpg" title="Incident at Loch Ness Kitana Baker sonar girl in bikini" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxm2ZF2w1xRxTXiMLE41iOxTVpS_SeAQayxUNXWW4p_bkvWjR4k4KJIHitW79NFIqSLRtwVjP9bMqARXnY4J2BHI8xnd44LjxmHdRMLe3Q5FR3skddzatI_9VQmCN8HpfNrlzzsVFrjzq/s1600/Incident+at+Loch+Ness+monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Incident at Loch Ness monster" border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxm2ZF2w1xRxTXiMLE41iOxTVpS_SeAQayxUNXWW4p_bkvWjR4k4KJIHitW79NFIqSLRtwVjP9bMqARXnY4J2BHI8xnd44LjxmHdRMLe3Q5FR3skddzatI_9VQmCN8HpfNrlzzsVFrjzq/s200/Incident+at+Loch+Ness+monster.jpg" title="Incident at Loch Ness monster" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006UEVNQ/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0006UEVNQ&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001HM22YM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001HM22YM&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Zak Penn: </b>The Grand</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwmU_uVtL6_lXwYdsrB78PkTGe-DTlpjRMarpDWKx2pyr2NUP6tqEQ2dr3hs_EiU76bgyeSPM45uIbE_YRtl3qavZCoNOU8XgaXFHSfIUIAmS6hjKXg0rDN5C-cT-1NHS28se4kjG1fBlO/s592/Gunhed+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZWUd6AC89PZSh1tDQ61kuOYqZ1LF0ZPbYsUBtj-x18rVjXKaFia9qS7DvbEKA9WcgSxklXyQ8Kbn9Qvm_ww61Own5ouQSv842qQj5T23TCm7FT2HVM5smYdwmS5nFZOwu9_TECFVUsSM/s600/Gunhed+1989+still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></td>
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<b>Director:</b> Zak Penn</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Werner Herzog, Zak Penn, Kitana Baker</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Mockumentary, Comedy</div>
<i><br /></i>A mockumentary (fake documentary that presents itself as being real) about the behind-the-scenes of a new film by director Werner Herzog entitled <i>Enigma of Loch Ness</i>.<br />
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The mockumentary chronicles a film crew on a small boat making a movie about the Loch Ness monster. The crew deals with troubles and creative differences of their own, but could there also be troubles in the lake?<br />
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It's not so much the story of a film crew being attacked by a sea monster as it is the story of a producer who gets a little bit carried away and takes things a bit too far in order to try and produce a good film.<br />
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<b>This is a must watch for any Wener Herzog fans. He's one of the coolest director/actors there is and he can make nearly any film enjoyable with his lovable personality and charming acting.</b> The director, Zak Penn (who has written the screenplays for movies like <i>Last Action Hero, Behind Enemy Lines, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, Elektra, The Incredible Hulk</i>, and <i>The Avengers</i>), who plays the producer, created such a great character; <b>the producer is pretty much the worst guy ever but his portrayal is very funny and even slightly unnerving. Penn did a wonderful job playing him.</b> There's plenty of guest appearances in here as well, which adds to the realistic behind-the-scenes atmosphere; you'll catch glimpses of Jeff Goldblum, Crispin Glover, Ricky Jay, and even Herzog's beautiful wife Lena Herzog.<br />
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It's a mockumentary but of course nearly everyone going into it knows it's fake, as is the case with most mockumentaries. There was a bit of confusion when it was first shown at festivals as to whether it was real or not, but nearly a decade later I think we've all got it figured out. It's shot convincingly enough that if one were to randomly catch it late one night on television, without knowing anything about it beforehand, they might be in for a bit of a surprise, but otherwise it's just pure, well crafted fiction.<br />
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The film doesn't really have any sort of a climax or anything (real life rarely does), and things are fairly slow paced and even during the more intense scenes it's nothing all too exciting. It's certainly not a "horror" movie or creature feature, but it's highly entertaining to watch a fictional crew go through fictional production hell.<br />
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It's a mockumentary film-within-a-film-within-a-film that is <b>funny and entertaining.</b> Must see for fans of mockumentaries, fans of Werner Herzog, or cryptozoology buffs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ybQ17gKRwtP1z7mvPpNakOVJLBeQz8h8UXh0fxpV3C9aVvHDL5iYUkO-t-mQRSxtexWpW6ZeqMSXmG1xPMKGMM0dicxFvQw613qFMvl-jV5snqm4p7Fb3BM8MYGcnX84udBIIL5-qeN3/s1600/comedy3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="3/5 stars" border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ybQ17gKRwtP1z7mvPpNakOVJLBeQz8h8UXh0fxpV3C9aVvHDL5iYUkO-t-mQRSxtexWpW6ZeqMSXmG1xPMKGMM0dicxFvQw613qFMvl-jV5snqm4p7Fb3BM8MYGcnX84udBIIL5-qeN3/s320/comedy3.png" title="3/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-68911170704532407542013-09-13T17:55:00.001-04:002013-09-13T20:04:25.086-04:00Kick-Ass 2 (2013) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0D8YKM1ZW4RrTSWHsdHLjRKlD7WDoV7fnUGKFI8RS5R943tDTzHs-YkBNJEMMfQx5KTo6MY-5fIKEbOUYyV0N1wbFjEPIkSoJDX6Bsb2lOpI1iz5Zm3aADA53zvsDcuzCWmRKFsXyRI51/s1600/Chloe+Moretz+as+Hit-Girl+in+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2" border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0D8YKM1ZW4RrTSWHsdHLjRKlD7WDoV7fnUGKFI8RS5R943tDTzHs-YkBNJEMMfQx5KTo6MY-5fIKEbOUYyV0N1wbFjEPIkSoJDX6Bsb2lOpI1iz5Zm3aADA53zvsDcuzCWmRKFsXyRI51/s200/Chloe+Moretz+as+Hit-Girl+in+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" title="Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmJ2ubQJNrO8K7VAGvf_EAdOLmnBdTvKMfNtKXJOLLMMihRHwqnTYvYe-i1K-CJKeRuQv7Z6EIYXqA_zLqh7LZrXItmLAUP9VnzQXrq0czzUbv3f4ORiFAwG0XByJ4MhyWxQ-8Nyw34Q1/s1600/Kick-Ass+and+Hit-Girl+in+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2" border="0" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmJ2ubQJNrO8K7VAGvf_EAdOLmnBdTvKMfNtKXJOLLMMihRHwqnTYvYe-i1K-CJKeRuQv7Z6EIYXqA_zLqh7LZrXItmLAUP9VnzQXrq0czzUbv3f4ORiFAwG0XByJ4MhyWxQ-8Nyw34Q1/s200/Kick-Ass+and+Hit-Girl+in+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" title="Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVcaR87fCLn2rQ86RJXinH-YCJBxAyh0_R1kAJn4CBD1BBC8VfRVjkW0matGnM8PNYrWRQjrBY3nw9GWSimqVbt1OkHmjd6tehzgsPoXoa-noE8dHn9r9ng_RdrBEqdhODYpnmTvnkiTz/s1600/Jim+Carrey+as+Colonel+Stars+and+Stripes+in+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes in Kick-Ass 2" border="0" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVcaR87fCLn2rQ86RJXinH-YCJBxAyh0_R1kAJn4CBD1BBC8VfRVjkW0matGnM8PNYrWRQjrBY3nw9GWSimqVbt1OkHmjd6tehzgsPoXoa-noE8dHn9r9ng_RdrBEqdhODYpnmTvnkiTz/s200/Jim+Carrey+as+Colonel+Stars+and+Stripes+in+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" title="Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes in Kick-Ass 2" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEids35ZVcJWScC_kvG5jGlzFlcDNv1FtdBXkNLKIIOgjFbzmvGifQQxLq4pU8x6o0A-X5L9oX0URLKz-0LSqRu7w49aVRf1-HLizvlNQVqGUxjhwviuHXbILJRlSr8plZ1v7XVJawlaDO-0/s1600/Christopher+Mintz-Plasse+as+The+Mother+Fucker+with+the+Toxic+Mega+Cunts+in+Kick-Ass+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Christopher Mintz-Plasse as The Mother Fucker with the Toxic Mega Cunts in Kick-Ass 2" border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEids35ZVcJWScC_kvG5jGlzFlcDNv1FtdBXkNLKIIOgjFbzmvGifQQxLq4pU8x6o0A-X5L9oX0URLKz-0LSqRu7w49aVRf1-HLizvlNQVqGUxjhwviuHXbILJRlSr8plZ1v7XVJawlaDO-0/s200/Christopher+Mintz-Plasse+as+The+Mother+Fucker+with+the+Toxic+Mega+Cunts+in+Kick-Ass+2.png" title="Christopher Mintz-Plasse as The Mother Fucker with the Toxic Mega Cunts in Kick-Ass 2" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8QnPRVte9ZIOLT5Mjvhl4BeHoEb4jddqAXYj2Wy-Uzfrswwu3lX1hvYGu6Ov6ZYVdes5D-gvj87Mgte7yjVTDXd0yOUnxhw9aDQCupLl1wRdHFNoQJWk536sY5sg4HjRj9v4cxi5RnPW/s1600/Kick-Ass+Hit-Girl+Nicolas+Cage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dave and Mindy enjoy some hot chocolate as the eyes (and smile) of Nicolas Cage watch over them" border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8QnPRVte9ZIOLT5Mjvhl4BeHoEb4jddqAXYj2Wy-Uzfrswwu3lX1hvYGu6Ov6ZYVdes5D-gvj87Mgte7yjVTDXd0yOUnxhw9aDQCupLl1wRdHFNoQJWk536sY5sg4HjRj9v4cxi5RnPW/s200/Kick-Ass+Hit-Girl+Nicolas+Cage.jpg" title="Dave and Mindy enjoy some hot chocolate as the eyes (and smile) of Nicolas Cage watch over them" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnuTzDpCKODxEs651GjGtyXSkLX0x-vxrB6gxAAud2MIUy48lntWNFR9HcQgVuYH1UmIeTtBnYqUrnVTxXhSRGEY4_AdtoKlP2-ndEg7wHA8WwqFu699152bfvdr19426J9agNVYTDQ22/s1600/Mother+Russia+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mother Russia in Kick-Ass 2" border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnuTzDpCKODxEs651GjGtyXSkLX0x-vxrB6gxAAud2MIUy48lntWNFR9HcQgVuYH1UmIeTtBnYqUrnVTxXhSRGEY4_AdtoKlP2-ndEg7wHA8WwqFu699152bfvdr19426J9agNVYTDQ22/s200/Mother+Russia+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" title="Mother Russia in Kick-Ass 2" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbCk8TlksUg7kMC2VhYru4Wxg48gMWlNowO1wL3lXCsg-hoM2R805U_YkkVjq_vPX_u9ro09U7YICmhAgYGpLDoCam8R0D-ptG1cwugPt-VDoehNb5B-1jdoJVWz2Q1yOP_dwbZpC1nGw/s1600/Night+Bitch+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Lindy Booth as Night-Bitch in Kick-Ass 2" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbCk8TlksUg7kMC2VhYru4Wxg48gMWlNowO1wL3lXCsg-hoM2R805U_YkkVjq_vPX_u9ro09U7YICmhAgYGpLDoCam8R0D-ptG1cwugPt-VDoehNb5B-1jdoJVWz2Q1yOP_dwbZpC1nGw/s200/Night+Bitch+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" title="Lindy Booth as Night-Bitch in Kick-Ass 2" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjB0SJGiDsLV-69GC7rBxPCfSghJAk-bgeayi1f8NpdVD5h-aardgxZEpn5g5him5v0sLHtDvwUWr4QLFziyFGv7iWfU8o48s0Wj3tQp2T9-FgdTwHScXg6EE5SevVZqnVOLRsxDMoyCp/s1600/Mindy+Macready+Hit-Girl+Chloe+Moretz+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chloe Moretz as Mindy Macready aka Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2" border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjB0SJGiDsLV-69GC7rBxPCfSghJAk-bgeayi1f8NpdVD5h-aardgxZEpn5g5him5v0sLHtDvwUWr4QLFziyFGv7iWfU8o48s0Wj3tQp2T9-FgdTwHScXg6EE5SevVZqnVOLRsxDMoyCp/s200/Mindy+Macready+Hit-Girl+Chloe+Moretz+Kick-Ass+2.jpg" title="Chloe Moretz as Mindy Macready aka Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BEIYH1A/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BEIYH1A&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BEIYH6U/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BEIYH6U&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pros:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Solid action</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Chloe Moretz's performance</span></span></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cons:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Bad writing</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><b style="background-color: white;"></b><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Unfunny, tasteless humor</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Lackluster direction</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Jeff Wadlow: </b>Cry_Wolf, Never Back Down</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/09/kick-ass-2010-review.html">Kick-Ass</a>, Super, Defendor</span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Jeff Wadlow</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Chloe Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Superhero, Action, Black Comedy</div>
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Sequel to 2010's <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/09/kick-ass-2010-review.html">Kick-Ass</a></i>, based on the comic of the same name by Mark Millar, with artwork by John Romita Jr. Does this sequel live up to the standard set by the first one?<br />
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Continuing where the last left off: Red Mist, now renamed The Mother Fucker, wants to kill Kick-Ass, who is being trained by Hit-Girl, who has retired her costume and is strictly coaching. With a group of other "superheroes," Kick-Ass joins a team called Justice Forever, who must inevitably do battle with the supervillain team, the Toxic Mega Cunts.<br />
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The plot follows the comic closely enough. Some of the things from <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/705583835">the hyper-violent, tasteless comic</a> have been toned down here: specifically the violence and gore. Quite frankly, I'm not at all a fan of the comics, so the more the film adaptation differs, the better. The only reason I liked the first <i>Kick-Ass</i> movie was because of its differences compared to the source material: whereas the comic tried to be deep and edgy and failed, the movie tried to be over-the-top and campy and succeeded. Does this sequel manage to surpass its source material as well? Well, not really, and if it does, it's not by much.<br />
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<b>This film tends to be just as mindless, tasteless, and unfun as the comic was.</b> The rape "joke" with The Mother Fucker and Nigh-Bitch in here is dumb, pointless, and most of all unfunny. It may not be as explicit as the scene was in the comic, but it's equally vulgar. Doubled with the fact that Night-Bitch as a character <i>exists solely so this rape joke can be made</i>. Think about it. They changed Night-Bitch from the comics and gave her a weird costumed sexual relationship with Kick-Ass. That's her entire character. There's no more depth to her than that. She exists to have sex with Kick-Ass and to allow rape jokes. Unfortunately, <i>Kick-Ass 2</i> has many scenes like this that are just plain awful.<br />
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Perhaps one of the most nonsensical scenes is the one with Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie, Kick-Ass's girlfriend from the last movie. I guess the script had no use for her and wanted to get rid of her so what takes place is one of the most ludicrous and illogical scenes of all-time. Out of nowhere she accuses Dave (Kick-Ass) of cheating on her with Mindy (Hit-Girl), without even giving him time to explain. Didn't she know he was Kick-Ass? In the last film he told her. Why is she acting like she doesn't know? And then, to top it off, she implies that she's been cheating on him this whole time. What!? That makes absolutely no sense given the prior context of this character. Some of the sloppiest writing I've ever witnessed. Oh, and then there's a penis joke.<br />
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There's a disgusting diarrhea/vomit scene, which is very likely the worst thing I've ever had the displeasure to watch in a movie (I find it even worse that they had to use CGI for shit and vomit, which are like the two easiest practical effects ever). The scene with Chuck Liddell is absolutely cringe-worthy; the whole thing feels so forced and the humor in that scene just doesn't work at all. The boy band scene is almost equally cringe-worthy (I found out only afterwards that the boy band was actually a real band, called Union J). There's a Justin Bieber joke thrown in here also, which just screams "hey, look, we're hip too, guys!" The immodest dance scene (with a 17 year old girl, I might remind) was perhaps the very best example in the history of everything of something being completely and utterly pointless and tasteless.<br />
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<b>None of that stuff is funny. There's no wit or sophistication or cleverness in there. It's vile, unnecessary, and lacks point.</b> <b>Far too many of the jokes in here failed miserably.</b> It seems as if the film has a very twisted view of what it means to be edgy and cool, and in the end they achieve neither, instead only being forced and ineloquent. Crass and tactless even. The film is as delusional as its characters. The first film may have relied a lot on referential humor, but at least it was mostly funny and well crafted.<br />
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A lot of people complain about the coming-of-age high school scenes with Hit-Girl. While I didn't particularly like these scenes (especially the aforementioned ones), I didn't find them to be as bad as a lot of the other scenes in the film. At times I was thankful to have a break from sloppy rape jokes and Chuck Liddell, even if the alternative was to watch a girl go through high school.<br />
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<b>The action in the movie is pretty good. Not as great or well choreographed as the action in the first film, but it was okay, despite some occasional cinematography hiccups that failed to compliment the action.</b> The Mother Russia scenes(s) was really great. The van scene was, even if cliched, pretty good also. <b>The violence wasn't quite as over-the-top and tongue-in-cheek as it was in the first one, which is a big disappointment, but it has its moments.</b><br />
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I'm glad we got to see a lot of Hit-Girl in here, she's enjoyable in and out of costume, even if she is little more than a little girl shouting profanities, and delivers some of the film's best action.<br />
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<b>Justice Forever and Toxic Mega Cunts were huge letdowns--especially their final battle</b>, which could have been way more epic in scale. In the comic it took place in the middle of Times Square; in here it takes place in an empty warehouse. <b>If there's one thing the comic did better it was to give off an apocalyptic, this-is-it vibe, which the movie failed to capture even slightly.</b><br />
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<b>The soundtrack, though not bad, is very disappointing</b> compared to the wonderful soundtrack in the first film.<br />
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<b>Chloe Moretz gives a show-stealing performance here.</b> She carries a lot of the film. McLovin, ehem, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, does a solid job as well. Jim Carrey could have been better, plus he was underused. Everyone else was forgettable.<br />
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A pretty awful movie all in all. Jeff Wadlow's directing and screenwriting can't even come close to the first one's. <b>The bad scenes far outweigh the good ones, and even the things that this film does well had already been done better in the first film.</b> I'd pass on this one; I can hardly believe I made it all the way through this.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-9014168388331204472013-09-09T19:41:00.000-04:002013-09-09T19:41:01.665-04:00Fantastic Planet (1973) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzroeJ-JmlC6jXnY5uiYD1kyTI0-nPOGReD3UijHf1GG50TaSmufsyM6KjXICfjRP0367tmIjGyVuzLouvsvx_MU9WLx21IEZScijOEDe0aJ8O2kuERydoniUf977ZjZk78_uah9gZ5R9/s1600/Fantastic+Planet+Traag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fantastic Planet Traag and Om" border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzroeJ-JmlC6jXnY5uiYD1kyTI0-nPOGReD3UijHf1GG50TaSmufsyM6KjXICfjRP0367tmIjGyVuzLouvsvx_MU9WLx21IEZScijOEDe0aJ8O2kuERydoniUf977ZjZk78_uah9gZ5R9/s200/Fantastic+Planet+Traag.jpg" title="Fantastic Planet Traag and Om" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008WTJYVM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008WTJYVM&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764005189/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0764005189&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">VHS</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pros:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Stunning Visuals</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Great Soundtrack</span></span></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cons:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Low production values</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><b style="background-color: white;"></b><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Poor plot execution</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Rene Laloux: </b>Time Masters, Light Years</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> Planet of the Apes, Wizards</span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Rene Laloux</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Jean Topart, Jean Valmont</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction</div>
<i><br /></i>Based on a novella by Stefan Wul, <i>Fantastic Planet</i> (originally <span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>La planète sauvage) </i>is an animated science fiction film from France, featuring gorgeous artwork and designs. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The story is essentially an abridged version of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1902197313/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1902197313&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">the novella </a>(which has only recently been translated into English and is worth a read), set in the future and taking place on an alien planet called Ygam, on which the master race is a species called Traag, which are essentially just giant blue humanoids. The Traags keep Oms, which is their word for humans, as pets and see the Oms as nothing more than unintelligent animals. What they didn't expect is that the Oms are evolving and learning extremely quickly and threaten their position as the master race of Ygam. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The premise is certainly an interesting one, but it never quite matches the depth that the novella had (<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/387474550">not that the novella was particularly "deep"</a>). <b>The story is poorly paced, the characters are undeveloped, and the ending is far too sudden.</b> But this is not the sort of film that is watched for its plot. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What <i>Fantastic Planet</i> is known for, and indeed most praised for, are its visuals. It's certainly an interesting style, calling to mind animation from <i>Yellow Submarine</i> to Monty Python's <i>Flying Circus</i>. <b>The artwork is surreal, grotesque, bizarre, and above all fantastic, with mystical landscapes and imaginative character/creature design.</b> The imagery is the work of surrealist author-painter Roland Topor (who film buffs may know as Renfield from Herzog's <i>Nosferatu</i>). To anyone familiar with Topor's art (if not, do a quick Google search of his name) it is evident that no one else could have produced such impressive designs. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Accompanying the wonderful visuals is an equally <b>wonderful </b></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B07BTY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008B07BTY&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>soundtrack</b></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>, filled with jazzy psychedelic space rock tunes, which match the film's style perfectly, building a weird otherworldly atmosphere</b> and evoking feelings which I can only imagine are similar to that of a </span>hallucinogenic<span style="font-family: inherit;"> trip. The score was composed by Alain Goraguer, and it is certainly some of his finest work. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While the art is great, the actual animation is somewhat crude. This is certainly due to the low-budget. The production values here are certainly not much. <b>The animation is crude, the voice acting is amateur</b> (both English and French), and due to this <b>a world so </b></span><b>imaginative<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and fantastical </span>occasionally</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> feels empty and hollow</b>, like a golden chest with nothing in it. What they did with the budget is admirable, but unfortunately it does take a bit away from the film. I sometimes feel like looking at stills from this film is more enjoyable than actually watching it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What <i>Fantastic Planet</i> lacks in story, character, and production, it attempts to make up for with visuals and sound. To some extent it achieves this, certainly <b>creating an interesting look and experience, but it still falls short of being completely satisfying and leaves much to be desired.</b> <b>An interesting premise but a poorly executed plot. Beautiful artwork but lackluster animation. Great soundtrack but bad voice acting. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>Fantastic Planet</i> is perhaps worth seeing once, just for the cool designs and enjoyable soundtrack, but it certainly didn't leave me very impressed.</b> What it did well only made me sadder to see the missed potential. I can't imagine myself re-watching this anytime soon. </span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-51373656236815938622013-09-06T15:15:00.000-04:002013-09-06T15:15:19.041-04:00Silent Running (1972) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000063UR1/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000063UR1&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6300181464/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=6300181464&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">VHS</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RPR6DU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002RPR6DU&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Douglas Trumbull: </b>Brainstorm</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> Moon </span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Douglas Trumbull</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Bruce Dern</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction</div>
<i><br />Silent Running </i>is a science fiction film from 1972, the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, he had previously worked on the special effects in <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i> and <i>The Andromeda Strain</i>, two classics of the genre. Since 1972 he has gone on to do special effects on films like <i>Star Trek: The Motion Picture</i>, <i>Blade Runner</i>, and the very recent <i>The Tree of Life</i>. Quite the skilled visual effects creator to say the least, but how's his directing?<br />
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A dystopia for daisies, an apocalypse for acorns, and a wasteland for willows; <i>Silent Running</i> takes place in a futuristic setting, where the only remaining plant-life exists in a group of spaceships orbiting Saturn. The Earth is nude of vegetation, likely replaced with technology and cities, and these few ships hold the last surviving forests (and seemingly the last forest critters as well). No one even values such things anymore, and fail to see the beauty in a leaf or a flower. Except for crewman Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) that is, who, upon being ordered to blowup the last existing forests, steals one of the domes holding a forest, killing his crewmates in the process, and fleeing into the depths of space with it.<br />
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<b>The film's environmental message is not quite subtle. In fact it's a bit heavy-handed.</b> No that it's a bad message--quite a good one I'd say--it's just a little too blatant for my tastes. But it really depends on how you look at it; indeed I've seen some people interpret it as a liberal film preaching environmentalism and condemning technology, and others as a conservative film warning of the danger that extreme environmentalism can lead to. Nonetheless, to see the message as the film's only purpose, or even one of its main purposes, is an error. <b>The film is actually quite sophisticated and contains much depth</b> beyond its arguable political leanings.<br />
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Take the main character for instance: Freeman Lowell is the film's main character, but he's certainly not your average movie hero, nor he is your typical villain or antihero. He's almost all three at once, and is probably <b>one of the most morally complex characters ever written in a film.</b> His desire to cherish the forests and to preserve them from extinction is certainly a noble one. Not only that, but it's the duty he swore to when taking the job. But the way he goes about this noble deed is in a completely immoral way: by killing his crewmates. Is killing three men justified by saving the last forest? Not really, and our main character would seem to agree. For the rest of the film we see him dealing with what he had done, what he certainly had regretted doing. It drives him to misery and near insanity. He wanted to save what he thought gave humans their humanity. To him that domed forest was a microcosm of Earth, with infinite beauty. He didn't want an Earth where everything was artificial and utopia produced sameness and dullness. But in trying to save this beacon of humanity he lost his own humanity, compromised one set of morals in order to uphold another. Morally conflicted, and likely confused. While alone in space, realizing, through boring games of pool and poker, that above all it is other humans that give us our humanity. A well written and tragic character no doubt.<br />
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<b>Bruce Dern was a great choice for such a complex role.</b> This was his first lead role, and he had previously been cast as mostly villainous characters (in <i>The Cowboys</i>, released the very same year, he killed John Wayne). It helps support the moral ambiguity of the character. And <b>he plays it well, giving a good performance, blurring the lines between passion and insanity, even if he may seem a little over-the-top, or even tongue-in-cheek.</b><br />
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<b>I'm quite fond of the film's ending</b> <i>[Spoilers in this paragraph]</i>. The main character kills himself out of guilt, or possibly even out of fear or dread of the "foul Earth". But not before sending out his "message in a bottle" into the vast oceans of space, a dome of trees to one day be found by someone hopefully more appreciating of its beauty than the current human race. And on that drifting dome is a single robot taking care of the plants. Technology both destroys and saves nature.<br />
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On a more technical side, <b>the special effects are pretty impressive.</b> I wouldn't call it Trumbull's prettiest film--it's certainly no <i>2001</i> or <i>Blade Runner</i>, but then again it didn't have the budget those two did. For what it is though there are some very solid visuals and great modelwork.<br />
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The service robots, or drones as they're called (eventually nicknamed Louie, Huey, and Dewey) not only predate R2-D2 but are also probably <b>the most lovable robots of all-time</b>, right up there with WALL-E. The robots function very much like robots, existing only to serve humans (<i>Silent Running</i> was in many ways a response to the humanized machines and dehumanized humans in <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i>), and certainly lacking the human personalities of C3PO and R2-D2, but yet the robots have a certain anthropomorphic quality to them, especially in the way they move, that makes them so very likable and bring sadness to viewers whenever they get hurt. This is likely due to the fact that the drones were actually amputees in costume. The drone costumes were specifically designed to fit amputees, which gives them a certain... aliveness. It's genius and a bit scary at the same time. But it worked well.<br />
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There are some issues I have with the film. Some things just didn't make much sense. <b>Did the film really expect us to believe that a botanist with at least 8 years of experience would forget, and take so long to remember, that plants needed sunlight to grow?</b> Really? That's a bit beyond my suspension of disbelief.<br />
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Another pet peeve I have is that I wished a bit more time was spent on the actual forest. <b>I would have liked the camera to show me the beauty of nature rather than the main character tell me about it.</b> There's a beautiful opening shot of flowers and snails and there's a few short clips of rabbits eating grass and whatnot, but <b>the forest, for being such a central element, is largely ignored and left to be seen only in the background.</b> Trumbull's inexperience when it comes to directing occasionally shows.<br />
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<b><i>Silent Running</i> is far from the perfect film, but what it does achieve is quite impressive.</b> I was a little undecided on it at first. Upon immediate viewing I actually disliked it, but after some thought and sinking in it's only gotten better in my mind--so much so that I can't wait to re-watch it. It's influence can be seen from <i>Star Wars</i> to <i>Battlestar Galactica</i> to <i>Moon</i>.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-17809404861896409112013-09-04T04:46:00.001-04:002013-09-04T04:46:49.056-04:00Kick-Ass (2010) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZG983M/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002ZG983M&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZG9846/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002ZG9846&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TOMAPC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B003TOMAPC&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Matthew Vaughn: </b>Layer Cake, Stardust, X-Men: First Class</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> Kick-Ass 2, Super, Defendor, Watchmen</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwmU_uVtL6_lXwYdsrB78PkTGe-DTlpjRMarpDWKx2pyr2NUP6tqEQ2dr3hs_EiU76bgyeSPM45uIbE_YRtl3qavZCoNOU8XgaXFHSfIUIAmS6hjKXg0rDN5C-cT-1NHS28se4kjG1fBlO/s592/Gunhed+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
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<b>Director:</b> Matthew Vaughn</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lyndsy Fonseca</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Superhero, Action, Comedy</div>
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Based on the comic book of the same name written by Mark Millar with illustrations by John Romita Jr., <i>Kick-Ass</i> is one of the greatest and most enjoyable superhero movies I have ever watched.<br />
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A certain question comes to high-schooler Dave Lizewski: "why has no one tried to be a superhero before?" It's a question that nags at him until he decides to do it himself. Donning a mask and costume, Dave becomes Kick-Ass, a lackluster crime fighter and a teenager who has no idea what he's getting himself in to.<br />
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<b>There's plenty of noticeable differences from the comics, but this was actually a good thing in my opinion</b>, as I found the comic to be incredibly mediocre. The comic set up some great potential, but it utterly failed in living up to that potential and ended up being completely <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/698840331">mindless, misguided, and convoluted.</a> <b>The film, however, managed to break free from its source material's pretensions and mediocrity.</b><br />
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The violence in the film is over-the-top rather than pseudo-realistic and gritty. <b>The action is incredibly enjoyable, well choreographed, and executed to perfection.</b> The violence definitely translates better on screen than it did on page. After watching, you won't soon forget Hit-Girl massacring an entire hallway of armed thugs in well-utilized slow-motion. <b>It's stylish, operatic action that celebrates its exaggerated violence. And it's awesome.</b> <b>The action is over-the-top in the vein of silver age superhero comics; it embraces its comic book nature and takes advantage of its superhero camp.</b><br />
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<b>There's plenty of references to catch in here</b>, whether they be visual, vocal, or stylistic, from Spider-Man to Tim Burton's <i>Batman</i> to Hong-Kong action movies. There's a lot; probably more than a single person can ever catch in a single viewing. Admittedly, like in the comics, <b>a lot of the humor revolves around/relies on the referential nature of the film, which may understandably seem cheap to some, but it's done pretty well and most of the time is actually fairly hilarious.</b><br />
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Pardon the pun, but <b>the soundtrack is kick ass.</b> It exploits songs we're all familiar with to great effect, like Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" or the Banana Splits song as covered by The Dickies. There's some excellent, almost satirical, use of Ennio Morricone. Then there's some songs in here that may surprise you; personally, for me, hearing "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" by Sparks, one of my favorite bands, was a great surprise. <b>Some fantastic tracks that amplify the on-screen action well and make the film all the more enjoyable.</b><br />
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There's some <b>top-notch acting</b> to be witnessed in <i>Kick-Ass</i>. <b>Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl does phenomenal</b> as the foul-mouthed killing machine. Not only does a lot of the film's action involve Hit-Girl, but so does a lot of its humor, and Moretz delivers a great performance on both fronts. The always enjoyable Nicolas Cage is on top of his game here as well, playing Big Daddy, Hit-Girl's off-beat and crazy father. <b>With an Adam West-like performance and a voice that is surely a nod at <i>The Dark Knight</i>, Cage brings plenty of great humor and action to the film as well and is unbelievably enjoyable to watch.</b> Christopher Mintz-Plasse, still known to most as McLovin, does a good job here also as the spoiled and snobby rich kid in a superhero costume.<br />
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<i>Kick-Ass</i> just may be my favorite superhero movie made so far, which surprised me being that I wasn't a big fan of the comics. What's genius about it is that I think while fans of the comic will be satisfied, it also removes a lot of the things non-fans didn't like, making it potentially enjoyable to non-fans of the comic as well. <b>It's a loving homage to comic books and action movies, and it's both a good comic book movie and a good action movie.</b> Though not perfect, it's still a must see for anyone even mildly interested.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sLon1hrw3p9yKfFAw6Tm5sJpWjoE1RZAG_mnJHeaU2vMkArbD2B32sydSSAcrmKFtuUuEPMRv9zFLc4JThsKo5RyCRnLl3GGkpdDLuepMVXaY3L3HsZ6jhr7t3EWaaEORwH3HMmjcd5M/s1600/comedy3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="3/5 stars" border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sLon1hrw3p9yKfFAw6Tm5sJpWjoE1RZAG_mnJHeaU2vMkArbD2B32sydSSAcrmKFtuUuEPMRv9zFLc4JThsKo5RyCRnLl3GGkpdDLuepMVXaY3L3HsZ6jhr7t3EWaaEORwH3HMmjcd5M/s320/comedy3.png" title="3/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-25280337039697340942013-07-19T19:58:00.000-04:002013-07-19T19:58:20.408-04:00Robot Jox (1990) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82iNOBT5o9gTLLnKH5fQojzBNbCulEQRs2y2VeeKXFn8ZQ2q0NQ-C-_1C2MFH6kYqw6bsPaNe_orwNxbV6IsLbNY14K_fX9RStUPjfYR29HzRhD_zfu3KbC9dT9Hj_6fOi38aw56o0KL8/s1600/Robot+Jox+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robot Jox poster" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82iNOBT5o9gTLLnKH5fQojzBNbCulEQRs2y2VeeKXFn8ZQ2q0NQ-C-_1C2MFH6kYqw6bsPaNe_orwNxbV6IsLbNY14K_fX9RStUPjfYR29HzRhD_zfu3KbC9dT9Hj_6fOi38aw56o0KL8/s320/Robot+Jox+poster.jpg" title="Robot Jox poster" width="212" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz16_gBlYeO8NDGHMFasL8aSERzR93ukAnuJFEy3XzjkA9c9fYYNszfeNWGlYm-aW_fr6ZD9-BSiDky0-XALfYiMVpVCNCx6E8AOQlAVr1uMfMJyONVYdbxcJQ4bYd2K0_7Borzn65z765/s1600/Robot+Jox+giant+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robot Jox mech" border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz16_gBlYeO8NDGHMFasL8aSERzR93ukAnuJFEy3XzjkA9c9fYYNszfeNWGlYm-aW_fr6ZD9-BSiDky0-XALfYiMVpVCNCx6E8AOQlAVr1uMfMJyONVYdbxcJQ4bYd2K0_7Borzn65z765/s200/Robot+Jox+giant+mech.jpg" title="Robot Jox mech" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtw7MNbT-H6w2S5NDUusFkNOoKRKIoC6lwj9kwqWevYKCxZaI2kxK2RMGTrOR63VAuMoCVIZeuuIZbTmww5O3YRh6fUQYxKeJmvRF93Noc3XBS3iiGz_VyP-_MxZwRbB3zY85mAevl1K68/s1600/Robot+Jox+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robot Jox mech pilot" border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtw7MNbT-H6w2S5NDUusFkNOoKRKIoC6lwj9kwqWevYKCxZaI2kxK2RMGTrOR63VAuMoCVIZeuuIZbTmww5O3YRh6fUQYxKeJmvRF93Noc3XBS3iiGz_VyP-_MxZwRbB3zY85mAevl1K68/s200/Robot+Jox+mech.jpg" title="Robot Jox mech pilot" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5A5o3xq2AQ3gUYJryMCbSwwL5MLRSgbZkyTLt2LL7RbiBkmQqILEl7GanmrYw-LFo9yIl68nzsftgYnehI5vkZ08uF_StXsFYovsoshx5cR2AtKMkDxTciU9W6zlOcjLriCEjg5xKyYBM/s1600/Robot+Jox+Tex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robot Jox Tex" border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5A5o3xq2AQ3gUYJryMCbSwwL5MLRSgbZkyTLt2LL7RbiBkmQqILEl7GanmrYw-LFo9yIl68nzsftgYnehI5vkZ08uF_StXsFYovsoshx5cR2AtKMkDxTciU9W6zlOcjLriCEjg5xKyYBM/s200/Robot+Jox+Tex.jpg" title="Robot Jox Tex" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAHvIU3qnFAVcQ_l0PodFOrVIR5TYNy0sjdHBN4GpBDdp9bTwQT1TIZsBOQz6mdHsJ92oNYqiOxZyp5c85q5MWsKTXyiHllFhed8BMIblyw_0UdKBgsLNx2ZCmeHm3YOOheikLQW-OSRw/s1600/Robot+Jox+fight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robot Jox fight" border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAHvIU3qnFAVcQ_l0PodFOrVIR5TYNy0sjdHBN4GpBDdp9bTwQT1TIZsBOQz6mdHsJ92oNYqiOxZyp5c85q5MWsKTXyiHllFhed8BMIblyw_0UdKBgsLNx2ZCmeHm3YOOheikLQW-OSRw/s200/Robot+Jox+fight.jpg" title="Robot Jox fight" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ72fpPiaFb7F2vHjccha_wm3LIA6kzAalRU5mIJH974wabfPoF2FHy2xcjs3QLKgBAeUjXFm44eScT5N3kejGklyQ_PAio6rlygaecuIkM_-RPiNj_XF8k7vhgfHST7dUG7WEpAc6ayWe/s1600/Robot+Jox+destroyed+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robot Jox destroyed mech" border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ72fpPiaFb7F2vHjccha_wm3LIA6kzAalRU5mIJH974wabfPoF2FHy2xcjs3QLKgBAeUjXFm44eScT5N3kejGklyQ_PAio6rlygaecuIkM_-RPiNj_XF8k7vhgfHST7dUG7WEpAc6ayWe/s200/Robot+Jox+destroyed+mech.jpg" title="Robot Jox destroyed mech" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOvrYkK77Ur9TkTW2SFMxZsBH6cAInCtmhAvionr6gQnxuq8j-FEFeQDjO4yJG5BFjoDtNldntrJcTIs1VghTDYyR07AtX6kyeknY7wNpjtRSvVx1o0Kpy5CKVBBQCeC1zUBdUfWj7_Em/s1600/Robot+Jox+crash+and+burn+fist+bump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robot Jox crash and burn fist bump" border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOvrYkK77Ur9TkTW2SFMxZsBH6cAInCtmhAvionr6gQnxuq8j-FEFeQDjO4yJG5BFjoDtNldntrJcTIs1VghTDYyR07AtX6kyeknY7wNpjtRSvVx1o0Kpy5CKVBBQCeC1zUBdUfWj7_Em/s200/Robot+Jox+crash+and+burn+fist+bump.jpg" title="Robot Jox crash and burn fist bump" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AM6ONU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000AM6ONU&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6302132894/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=6302132894&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">VHS</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pros:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Cool, though dated, special effects</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Enjoyable performances</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+One of the few live-action mech films</span></span></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cons:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Simple and typical plot</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><b style="background-color: white;"></b><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Convoluted focus</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Stuart Gordon: </b>Re-Animator, From Beyond, Dagon, Dolls</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/07/pacific-rim-2013-review.html">Pacific Rim</a>, <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/07/gunhed-1989-review_8.html">Gunhed</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwmU_uVtL6_lXwYdsrB78PkTGe-DTlpjRMarpDWKx2pyr2NUP6tqEQ2dr3hs_EiU76bgyeSPM45uIbE_YRtl3qavZCoNOU8XgaXFHSfIUIAmS6hjKXg0rDN5C-cT-1NHS28se4kjG1fBlO/s592/Gunhed+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
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<b>Director:</b> Stuart Gordon</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, Paul Koslo, Michael Alldredge</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Mecha</div>
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This is one of the odder entries in Stuart Gordon's filmography, who is known mostly for directing Lovecraftian horror films like <i>Re-Animator</i>, <i>From Beyond</i>, and <i>Dagon</i>. <i>Robot Jox</i> doesn't have any elder gods, giant tentacle monsters, or decapitation though. <i>Robot Jox</i> is a movie about giant robots, or more accurately mechs, fighting each other.<br />
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The plot, in essence, involves a futuristic post-apocalyptic world where, instead of having wars, countries settle their disputes by fighting giant mechs, operated by a single pilot inside, in an arena. The film takes place during a "settlement" over which nation should control Alaska, and focuses on "robot jox" Achilles.<br />
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<b>The plot is straight-forward and nothing really special. There's some predictable espionage going on and a love story that never goes anywhere, but those are all just things happening in-between giant robots fighting.</b> At one point the robots go into outer space, which is the one part that shattered my suspension of disbelief. I guess they just really wanted to show some robots in space (which is pretty much always a good idea in my book) and it was pretty cool to see I guess but there was definitely some potential missed when it comes to giant robots fighting in space.<br />
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<b>The film seems like it's confused between being a movie for kids or for adults.</b> Some scenes seem like they were written to be very family-friendly, and some as if they wanted to be edgy and mature. This hurts the film severely because it doesn't end up achieving either of them very well. It's not really a movie that very young kids should watch (there's cursing and some light nudity, on top of some violence though most of the violence is comic). At the same time it's a bit cartoony and light-hearted for many adults to enjoy. This demographic conflict is likely due to the creative differences between director Stuart Gordon and co-writer Joe Haldeman (who is a popular sci-fi author who has written classics of the genre like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312536631/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0312536631&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">The Forever War</a>). Haldeman wanted a more serious and dramatic science-fiction film with deep characters, whereas Gordon wanted an audience-friendly film with character stereotypes and a plot driven by the special-effects. On the conflict between the two Haldeman said: <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">"<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start;">I would try to change the science into something reasonable; Stuart would change it back to </span>Saturday morning cartoon</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> stuff. I tried to make believable, reasonable characters, and Stuart would insist on throwing in clichés and caricatures. It was especially annoying because it was a story about soldiers, and I was the only person around who'd ever been one."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He makes a fair point. </span></span><br />
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<b>So the plot is simple and missed a lot of potential. Granted. But it's not awful and it does serve its purpose of driving the story to the next special-effects sequence. Plus, there are some other redeemable qualities to the film, among them being the effects.</b> Let me first take a step back and say that this is one of the first live-action mecha films ever made. Which is a pretty big deal to any anime fan. Mecha had really only existed in animation, and the only other live-action film I can think of that came out before <i>Robot Jox</i> and can be called a "Mech film" would be <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/07/gunhed-1989-review_8.html">Gunhed</a></i>, a cyberpunk Japanese film from the year before. Not surprisingly <i>Robot Jox</i> took much inspiration from the <i>Transformers</i> franchise, specifically the toy line, which, at the time, was as popular in the West as <i>Gundam</i> was in the East. But even in the time since <i>Robot Jox</i> we have seen very few live-action mech films. <i>Robt Jox</i> itself spawned a few official and unofficial sequels throughout the 90s (<i>Robot Wars, Robo Warriors, Crash and Burn</i>) and perhaps the most notable example of a live-action mech film was the all too recent <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/07/pacific-rim-2013-review.html">Pacific Rim</a></i>, which is easily the greatest and most proper live-action mech film to date, but the genre of live-action mech films certainly remains small.<br />
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Now the special effects in <i>Robot Jox</i> aren't quite as impressive as those seen in <i>Pacific Rim</i> (the latter has a time, technological, and budget advantage after all), but they're still pretty awesome. The effects are done with stop-motion animation, and while they're not exactly impressive by 90s standards (keep in mind this film was actually made in the late 80s) they are still <b>very interesting effects and actually look pretty convincing for the most part.</b> And who doesn't love the charm of stop-motion?<br />
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The two main leads are Gary Graham (<i>Alien Nation, Star Trek</i>) and Anne-Marie Johnson. Both give an alright performance, but in my opinion <b>the real stars here are in the supporting roles. Paul Koslo's performance as the German antagonist is interesting to say the least. It's quite silly in a way, but then so is the rest of the film. It's an enjoyable performance though and it gives a little extra life to the film. Michael Alldredge as Tex also does a charming job.</b> Jeffrey Combs is in here too, a frequent collaborator with Stuart Gordon, but if you blink you'll miss him because he's not in here for long (despite the opening credits saying "starring Jeffrey Combs").<br />
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<b><i>Robot Jox</i> is a nice little cheesy sci-fi flick for fans of the genre and certainly a must see for mecha fans looking for a live-action fix. It has plenty of flaws but at the end of the day remains highly enjoyable.</b> Crash and burn!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAXHwCAA4tBgiuK0zvd1NTna2-n7-iQjAb41RK1vm8qcSipRRCE9v2zFEdL5lO8avfbcjgt79Z4qPzdJ4mWkMXF05FYtrLQdBNBnaQuLOdKdvXRoQz6yOCwIxozkdyXE5Rba_dpKIKrvph/s1600/scifi3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="3/5 stars" border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAXHwCAA4tBgiuK0zvd1NTna2-n7-iQjAb41RK1vm8qcSipRRCE9v2zFEdL5lO8avfbcjgt79Z4qPzdJ4mWkMXF05FYtrLQdBNBnaQuLOdKdvXRoQz6yOCwIxozkdyXE5Rba_dpKIKrvph/s320/scifi3.png" title="3/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-85647170992632776082013-07-17T18:50:00.000-04:002013-07-19T21:16:36.773-04:00Bringing Godzilla Down to Size (2008) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/gojira-godzilla-1954-review.html">Gojira</a>, <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/ghidorah-three-headed-monster-1964.html">Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster</a></span></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Norman England</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Yasuyuki Inoue, Akira Takarada, Tsutomu Kitagawa, Haruo Nakajima, Kenpachiro Satsuma</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Movie Documentary</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the story of people who work extremely hard to create something only to see it be destroyed. They build, with painstaking detail, miniature cities, only to see them crushed by a man in a rubber suit. That's the purpose that their creations serve and when they see their buildings and models get destroyed they surely experience both sadness and happiness all at once. They only hope that the destruction of their models goes well and the director is satisfied and their are no mishaps, or else they'll have to spend days, or even weeks, building them again. This is the story of the crew of special effects makers behind the fantastical <i>Godzilla</i> franchise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>This documentary mostly focuses on the special effects department behind the <i>Godzilla</i> films</b>, all the way from the Showa era to the Heisei and </span>Millennium<span style="font-family: inherit;"> eras. Focus is especially put on Eiji Tsuburaya, who is best remembered as special effects director on the early <i>Godzilla</i> films and as the creator of the <i>Ultraman</i> series, and on Yasuyuki Inoue, who worked under Tsuburaya on many of the early <i>Godzilla</i> productions and had a career that lasted up until the late 80s (he died a few years after this documentary was made, whereas Tsuburaya died in 1970). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While stop-motion animation dominated monster movies that needed more than make-up in the West, Eiji Tsuburaya, noted for his stunning special effects and realistic modelwork, pioneered a new method of making things look bigger than they are in 1954's <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/gojira-godzilla-1954-review.html">Gojira</a></i>; a method known as suitmation (a kind way of saying man in a rubber suit). To this day suitmation remains a very Japanese method, with few films from other countries utilizing suitmation. So much so that <b>suitmation has become, as this documentary points out, a Japanese tradition and something that is now not only part of their films but their culture as well.</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a threat to this tradition though: Computer Generated Imagery. Will CGI render suitmation obsolete? Can the tradition of suitmation continue without falling behind in terms of film quality? It's a worry that many Japanese special effects makers have today. There's also the question of what looks better: CGI or suitmation. Is CGI a cheap way of doing something and does it hold any less merit than the detailed models and costume designs or even stop-motion? As one special effects creator in the film suggests, there should be a combination of analog and computer generated effects, each complimenting each other and forming into a unique look that can't be achieved by using either </span>separately.<br />
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The film also focuses on the men that wear the suits in the <i>Godzilla</i> films; the men whose faces we never see but movements we can't forget. <b>It's definitely interesting to hear these "suit actors'" stories.</b> They definitely deserve more credit for what they do, as we learn in the documentary their jobs are extremely hard and they risk injury and even death far more often than you may think. They also show us that there is a certain art to playing a giant reptile; all three of the Godzilla costume actors have different monster styles and different methods of playing the big G.<br />
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It's directed by Norman England, who subscribers of the Godzilla fanzine G-Fan may be familiar with from some wonderful articles he's written for the mag over the years (writer Steve Ryfle has done work for the magazine as well, and is also the author of the fabulous book on Godzilla <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1550223488/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1550223488&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G"</a>.). <b>The production values are pretty low and the film obviously didn't have much of a budget behind it; many of the post-production effects look very silly and amateurish, but the documentary gets the job done when it comes to interesting information and the people it focuses on, and that's what really matters.</b><br />
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This short documentary (just over an hour long) is, in my opinion, <b>required viewing for any Godzilla fan</b>, or even kaiju eiga fans in general. Especially if you're interested in special effects work. <b>It's interesting, insightful, and entertaining.</b> Give it a watch.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-53362909712249103632013-07-15T18:06:00.002-04:002013-08-31T06:31:58.701-04:00Pacific Rim (2013) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JFUR10/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008JFUR10&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> -<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JFUQZ2/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008JFUQZ2&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DIJ49UW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00DIJ49UW&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Soundtrack</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pros:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Awesome fight scenes</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Great special effects</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Good editing</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Intriguing universe</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Decent writing</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Above average character development</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Mostly good acting</span></span></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cons:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Some weak plot elements</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><b style="background-color: white;"></b><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-In many ways conventional</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Bland main character</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Guillermo del Toro: </b>Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone, Hellboy</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/gojira-godzilla-1954-review.html">Godzilla</a>, <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/07/robot-jox-1990-review.html">Robot Jox</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Director:</b> Guillermo del Toro</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Stars:</b> Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Giant Monster, Mecha</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's many reasons why someone would go see <i>Pacific Rim</i>; whether it be fans of Guillermo del Toro, fans of the cast, etc. But the biggest reason, I think we can all admit, to why we went to watch <i>Pacific Rim</i>, is to see giant mechs fights giant monsters. And if that's the case then I think it's hard to argue that <i>Pacific Rim</i> didn't satisfy. <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The story is fairly straight-forward: through a portal in the sea giant monsters from another dimension come out and attack cities, killing millions. Humanity, in response to this new threat, combine their resources and create a new weapon to combat the kaijus: giant mechs, called Jaegers, that require two pilots. Awesome fighting ensues. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;"><b>The plot isn't of much substance.</b> Last month's <i>Monsters University</i> followed a less conventional plot progression. But that's not quite the appeal of <i>Pacific Rim</i>. <b>The appeal is, mostly, getting to see giant mechs fights giant monsters.</b> Of course when it comes to giant monsters <i>Pacific Rim</i> is following a long line of Japanese kaiju eiga like the <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/gojira-godzilla-1954-review.html">Godzilla</a></i> and <i>Gamera</i> series, and it's also following the recent resurgence of Giant Monster films like <i>Cloverfield</i>, <i>The Host</i>, <i>The Troll Hunter</i>, <i>Super 8</i>, et al. And when it comes to mecha <i>Pacific Rim</i> finds obvious inspiration from anime series like <i>Tetsujin 28</i>, <i>Giant Robo</i>, <i>Mazinger Z</i>, <i>Gundam</i>, <i>Neon Genesis Evangelion</i>, and countless others along with various tokusatsu shows. But one realizes that when it comes to live-action mecha films there is a severe shortage. Sure there were efforts here and there like <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/07/gunhed-1989-review_8.html">Gunhed</a></i> or <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/07/robot-jox-1990-review.html">Robot Jox</a></i>, and even Michael Bay's <i>Transformers</i> can loosely fit the bill, but there's never really been an all out true mecha film shot in live-action yet in the vain of anime. Which is why when <i>Pacific Rim</i> came along not only Giant Monster fans took notice, but Mecha fans as well. And fans like me can only hope that <i>Pacific Rim</i>, along with next year's <i>Godzilla</i> reboot, ushers in a new generation of mecha and kaiju films. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If anyone had the balls to not only make one of the first big mecha films but to combine it with kaiju eiga as well it surely has to be Guillermo del Toro. He's a director that has shown passion in every project he has worked on and just from listening to him talk about <i>Pacific Rim</i> for a few minutes it would be hard to disagree with him being both knowledgeable and appreciative of the genres he is paying homage to. <b>It's hard to imagine a <i>Godzilla</i> fan or a <i>Gundam</i> fan not being satisfied with this film. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>While the concept is genius, the film follows countless plot and character conventions. </b>Our <b>main character here, played by Charlie Hunnam, is so absolutely bland, generic, and even unlikable that it actually hurts the film quite a bit. </b>On top of that you have your standard progression and conflicts and dramatic moments. There's a romantic sub-plot that is hardly present enough to be considered a sub-plot, which is a good thing. It's very brief and it's actually done fairly well in that it's much subtler than many other films with romantic sub-plots. The rival pilots sub-plot, which seemed both unnecessary and randomly resolved. <b>And, perhaps most disappointing, there is your seen-it-a-thousand-times-before Hollywood ending that leaves us with little to think about after the film.</b> The idea of <b>having a single Jaeger require two pilots that have to be perfectly compatible and able to go into each others' minds does add an interesting twist to the story and to the way the characters develop but I felt it missed some potential.</b> But this film has other elements which are strong enough that it can survive with a lackluster plot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>This film is absolutely beautiful.</b> Not necessarily beautiful in, let's say, a Tarkovsky or Kubrick sort of way, or even in a <i>Pan's Labyrinth</i>-<i>The Devil's Backbone</i> del Toro sort of way. <b>It's beautiful in a very epic grandeur sort of way.</b> The special effects, a combination of practical and CGI though the actual monsters and mechs are much more the latter, are some of the best of all-time. At no point does it look like it was generated in a computer. <b>The CGI looks real, it looks detailed, it looks impressive, and, above all, it is blended well with everything else.</b> Giant shiny mechs fighting giant monsters rising out of the ocean has a great stylistic potential and del Toro definitely realized it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The fight scenes are thrilling.</b> I've been a fan of Giant Monster films my entire life and I can easily say that I never thought I'd get to see something like this. It's stunning. <b>And perhaps the best part of the fight scenes is that del Toro wisely chose to let the camera sit back and show us the fights from a wide shot, rather than a series of dizzying close-ups like so many modern action films utilize. </b>The director allows us to see all the action in frame and only a few times did I feel the close-ups were somewhat convoluted. <b>The editing is definitely great and compliments the action well.</b> Somewhat disappointing, and something that everyone seems to be commenting on, is that pretty much all the fight scenes take place at night while it's raining or deep in the ocean. I do admit it would have been nice to see some more varied time of days during the fights, but here's the thing: giant mechs look extremely cool when they're dark and wet. Just saying. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I do wish that there was some more focus put on other countries' Jaegers.</b> Clearly each country's mech had a unique design and I wish they were explored more. The film mostly focuses on America's Gipsy Danger, and we also get to see a bit of the British Striker Eureka, the Russian Cherno Alpha, the Japanese Coyote Tango, and China's Crimson Typhoon. I just wish there was a bit more focus placed on the latter Jaegers, or even on some of the Jaegers who weren't featured in the film at all. Which brings me to my next point...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Great concept and average plot aside, <i>Pacific Rim</i> hosts a massive and intriguing universe with the potential for nearly limitless additions to its world and lore.</b> Just look at some of the awesome Jaegers that we didn't really get to see in the film: Tacit Ronin, Matador Fury, Shaolin Rogue, Vulcan Specter, and more. All these are official Jaegers that are in the <i>Pacific Rim</i> universe, but just haven't gotten the chance to have their story told yet. <b>Another thing that could easily be elaborated is the alien dimension which the kaijus spawn from.</b> In the film we find out that the monsters are actually being grown and harvested by aliens who desire to take over the world. This motive is a little boring, but the mystery of the alien world and the aliens themselves is very interesting and something that would be great to see in further detail. <i>Pacific Rim</i> certainly has a fascinating universe surrounding it, one that has potential to challenge the depths of something like the <i>Star Wars</i> universe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And that's not even mentioning the smaller details that were included. Things like showing how there were religious cults formed around the kaijus, or how there were "Kaiju Groupies", or how an entire black market formed because of these monsters. That's <b>superb attention to detail and a fine example of world-building.</b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The cast was varied, both in ethnicity and in talent. <b>Charlie Hunnam, who plays the bland main character, is honestly, to me, not a very good actor.</b> I haven't seen much of his other work but him and his character were likely the biggest disappointment of the film. <b>Idris Elba steals the show here, both in performance and in character.</b> His character , the commanding officer, has the most depth out of everyone (which makes sense being that he's the most experienced there) and this allows Elba to give emotion, intensity, and passion in his performance. <b>Rinko Kikuchi, a Japanese actress, also does a very good job here. She plays the co-pilot of Hunman's character; her performance is interesting: you can tell just in her demeanor that she has a history to her and perhaps even a bit of trauma. She conveys simultaneous feelings of weakness and strength masterfully.</b> It's nice to see a female with such a large role who is not a blatant sex symbol but is instead intelligent, in control, and easily one of the most psychologically deep characters of the entire film. And she's a non-American actor in a Hollywood movie to boot! Of course I can't forget the <b>enjoyable cameos by Ron Perlman as the unforgettable Hannibal Chau, black marketer of kaiju body parts, or the scientist duo of Charlie Day and Burn Gorman, all whom bring some well crafted comic relief to the film. </b>The chemistry between Day and Gorman is good, and it's nice to see that these supporting "comic-relief" characters actually hold some weight in the plot rather than just being there to be there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The score by Ramin Djawadi is sufficient. I think he could have taken a bit more inspiration from Akira Ifukube, but then again didn't he pretty much achieve the same thing?</b> After watching a Godzilla movie you'll find yourself chanting the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6qAIaqK3_Q">Godzilla Theme</a>, and I can pretty much guarantee when you're through with Pacific Rim you'll find <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpuhWD4mjUY">this little number</a> stuck in your head. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think proof that this film goes beyond typical big budget fare is one key scene. That scene is none other than the flashback scene where a young Mako (Kikuchi) is alone in an alleyway crying while a giant monster lurks around the corner. This scene not only holds psychological merit and tells us a lot about the character and the effect that these Kaiju have had on the populace (similar to how Ishiro Honda used a crying mother gripping her children before being killed in <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/gojira-godzilla-1954-review.html">Gojira</a></i>), but it's also probably the most intense scene in the entire film. And <b>when a scene with a scared little girl crying is the most intense scene in a film filled with giant monsters fighting giant mechs I think it serves as clear indication that there is some good filmmaking at work. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>It's a kaiju eiga-mecha epic. Some of the best action ever filmed and one of the best action films, one of the best Giant Monster films, one of the best mecha films, and perhaps even one of the best science fiction films of all-time.</b> This is definitely one you want to see in the theater, preferably in IMAX or RPX, and I can definitely recommend the 3D as well. The type of people who think they'll like this film know who they are, and I'm telling you that this is worth seeing. <b>It's not the most intelligent movie of all time, but it's arguably the most enjoyable. </b></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-25284259022096124522013-07-10T09:35:00.000-04:002013-07-10T22:38:24.940-04:00Atlantic Rim (2013) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IcV2rS1u0cM1CxEFmFIOBY4zFH5KXB4ozs3iwy_7Yx-ywoX3QoFZ6qWOSKEHK7Gihp-GUSYH187-UBmi9pt2sYHevA0o3zZlpOvfmtUySzNUxizN8GWQYwCYD3GkmYVWPfH6BJC2vCl6/s1600/atlantic-rim-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atlantic Rim poster" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IcV2rS1u0cM1CxEFmFIOBY4zFH5KXB4ozs3iwy_7Yx-ywoX3QoFZ6qWOSKEHK7Gihp-GUSYH187-UBmi9pt2sYHevA0o3zZlpOvfmtUySzNUxizN8GWQYwCYD3GkmYVWPfH6BJC2vCl6/s320/atlantic-rim-poster.jpg" title="Atlantic Rim poster" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRta8uEpiAgL81QDzGxnHKEHcQJylXog_CVehu50d_G-vqXDe8C0Lc8bMvyrWSbo9QLWklYZXyANqbeOPAsIDxyuxmevj_7fwljH6XyKM5tdZ4xdzJd7wKtoSfaq17rzrTq9lIR3ZEXK6g/s1600/Atlantic+Rim+mech+robot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atlantic Rim robot mech" border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRta8uEpiAgL81QDzGxnHKEHcQJylXog_CVehu50d_G-vqXDe8C0Lc8bMvyrWSbo9QLWklYZXyANqbeOPAsIDxyuxmevj_7fwljH6XyKM5tdZ4xdzJd7wKtoSfaq17rzrTq9lIR3ZEXK6g/s200/Atlantic+Rim+mech+robot.jpg" title="Atlantic Rim robot mech" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuf-Dyvp2uz0yOkIe-JWOoi2jQqnqcFpbTSAnGy-hn43nt2F5PDsRE1ojupJLYdY36N3hm4gNZqLwYD-dbReydWtR-wxka59WQW3FWLI6gz4dviBDrLwlB63MQkXrJvs70E3DWm7J8SwmT/s1600/Atlantic+Rim+due+with+an+eye+patch+who+wants+to+nuke+shit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atlantic Rim crazy guy with an eye-patch who wants to nuke shit" border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuf-Dyvp2uz0yOkIe-JWOoi2jQqnqcFpbTSAnGy-hn43nt2F5PDsRE1ojupJLYdY36N3hm4gNZqLwYD-dbReydWtR-wxka59WQW3FWLI6gz4dviBDrLwlB63MQkXrJvs70E3DWm7J8SwmT/s200/Atlantic+Rim+due+with+an+eye+patch+who+wants+to+nuke+shit.jpg" title="Atlantic Rim crazy guy with an eye-patch who wants to nuke shit" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CLUMDXO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CLUMDXO&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CLUMED8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CLUMED8&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> Pacific Rim, Robot Jox, Transformers</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwmU_uVtL6_lXwYdsrB78PkTGe-DTlpjRMarpDWKx2pyr2NUP6tqEQ2dr3hs_EiU76bgyeSPM45uIbE_YRtl3qavZCoNOU8XgaXFHSfIUIAmS6hjKXg0rDN5C-cT-1NHS28se4kjG1fBlO/s592/Gunhed+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
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<b>Director:</b> Jared Cohn</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> David Chokachi, Treach, Jackie Moore, Graham Greene</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Mockbuster,<b> </b>Science Fiction, Giant Monster, Mecha</div>
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Don't let the title fool you (even though that's what it's meant to do), this is certainly not <i>Pacific Rim</i>. This is <i>Pacific Rim</i>'s lackluster distant cousin who no one pays any attention to: it's <i>Atlantic Rim</i>, a mockbuster from The Asylum, the same guys who brought us classic mockbusters like <i>Transmorphers</i>, <i>Snakes on a Train</i>, and <i>Mega Piranha</i>.<br />
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<b>The plot is painfully simple</b>: for reasons that are never explained giant monsters rise out of the sea and the U.S. military has to defeat them with their three giant robots piloted by three pilots. There's some guy who wants to nuke New York for some reason, and there's a weird love triangle that never goes anywhere at all. That's really it.<br />
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<b>Don't expect good plot </b>here. The Asylum says that on average their films take a couple of months to make. And it shows. Also, the entire script was based off of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5guMumPFBag"><i>Pacific Rim </i>trailer</a>. Yes, just the trailer.<br />
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What seemed odd to me was how no one really even seemed to acknowledge that there were giant sea monsters attacking New York City. No one questioned why it was happening or anything, they just sort of excepted it. It's almost as if there were no actual monsters there at all and someone just added them in during post-production to make it seem like those people were actually looking at something. Oh wait, that's exactly what they did.<br />
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<b>No practical effects here, folks, not a shred. It's completely CGI, and by low-budget mockbuster standards the effects are actually pretty passable. But by any other standards they're very mediocre.</b> Not awful mind you, just mediocre. It think this film may still have the South Korean <i>Reptilian</i> from 1999 beat when it comes to CGI. Still not saying much.<br />
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The effects are definitely sufficient enough to get the intended job done. <b>I could have easily looked passed the crude effects if the monster and robot designs were creative. Unfortunately they weren't. </b>The mechs look very generic; all three are identical aside from different color lights. Even more disappointing is the monster design. There's more than one monster but you may not realize it because they all look exactly the same. I can understand the mechs being identical, and I get that the monsters are from the same species but shouldn't they at least look a little different? for the sake of pleasing the viewer if not for anything else? I mean, this film isn't exactly scientifically accurate; <b>they had the opportunity to go completely over-the-top and make the movie fun but they completely missed it.</b> What were they going for? Realism?<br />
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<b>The fight scenes are also only mildly enjoyable.</b> The scene where the shoot a bomb into the monster's mouth while a robot pries its jaws open was pretty great (and also featured a pretty hilarious cameo by the director himself as an fighter pilot). There's not much else worth noting though. Again, <b>the fights weren't awful, just extremely mediocre. </b>There's also a very low level of building destruction which is sure to disappoint many. <br />
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<b>The acting is, as per usual for films from The Asylum, some of the worst you'll ever see.</b> Among the main cast are David Chokachi (whom only the most die-hard <i>Baywatch</i> fans might remember) whose performance is terrible. The there's Jackie Moore, who is heaps better than Chokachi when it comes to acting, but still fairly bad. Then we have Treach (rapper from Naughty by Nature) who is arguably the best of the three pilots in terms of acting. Finally there's Graham Greene whom, though not particularly skilled, delivered a deadpan performance that I actually found to be pretty likable. <b>And even though all the acting falls into varying degrees of bad, the actors all seem to be having a fun time and enjoying themselves, which adds a certain light-hearted and self-conscious nature to the film that definitely doesn't hurt matters. </b><br />
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<b>It's not a good movie; it's dull and uninspired, but you probably didn't need me to tell you that. It's enjoyable enough if you want to kill 80 odd minutes though.</b> And, if like me, you're so excited to see <i>Pacific Rim</i> that you can barely contain yourself then this might be a decent way to satisfy some urges. Ryan Lambie from <a href="http://denofgeek.com/">denofgeek.com</a> called it an "unofficial prequel" and "enjoyable primer for <i>Pacific Rim</i>". There's some truth to that, but then again, you can just read the actual official prequel to <i>Pacific Rim</i>, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785153942/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0785153942&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Pacific Rim: Tales from Year Zero</a>, </i>which is much better.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8m6XTNxIv-WDI4TFb5NYm9QxC7v38k7sap3LBHqlQdysskBrWKlafFeujFcxblHWfvxprnUtyXUolig_I5LcZ0iDrRX6bxkaDw6k7SkwxxPPopvpJXIuUZ2It0MFQGBl-uccAc_iuira/s1600/scifi1.5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="1.5/5 stars" border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8m6XTNxIv-WDI4TFb5NYm9QxC7v38k7sap3LBHqlQdysskBrWKlafFeujFcxblHWfvxprnUtyXUolig_I5LcZ0iDrRX6bxkaDw6k7SkwxxPPopvpJXIuUZ2It0MFQGBl-uccAc_iuira/s320/scifi1.5.png" title="1.5/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-2460190743269569152013-07-08T12:01:00.000-04:002013-07-08T12:01:58.616-04:00Gunhed (1989) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfgaXWKCDKAitZH6KWlOdAdJrJqGx7VjOxeqL69NrRtXIOkWf8V6EYRx3YDqWFbWkMI6U2abGpXEadalNKw4VbhKNJ0o0iwye4yRfpA602ziAvbAxYZqQmCowI2Dzj8D5KL58WwKtxIVd/s685/Gunhed+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gunhed poster" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfgaXWKCDKAitZH6KWlOdAdJrJqGx7VjOxeqL69NrRtXIOkWf8V6EYRx3YDqWFbWkMI6U2abGpXEadalNKw4VbhKNJ0o0iwye4yRfpA602ziAvbAxYZqQmCowI2Dzj8D5KL58WwKtxIVd/s320/Gunhed+poster.jpg" title="Gunhed poster" width="233" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lZ7b_-zSeG0eFDTgYnfK_7fJkSTcrUuVRd0moRtwm4cKvPyDR3W9qZIB-BoXF36S02b1SNhENstZLE9t-6MGiYe9cgD45lT7VHOc9vpzFygFVj5JUF5KjobfERsQtd3KSZ5RCqT85YnA/s600/Gunhed+1989+still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gunhed cyberpunk" border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lZ7b_-zSeG0eFDTgYnfK_7fJkSTcrUuVRd0moRtwm4cKvPyDR3W9qZIB-BoXF36S02b1SNhENstZLE9t-6MGiYe9cgD45lT7VHOc9vpzFygFVj5JUF5KjobfERsQtd3KSZ5RCqT85YnA/s200/Gunhed+1989+still.jpg" title="Gunhed cyberpunk" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_yKzkKwqzsNz-FGGBOU8cII7Nq4TvaNLMoogyhv7eeYwvlbnfOSOB91z4Cb2uuOIUtS6qMQW67oMG9qtoyYNlLebsPvJA3NDFwWqfdEckaNLA62Uxuo1N5h46MjaiSSnL4hVFRvdDrJsD/s592/Gunhed+mech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gunhed mech" border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_yKzkKwqzsNz-FGGBOU8cII7Nq4TvaNLMoogyhv7eeYwvlbnfOSOB91z4Cb2uuOIUtS6qMQW67oMG9qtoyYNlLebsPvJA3NDFwWqfdEckaNLA62Uxuo1N5h46MjaiSSnL4hVFRvdDrJsD/s200/Gunhed+mech.jpg" title="Gunhed mech" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2wqfQKm59AzuybfX86IWj_Yab6lMxaViey-_ZRVNhqLCiZ0gMhRDxv0t-NWN37GdUEzuzDqp74lg0AtN856H6PvxCgOHiysQ_LCoqQrc_6_EtbXOo5ryViQzOP6-NWXk_f163MVyTweP/s600/Gunhed+mech+suit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gunhed mech suit" border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2wqfQKm59AzuybfX86IWj_Yab6lMxaViey-_ZRVNhqLCiZ0gMhRDxv0t-NWN37GdUEzuzDqp74lg0AtN856H6PvxCgOHiysQ_LCoqQrc_6_EtbXOo5ryViQzOP6-NWXk_f163MVyTweP/s200/Gunhed+mech+suit.jpg" title="Gunhed mech suit" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Purchase from Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IOQW4A/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001IOQW4A&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/630415321X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=630415321X&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">VHS</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pros:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Good set and costume design</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">+Good atmosphere</span></span></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cons:</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Vague story</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><b style="background-color: white;"></b><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-Bad dubbing</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Other films by Masato Harada: </b>Kamikaze Taxi, Bounce Ko Gals, Inugami</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Similar films:</b> <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-terminator-1984-review.html">The Terminator</a>, <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2012/11/blade-runner-1982-review.html">Blade Runner</a></span>
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<b>Director:</b> Masato Harada</div>
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<b>Stars:</b> Masahiro Takashima, Brenda Bakke</div>
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<b>Genre: </b>Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Mecha</div>
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<i>Gunhed</i> (translated from <i>Ganheddo</i>) is a Japanese cyberpunk film produced by Toho, featuring mechs and all the other sort of stuff you'd expect from an 80s cyberpunk movie.<br />
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The plot of this film is the tricky part. It's hard to follow. Here's how I understood it: a group of bandits (treasure hunters to put it nicely) who infiltrate a complex of some sort on an island to steal or recover something. Many of them are killed by the complex's security systems and one of them is even turned into some weird monster android thing. They find some survivors and the remaining bandit, who is the main character, must fight his way out of the complex to safety by using a giant transforming mech, known as a Gunhed, that he found.<br />
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<b>It may sound like a simple plot but it's pretty hard to follow. </b>And while I appreciate plots that are daring enough to not hold your hand and let you figure out what's going on for yourself, this one was a bit different. Vague stories can be done very well; but this film is vague without any ambiguity, symbolism, open-endedness, thought-provoking material, etc. <b>It's vague in a very meaningless and disappointing way and is ultimately fairly unsatisfying when it comes to plot.</b><br />
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Luckily the film has other things going for it. This film actually has an interesting origin to it. It started out as a script for a new <i>Godzilla</i> film, where Godzilla would fight against a giant supercomputer; it was nearly made but Toho decided to make <i>Godzilla vs. Biollante</i> instead. Toho didn't completely scrap the idea though; the script was re-worked into what became this film: a story about bandits using mechs to fight a supercomputer.<br />
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It may not be what you'd expect when you hear the word Mech though. Many people would surely think of the mecha genre often associated with anime; shows like <i>Mobile Suit Gundam</i> or <i>Neon Genesis Evangelion</i>. But this is one of the rare live-action mecha films and let's just say it may not be what you'd expect from a Japanese mecha film made by Toho which started out as a <i>Godzilla</i> movie. <b>Don't expect giant robots fighting over the Tokyo skyline. There is some mech combat in here, and it is pretty awesome, but it's in a more, for lack of a better word, realistic way. </b>The mech is about the size of a tank (it can transform to stand up though) and the combat and design are more military-technology orientated than fantastical.<br />
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<b>Perhaps this films greatest achievement is its visual element. </b>The film obviously didn't have a huge budget but they used what they had very well and very creatively. <b>The set and costume design are especially impressive.</b> The mech design, done by Shoji Kawamori (this is his only credit on a live-action film), is beyond awesome. The entire complex which the film takes place in is unlike anything you've ever seen (well, outside of a cyberpunk film at least). <b>It's a wonderful cyberpunk atmosphere. The effects are really good too</b>, from the transforming mech suit to the combat sequences. The film's style sort of reminds me of <i>Tetsuo: The Iron Man</i>'s style, another Japanese cyberpunk film released the same year. I wonder if there was any inspiration taken. <i>Gunhed</i> is almost like an odd combination of <i>Tetsuo: The Iron Man</i> and <i>Hardware</i> and the <i>MechWarrior</i> video games, rooted in anime sensibilities. Sound awesome? Well, yeah, it pretty much is.<br />
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Unfortunately I could only get my hands on the English dub, not the original Japanese version. I usually try to avoid dubs, and this film is a fine example why. <b>The dubbing isn't anything great, it's actually fairly bad for the most part with the exception of a few good voice actors. It's certainly passable though and it doesn't detract much from the film in any way.</b> The Japanese actors themselves did a decent job; from the beautiful Brenda Bakke to Masahiro Takashima who, to further the <i>Godzilla </i>connection, later starred in <i>Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II </i>and<i> Godzilla vs. Destroyah</i>.<br />
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Though unknown to most, <i>Gunhed</i> has led a fairly respectable legacy. It's one of the first live-action mechas I can think of and probably led to the many live-action mechas that were released in the early 90s, like <i>Robot Jox</i>. A Video Game was based off of it, as was an entire manga series. Footage from it was included in a Front Line Assembly music video. It has been referenced in William Gibson's novel Virtual Light and director James Cameron is a self-proclaimed fan of the film. The original mech prop is even on public display in Japan in this day. So don't go thinking that this is another obscure and forgotten cyberpunk film; it remains remembered and appreciated by many.<br />
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<b><i>Gunhed</i> is not a fantastic film but it has some awesome things going for it like cool mech battles and a fantastic visual style with impressive special effects. A must watch for fans of mecha or cyberpunk</b>, or even worth seeing for <i>Godzilla</i> fans who want to see an enemy that the Big G himself nearly faced off against. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjeHhFx4-VGlzK_Lj9NEe0DlIpTKNS0wMPiFoPF-LHgeKMgx6Yp-i3jIonUB0_6ZHDFvqOgn_EmYDzxuAEA_JhUFZLCa4BxqYuq_EhHU3hoq1BqWhGGvTucDkwSjQxByH2ErvBQzva3YB/s397/scifi3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="3/5 stars" border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjeHhFx4-VGlzK_Lj9NEe0DlIpTKNS0wMPiFoPF-LHgeKMgx6Yp-i3jIonUB0_6ZHDFvqOgn_EmYDzxuAEA_JhUFZLCa4BxqYuq_EhHU3hoq1BqWhGGvTucDkwSjQxByH2ErvBQzva3YB/s320/scifi3.png" title="3/5 stars" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-40507868533917131302013-06-28T16:41:00.001-04:002013-07-04T09:17:39.560-04:00Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPfQb_RCPv9mtHlcC1Kw2UbrCRPIOfcf7HsViIOEWUe30i7qpBd6f3x5eNNt9HSs82EGKUqPC3JrNBq8OsgmfLaGUHyUFhbmedCZjE7RcPwUe7ZcTL4WKJQcJUbZ9jOXD4wtgZ6SQ4D3H/s1600/Ghidorah+the+Three-Headed+Monster+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster poster" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPfQb_RCPv9mtHlcC1Kw2UbrCRPIOfcf7HsViIOEWUe30i7qpBd6f3x5eNNt9HSs82EGKUqPC3JrNBq8OsgmfLaGUHyUFhbmedCZjE7RcPwUe7ZcTL4WKJQcJUbZ9jOXD4wtgZ6SQ4D3H/s640/Ghidorah+the+Three-Headed+Monster+poster.jpg" title="Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster poster" width="450" /></a></div>
<b>Director:</b> Ishiro Honda<br />
<b>Stars:</b> Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Giant Monster<br />
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<i>Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster </i>is one of the most praised films of the Showa era <i>Godzilla</i> series, likely because it introduces one of the franchise's most loved monsters: King Ghidorah. Made by many of the same minds behind the <a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/gojira-godzilla-1954-review.html">first <i>Godzilla</i> film</a>, and many others that followed; Ishiro Honda directing, Akira Ifukube composing, produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, and of course Eiji Tsuburaya in charge of the special effects.<br />
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All you really need to know about the plot (and indeed all I could follow) is that there is a new monster in town named King Ghidorah and the only way he can be stopped is if Godzilla and Rodan stop fighting and team up with Mothra to beat him (this is the first film that started portraying Godzilla as a hero rather than a villainous/indifferent monster). There's some other stuff involving the humans, like a Princess from Jupiter who can see into the future, but...well, well I really don't know what to say about all that.<br />
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<b>The human characters are decent enough, and acted well</b>, I guess. They're interesting enough to not bore you to death but <b>the plot itself is extremely convoluted and, quite honestly, a tad irrelevant.</b> You can pretty much accept the fact that for some reason or the other there are giant monsters and they are fighting each other. So I don't know if it's so much that the plot is hard to follow as it is just not worth following (perhaps a bit of both).<br />
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<b>Ishiro Honda did a good job directing, and Eiji Tsuburaya's miniatures are certainly impressive, but that's not enough to save the film. What makes this film, in my opinion, absolute shit is the lackluster fight scenes. The fight scenes are a joke. The fight between Godzilla and Rodan is one of the most embarrassing things I've ever seen on film.</b> They really go full retard here. The entire fight between Godzilla and Rodan is them wailing their rubber arms at each other, looking as if they're having multiple seizure or practicing some odd form of dance. It's like watching two retarded babies wrestle with blindfolds on. Not to mention that Godzilla's entire fighting style in this film, besides seizuring, pretty much consists completely of kicking/throwing rocks. I'm not even kidding, the amount of rocks thrown/kicked in this fight probably holds the record; at one point Godzilla and Rodan even start playing volleyball with a boulder. Godzilla doesn't even use his atomic breathe once! Then Mothra comes, but unfortunately Mothra never transforms into her winged form and she stays a caterpillar the entire time and just sprays white stuff on everyone. It's lame.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdniNu9VQmqVfkANODgI-hzpYkgFBeZTo9P5uF_4n15mJK7_BEshTzMsAvcuk3SjrVN8quNG7M_ra8IE685xoEzDfUh8LrEbEosUZ3lyy5RrR2W1hFifCNXD2FYv6QyY9likPongbdSnFp/s480/Ghidorah+Godzilla+Mothra+Rodan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ghidorah Godzilla Mothra Rodan" border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdniNu9VQmqVfkANODgI-hzpYkgFBeZTo9P5uF_4n15mJK7_BEshTzMsAvcuk3SjrVN8quNG7M_ra8IE685xoEzDfUh8LrEbEosUZ3lyy5RrR2W1hFifCNXD2FYv6QyY9likPongbdSnFp/s400/Ghidorah+Godzilla+Mothra+Rodan.jpg" title="Ghidorah Godzilla Mothra Rodan" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Of course the film is notable for being the debut of King Ghidorah, who is one of the cooler monsters in the franchise (despite his odd lack of arms), but he has certainly made better appearances later in the series.</b> He's not quite as dumb as Godzilla and Rodan are in here, but he does a fair amount of seizure-dancing as well. And he pretty much just gives up and flies away after Mothra sprays some of that white stuff on him, so he's not exactly the badass he should have been.<br />
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I guess <b>what is theoretically cool about this film is that instead of having only two monsters fight there is a big brawl with four monsters </b>(which hadn't been done before), with Godzilla and Rodan and Mothra teaming up to defeat King Ghidorah. <b>But, while this could have been potentially awesome (as later films in the franchise better showed us), it doesn't really matter how many monsters you throw in there when the fights are badly choreographed.</b> It's just watching four retarded babies wrestle instead of two.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb17-piY9bmw_rVWtQKc0gHnztjJNHwydaHz7u3xS4bEqAwckT3pUuBeWqzIADIMG9UyjsOAnU2vH3UYLwinjai9I0dkR41UAFBy6fBwralHEnJgxQ0__t_J9Mb6XpOn41-IdmTPrS-eUA/s719/Ghidorah+the+Three-Headed+Monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster" border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb17-piY9bmw_rVWtQKc0gHnztjJNHwydaHz7u3xS4bEqAwckT3pUuBeWqzIADIMG9UyjsOAnU2vH3UYLwinjai9I0dkR41UAFBy6fBwralHEnJgxQ0__t_J9Mb6XpOn41-IdmTPrS-eUA/s400/Ghidorah+the+Three-Headed+Monster.jpg" title="Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>So while Honda's directing is good and Tsuburaya's modelwork is marvelous and Ifukube's score is stellar, none of it is enough to save the film from its ridiculously bad fight scenes and the convoluted plot.</b> My favorite part of the damn movie was when the little fairies sang the Mothra song! I watched the original Japanese version of the film, not the English dub; I can only imagine how much worse the English version, as the Japanese versions of the <i>Godzilla</i> films are almost always preferable.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcvH5Mq9hFsTEQCBBX0mabAKcOZ3wpGvoeGZSFbk5scLDjglyqmAAtI-pNV_zHOhk8Kf1I8QB1q7MudZOsc0jZ04zjdyJcTt0P3r5KzDxdSTYGBz_6t2g5CWopIc4vABEXNCt6tpa4GsV/s600/Ghidorah+the+Three-Headed+Monster+destroying+city+with+lightning+zap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster destroying the city" border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcvH5Mq9hFsTEQCBBX0mabAKcOZ3wpGvoeGZSFbk5scLDjglyqmAAtI-pNV_zHOhk8Kf1I8QB1q7MudZOsc0jZ04zjdyJcTt0P3r5KzDxdSTYGBz_6t2g5CWopIc4vABEXNCt6tpa4GsV/s400/Ghidorah+the+Three-Headed+Monster+destroying+city+with+lightning+zap.jpg" title="Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster destroying the city" width="400" /></a></div>
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I can really not understand why so many people praise this film and why so many consider it to be one of the best (if not <i>the</i> best) of the <i>Godzilla</i> franchise. <b>I'd call it one of the worst of the franchise (if not <i>the</i> worst)</b>, on par perhaps with the also infinitely shitty 1998 American <i>Godzilla</i>. Yes, it's that bad. <b>For <i>Godzilla </i>completionists only. </b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxYs_YGOUTLl25igMwTeGRu9YyB4uFPaRzpro9ehUm6FUA-BOBVwrQlbogfbYWEY3ANE_DulAq5W9koIAojbwEPtF9sqpwbbZdS595R4NKBy-4AfTzPaCSYfW_cnANqaigUqGxbnGmNCw/s425/horror1.5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="1.5/5 stars" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxYs_YGOUTLl25igMwTeGRu9YyB4uFPaRzpro9ehUm6FUA-BOBVwrQlbogfbYWEY3ANE_DulAq5W9koIAojbwEPtF9sqpwbbZdS595R4NKBy-4AfTzPaCSYfW_cnANqaigUqGxbnGmNCw/s1600/horror1.5.png" title="1.5/5 stars" /></a></div>
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<b>Purchase Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster on Amazon: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OCY7IU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000OCY7IU&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044WSNHC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0044WSNHC&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764001035/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0764001035&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">VHS</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-69871125440959434062013-06-26T13:41:00.001-04:002013-06-26T13:41:48.558-04:00Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiO8agtIkwr9l5tesJy0QNViG_lRvySym4v1B91nR09Mks4mv6ekhfpOjV-rcpdlQaghw9UBmSCqnXV9AIhaks2bZp4FSnQ8qb6qP4CsZeWtW0Iz9hAF1_DnHCZtrdSjmF4PqJjueXfgy/s1600/Q+The+Winged+Serpent+poster+illustrated+by+Boris+Vallejo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Q: The Winged Serpent poster illustrated by Boris Vallejo" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiO8agtIkwr9l5tesJy0QNViG_lRvySym4v1B91nR09Mks4mv6ekhfpOjV-rcpdlQaghw9UBmSCqnXV9AIhaks2bZp4FSnQ8qb6qP4CsZeWtW0Iz9hAF1_DnHCZtrdSjmF4PqJjueXfgy/s640/Q+The+Winged+Serpent+poster+illustrated+by+Boris+Vallejo.jpg" title="Q: The Winged Serpent poster illustrated by Boris Vallejo" width="418" /></a></div>
<b>Director:</b> Larry Cohen<br />
<b>Stars:</b> Michael Moriarty, David Carradine<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Giant Monster, Horror<br />
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<i>Q</i>, starring Michael Moriarty and David Carradine, directed by Larry Cohen, is a Giant Monster movie for the 1980s. It takes the classic city-destroying monster and updates it to a time of AIDS, Sony Walkmans, and MTV.<br />
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The story is a bit different than your average monster movie. It involves a small time crook, played brilliantly by Moriarty, who accidentally discovers the nest of a giant bird which has been terrorizing the city atop of the Chrysler Building. He then, of course, tries to use his knowledge to get rich, etc. Meanwhile a police officer (Carradine) is discovering the connections between the giant bird monster and the recent sacrificial killings to the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl (from which the film takes its name) that have been going on.<br />
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<b>The story is not so much about a giant monster as it is about a petty criminal who is given knowledge of a giant monster's hiding place and must decide what to do with said knowledge.</b> Does he tell the police immediately before the monster has a chance to kill again, or does he wait and use the knowledge for his own gain? It doesn't take him long to decide, but perhaps afterwards he realized the consequences of his actions; as his girlfriend later remarks: "I saw you when you thought you had some power, and it wasn't pretty."<br />
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<b>Michael Moriarty's performance is one of the most interesting performances I've ever seen.</b> Whether it's a good or bad performance is certainly debatable, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. In my opinion it's a good performance that sometimes blurs the line between good and bad, but all in all is actually quite masterful. At times it feels as if he's improvising every single line. <b>It's a memorable performance that creates a memorable character</b>, so I'd call it a success. David Carradine (whom many modern audiences may know as Bill from <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2012/12/kill-bill-vol-1-2003-review.html">Kill Bill</a></i>) definitely takes a backseat to Moriarty here, but his performance is charming, even if a little sloppy, nonetheless. Carradine becomes a bit of an action hero in the film's latter half, which was sort of odd.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTNPtPqPkOvqwu7D6KcKTWk3SXrpRiWOQ50vCacmpbSep8uCJY3TPKfyDE6lUCyZjQTRpsuuopbQkcicpXktQCQxrUrOROfUU1ZrAvhOxrIwuvTLOhDlgywDIW59I0USV0uSYay6xoF8z/s1600/Michael+Moriarty+in+Q+The+Winged+Serpent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Michael Moriarty in Q: The Winged Serpent" border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTNPtPqPkOvqwu7D6KcKTWk3SXrpRiWOQ50vCacmpbSep8uCJY3TPKfyDE6lUCyZjQTRpsuuopbQkcicpXktQCQxrUrOROfUU1ZrAvhOxrIwuvTLOhDlgywDIW59I0USV0uSYay6xoF8z/s400/Michael+Moriarty+in+Q+The+Winged+Serpent.jpg" title="Michael Moriarty in Q: The Winged Serpent" width="400" /></a></div>
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On to what is, for many, the most important part of a monster movie: the monster. This is where the film runs into some problems. <b>The monster has a cool design and the stop-motion is fantastic to watch, but the monster effects look extremely dated, even for its time (though the gore effects are pretty cool)</b>. <i>King Kong</i> from 50 years earlier had better effects; or at least better implemented them. The effects definitely don't blend with the rest of the film. Not only that, but <b>they don't show enough of the monster.</b> For most of the film we only see a glimpse of the monster every ten minutes or so, whether it be a shadow or a claw. It isn't until the very end that we get to see the entire monster; but even then it is <b>extremely underwhelming. </b><br />
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The cult aspect is an interesting twist but <b>the monster isn't memorable</b> for a number of reasons: it has no personality, we don't see much of it, and it doesn't do anything memorable, all it does is kill a few pedestrians. And <b>the ending </b>(some spoilers here)<b> is terribly unsatisfying.</b> The monster was destroyed far too easily, so much so that it was anticlimactic. I mean seriously, what sort of giant monster can be killed by a few gun shots?<br />
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Luckily <b>the film doesn't take itself too seriously</b> (after all, how could a completely serious film come from the guy who directed <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-stuff-1985-review.html">The Stuff</a></i>?). <b>There's plenty of humor in the film which actually works pretty well </b>and Moriarty's bizarre performance is almost funny to watch. The film also has a self-conscious tongue-in-cheek quality to it.<br />
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If you love the style of the 80s than this film should be enjoyable. <b>The soundtrack is really awesome too.</b><br />
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<b><i>Q: The Winged Serpent</i> is a must watch film for fans of the genre. It missed a lot of potential, I think, but still did many things right.</b> Go check it out!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4re4SeXipAei6k34QZzv4gO5_hrprJV54zqu-R9m7VQ5yqE8nVPv_SXIBy0yKz2y9xtXc00CH7YeMGin-TStBQMOcxD-Dd_r47pO9u_XrbO43nPg7yFaUN9kbs6Pm-Y-5vNCNYZyLXnI_/s1600/horror3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="3/5 stars" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4re4SeXipAei6k34QZzv4gO5_hrprJV54zqu-R9m7VQ5yqE8nVPv_SXIBy0yKz2y9xtXc00CH7YeMGin-TStBQMOcxD-Dd_r47pO9u_XrbO43nPg7yFaUN9kbs6Pm-Y-5vNCNYZyLXnI_/s1600/horror3.png" title="3/5 stars" /></a></div>
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<b>Purchase Q: The Winged Serpent on Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CPTUNWO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CPTUNWO&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000096I9P/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000096I9P&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6304983727/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=6304983727&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">VHS</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00374327547607128537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016454470423957157.post-90394059461234306792013-06-21T14:43:00.000-04:002013-06-21T14:43:58.010-04:00It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Director:</b> Robert Gordon<br />
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<b>Stars:</b> Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Ian Keith</div>
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<b>Genre:</b> Giant Monster, Science Fiction, Horror</div>
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After the success the Giant Monster genre had with films like <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-beast-from-20000-fathoms-1953-review.html">The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms</a></i>, <i>Them!</i>, and of course <i><a href="http://cosmiccatacombs.blogspot.com/2013/06/gojira-godzilla-1954-review.html">Godzilla</a></i> overseas, Hollywood was interested in capitalizing on the success. <i>It Came from Beneath the Sea</i> was one such attempt. </div>
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The plot follows the formula of the previous films in the genre: giant sea monster (in this case an octopus) is unleashed due to nuclear testing after lying dormant for a very long period of time and then terrorizes various people while a combination of scientists and military try and work out a way to stop it. You know how it goes. </div>
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The screenplay was co-written by George Worthing Yates, whom is somewhat of a king when it comes to 50s sci-fi scripts. Yates crafted the stories of films such as <i>Them!, Conquest of Space, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, The Amazing Colossal Man, War of the Colossal Beast, Attack of the Puppet People, Earth vs. the Spider, Frankenstein 1970, Space Master X-7, Tormented</i>, and <i>King Kong vs. Godzilla</i>; to only name a few. So, anyone who is a fan of low-budget 50s/early 60s sci-fi should no doubt run into much of his filmography at some point or another. That's not to say he's a great screenwriter who crafts deep stories; no, after all these sort of movies never were known to have rich plots. But his contribution to the genre and time period should be noted and appreciated, no matter how bad of a writer he was. </div>
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It was directed by Robert Gordon, whom you probably never heard of, and neither have I. This was really his only effort that remains remembered today (and I use the word remembered loosely). I think it's safe to say he wasn't exactly a talented director (either that or he had an extremely incompetent editor). <b>This film feels so stitched together. The cuts and transitions never feel smooth and along with poor continuity the entire film feels very unnatural, and it constantly reminds you that your watching a movie. It's perhaps the worst continuity I've ever witnessed in a film. </b></div>
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<b>The acting is very poor as well, which only adds to the films unnatural and artificial feel.</b> Super stud Kenneth Tobey and the alluring Faith Domergue (whom you may recognize from This Island Earth) definitely disappointed me here. Most of the time the actors seem very wooden and uninterested. </div>
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<b>The main appeal of this film is easily the special effects done by the masterful Ray Harryhausen.</b> This was his first film after the wonderful <i>Beast from 20,000 Fathoms</i>. His work here is just as good if not better, unfortunately the film itself isn't. This is still fairly early in Harryhausen's career, so I wouldn't say that he had quite mastered his craft yet, but exceptional work nonetheless. <b>Unfortunately we don't get to see it very often in the film. There's only a view brief scenes where we get to see his work, and they are by far the only scenes worth seeing. </b>The giant octopus sinking a ship or attacking the Golden Gate bridge are perhaps the film's only highlights. I understand the film was on a very limited budget (in fact, due to the low budget it would have cost too much to animate all 8 of the octopus' arms, so they instead opted to give it only 6, which led Harryhausen to nickname it "sixtopus") but it would have been nice to see more of the monster and the special effects, being as<b> the rest of the film is fairly slow and boring. </b></div>
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<b>And while the special effects themselves are very well done, I felt they weren't implemented very well.</b> This is of course not entirely the fault of Harryhausen but more the fault of the director. <b>Gordon never brings everything together good enough. The effects are good but they never blend naturally with everything else.</b> Instead of having the effects act as a natural extension of the film's other scenes they feel as if they're completely on their own, separate from the rest of the film. A decent director is able to take what is good (in this case the effects) and implement well to make it even better, and to take that which is bad (in this case the acting) and do his best to disguise it and make it work better. Unfortunately Robert Gordon failed to do that. </div>
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It's a film that truly represents its era--one of low budgets and shameless rip-offs. It's only worth watching for fans of science fiction from the 1950s or those who are interested in Ray Harryhausen's work. Otherwise I'd steer clear of this one. <b>Poor direction, underused effects, a dull story, and a forgettable monster. </b></div>
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<b>Purchase It Came from Beneath the Sea on Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D7T69K/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001D7T69K&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Blu-Ray</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008OM1X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00008OM1X&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Y2Q9J0/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000Y2Q9J0&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">DVD (color version)</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NIXX52/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001NIXX52&linkCode=as2&tag=cosmicatac-20">Stream</a></div>
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