The Princess and the Frog (2009)

by Anonymous | 1/05/2010 10:03:00 AM in | comments (0)



A triumphant return to form for Disney!

So, I’m a sappy guy. I love Disney films; especially the animated ones during the 90’s. The music was always peppy, memorable, and the story was usually compelling. Drama was always something Disney did well, when they wanted to. And then came the new millennium and somewhere along the road, Disney stopped making quality films. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they’ve ever made a bad film. Just, some that are of much lower quality then some.

The most recent stand-outs have been Meet the Robinsons and Bolt. Two films which I felt were wonderful efforts from Disney. Unfortunately, then CEO of the creative department Michael Eisner announced that Disney would no longer be producing hand animated feature films after Enchanted (and that was for about a quarter of the film anyway) in favor of computer animation.

Luckily, one of the greats in animated movies was named head of that department in 2006, John Lasseter (head of Pixar and director of Toy Story)! With this stupendous arrangement came news that Disney would begin making hand animated movies again, in the same vain as the classics. Wonderful.

So, how was their first effort into the classic realm of 2D? In a word, terrific.

The animation is beautiful. Stunningly so. If you have a theater with digital displays, see it in high def. It’s truly remarkable where hand animation has come in terms of quality. Good hi definition hand animation is probably my favorite animation to see. There’s just something organic about it.

Set in New Orleans in the Jazz Age, Tiana is an enterprising young African-American woman. She desires to fulfill her father’s dream of opening a high class restaurant. She works several jobs but finds it hard to get close to the down payment on a building. Her best friend, however, is the daughter of a wealthy business man.

Prince Naveen has come from across the sea. He’s a slacker and his parents have cut him off from the family coffers. The solution lies in marrying a rich young woman. Before he can, he meets the “shadow man” Dr. Facilier. When Naveen accepts his offer to perform some black magic everything is turned upside down.




The story isn’t quite as great as some of the offerings in the 90’s, but it is still a triumph. And much to my surprise, it wasn’t racially charge. I expected the big bad guys to be the oppressive “white folk” and how terrible they were. But props to Disney for straying from that path. It also doesn’t make a big deal out of Tiana being black (not like a lot of people have – “Oh! The first black princess!”). A lesser studio would have failed in this area and allowed the drama to easily fall back on racism. Thanks Disney for not doing that!

All of the voice cast is superb. Anika Noni Rose plays (and sings) the lead, Tiana. She plays her with a strong confidence very apt of her character. Her singing voice is wonderful also. Bruno Campos plays Prince Naveen with a great suave mock-sophistication. His accents slips at some points, but only if you’re really listening for it.

I was surprised by John Goodman’s presence as the wealthy father of Tiana’s friend. His part if much too short for the awesomeness that is John Goodman. My favorite voice actors have to be Keith David as the Shadow Man and Jim Cummings as Ray.

Keith David has a truly amazing song titled “Friends on the Other Side” that has some great animation to go along. But the absolute best is Jim Cummings as the very hick firefly Ray. Jim is given several songs for us to enjoy.


 

Speaking of the music, it’s all done by Randy Newman, longtime Pixar vet. He has a magical ability when it comes to animated movie music. Simply put, its awesome. That jazzy feel of New Orleans is kept very much intact, also throwing in some old school bluegrass when the characters are out of the city in the bayou. Not all of the vocal songs are as memorable as the others, but that’s ok. The ones that are, are great. You’ll definitely want to purchase the soundtrack.

So, I highly recommend this film. It’s the best thing out of the 2D department at Disney since the 90’s. Let’s hope John Lasseter and Disney keep up the tradition! I greatly look forward to their next offering.


Sherlock Holmes (2009)

by Anonymous | 1/04/2010 05:20:00 PM in | comments (0)


          When I first saw the trailer for Sherlock Holmes I wasn’t very impressed. Guy Ritchie wanted a trailer out early and they had only filmed a few scenes. The result was a full length trailer that primarily focused on three different scenes. The trailer vastly misrepresented the film. So, if you are hesitant because of the trailer, I hope to put your mind at ease.

            Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Sherlock is one I hadn’t really seen before. Not being familiar with the literature he’s based from, I had no idea that Holmes was actually a character much more like Adrian Monk. He’s so overly obsessed with details that he can’t really function in society; so he stays cooped up in his apartment doing research, only appearing for cases.

            Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is his attending doctor. The two have lived together for a while now and become good friends. The only problem is that Watson is planning on getting married any time now. Entire Sherlock in a rather Gregory House role trying to split the two of them up.

            Elsewhere, Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) is hung for his crimes. In life he practiced heavily in the black arts. The story really kicks in when Blackwood is resurrected from the grave to unleash an evil plot. Sherlock can’t help but be intrigued by the case and leaves with Watson to get to the bottom of things.

            The performances across the board are very strong. Downey is still proving that his second career is vastly better than his first. He’s a very likable character that comes off very annoying for Watson, but thankfully we only share in the funny side of things with Sherlock.

            Jude Law plays annoyed very well in this film. Downey and Law have a wonderful chemistry that reminded me strongly of Brad Pitt and George Clooney in the Ocean’s movies. The two play off each other in situation and dialogue, often improvising in unwinnable fights and using each others strengths.

            Watson is a war vet, thus knowing how to fight; while Holmes is so analytically minded that he thinks out the entire fight in a split second before it happens, essentially playing chess. There are a few really great segments with Sherlock going over his plan of action in stylized slow-mo before the pace picks back up and he destroys his enemy in a few swift moves.

            The dialogue is well written and the comedy is sharp. You will spend a good deal laughing during this film. But they aren’t sight gags or culture references. They are well designed and thought out jokes that work well and reminded me of great comedy classics like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. (Another duo that Downey and Law remind me of – Caine and Martin)

            Lastly, the music is absolutely stellar. Hanz Zimmer (one of my favorites) returns with a very strange blend of Pirates of the Caribbean meets bluegrass. It really is something to behold. If you don’t believe me, go on iTunes and listen to the sample of “Discombobulate.”

            I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Guy Ritchie has made a triumphant return with Sherlock Holmes. It sets itself up for a sequel and I really can’t wait to see it!

Worst of 2009 - Public Enemies

by Anonymous | 1/04/2010 05:17:00 PM in | comments (0)

I posted this review the night I saw the movie. At the time, this site didn't exist, so I posted it to facebook. What follows is a copy/paste of my original review of the movie - and my (BY FAR) worst of 2009. I apologize if the writing is somewhat lacking. I was ranting, for the most part.



First, some background.

I consider myself a movie fan more so than a film fan. Here's how I see it. I've got friends who are fans of film. The movie needs to have some Oscar-worthy aspect to it, or its not worth seeing. Movies like Wolverine, Transformers, and the Star Wars prequels are beneath them. If it's not artistic in some way, it's terrible. Then there are the people like me; movie fans. I love all movies. We love "terrible" big-budget movies that have no plot, terribly written dialogue, and are generally only there to provide us with some escapism. However, we also like the Oscar films, films that were made specifically as art. No movie is beneath us; we can appreciate all. Generally, I really like all movies.

I have at least liked every single movie I've ever seen. With three exceptions. I hate three movies with my entire being. One is The Seeker. I hate it because not only is it terrible shot, edited, scored, acted, set; it also is the single worst adaptation I have ever ever seen. I love the Dark is Rising series and to see it reduced to this drivel was truly sad. I don't mind changes in adaptations. I thought the Harry Potter movies were pretty good adaptations considering how large the books are. But this. Ugh. They invented a twin brother for the main character that he didn't know he had until the end of the movie. Ridiculous. The second movie I hate is Rent. I love musicals, but I couldn't stand Rent. I took it back to blockbuster about half-way through. The third movie I hate is Public Enemies.

I'll start with what's good in this movie. Bale and Depp do a perfectly passable job in their roles. In fact, the entire cast does. No one really wowed me in terms of acting ability, but everyone held their accents for the most part (Considering Bale is Welsh, holding the Southern was pretty good), and I believed some of the motivations. The violence is this movie is fairly heavy. Not that there's a whole lot of it, mostly gun fights. But, they are accurate gun fights. When someone is shot in the chest, they don't instantly die like every other movie. But along with that accuracy comes seeing chests with large gaping meat-holes with pretty copious amounts of blood. Now, I don't mind that. I can appreciate the authenticity. So that was good.

Now, let's talk about what was bad. Every. Single. Thing. Else. I don't really know where to being, so I'll pretty much just rant. This movie felt like an amateur movie shot with a webcam, recorded audio in a living room or on set, quickly editing on Windows Movie Maker and uploaded to Youtube. This movie was shot with High-Def cameras! I can't understand how the quality of the film is so so bad. Most shots never used a steady-cam and as such are constantly in a swaying motion. (Kind of like in Blair Witch or Cloverfield, only they MEANT to do it). When the camera pans, even slowly, EVERYTHING in the shot because ridiculously blurry. Things only look sharp if the camera is NOT moving, which is rare.

The picture quality of the film itself is so inconsistent that it literally grated against my nerves to watch. The opening shot of a penitentiary in 1933 looked great. High quality film. The next shot of a car pulling up looked like one of those History Channel historical recreations, or when America's Most Wanted does a recreation. This continued through out the film and reached its pinnacle of badness in a shoot out in the woods at a inn. I felt like I was watching a crappy television recreation of what might have been a cool event. After about 1/3 of the way through the movie, the film quality remains consistently bad. I didn't pay to watch TV. I paid for a movie.

Michael Mann's direction style in this movie was really hard to watch. He likes his extreme facial closeups, preferring 15 second long shots of a single facial expression. There's one scene in which Depp is in a jail cell and Bale walks in for the first face to face confrontation. Near the end of the scene, there is a shot over Depp's right shoulder (extreme closeup on Depp's hair line, which takes up roughly 1/3 of the screen) with Bale seen on the other side of the bars. Bale walks to his right placing his character squarely behind Depp's blurred scalp for the rest of the dialogue! I'm serious! For at least 30 seconds of the conversation, the only thing on screen is the backside of Depp's head; and it's blurry. Really Michael Mann? Really?

Onto audio. I suppose the score was passable, but certainly not memorable. The recorded dialogue was ABHORRENT. I do not understand how this passed as a final product. In a single dialogue scene between two characters, with camera changes as each character talks to the other, one characters voice was obviously recorded in post at a studio. It was clean, proper volumes, understandable. The seconds voice seemed to be the on-set audio. There's background white noise, it is significantly quieter and much harder to understand. This inconsistency spans the entire movie and gave me a head ache. Annoyingly terrible.

Now for the story. I have no idea why the public liked Dillinger. I know they did, but why? I was presented with absolutely NO reason in this film to like him as a Robin Hood character. Or really even to like him at all. The story arch was like this: Bale's character is after Depp. Somewhere along the line Baby Face Nelson shows up. That's about all I know. Dani and I were both confused several times in the plot, as I watched scenes having absolutely NO idea where we were or why. I've never had that in a movie before. I was shocked. You will not understand the smaller parts of the plot. Either the dialogue is too quiet or the accents too thick to understand.

This movie honestly feels like those production reels of unfinished scenes you see on DVD special features. I don't know how this got passed of as a final product. The ONLY thing I can figure is that it was an intentional choice. I can't figure out why, but that HAS to be it.

I hate this movie. Hate it hate it hate it. It is a 2.5 hour waste of your time. Do not go see it. The worst part of this? It's getting decent reviews AND on imdb.com forums for it, people are calling for a best picture nomination. WHAT?! If you've seen it, feel free to reply. I'd like to see your thoughts, either for the movie, or against it.

For the first time in my life I had truly regretted paying to see a movie in a theater. Thanks Michael Mann.

-Kris

We are now on Rotten Tomatoes!

by Anonymous | 12/20/2009 10:21:00 AM in | comments (0)

Nerd Party Extreme now adds it's reviews into the collective at Rotten Tomatoes!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/member/npx

Avatar (2009)

by Kris | 12/20/2009 05:58:00 AM in | comments (0)


I had my doubts about Avatar. I first heard of the film nearly a year ago from one of the websites I frequent, www.aintitcoolnews.com. I had no idea there was basically a cult that worshiped James Cameron. Further research on the IMDB.com forums proved this. People were calling out (a year ago, with no screen shots, no footage, no trailer) that Avatar would win nearly every Oscar category. In fact, James Cameron himself vainly stated that Avatar would revolutionize cinema, would be this generation’s Star Wars, and would literally rip the eyeballs out of your face.

After being somewhat disappointed by films I was over hyped for (Wall-E, 9) I was awfully skeptical. Especially to the Oscar buzz being thrown around. A couple of my buddies are big Cameron fans, but I remained doubtful. Even after the trailer came out, I thought the graphics were certainly less than revolutionary. I’m so so glad that I did. In short, this movie absolutely blasted any of my expectations away and it deserves every single Oscar it is going to win.

My wife and I decided to drive to Kansas City to see this film in an IMAX digital 3D theater. That’s three hours away from us, so you understand the investment. If you have the ability to see it on an IMAX, you owe it to yourself to do so. This is the most adept film I’ve ever seen on the medium. We were literally rocked in our chairs during the explosions (a pretty awesome experience in its own right).

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a crippled ex-marine. He’s lost the use of his legs. He has a twin brother that is heavily invested in a team of scientists in the Avatar project. Unfortunately, his brother is killed. Luckily, Jake has an almost identical genome which will allow him to pilot his brother’s avatar, which is grown from a mixture of the pilot’s DNA with Na’vi DNA.

After being in cryo sleep for the 6 year journey to Pandora, Jake awakes and goes planet side. On Pandora, Jake meets Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), an ambitious army dog anxious to get at the Na’vi throats. The Na’vi city rests directly on top of the richest deposit of a rare and very previous mineral and the company that employs Quaritch wants the Na’vi to move – by any means possible. He employs Jake in secret to feed him Intel of the Na’vi from his scientific journey’s promising Jake the ultra expensive operation to regain control of his legs.

Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) is the no non-sense scientist leading up the Avatar experiment. Her team is purely in this for the science and understanding of Pandora and want nothing to do with the mineral. As Jake spies for Quaritch, he learns the ways of the Na’vi from the princess of the tribe, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). When the time comes, which will Jake choose? Neytiri? Or his legs?


So, what was good? Basically, everything. While not revolutionary, I will say that the CGI in this movie is certainly evolutionary. There were many scenes where the various effects certainly looked CGI, but there were a fair amount of scenes that the Na’vi (the tall blue smurfs) looked honest to God alive. It’s the first time a CGI character has completely looked photorealistic – it is a definite evolution of the art. Even the Na’vi eyes look alive, and well acted. Props to whoever had the unenviable task of animating the eyes. This is easily and without doubt, the most convincing CGI ever created.

The world of Pandora is absolutely something to behold. Cameron has created a planet that is so rich in culture, character, and beautiful visuals that I can’t believe this will be the only foray into its forests that we will take. There is material here ripe for use in novels, comics, and sequels (please Cameron?). When you first see the forests of Avatar at night, you will be amazed at the creativity of the team behind it. Everywhere a Na’vi touches in the forest literally glows a fluorescent green. It sounds corny, but the effect is brilliant.

The animals created for the movie defy a lot of common convention about alien species. There are common threads through everything on Pandora, but I won’t spoil those for you. You’ll have to see how everything literally connects for yourself. Hint: the Na’vi have very interesting hair.

The acting is superb across the board. There isn’t a stale performance in site, including the Na’vi. Worthington makes a valiant effort in both his human performance, and his voice work. Zoe Saldana disappears into her role as Neytiri coming across 100% the character, in much the same way Heath Ledger was able to disappear behind the face paint in The Dark Knight.

Of particular note is Sigourney Weaver. Her Dr. Grace is both likably and a menace to Jake when he first arrives. Since the avatars are grown from their pilots DNA, each one looks like its pilot. It’s a little offsetting at first to see her in avatar form, but it turns out much better than I expected.

The story is simultaneously epic and very personal. The events are grand, leading up to the advance of the military. But this is Jake’s story. He must learn everything about Na’vi life and its people. Despite both he and Neytiri being CGI, their budding relationship seemed amazingly real and genuine. Much more so than a lot of recent live action romances. It was this aspect of the film that sold me so hard on the film as a whole. Without the two of them working on an emotional level for me, this wouldn’t have been (to me) the epic masterpiece that it is.

The writing is witty, oftentimes being very funny. The dialogue is (mostly) not clichéd. And the alien language is enthralling.

Lastly, I must speak on James Horner’s score. I love James Horner and every single score he’s ever written. He’s probably my favorite movie composer. (Sorry, John Williams) His creation for Avatar is an interesting mix of great themes and background tracks.

I purchased the soundtrack after seeing the film and have come to love the music in its own right. However, during the film, I mostly didn’t notice the music but for a few key scenes. I know it was present, but I didn’t consciously listen for it. In retrospect, I guess that was the whole point. The music was able to serve the film’s emotional impact without taking away from what was happening on screen. Bravo, Mr. Horner.


So, what was bad? Not much. In fact, the only thing I can think of that would detract from most audiences enjoyment of the film is the running time. At almost 3 hours, I certainly didn’t mind the length, but some might.
Please, if at all possible, go into Avatar with your expectations in check. I almost didn’t review this, because I didn’t want people to go in too excited. See it with a fresh, open mind; and watch yourself come away from it incredibly pleased.

Avatar has taken over my spot for best movie of the year (Sorry, Inglourious Basterds). And rightly so.


Oscars I bet this is nominated for:

Best Picture of the Year
Best Director
Best Original Screen Play
Best Original Song
Best Original Score
Best Effects
And possibly more.


See this film now.


The Invincible Iron Man

by Jordan Nisly | 12/18/2009 11:13:00 AM in | comments (0)

So I've been listed as the comic reviewer on this site now for quite awhile, and I have yet to post. Time to rectify that and hopefully usher in a new era of comic reviews here at Nerd Party Extreme. Rather than recommend a particular issue that came out this week, I'm going to endorse an entire series, but before I hit the comic scene I'm going to ease our way in by way of the film industry.


Iron Man 2
The Iron Man 2 trailer hit the internet this week, and it looks amazing! It is clear this is going to be one of the top films of the summer and I can hardly wait. I'm still amazed by how successfully Iron Man has translated to film and has excited audiences. Although one of Marvel's original characters created by Stan Lee in the '60's, he has hardly held the public awareness of characters like Spider-Man or the X-Men. Yet here he is riding high on a wave of popularity. He has come a long way since Tales of Suspense #39. I think the reason why he has been so readily embraced at this moment in time is his uniqueness amongst superheroes and his relevance in our modern age. Most superheroes are made special by the circumstances that gave them their powers. Whether it was the bite of an irradiated spider or being born with a mutant healing factor, their powers are not reproducible. Iron Man doesn't fit the mold. Because his powers are based on technology, they can be copied, stolen, or poorly imitated. Therein lies his struggle. He wants to save the world, but he also has to fight others abusing the very life-saving technology he has created. In our modern, technologically-obsessed society, the concept of imitation is not only relevant, but commonplace. Just take a look at this picture of an inexpensive digital music player I came across recently. Look familiar? Now imagine the destructive capabilities of a cheap knock-off Iron Man suit could cause.

This is the premise behind writer Matt Fraction's first story arc in The Invincible Iron Man, featuring art by Salvador Larocca. This new series was launched when the first Iron Man film was released to provide an easily accessible series for new readers as well as a fresh new take for long-time followers of the Armored Avenger. Titled "The Five Nightmares", the story features Tony Stark facing off against his stolen technology being used by a new, younger generation in villains. The first seven issues are collected in trade paperback form and are available at most major book stores.

Fraction's follow-up witnesses the downfall of Tony Stark in "World's Most Wanted." The set-up in a nutshell: having risen to the top of the SHIELD peacekeeping force over the past few years, Tony failed to prevent an alien invasion of Earth. The planet was barely saved by the heroes, but the only victory the world witnessed was when Norman "The Green Goblin" Osborn was videotaped killing the alien queen. Osborn's "heroic" efforts were broadcast around the world and his past crimes were forgotten as he was elevated to the top of SHIELD, and he promptly declared Tony a criminal. Now on the run, Tony has the identities of all the superheroes downloaded into his brain and Osborn is after him, wearing a stolen Stark armor and calling himself the Iron Patriot. Tony's goal is to delete the information from his brain piece by piece, ravaging his mind in the process and depriving him of his true superpower, his intelligence. That may sound like a mouthful, but the way this plays out, and how it ends is both fascinating and gripping. The first half of the story is out currently, and the second paperback is coming in January.

This leads us to the current arc, "Stark: Disassembled." I can't reveal many details of the plot, so as not to give away the ending of "World's Most Wanted" but it begins with Tony at his absolute lowest and questions if he can come back from this at all. It could very well be the end for Tony Stark and Iron Man. The first two issues are out, with the next one due in January. It is well worth the cover price. If you are looking for an entry into comics and enjoyed the Iron Man movie, these are the books for you.




















The Office Season 6 Premier

by Nick Mills | 9/23/2009 09:24:00 PM in | comments (0)

Office fans should be excited to know that the 6th season began on Thursday September 17th. Michael, after feeling like an outcast for not knowing the hot gossip that two of the summer interns were dating, feels inclined to tell everyone in the office the news that Stanley is having an affair. Once Michael realizes that the rumor is actually true, he tries to cover his tracks. He then proceeds to fabricate a rumor about every individual in the office; with hopes that once all the rumors are uncovered, they will all be disbelieved.


A season premier typically has two jobs in my book. One, resolve the cliffhanger from the last season, and two, set the pace for the remainder of the year. Now we were all left off last season with the news that Pam was pregnant. And we all hoped that their would be some more details about that. However, the episode leaves you very unsatisfied with information on Jim and Pam’s future plans.

Now the story of the episode wasn’t too boring, but it seemed like more of a filler episode that you would typically see halfway through the season. There just wasn’t anything interesting or funny that made you sit back and think “man, I’m glad that this shows back”. If this episode were to set the pace for the season, the The Office may be finishing a little below where your used to.

If you want to see the only funny part, watch the Free Running spoof before the opening credits. Then go back and watch the episode where Michael burns his foot on the George Foreman Grill….classic.

C-

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