Oh guys, my life is moving so fast. From doctors visits, to E.R. nights, to ending a 4 year relationship, to hanging out with friends, I have no time to watch movies. Haven't seen one in nearly a week. Don't think I'm giving up on this, I'm not. However, at the moment my life is moving a mile a minute. I'm going through some rough times, but at the same time I'm having a great time.
So really, what I'm trying to say is, I will be back. What I'm waiting on is one of two things to happen, either my life needs to slow down, or, I learn to live with this new pace. To be honest with you, it will probably the latter.
I've rarely had any down time, let alone time to sit and watch a movie. It seems like I'm always moving which is a serious change of pace for me. I tried to watch Cyborg with Jean-Claude Van Damme. I got about 25 minutes in, then realized that that movie is excruciatingly boring.
Bottom Line: I'll never give up on this blog, for the moment though, there will be no review schedule at all. If I find time to watch a movie and it's worthy of a review, I'll write one.
Thanks to all those who have read my reviews on this blog and over on my 365 Movie Review Blog. Another journal of my failure to keep schedules lol.
To finish this I guess I'll let you all know I'm up to 2545 movies. So, I have tons to review. Once I find the time.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Update 8-16-12
Alright going to make this really quick. This blog is still active. I skipped last week and will be skipping this week for good reason. Last week I had a pretty bad case of Gastroenteritis. This week I had an Epidural done. So It's been lots of medical fun lately.I'm just wanted to let you all know the current situation, and the reason for the lack of videos.
Quick announcement, I actually broke 2500 movies today. Not counting overlap. Nonetheless this is an amazing feat. Alright and now to end this blog I will post some pictures from old reviews and a random other one or two I've been screwing around with in Gimp.
Have a good one, I'll get a review up as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.
-Dylan Lanier
A re-colorization of the spider thing from the Bloody Pit of Horror
A comicbook-esque image from one of the Night Train To Terror stories.
This lovely creature hails from "Thunderbirds Are Go." He's also the only good part of the movie
Friday, August 3, 2012
Total Recall (2012)
Yeah, I'm going there haha. Well, I just got back from the midnight premiere, and to be honest with you I was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, the movie was pretty bad, but I'll be damned if it wasn't beautiful. We'll get to all that in a little bit though. The movie does quite a few things right, however, it also does a lot of things wrong. Obviously since this came out today I have no screens. So if you want to see what I'm talking about, you'll have to go see the movie. Let's get this underway.
Yeah, this is where the movie fails. So hard. Have you ever seen a Steven Seagal film? What about a Jean-Claude Van Damme film? Well something you'll notice in most of them, is that the plot is unimportant. We watch the movie to see these guys kick ass. That's what Total Recall is. The plot is basically a bunch of strings trying to tie together fight scenes. I'd rather the movie not had a plot, just show me more Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsale (or more Bryan Cranston but we'll get to that in a minute.) The plot kinda reminds me of 1984, where the government is feeding people a bunch of false information, and only a small handful of people know better. The Government is basically blaming a bunch of attacks on "The Colony" so they can invade. It flimsy and probably the worst part of the movie. Plot development was atrocious. Farrell finds out he needs to find this one guy. Then an action scene breaks out, then another, then a really long one on some elevators, then some Beckinsale Biel fighting.Then probably about an hour later we get to this guy (you probably think I'm exaggerating, I'm not, at all.)
By now you're probably seeing some of the issue. Plot took a back seat to action and showing off the CGI. The plot is similar to the original film, however, if they changed names, a few plot points, and the title, I would never connect them. There's no Mars (which blows.) So overall the plot is pretty weak
This is where the movie gets better, great actors in fitting roles. I hated Farrell a lot less than I expected too, however, he's no Arnold. This film feels to me like Farrell's personal masturbation material. The whole movie is him being a bad-ass, blowing shit up, and looking good doing it.
Now for the best part of the movie, Beckinsale. Let me preface this by saying Kate Beckinsale is in like my top 5 hottest chicks. Not just for her looks, but also for the roles she plays. Total Recall is no different. She play's one of the main baddies and Farrell's "wife" (played by Sharon Stone in the 1990 film.) Kate Beckinsale definitely showed some Selene in this one, a tough ass chick who's cold as ice.
Jessica Biel. What can I say, her movies are usually hit or miss for me. I tend to not like her in most films. However, she's kickass in this movie, and she looks the best I've ever seen her. Her character is pretty much the love interest through out the film. My complaint here is a simple one, I never once see any spark or chemistry between Biel and Farrell's characters. I just have a hard time believing it. Like I said though, the plot sucks, no point in trying to read into it.
Bryan Cranston. He's come so far, from being the dad on Malcolm in the Middle to being a meth chef on Breaking Bad. He's one of my favorite actors and I'm very glad to see him finally getting the recognition he deserves. This movie does him no justice. His total screen time is maybe 5 to 10 minute and that's being generous. He shows up to be the bad guy and burn kittens or something I don't know, like I said no reason to read into the plot. His acting was as superb ever, and I wish his role had been extended, because I like his character the best. Sure I love looking at Beckinsale at Biel, but I'd really liked to have seen more of Cranston's character. His motivations are never really discussed either. I get that there's overpopulation, and that's why they're trying to take over "The Colony". How does that make him the bad guy? He's trying to help his people, granted by killing millions of innocent people...... I just realized I'm trying to read into the plot again, apologies, it won't happen again, I'd prefer it if my brain were not to explode.
Here's where the movie shines, shines like the sun. This CGI is some of the best I've ever seen, it's beautiful and extremely well done. I didn't notice a single piece of CGI that wasn't completely realistic. Except maybe those hover cars. I feel like they literally took the hover cars from Minority Report and stuck 'em in this movie. This movie is beautiful. It's a serious dose of eye candy. If you've ever been interested in CGI and how good it can look, give this a watch,
I'm adding this category specifically for this movie. Whoever the fight choreographer for this movie was, I'd like to shake your hand. I'll be damned if this wasn't some of the coolest fighting I've seen in recent years. The action is all really well choreographed and really well shot. This is another area where the movie definitely shines.
Plot
By now you're probably seeing some of the issue. Plot took a back seat to action and showing off the CGI. The plot is similar to the original film, however, if they changed names, a few plot points, and the title, I would never connect them. There's no Mars (which blows.) So overall the plot is pretty weak
Plot Score: 3/10 I doubt they spent more than a week writing this flimsy garbage
Characters/ Actors
This is where the movie gets better, great actors in fitting roles. I hated Farrell a lot less than I expected too, however, he's no Arnold. This film feels to me like Farrell's personal masturbation material. The whole movie is him being a bad-ass, blowing shit up, and looking good doing it.
Now for the best part of the movie, Beckinsale. Let me preface this by saying Kate Beckinsale is in like my top 5 hottest chicks. Not just for her looks, but also for the roles she plays. Total Recall is no different. She play's one of the main baddies and Farrell's "wife" (played by Sharon Stone in the 1990 film.) Kate Beckinsale definitely showed some Selene in this one, a tough ass chick who's cold as ice.
Jessica Biel. What can I say, her movies are usually hit or miss for me. I tend to not like her in most films. However, she's kickass in this movie, and she looks the best I've ever seen her. Her character is pretty much the love interest through out the film. My complaint here is a simple one, I never once see any spark or chemistry between Biel and Farrell's characters. I just have a hard time believing it. Like I said though, the plot sucks, no point in trying to read into it.
Bryan Cranston. He's come so far, from being the dad on Malcolm in the Middle to being a meth chef on Breaking Bad. He's one of my favorite actors and I'm very glad to see him finally getting the recognition he deserves. This movie does him no justice. His total screen time is maybe 5 to 10 minute and that's being generous. He shows up to be the bad guy and burn kittens or something I don't know, like I said no reason to read into the plot. His acting was as superb ever, and I wish his role had been extended, because I like his character the best. Sure I love looking at Beckinsale at Biel, but I'd really liked to have seen more of Cranston's character. His motivations are never really discussed either. I get that there's overpopulation, and that's why they're trying to take over "The Colony". How does that make him the bad guy? He's trying to help his people, granted by killing millions of innocent people...... I just realized I'm trying to read into the plot again, apologies, it won't happen again, I'd prefer it if my brain were not to explode.
Character Score: 6/10 The characters are very one-dimensional, but well portrayed by great actors
Scenery
Here's where the movie shines, shines like the sun. This CGI is some of the best I've ever seen, it's beautiful and extremely well done. I didn't notice a single piece of CGI that wasn't completely realistic. Except maybe those hover cars. I feel like they literally took the hover cars from Minority Report and stuck 'em in this movie. This movie is beautiful. It's a serious dose of eye candy. If you've ever been interested in CGI and how good it can look, give this a watch,
Scenery Score: 10/10 I don't think this could've been any better if they tried
Action
I'm adding this category specifically for this movie. Whoever the fight choreographer for this movie was, I'd like to shake your hand. I'll be damned if this wasn't some of the coolest fighting I've seen in recent years. The action is all really well choreographed and really well shot. This is another area where the movie definitely shines.
Action Score: 9/10 My only complaint is that some of the action sequences run a little too long
Final Thoughts
I'm not going to lie, the movie was not good. On the other hand, I was highly entertained. Though the second half tends to get a little plot heavy it makes up for it with a satisfying final boss battle. Now the one subject I want to touch on here is the ending. The movie pulled an Inception, you don't know if the whole thing is real or if it's what Rekall implanted in his mind. So that kind of got on my nerves, but not too much.
Rating: 3/10 The movie suffers from a CGI and Action focus, but those things are not what makes a good movie
My Score: 7/10 If you like CGI and Action this movie has it in droves. It kept me pretty entertained.
That's it for this time guys. I hope you enjoyed this review and I hope it helped you decide if Total Recall is for you. I'd recommend it for a watch, but don't expect anything amazing or you'll be sorely disappointed.
If you have any comments, suggestions, question, blah, blah, just leave them in a comment on this post.
Friday, July 27, 2012
There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, is a drama film from 2007 based on the novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair. I had never seen this movie prior to viewing it for this review and I was pleasantly surprised. When I first read the basic plot, I thought I might get bored halfway through and flick it off. However, this was not the case. The movie is quite good, and for a movie that’s two and a half hours, it doesn’t drag at all. So let’s begin this new style of review.
Plot: The movie follows the movements of oil-man Daniel Plainview, played by Day-Lewis, and his turn of the century oil business. The story isn’t really what the movie is about though, it’s about the characters and their personalities, trials, and tribulations. For me, this movie belongs to a genre I like to call Human Drama, which is a drama film that is not guided by the plot, but by the characters. There Will Be Blood is one of the greatest examples of this, there’s a plot, but it doesn’t matter, you’re too entranced with the characters.
Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean the plot isn’t there, or that it isn’t great, because it is. However, it takes a back seat to our amazing cast of characters.
As I said earlier in the review, for a two and a half hour movie, there is relatively little flab on the film. There’s not much I could see that didn’t move the story along.
Characters: Like I said earlier, this is where the film really shines. You have Daniel Plainview, our main character, making his way through the oil world. He has a “son” (not actually his son, but he raised him) named HW, who is played quite well by Dillon Freasier in his very first acting role (according to IMDb.) Family is a huge element to the story, and drives a lot of the story along.
In the town of New Boston, which is where most of the movie takes place, you have the Church of the Third Revelation, and it’s preacher Eli Sunday. Paul Dano, who portrays Eli, couldn’t have portrayed him any better. He’s pretty important in moving the plot along, as well as being a huge ass. The whole time I watched the movie, he seems so calm and normal. However, there is an occasional scene where he just explodes. Religion is another huge part of the story in this movie.
Last but certainly not least, you have Beni from The Mummy. HAHA. I’m so glad to see that this guy actually get’s work. He does a great job in this as Daniel’s “brother”. The actor’s name is Kevin J. O’Connor, and to say the least, I was surprised to see him do so well. In my mind though, he’ll always be Beni.
Design: When I say design what I mean is, scenery, costumes, props, etc. This will probably be the shortest topic, most of the movie takes place outdoors and it looks beautiful. The film is supposed to take place in California and I believe it pulls it off perfectly. The few true “sets”, seem pretty accurate to the period, as does the clothing. I don’t claim to be an expert in this period of history, but to an untrained eye, they seem right. The movie is incredibly beautiful, and well shot.
Final Thoughts: There Will Be Blood was an instant classic, and the reasoning shows, it’s a beautiful movie with interesting and realistic characters. I’m glad I finally got around to watching it.
So this concludes the first review for this new blog. I hope you all enjoyed it, and stick around for more. I’m batting around a few ideas right now, perhaps a Saturday A-Movie Post and Wednesday B-Movie Post. Not sure at the moment. Thanks for reading, and I’ll talk to you next time.
If you have any comments, suggestions, question, blah, blah, just leave them in a comment on this post.
All images used in this post belong to the copyright holders and are used solely for criticizing purposes. No infringement is intended.
 |
| OIL |
Plot: The movie follows the movements of oil-man Daniel Plainview, played by Day-Lewis, and his turn of the century oil business. The story isn’t really what the movie is about though, it’s about the characters and their personalities, trials, and tribulations. For me, this movie belongs to a genre I like to call Human Drama, which is a drama film that is not guided by the plot, but by the characters. There Will Be Blood is one of the greatest examples of this, there’s a plot, but it doesn’t matter, you’re too entranced with the characters.
Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean the plot isn’t there, or that it isn’t great, because it is. However, it takes a back seat to our amazing cast of characters.
As I said earlier in the review, for a two and a half hour movie, there is relatively little flab on the film. There’s not much I could see that didn’t move the story along.
Plot Score: 8/10 The plot is great, but it’s not the focus of the film.
Characters: Like I said earlier, this is where the film really shines. You have Daniel Plainview, our main character, making his way through the oil world. He has a “son” (not actually his son, but he raised him) named HW, who is played quite well by Dillon Freasier in his very first acting role (according to IMDb.) Family is a huge element to the story, and drives a lot of the story along.
Day-Lewis is one of the best actors ever
I still can't believe this was this kid's first movie
In the town of New Boston, which is where most of the movie takes place, you have the Church of the Third Revelation, and it’s preacher Eli Sunday. Paul Dano, who portrays Eli, couldn’t have portrayed him any better. He’s pretty important in moving the plot along, as well as being a huge ass. The whole time I watched the movie, he seems so calm and normal. However, there is an occasional scene where he just explodes. Religion is another huge part of the story in this movie.
I love his outfit here, makes him look even more like a charlatan
Last but certainly not least, you have Beni from The Mummy. HAHA. I’m so glad to see that this guy actually get’s work. He does a great job in this as Daniel’s “brother”. The actor’s name is Kevin J. O’Connor, and to say the least, I was surprised to see him do so well. In my mind though, he’ll always be Beni.
Oh, Beni how I love thee.
Characters Score: 10/10 Believable and realistic characters to say the least.
Design: When I say design what I mean is, scenery, costumes, props, etc. This will probably be the shortest topic, most of the movie takes place outdoors and it looks beautiful. The film is supposed to take place in California and I believe it pulls it off perfectly. The few true “sets”, seem pretty accurate to the period, as does the clothing. I don’t claim to be an expert in this period of history, but to an untrained eye, they seem right. The movie is incredibly beautiful, and well shot.
This is what most of the movie looks like, just less green
Design Score: 10/10 An absolutely beautiful movie.
Final Thoughts: There Will Be Blood was an instant classic, and the reasoning shows, it’s a beautiful movie with interesting and realistic characters. I’m glad I finally got around to watching it.
Not sure if this was meant to be funny, but it was hilarious
Rating: 10/10 This movie is damn near the perfect movie, great story, great characters, just a great movie.
My Score: 8/10 I really enjoyed this movie, however, it just didn’t quite do it for me. It was a great movie, it just wasn’t quite up my alley.
So this concludes the first review for this new blog. I hope you all enjoyed it, and stick around for more. I’m batting around a few ideas right now, perhaps a Saturday A-Movie Post and Wednesday B-Movie Post. Not sure at the moment. Thanks for reading, and I’ll talk to you next time.
If you have any comments, suggestions, question, blah, blah, just leave them in a comment on this post.
All images used in this post belong to the copyright holders and are used solely for criticizing purposes. No infringement is intended.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Let's Begin Again!
Alright, this is semi-awkward for me. I have to start another blog, well, I don't really have to. However, the name for the last one wasn't working at all anymore. So now, here I am, to provide something different. So, like last time I'll start by explaining a bit about what I plan to do here. At the moment, I plan on releasing a weekly movie review. The movies are going to be a mix of the 50 movie packs (of which I now have 22) and also more popular A-list movies. The way I'm planning it at the moment, the movie will just be chosen by me. I could do a random draw, however, this tends to bear lackluster results, leaving me with a choice, but not my choice. However, the movie will be random, if I feel like Kung Fu one week, it'll be a Kung Fu movie, the next week could be a romance movie. You get what I'm saying, if there's a genre in particular you'd like to see, just let me know.
Here's some things you can expect:
- New Style: No more pros and cons. I'm going to try and do a slightly more standard review style, it'll be sectioned up into things like: Plot, Characters, Set Design/Scenery, etc. etc. As of writing this, I'm not sure exactly what those categories will be, I think what I have to write about the first film will decide for me.
- New Rating System: This is something I've been thinking about a lot recently. In my 365 reviews, I tended to let my entertainment value control the rating. What I'm thinking for the new ones, will be a score for each section (plot, characters, etc.) Also, a score for how good the movie is (by "good" I mean actual quality of most of the sections put together). Last but not least, there will be a "My Score" or an entertainment value score (This will basically be a score of how much I enjoyed it.)
- Better Movies: I, seriously, plan on doing more popular movies now. You will see movies you (should) know on this review more often than not. Another problem with my 365 reviews were screenshot copyright thingies. Yeah, those be damned. I've seen people do a lot worse copyright infringement than stills from a movie. So expect more of those.
- Larger Reviews: Due to the decrease to a weekly schedule, you can expect the reviews to be much bigger. Depending on if my copy of the movie has any special features, I'll probably talk about those too. At least, when they correlate to the movies (ie: Behind the Scenes featurette). So expect more info about the movies in general.
- Possible "Other" Reviews: As of recent, I've been watching a lot of movies. What I'm offering with this is POSSIBLE mid-week mini-reviews. Not guaranteed, but possible.
The release date of my reviews will probably be on Fridays, but I haven't completely decided yet.
Alright, to finish this off, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to all of you who read the 365 stuff and those of you who will read this stuff as well. It means a lot to me.
P.S. If you'd like to request a certain movie be reviewed or have comments or questions, just leave them in the comments section of this or any following post.
P.P.S. Movie collection is up to 2331 movies. So that's awesome.
-Dylan Lanier
Here's some things you can expect:
- New Style: No more pros and cons. I'm going to try and do a slightly more standard review style, it'll be sectioned up into things like: Plot, Characters, Set Design/Scenery, etc. etc. As of writing this, I'm not sure exactly what those categories will be, I think what I have to write about the first film will decide for me.
- New Rating System: This is something I've been thinking about a lot recently. In my 365 reviews, I tended to let my entertainment value control the rating. What I'm thinking for the new ones, will be a score for each section (plot, characters, etc.) Also, a score for how good the movie is (by "good" I mean actual quality of most of the sections put together). Last but not least, there will be a "My Score" or an entertainment value score (This will basically be a score of how much I enjoyed it.)
- Better Movies: I, seriously, plan on doing more popular movies now. You will see movies you (should) know on this review more often than not. Another problem with my 365 reviews were screenshot copyright thingies. Yeah, those be damned. I've seen people do a lot worse copyright infringement than stills from a movie. So expect more of those.
- Larger Reviews: Due to the decrease to a weekly schedule, you can expect the reviews to be much bigger. Depending on if my copy of the movie has any special features, I'll probably talk about those too. At least, when they correlate to the movies (ie: Behind the Scenes featurette). So expect more info about the movies in general.
- Possible "Other" Reviews: As of recent, I've been watching a lot of movies. What I'm offering with this is POSSIBLE mid-week mini-reviews. Not guaranteed, but possible.
The release date of my reviews will probably be on Fridays, but I haven't completely decided yet.
Alright, to finish this off, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to all of you who read the 365 stuff and those of you who will read this stuff as well. It means a lot to me.
P.S. If you'd like to request a certain movie be reviewed or have comments or questions, just leave them in the comments section of this or any following post.
P.P.S. Movie collection is up to 2331 movies. So that's awesome.
-Dylan Lanier
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