Well, it's been a couple of years since I've posted anything to the site. As this site is strictly a hobby and I had such trouble getting people to read it, it kind of fell by the wayside of life.
I hope to revive it. I'll be keeping a list of every movie I see. I'll have two lists; new movies that I see (including in theaters, renting, on demand, netflix, etc.) and only new movies I see in theaters. I'll hope to use this list at the end of the year for some compilations of the top movies of the year.
I'll start trying for interviews again (wish me luck) - and I'll start including anything nerdy on the site that I come across. Hopefully I can start having a relatively consistent stream of content.
For now, the forums are closed. Only a few people had joined and then bots started running amuck with spam ads and it was just easier to shut it down. If interest begins and I can get a moderation staff put together, I'll re-open them.
Anyway, if you're reading this, that means that you visit the site! Thank you very much! I hope you continue to.
- Kris
I have a love/hate relationship with Peter Jackson. He’s given me some of my favorite movies of all time – The Lord of the Rings – and some of my least favorite – King Kong. So, when I first saw the trailer for The Lovely Bones, I wasn’t sure if I should get excited for it or not. It looked high-concept and very much like What Dreams May Come (which I loved, so sue me). But, was it going to be lean, trim, and focused (Lord of the Rings). Or was it going to be a meandering unfocused unnecessarily long bore fest (King Kong)? The short review: it’s a bit of both.
It’s the 70’s and Susie Salmon (like the fish) is a fourteen year old girl living a typical fourteen year old girl’s life. She has many friends, a loving family, and a senior British student that has a crush on her. Yup, Susie has it all. That is until one lowly afternoon in December when she is murdered.
The story starts on that key and never really lets up. We explore several different themes and ideals through the film. First, we see Susie in the in-between. That place that spirits go to come to terms with the fact that they are dead before moving on to heaven. From there, Susie can watch and even sometimes affect the people still alive. In very much the fashion of It’s a Wonderful Life, Susie gets to see the effect her death has on the world she knew. Her father becomes obsessed with finding the killer, causing the mom to break down and leave. Cynical grandma moves in and the family ties that had once so strongly held them all together start ripping at the seams.
Likewise, we get to see into the mind of the killer, played to wonderfully creepy effect by Stanley Tucci. This is the 70’s after all. No one thinks that stuff like this happens and the cops don’t have the best methods of finding the killer – since they can’t find a body. Tucci must skirt the cops without giving himself away; a hard task for someone as naturally creepy as he.
Peter Jackson brings out his flare for the unnecessary in several scenes. Scenes which are considerably overlong or completely without merit at all. Sure, it’s cute when crazy grandma (Susan Sarandon) and the young boy play in the bubbles, but is it really needed? There are many superfluous scenes throughout the film that simply add to the already overstuffed film. At a little over two hours, it felt like three.
Aside from pacing problems, the cast is stellar all around. Mark Wahlberg proves that despite The Happening, he can still act. While Rachel Weisz really isn’t given a lot to work with, she makes the most of it as the distraught mother. Susan Sarandon is great as the crazy bad influence grandmother. My favorite performance came from Susie herself. Saoirse Ronan will be the next Dakota Fanning. She is able to portray a very wide range of emotions, from wild eyed childish purity, to fear, to accepting her own death, to releasing her pent up hatred of the man that took her life. She acts it all with nary a drop into clichéd caricature.
Stanley Tucci gives the best performance I’ve seen from him. I’m a Tucci fan anyway, but his role in this film required him to unrelentingly gross. To be totally committed to being defined as “that guy who played the child rapist,” and he did it incredibly well. You’ll feel every seething emotion that runs through Susie’s head as we watch him plot his next victim. By the end, you’ll appreciate where his arc ends up as well as the devious creepiness he was able to portray.
As far as technical direction, I can’t say that anything was particularly memorable. Everything was absolutely passable and great, without being truly special. In fact, I can’t remember any of the score. Basically, nothing was done poorly.
Well, I guess the verdict would have to be: see it if you’re a fan of the book or Peter Jackson. If not, the wait for DVD will not be too long. There is plenty of great acting in the movie all of which is enjoyable. Not the worst movie I’ve seen in a long time, but certainly not the best. A solid – meh.
To help bring in the rebranding, Syfy started up a new brand new show – Warehouse 13. The show follows secret service agents Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) as they are drug out of their jobs protecting the president and moved to the middle of nowhere South Dakota.
There they learn they now work for what could be called “America’s attic.” They are now under the command of the strange and mysterious Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder) who can seemingly appear and disappear at will and the venerable Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek).
The titular warehouse 13 is a character in its own right. A storage unit of epic proportions, all of the “artifacts” collected by Lattimer and Bering are “snagged, tagged, and bagged,” and placed permanently on shelves. The artifacts that they collect are different objects that seem to have special scientific properties. Essentially, it’s a fancy way of saying they have magical abilities. Some objects can make the user invisible, some will kill people with sound waves, and some create such negative energy in the person that they kill themselves.
This is all presented very scientifically, especially at the beginning of the show. As the episodes go on, the science takes a back seat to the story, which is absolutely fine. It actually works really well, because the show only asks you to suspend your disbelief a little bit at the beginning. By the last episode of the season, they don’t really bother explaining the increasingly unbelievable things for the sake of story. The process is gradual and not really noticed. The story kept coming first and that’s a great thing, because the story gets really deep and interesting.
The format of the show closely resembles Buffy the Vampire Slayer in function. There is your Rupert Giles – wise, researching, and leading – character, Artie. You’ve got your field agent characters who search for the “baddie of the week” – in this case objects rather than demons. This isn’t a bad thing for the show. Jane Espenson spent many years with Buffy and it shows. This show carries with it the same concentration on character and story that Buffy did.
McClintock plays Lattimer goofy, yet dependable and kind. He’s very lovable, even from the start. Kelly’s Bering is definitely the foil to Lattimer. She’s a no non-sense get things done type. This initially clashes with Lattimer but eventually gels into a great symbiotic relationship. I’m sure they will pursue some romantic side, if only played for sexual tension. Either way, the chemistry between the two is enjoyable to watch and engaging enough to have kept me coming back episode after episode.
My favorite character is Saul Rubinek’s Artie Nielsen. His personality is a mix of Lattimer and Bering. His character became surprisingly deep and definitely the most well developed throughout the series. He’s been with the warehouse for at least 40 years and carries with him lots of demons and sadness from the past. Of course he won’t divulge any of this unless absolutely necessary or forced. That’s one way the show has been able to continually pump out new and excited things each episode.
A couple other characters I haven’t mentioned yet are the mysterious Leena (Genelle Williams) who owns the bed and breakfast that Lattimer and Bering stay at. She has a knack for reading people’s auras and helping out the gang. Allison Scagliotti plays wiz-kid Claudia Donovan, who has some demons of her own. The scenes with Claudia and Artie are the best of the series. There’s a wonderful father-daughter dynamic between the two that is usually stressed with anger on both sides. It makes for some great comedic as well as tender moments.
The acting all around is fantastic. Rarely does a show on the Syfy channel employ actors of such caliber. I don’t recall a single instance where I cringed from a spot of bad acting or over the top drama. The tension is believable and palpable. The writing and dialogue are witty and snappy, and the focus of the show is pin-point.
Now, being the Syfy channel, one must think about the graphics and where they stand on the corny meter. On a scale from laughable to pretty good, Warehouse 13 ranks right up there with the best of them. Obviously not movie graphics, the effects are still of considerably higher caliber than nearly everything else on the channel. Sure there is sometimes the odd green screen effect or goofy light burst, but as a whole the show looks very good.
I’m very excited for season 2 of this show. The first season surprised me very much. For the first time, I’ll actually be setting my DVR to record the Syfy channel! If you get the chance, check it out!
http://www.hulu.com/warehouse-13
Daybreakers was a much needed antidote to the current bubble gum shiny vampires infesting our culture today. Vampires used to be tales of horror, suspense, and gore. Sure, the vampire is a very romanticized being and that’s fine. But they have devolved into creatures of very little threat. So much so that in the Twilight series they bare absolutely no resemblance to vampires – except that they drink blood; and that’s pretty much it.
Only a precious few vampire films have managed to stay loyal to the wonderful mythology in recent years. My favorite being the masterpiece “Let the Right One In.” You probably didn’t see it – it’s Swedish. It played in only a few theaters across the nation. I’m lucky enough to have a small family owned theater with two screens that shows requested films (new and old) and usually the more obscure films.
Daybreakers follows, thank God, the trail of Let the Right One In. These vampires are dangerous. They will mercilessly kill you. If they haven’t had blood in a while, they will literally rip you apart and drink every ounce. You can forget a romance with these vampires. They can’t go out in sunlight, the feed on blood, they have no shadow. These are vampires. You can keep your precious Cullens.
The year is 2019 and vampires rule the world. In 2009, an outbreak occurred turning almost all of the human population into vampires. The remaining humans were given a choice – be turned, or die. Many chose to turn and many others chose to run. Those humans that are caught aren’t killed; they are taken to blood farms. Once hooked up and put into a permanent vegetative state, they are fed intravenously and also leaked for blood, but not enough to kill. Human batteries a la the Matrix.
Ethan Hawke plays Edward (yea, I know) Dalton
First and foremost, this film is creepy. I’ve never been creeped out in a vampire flick before, so good job. The subsets are terrifying, especially the first one that Ed runs into. The film has a great noir-esque feel, creating many nice visuals and adding to the creepy factor. Also adding to the creep is the amount of gore in this film. I figured it would be about as gory as any other vampire film and boy, was I wrong. Many limbs and heads are lost. Guts abound. The best part is, its not played up for kicks like in a Tarantino movie. The gore is very realistic (in most cases) and very unsettling.
The acting all around can be a little over the top at times, especially from Sam Neil and Willem Dafoe – but when is Willem Dafoe not over the top? Ethan Hawke plays Ed Dalton very stoic, especially during the first half of the film. It’s obvious there is some serious thinking going on behind those furrowed brows.
The films strongest point is the premise with which we are presented. The world culture is now one of vampirism. That premise is believable and well done in the film. The films weakest point comes from its trek through the premise. The story is fairly good, but manages to be cliché despite the original premise. You will see the twists coming a mile away; especially the end twist. At the climax the film makes a wonderfully grand gesture thinking we have absolutely no idea what is going on. You probably will know exactly where its going.
I generally don’t have a problem with clichéd films, so I won’t be holding that against this movie, but I know a lot of people do. I don’t feel the cliché hurts this film at all, just makes it a bit predictable. There are some goofy explanations for the supposed “cure,” but again, I can usually suspend my disbelief enough to allow for some silly explanations.
What is very obvious about the film is that the film makers loved what they were making. This is a film that lives and breaths vampire lore. It takes some liberties, as all vampire stories do, but it sticks to its guns and manages to create the first good vampire movie to have a wide release in America
The vampire genre will be around forever, especially with as much as people are eating it up right now. Hopefully this deadly serious film (pun intended) can have greater implications on the main stream media – “We really can make an adult serious vampire movie about creatures that scare the crap out of us.”
Daybreakers kicks the 2010 film year off with a great bang!
My geek senses are tingling. This movie looks hilariously awesome. It was recently screened at a film festival in Austin, Texas and was the run away hit. I'm totally excited for this movie.
The story picks up right were the first game ending (nice cliffhanger by the way). The story is briefly explained at the beginning to help those new to the series. However, you would still be benefited from having experienced the first game. So, if you haven’t, I’d recommend renting it.
Desmond, using a machine called the Animus, must use his “genetic memories” to view back in time to his assassin ancestors to glean important information related to saving the world. Sound convoluted? It actually is pretty good sci-fi, even though 90% of the game takes place in renaissance Italy.
Desmond takes control of his ancestor Ezio de Auditore this time around. This time around, the color palette is greatly expanded. Since we are no longer in drab ancient middle east, we get to see how much better the visuals are with color. While not the greatest looking game out there, the wide sweeping vistas from the viewpoints can still leave you breathless, albeit not as much as in the first game. Besides that, the animations are generally well done (not counting the awkward facial animations).
The kills are really excellent, with some very brutal kills. If Ezio picks up a pole or spear to fight with and you manage to land an instant kill, Ezio will hit the guard in the stomach knocking him to his knees at which point Ezio will stab the spear straight down his spine. What you’re left with is a dead guard with half a spear coming out of his spine. It’s pretty awesome.
The game play is much tighter and focused than the first game. While this game is still a sandbox game, essentially letting you do whatever you want, the game constantly shows you were your next storyline point is, alleviating a lot of the stress of the first game. This would allow you to simply blast through the campaign, if you so choose. There are your typical fetch side quests, races, and assassination side quests.
All in all, the game play aspect is pretty good. Except for the glitches. And oh boy are there a lot of them. Assassin’s Creed 2 is the single most glitchy game I have ever played. Guards will infinitely respawn in areas, causing the game to run slowly and crash if you stick around too long. The game’s clocks seem on an infinite time loop. (I played for at least 20 hours and the game’s clock says I’ve played for 16 minutes.)
However, these glitches typically don’t have a terrible effect on game play, which is why I didn’t mind them too much. Actually, I thought several of them were quite funny. I didn’t have a problem synching any of the trophies, but I have heard several others have. Here are a couple of videos I took with my phone (sorry for the quality) that illustrate a glitch.
The score is pretty fantastic and memorable. I haven’t purchased the entire soundtrack but there are some highlights that I bought.
So: you should at least give this game a rent. It’s definitely a lot of fun, despite its many issues. If you loved the first game, this one tops it in every conceivable way. The platforming is decent without being revolutionary and the storyline will punch you in the face. Go play it!
Amazing trailer for Mass Effect 2
by Kris | 1/06/2010 06:43:00 PM in News and Updates | comments (0)
If you've played the first Mass Effect, you know how amazing it was and are probably really looking forward to the new one. I know I sure am. So, to wet your appetites, I thought I'd post this. I didn't upload it, but it's in 720p hi-def and is 182 megs. Hah. But, its on YouTube so it loads quickly. Don't watch it in this small embed, click full-screen for massive awesomeness.
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