Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007 |
Transformer Movie Toys Shun the Others
Originally uploaded by JasonCross
Let’s get everything out of the way. Michael Bay is still the poor man’s James Cameron, the way Pearl Harbor was the poor man’s Titanic (which isn’t to say I have that favourable an opinion of Titanic). The human characters besides Shia LaBeouf (a favourite of UsDudes thanks to his role as Louis on the Disney Channel’s Even Stevens) are almost entirely superfluous, leading one to believe that the money saved on skimping on the human scenes could have easily added a few more minutes of the Transformers, particularly for the Decepticons who get an unfairly small amount of screen time. The plot is a bit of a mess since there are certain elements that don’t quite go anywhere and while unlike some of the Generation 1 naysayers I was a supporter of giving the movie Transformers a distinct look some of the design flaws show up, particularly with so many of the bots being silver or grey it’s sometimes hard to tell who’s who in crowded battle scenes.
None of this actually stops the movie from being a lot of fun and quite watchable.
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Wednesday, July 11th, 2007 |
Optimus Primes - Primeapalooza
Originally uploaded by JasonCross
In hindsight, the original 1986 TF movie isn’t that great after all, the shock value of seeing some of your favourite Autobots die just for the sake of launching a new series of toys was marketing gone weird, there are weird plot holes like why Ultra Magnus could be reconstructed while the other Autobots couldn’t and the Matrix was a plot device to the Nth degree.
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Monday, June 18th, 2007 |
Most people are familiar with the dot com bubble bursting I guess. People who read comics and who followed the ups and downs of the American comics industry at the time should be familiar with something similar happened in the 1990s. Speculation was rife back then. After seeing how much comics from the Silver Age and Golden Age of American comic books were fetching on the auction block, bloody everybody started buying comics for the sake of investment, and the industry just fed into this speculation by creating demand. Lots of #1 issues, crossovers, ‘major’ changes in fan favourite characters and really really gimmicky stuff like multiple covers, holograms, foil covers, etc. It’s a bit hard to describe for somebody who isn’t in the loop, but so much of it was really bad.
What’s interesting is how this effected comics fans overseas. Specifically, here in Singapore.
They apparently ate it all up.
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Saturday, November 18th, 2006 |
Listening to: The Specials - “Message To You Rudy” - Specials Singles, The (The Best Of The Specials) [UK]
First off: I have to admit to not being a very big James Bond fan. I’ve watched a few of the movies, but never been compelled to follow the franchise. Which is fine since the films work very much on an episodic basis, previous movies might be referenced but they’re ultimately of no consequence to whatever is playing in the cinema currently.
There’s been a lot of controversy about Casino Royale and particularly in the casting of Daniel Craig, but come on, everybody hates the new Bond because he’ll never be as good as Sean Connery. That’s true of every actor who’s had the role. So I’ll say unrepetantly that Daniel Craig is a great James Bond. Put simply, Casino Royale (sadly not starring David Niven, Peter Sellers and Woody Allen) is Bond without the bullshit.
Pierce Brosnan did a good job, but (in the first of several Batman comparisons I’ll be making) like George Clooney he found himself starring in a franchise that seemed to get increasingly outlandish with every new film, and this is for a character for whom secret underwater fortresses, death rays and being fed to sharks are de rigeur.
Goldeneye, his first Bond outing was the exception in that it seemed (to me at least) to be a good balance of the different elements that made up the Bond movies over the years (espionage, intrigue, big action sequences, grit, sex,etc). Goldeneye was directed by Martin Campbell, the same man who was brought on board to direct Casino Royale.
In an age of Jack Bauers and Jason Bournes it seemed a little ridiculous for some of the excesses of the Bond franchise to continue unchanged, and a lot of Bond trademarks (Q’s gadgets, Q himself) are set aside for the sake of making a stronger movie and a far more three dimensional Bond than what I’ve seen previously. And Bond gets his ass kicked. A lot. Not by “lasers” or implausible death traps either. He gets tortured and beaten and almost dies right in the middle of the film. Right from the beginning the viewer is presented with a far more brutal Bond movie. There’s been a tonne of violence in the Bond films, but it often tended towards the cartoonish. Craig’s Bond is the first who genuinely has to deal with the consequences of his actions. The action sequences are very well done, without being over the top.
As an origin story I find it to be a bit stronger than Batman Begins was, but both approach their protagonists as believable human beings rather than the franchise characters they’d often find themselves treated as. And I kept thinking that this has to be the first time I’ve seen Bond in a t-shirt.
Oh, and the theme song “You Know My Name” by Chris Cornell feels a little lacking because Cornell doesn’t really let loose until the end of the song. I was hoping for something like Cochise.
There are flaws of course, but none I can get into without going too deep in for those unfamiliar with the plot. So in closing,
Rating: 
Pretty damn good.
Casino Royale: Official Site from Sony Pictures
IMDB: Casino Royale
Wikipedia: Casino Royale
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Monday, September 11th, 2006 |
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Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 |
Listening to: Powerless (Say What You Want) - Nelly Furtado - Folklore
I’m the Juggernaut, bitch
Incredibly enough, this line actually makes it into the movie. Ridiculous, but somehow one of these memes that manages to worm itself into popular non-Internet culture, just like Sam Jackson’s upcoming Snakes on a Plane.
It’s not that the third X-Men movie is terrible. It’s certainly more watchable (in a non-campy way) than some of the dreck that’s been passed off as superhero based movies in the past (see the likes of Batman and Robin or Steel). It’s more that it’s full of unrealised potential, and what good moments there are are wasted as a result.
I’m certainly not the kind of person who demands “authenticity” from comic book based movies, I don’t ask that they slavishly follow established storylines. I enjoy when a plot genuinely surprises me. And for all the great opportunities that X-Men: The Last Stand presents the audience with, very little is actually achieved.
Spoilers after the jump.
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Sunday, May 21st, 2006 |
The day this show gets canned is the day you’ll find me on a killing spree…am a big fan of comedies with similar directing like
Malcolm in the Middle and
Arrested Development but I can’t emphasize enough on how Scrubs’ fuckin well-written and worthy of your attention..personality of each character is full of hilarious dynamism but behind their antics lie a subtle focus on social issues such as race, relationships, authority…etc..every episode starts off on a fresh pace and its ending will leave you smiling away, all while maintaining a healthy evolution in continuing plotlines and character development…shit man, by the end of each season you’d have grown so much with the stars of the show and become easily fond of their insecurities, suicidal tendencies, etc……here are some random quotes grabbed from Scrubs (oh and that pic above shows one of the many gueststars of the show, Mandy Moore, whose beau happens to be Zach Braff, that dude to the left and the main character of Scrubs…anyway, with so much cameos, you’d swear you’re watching a live action Simpsons):
Dr Bob Kelso: “What has two thumbs and still doesn’t give a crap? Bob Kelso! I thought we’d met…”
Dr Cox: Hey, Betty. Hey, Wilma. Oh, what the hell, you’re only forty minutes late. Do I… do I smell beer?
J.D.: Uh, we… we, uh, we had a few.
Dr Cox: Newsflash, you can’t drink and then come to work. You’re not airline pilots.
Dr Kelso: [On the phone] Darling, I want to say something. For the past 25 years, we’ve been going through the motions…once every couple of weeks we have sex, and then we have breakfast without saying a word. Well, tonight, I want you to put on a nice dress, because I’m gonna take you to dinner and I’m gonna start telling you all the things I haven’t taken the time to say all these years. … I love you too. [He hangs up]
Ted: That was……..beautiful, sir!
Dr Kelso: Thanks, Ted. Call my wife, tell her I won’t be home tonight.
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Thursday, September 29th, 2005 |
Since it seems like it’s finally coming to Singapore, I will offer you this word of advice.
Go watch The 40 Year Old Virgin.
It’s a great movie that’s really really funny. With a title like this you’d think it would be a one note toilet humour kind of movie, but it isn’t. It goes for as many jokes as possible, crude or otherwise, and builds a decent plot and great characters. I’m not entirely certain that all of it will pass censors, but it is M18 so I’m guessing (or hoping, at least) that the movie remains uncut. From the same guy who also created the late, lamented Freaks and Geeks television show.
Also, Kat Dennings who plays Marla the teenaged daughter of Trish (Catherine Keener), Andy’s (Steve Carrell) love interest is kinda hot.
“AHHH!!! KELLY CLARKSON!!!”. Comedy gold.
And no, it’s not a movie about my life in seventeen years time.
At least, I don’t think it is.
I hope it isn’t?
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Monday, September 5th, 2005 |
If you’re not watching Wonderfalls, you should be doing so.
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Wednesday, July 20th, 2005 |
So it was on an impulse that me and a fren caught Sim Sin City 2000 on its debut. And man was it worth our time and money! Now, I’m not a loyal follower of the graphic novel series, much less a dedicated comic fan but I know great artistic direction when I see one (or at least I tend to have a general taste that most can agree rather than debate on). So anyway, (more…)
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