Movies

Oct312012

Return of the…Star Wars Franchise? What?

Stunned. Couldn’t actually believe it. George Lucas sold the beloved (well, mostly) Star Wars franchise for 4 billion dollars to Disney. Wait, what? You’ll have to repeat yourself. Took about twelve news reports until the news finally soaked in. The franchise I grew up with and became obsessed with , those amazing three movies, (and then those added 3 rubbish) are continuing. Images of Mickey Mouse with lightsabers and more creations like Jar Jar keep popping up in my mind. Vader, you said it. My first thought was just…let it die. Or rather let it live on in a semi-untarnished memory. At least of the originals.

I couldn’t believe Lucas would sell out like that. Well, that isn’t true, because look at the prequels. I’m just surprised because it came out of nowhere. Disney? Hmm… Please don’t serve us another set of bad, childish movies with painful writing. Don’t do the Princess-y Disney, do the darker and more complex movies you’ve been coming out with. With a looming 2015 release date, us Star Wars fans are left to sit with endless “what if’s” and imaginations of further franchise destruction.

But wait. Finally stumbling past my shock and disappointment, some friends pointed out a few things which I tend to forget. Disney recently bought Pixar and Marvel, two of my favorite companies. And the movies that have been coming from them? Brilliant. I absolutely loved the Avengers, I bought it on Blu-Ray/DVD as soon as it was available. For some reason, the thought of ‘Disney’ just brings images of cartoony corniness–something Star Wars needs to move away from. Which was why the news was accompanied with immediate stomach-wrenching dread. But, very good example, look at movies like the Avengers, Thor, Captain America, and so forth. All movies I thoroughly enjoyed. And they came from Disney. As did Pirates. So there’s a shot.

(what a weird picture)

This Kathleen Kennedy woman (who is taking over Lucas Films) seems like she’s got a lot to her. She’s produced tons of films which have collectively won 120 Academy Awards–that’s not a bad record. There could be something to this. However, in that article, she mentions Lucas as Yoda, something he absolutely strayed from as we all know–that is not a good sign. Still, as my dad pointed out, it could be a political move. She’s got a good record. She could make something out of it.

All I hope is that they follow the books of the Expanded Universe that so many brilliant fan-authors have created. There is such a rich universe filled with captivating stories, complex characters, and a certain depth to it. I know it’s hard to match that, because they’re books, but it’s a beautiful model to follow (well most of them…not the one where Lando had a dog–a dog, really?!). I just want Kennedy, or someone close to her, to have a deep knowledge of those books and the ability to relay them into some new movies. You could do so much. Mara Jade? Yes, please. Han and Leia’s children? Awesome. The New Jedi Order? LET’S SEE IT! Okay, now I’ve gotten myself amped up for things that probably won’t occur. But if you’re a fan like me, you understand. Imagine if Luc Besson or Joss Whedon wrote or directed it.

Overall, the dread has seeped out some and there is a dull excitement–maybe not even that. Curiosity, I suppose. Will wait on more details. How do you feel about it?

Oct152012

Sunday Movie Day 2: Special Halloween Edition

So I know that Halloween is still a few weeks away, but it’s one of those holidays that is worth thinking about, if not celebrating, for more than one day and one night. Or half of one night depending how protective parents are of their children, or just how they dictate the celebration of Halloween.

So, in our ideal weekend fashion, we drove our 20 miles ( I’m sorry Earth 🙁 ) to the better AMC theatre in the area. We saw the 9:40 showing of Hotel Transylvania and the 11:45 showing of Frankenweenie. Here are some quick reviews: But first, let me tell you that we guiltily spent more money, almost, on snacks in between movies, than on our tickets. Nearly 20 dollars for some very greasy waffle fries, a small bag of Reeses Pieces, and a small bag of popcorn. It made us feel bad, mentally and physically. Lesson learned? Doubt it.

Hotel Transylvania: I know, we knew, what the critics said and that it has a pretty bad score on Rotten Tomatoes. But when have I ever cared what the critics say? Sometimes, I love bad movies, because they can be very entertaining. Let’s just say that I’m open to anything. So, the voice acting cast was stacked… Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, and there were definitely others I forget. It was super cheesy and I’m sure all of the kids in the audience loved every bit of it. I enjoyed most of it. It was no How To Train a Dragon or Shrek, but it tried to do the same thing more or less and still entertained although it lacked that lasting impact which is why it probably didn’t do too well with the critics.

Nevertheless, we had our eyes glued on the screen the whole time. Good animation, voice acting, a cheesy but cute story, and every monster you want to remember a few weeks before Halloween. How much I enjoyed it? A lot. But as a movie, if I were a critic… probably a 4/10. You know what… it actually accomplished more or less what it was trying to do so I’m going to give it a 5/10. It wasn’t trying to win any awards, just put some smiles on little faces.

Frankenweenie: If you didn’t know Tim Burton directed this before stepping in the theatre, and he wasn’t in the credits, it wouldn’t take any movie fan more than two minutes to figure it out. The puppets, the soundtrack, the feel is completely Tim Burton. Again, to consult the critics, this one has very positive reviews, but Alana and I both enjoyed this one far less. It was Edward Scissorhands, The Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas… just not as good. Well maybe as good as the Corpse Bride, probably better in my book, I saw the latter in theatre long ago. Danny Elfman does a great job on the score as always, and the voice acting fits the dark feeling. There is plenty of wit behind it, but it tries to accomplish too much and some of the messages get slightly blurry, especially for young children, who can see this movie. It is not graphic or nasty. And it has good messages. To be fair, it was a fun adaptation of the Dr. Frankenstein stories. A little different. Also, a 5/10 in my book. I don’t always agree with the tomatometer.

We would have also seen Paranorman but they decided to release it in August… I’d love to know why. To avoid competition? Not worth it if you ask me. Oh well, we have our pumpkins soon to be jack-o-lanterns, candy dish of candy corn, and window decorations but we still need more! Get in the Halloween spirit if you want to, we do!

Oct082012

Back to The Movies: Double Review of Taken 2 and Pitch Perfect

So, despite being very busy and having more important chores to do… we decided to start going back to the movies on Sunday mornings. AMC has a great deal where any pre-matinee show is only 6 dollars a ticket, unless its 3D or something else fancy. So we decided on these two:

Taken 2: We loved the first one and Liam Neeson is just awesome. While this movie was more or less the same as the first, and any fan would enjoy it for sure, it did have a lot more love and fluff. For a 90 minute movie, at least half felt like fluff so the action was shortened but it was still very entertaining. Not as clever, but still worth seeing if you enjoyed the first. It was somewhat entertaining. 3/10

Our boy, Liam

Pitch Perfect: Alana convinced me to see this, which wasn’t hard because I actually love acapella. She wanted to see it because of the Australian roommate of the main character from Bridesmaids. Seeing her hilarious acting was well worth our money and while the movie was predictable, it had some great musical arrangements and some decent acting. It was very entertaining. 7/10

Next weekend we plan on doing another double to get into the Halloween spirit, by seeing Frankenweenie and Hotel Transylvania.

I never wanted to see Looper but I do like Bruce Willis and the reviews are top notch so I’ll consider it. As for other future movies, my three most anticipated of the year are obviously, in no particular order because it’d be too hard:

The Hobbit (!!!)

Les Miserables

Skyfall

Otherwise, I plan on seeing Alex Cross with Tyler Perry and Matthew Fox, Silent Hill Revelations 3D, Cloud Atlas, Chasing Mavericks, Wreck it Ralph (Looks great), Man with the Iron Fists, and Rise of the Guardians.

Let me know if anything else coming out this year looks worth seeing! We love movies of all kinds, just no zombies for Alana.

🙂

Oct012012

Family Addition: Television!

So, I start all my posts with so. What a bad habit, but not as bad a habit as buying ridiculous things, which ended up with us having a 39″ television in our little apartment. When I was in college, I can’t remember what year, I decided to buy a nice television for my bedroom at home. (I think it was when I graduated actually.) Why? Because I love playing video games and watching movies/anime. Plain and simple.

Now, my room at home wasn’t the biggest, and my vision wasn’t the best, but bigger doesn’t always mean better. As a result, I bought the most environmentally friendly television at the time (or one of them). It was a cute little 22″ Philips LED 720p TV and it got the job done. When we decided to move, I couldn’t let this little guy, which I spent a whole $159.99 on just stay behind. So we took him/her, despite the sea of other things we got rid of over the months. Somehow, it made it all the way across the country despite the ridiculous heat and bumpy roads. But here in Boulder, in our apartment, the Philips just wasn’t working out and I decided to make a move.

An exciting bundle of packages that may or may not have our TV inside

After debating for weeks, with a little financial aid and TV input from my brother, I finally ordered a 39″ TCL 1080p 60HZ LED TV. It was nearly $350 on Amazon, but had free shipping. It made it in two days with Prime, and seemed to be in perfect shape, as we watched “The Avengers” the first night we got it. We haven’t used it since but I can’t wait for tomorrow. Why? Because I ordered this television for one reason. Resident Evil 6. And I might as well use it for Dishonored. And every other good game coming out soon but really I can’t wait to put it to good use. It doesn’t have an off-axis glare like the Philips had because of its size. It fits almost perfectly and I think that movie nights and video games will be so much better with it. Now Alana can use the Philips as a PC screen so she can play Skyrim in super mode. And now I can play Skyrim in super-mode too. Can’t wait for Resident Evil 6. PSN username KINGTUCCI for anyone that wants to play online multiplayer.

There it is, in all its glory

Thanks for reading the short post, I’ll let you know how the TV performs in my soon to come review of Resident Evil 6.

Bonus Pic: Misty being pissy

Sep172012

Movie Review: Resident Evil Retribution

So, in typical birthday tradition we saw the newest Resident Evil film in the live-action series because it’s always released on my birthday weekend. Now, I did not think that any of the first four live-action films were good, as a fan of the series and as a blank slate, looking for an entertaining film. Some were better than others, but the only good Resident Evil feature length film was Degeneration, which was animated and starred characters that actually played a prominent role in the series, Leon and Claire.

Alice (Milla Jovovich) and the Red Queen, along with Rain and the White Queen, are all major film characters that were in fact created strictly for the films. They do not appear in any of the MULTIPLE video games in the Resident Evil (or Biohazard, as it is named in Japan) series. And that’s fine, it’s alright if you do not accurately portray the series… and although I might not like it, I have obviously still been open to watching them all. However, when you go against the story line of the series directly contradicting many important matters, then I have a problem!

So with that, they essentially took a bunch of characters that either did not exist or never met or worked with one another, and had them all shoot off 300,000 rounds of ammunition in this movie. Barry, Leon, Ada, Jill, and Wesker all together at the same time, this late in the chronology? A licker the size of an eighteen-wheeler fighting them in a car chase? Wesker trying to save humanity and not drowning in a pit of volcanic lava while trying to destroy the planet? And what happened to Chris and Claire Redfield who were with, I thought, Alice at the end of the last movie. Sequel? I hope not.

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 12: (L-R) Actors ...

Actors from the film

The actors in this movie did a horrible job. Horrible. And we think Milla is top notch, but she couldn’t even convince in this role because she probably knew how ridiculous it was. Leon didn’t look right for me, Ada didn’t look right for me, Barry didn’t look right for me, but their costumes were spot on and you could tell they tried. It’s always hard to cast perfectly for an animated character because there might not be anyone that looks identical. As for the effects, it was just overkill. Too much slow motion, too many bullets being fired off, the Las Plagas infected either looked too cheesy or not infected enough. It was just bad, too much was off for a fan to like it and it was just too bad of a movie for anyone else (Alana said it was one of the worst movies she’s ever seen).

Resident Evil video game

So with that, having seen it in 2d the day after it was released, I would have to give it a 1/5. And being from a genre that I generally love, horror, and having it be a video game based movie, that’s bad. Really don’t see it. Even if you saw the last five, don’t see it. It’s a waste of time and money. Wait until it’s either a waste of time or money, not both. So disappointing with my personal most anticipated video game release of the year, Resident Evil 6. October 2nd, it’s preordered and set up for release day delivery via Amazon. Scott Reiners, I hope you’re ready for co-op cause we have a Platinum Trophy with our name on it.