Well, I saw it on a Friday. I give it a knee-jerk grade of low C. Only average, all in all. The grade was only that high cause I have and affinity for things superpowered and mutant. The action was glorious but the script was lacking in places. Lots of places. To sum up: not enough talky to backup the punches, kicks, and lightning strikes.
More hypercritical geek wordiness and glancing spoilerness after the jump.
I saw Silent Hill last weekend. The short of it; I liked it. This is based off a single viewing and not expecting anything from the thing.
I’m not sure what I was expecting. I knew that the french director Christophe Gans had his hands on it. Gans is the guy who directed Brotherhood of the Wolf. One of the few decent werewolf movies, in my humble opinion. I was unsure on Silent Hill cause Hollywood and video games never, ever mix. Every single time The Big Movie People(tm) take a stab at translating the video gaming market to film, it’s like a tornado in a trailer park. Separately, you know what each one is, but when the two meet, something horrible and indiscernible remains.
The sky was clear and blue. The sun wasn’t out to burn everything to cinders. And for whatever reason, I decided Saturday was good day for a movie. I called up Dunc and we journeyed to the Hollywood 18 to see the latest disaster waiting to happen.
What did I find instead? A damn beautifully shot film. I’m telling you, Gans has an extraordinary eye for making films look like Rembrandts in motion.
That’s not to say that there weren’t points in the flick that freaked my noise. Cause there were. And I’m not one who is disturbed by freaky things on film. Gans managed to keep the amorphous critters that haunted Silent Hill slightly obscured, even when they’re in plain sight. Everyone knows that’s where the trick with creature F/X lies; it’s what you don’t see that makes everything a little creepy.
Silent Hill had the feeling of the cut scenes between game play. Usually the best parts of any game you’re playing. Luckily it worked in the movie, too.
The only issue I had with it was sizable bits of the end were weighted with exposition. A lot of the whys and wherefores of what was happening were left out in the beginning. So everything else we needed to know fell like a lead weight on the third act.
The movie worked for me. It’s not gonna win any Oscars, but it kept me entertained. It’s the sort of scary tale you might tell on rainy nights when the power’s out.
It didn’t hurt that Radha Mitchell(Pitch Black, Man on Fire) is very easy on my eyes and that all my lady cop in tight leather pants fantasies were filled with the new-to-me actress Lauren Holden.
(Not spolier-ific in the least)
There are times when people become consumed by their life’s work or life loves. Rarely is this a literal thing. Unfortunately for Treadwell and his girlfriend, it was.
Grizzly Man. It’s a documentary about Timothy Treadwell(not his real name). A man who would brave the wilds of Alaska to film the “Godless killing machines” of the north; grizzly bears. Treadwell found solace in those bears. A solace that he couldn’t find living amongst humans.
The man loved those bears. Not proper-loved, mind you. A kind of animal transformation spiritual type love. One can only hope it wasn’t a proper-love. I hate to picture a cub wandering the forests with a shaggy, blonde mop of hair and a slightly mental state of mind.
The documentary takes you on a tour of his life via the hundreds of hours of footage he shot while summering with the bears. They say he “studied” the bears but I say you have to have hard scientific data before you can say you “studied” anything. None of that was represented in the film. Ironically the study became one of Treadwell’s attitude and bear affections.
He did takes tons of photos. Treadwell taught himself photography during his journey. The photos were never shown in the film but a few were featured in the 30 minute extra that aired afterwards. And those few I saw were pretty fricking spectacular.
Some say he was a bit too dense or granola to realize the danger of grizzly bears. I can see where they would get that idea after watching him lovingly admire a pile of fresh, steamy bear poop.
Others felt that he was breaking with a 7,000 year tradition of giving the bears there own space. Respect the bears by staying away. Given what happens to Treadwell, that probably wouldn’t have been a bad idea.
I say the man had to have some kind of brainpower because he summered with grizzlies for 13 summers before his unfortunate end. He was trying to prove that humans and animals could live in harmony if humans kept their wits while around the beasts. He toured the country and lectured in front of thousands of kids teaching them about his bear experiences. He did these things for free. Kids loved his enthusiasm. I wonder how many future zoologists he may have inspired, via his idiocy, through shear will alone.
He also exposed the white elephant of poaching in Alaska. Now public eyes are on Alaska for the illegal killing of the animals for their pelts, paws and gall bladders.
In the end I think the native local was right. Grizzlies are wild things that should be studied but at a distance. One, because if the grizzlies get too used to humans they may start thinking that every human is good-hearted and we all know that’s nowhere near truth. Two, the darn critters need their space. Let them be as they were millennia ago or as they will be a millennia from now; wild things. To paraphrase David Addison, ‘Let the bears, bear.’
The Grizzly Man documentary made the rounds at Sundance and is worth a view for anyone interested animals. Human and bear alike.
(Lucy and Mr Tumnus discuss the ways of Aslan)
Well I’ll be damned. The trailers for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe gave me hope. I expected the movie to be decent. I hoped that it would be good. I wasn’t prepared for it to be GOOD. I mean, damn, a book adaptation that holds it’s own with the source material? I was beginning to think such a thing would never be repeated.
(possibly spoilerish bits after the jump)
I may get lynched for this but I liked Harry Potter Goblet of Fire a whole damn lot. Yeah, they cut a whole damn lot out and having re-listened to bits of the book I realize that the movie is definitely a different creature. But considering they had to turn a 720 page book into a 150 page movie(a movie script is roughly 1 minute per page) they did a decent job.
Currently suffering from post-story afterglow…will post more opinions and ramblings later.
I’m back in the world. The Groonkly homestead has been freshly visited. The not so subtle reminders of my life circumstances mostly back in check. The NOLA disaster helped with much of that. Being away from what had become routine rounded out the rest of it. Even one minute away from the front lines would take the edge off a soldiers mindset. I’m not comparing my situation to war in any way. Though the thought ran naked through my mind more than once when I returned to my apartment.
I’m keeping up with the NOLA situation over on the blog page mostly. Since The Clean-up, The Blame Passing, The Everything will be going on for months if not years, I’m sure an article will stand out to my eyes from time to time.
In the meantime I’ve turned from the grim realities of the world with some art. When everything is at it’s worse and you see no way out…make art. Or in this case, watch it.
As per usual with this particular noise, links to the movies trailers are provided with the movie names.
High Tension the first thriller movie in some time that raises my eyebrow and has me wondering, “What would I do if some scuzzy guy started wandering through my house with dubious intentions?”
The Warrior is a foreign action film featuring unconventional samurai movie action with largely untrained actors. It sounds like a mess but damn if it doesn’t look like a winner.
Waiting is possibly my professional career. I’m not talking about the service industry type of waiting but the “You look like you’re waiting for something, Neo” brand. Waiting tables will most likely become my day job because of my stupid waiting. Waiting the movie features Ryan Reynolds using his thespian skills for pure comedy. And to that move I give him a rousing, ‘Huzzah!’, cause Reynolds can be one funny bastard when he has a want to. Waiting the movie‘s director has a Director’s Blog and everything. Blogging is the new marketing.
Walk the Line is a Johnny Cash movie. I’m looking forward to seeing a Johnny Cash movie. 1990s Groonk would beat the shit out of 2000s Groonk without a second thought if he knew that.
Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon in IMAX 3D. This is the only way I’ll ever fulfill my childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, I imagine. Though the trailer looks to give those “we didn’t walk on the moon” nutbars more sugar for their nut confections. Tom Hanks didn’t think of that when he backed this flick did he? That’s why you need me on your team, Tom. To think of these things and offer solutions, like pointing the nutbars to some obscure Roswell paraphenalia or flashing a pic of me and Elvis eating banana-fudge donuts at a Krispy Kreme in Holly Pond, AL.
You need me there, Tom. Stop denying it.
Consider this my official application.
That is all.
I saw Batman Begins a few Thursday’s ago. That was a damn good film. It kicks all the previous Batman films collective asses. Though I guess that’s not saying much when it comes to Schumacher’s idiotic visions. Funk his noise and his “boiling acid”.
Here are the rest of my two-cents in non-spoiler, random, easy to chew bits.
The Car
I sneak peeked the new batmobile a handful of months before the movie. I wasn’t totally impressed but I wasn’t dead set against it either. The movie shifted me to full-on liking the clunky thing. Maybe it’s because of the movie gave the car roots as a military prototype. Most likely it’s because it reminded me of the batmobile from Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns.
The Characters
That was a damn interesting interpretation of the mind and ways of Ra’s Al Ghul. The Scarecrow was definitely one of the better incarnations of a lame character. Detective Gordon was a damn gritty-city cop for once. Lucius Fox finally got some screen time and was well played by Morgan Freeman. I hate to say it but I dug Michael Caine’s Alfred better than Alfred Gough’s.
Thomas Wayne? Nice to meet ya, guy! Maybe now I’ll actually feel bad for Bruce when you and your wife get murdered-up Crime Alley.
The biggest surprise for me was how well Katie Holmes fit into the bat-universe. Christopher Nolan must have danced around that hat 10 extra times a night to make that fly.
The Story
It helps when you actually have one. There’s plot, character growth, and all the usual trappings. It’s like they actually hired a good writer and a good director to make a great production.
Funny how that works.
The Batman
If Christian Bale fell from the sky (or snatched me off the street) in full bat regalia and proceeded to yell point-blank in my face, I have to say that it would give me pause. Ok first, I would wonder why there are no breath mints in his utility belt. Then, there would definitely be pause. I shouldn’t have expected any less from the American Psycho.
You think Real Genius or Danny Ocean could have pulled that noise off?
It was also nice that we get to see The World’s Greatest Detective do some actual detecting. Four whole movies and the most detecting we got was a CD scratch mix live from the bat cave.
Christopher Nolan
I’ve always had faith in Nolan‘s director skills ever since I saw Memento. That man cannot only direct ants to a picnic; he can make the bastards dance.
Crap and bother. More movies and TV show distraction.
First, the movies:
Serenity
The Serenity(Firefly to the rest of us) trailer is active and by god it’s freaking cool as hell. Again I wonder why it was ever cancelled. Again I realize it had the misfortune of being aired on Fox.
The movie looks to focus on the building mystery of the genius known as River. Ms. “Two by two, hands of blue” herself.
September won’t come fast enough.
Living ’til the End
A man becomes an incurable agoraphobic for a year after being told by a psychic that he will die on his next birthday. See? Damn psychics are good for nothing. Nothing, I say!
Batman Begins
The full trailer on the heart-warming story of a guy who dresses up like a bat to steal all of the Joker’s press is up and running. I’m still having trouble finding any faults with it. Neat.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
It’s War of the Roses meets Spy Kids meets True Lies meets Undercover Blues. After you’re done looking up and viewing all that noise I dare you to tell me I’m wrong. MMS has a hope to be as entertaining as Undercover Blues. I can’t explain my fascination with UB. It just is.
And on TV:
Enterprise
On a lark I watched Enterprise.
They went to the mirror universe. You know, the one where Spock wore a goatee(proving ever so slightly that he was a man ahead of his time). The twist on Enterprise’s trip to the dark universe was that the entire show was shown from the POV of the “dark side”. Neat concept. I would have been more impressed if the same thing wasn’t done roughly 6 years ago by the infinitely better Babylon 5.
I swear, the Enterprise producers could make any trip to a dark universe bland as a saltine.
I do have one question. Why does evil always have a sharp fashion sense? Those mid-riff baring uniforms the girls wore on Evil Enterprise left nothing to the imagination. Just as all glorified stwardess uniforms should be.
One big plus, that horrid pop tune the producers have constantly defended from day 1, is gone on this episode.
Thank the Maker.
Medium
Family life never looked so pleasant as when I watch it play out on Medium. And, this week, it managed to surprise me plot wise. Bonus.
Meteors: Fire in the Sky
The History Channel gets a little sensational by offering up the chances of the movies Armageddon or Deep Impact ever occurring. It seems the good old days noted far more occurrances of the “sky falling” than we do.
If a huge meteor ever does fall from the sky, I hope the scenario follows Deep Impact. I’d have major problems dealing with the idea of David Addison saving the world.
Smallville
Clark meets a freak like him. Clark angsts over why he’s a freak. Lois says something quick and snarky. Lex is evil. Lex is not evil. Lex is evil. Lana smiles and melts my heart. Clark and Lana get angsty together. Clark saves the day. Chloe, who now knows Clarks super secret, makes a double entendre in front of doubly dense Clark.
I think I watch that show just to see Lana smile and hear what smart remark Chloe will say next.
That’s just sad.
Eyes
Still clever. You could knock me over with a feather. I wonder if JRM has a spot open for an Associate Investigator. I can be a smart-ass like Harlan Judd. Throw some money my way and I’d have a snazzy wardrobe of suits, too.
ER
Tonight, Thandie Newton returns! That’s all you ever need know.
Enough time wastin’. Time to get to work.
It was a dreadful day of bullshit on top of other bullshit. So I went to the web to see what other, more interesting, people are doing with their lives.
I ended up finding more stuff on Sin City.
DVD News
The disc will also have another edition of Rodriguez?s film school featurettes, and likely another recipe segment, just like his DVD for ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO.
I just peed myself a little.
For New Sinners
First off, Larry Young drops a quickie on how Sin City affected his comics career.
Second off, this is for those of you who have no clue what Sin City is and where it began.
If you’re new to the world of SIN CITY and enjoyed the movie, you have a lot to look forward to on the printed page. I hope you give some of these books a shot. I’ll be sure to note which books were the most influential to the movie as we go along.
CBR’s Pipeline has done a spoiler free review of all seven volumes of the Sin City graphic novels. He recommends newcomers grab Booze, Broads, and Bullets to get an idea about what you’re stepping into. I agree with him.
That’s it. No more posts on Sin City from me. Time to move on to other things.
Let?s get into this.
Bad news first?
Cons:
1) One or two of the cgi bits were off-putting.
2) Some of the dialogue worked better on the page than on screen.
And then the good news?
Pros:
1) For 126 minutes, I lived in Basin City.
2) I drank its booze.
3) I kicked the shit out of its lowlifes.
4) I fucked its whores.
5) I protected my own.
6) I fought the good fight.
My cons list is just nitpicky stuff. The only CGI bit that really put me off was the police car Marv hijacked. Something just wasn?t right about the way that sucker moved.
Much of the dialogue was lifted straight from the comic. From my personal fanboy perspective that?s pretty fucking awesome. But there were a lot of places were the written dialogue was not fit to be spoken dialogue. I know it. You know it. I?m sure they knew it. Yet, there it is.
In the end, Robert Rodriguez?s Sin City is a pony I?d back any fucking day of the week. Seeing Frank Miller?s supposedly un-filmable books come to life on the screen was fucking noir-filled bliss. Proving ?the doubters? wrong is always a good cause. And there are several other books to pull stories from. Are you ready to prove them wrong again Mr. Rodriguez?
Plus, Jessica Alba: scrumdiddleyumptious!
Newsmine
