Brave (2012) Review

Directors: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Purcell

Writers: Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, and Irene Mecchi

Producers: Pete Doctor, John Lasseter, Katherine Sarafian, and Andrew Stanton

Editor: Nicholas C. Smith
Animators: Simon Allen, Dovi Anderson, Jude Brownbill, Courtney Casper, Andrew Coats, Robb Denovan, Curran W. Giddens, Aaron J. Hartline, Tsung-Yin Hsieh, Jaime Landes, Ramiro Lopez Dau, Rich McKain, Erick Oh, Charlie Ramos, Jessica Sances, Mark Sanford, Michael Sauls, Benjamin Su, Saschka Unseld, Charlene Wang, Royce Wesley, and Stephen L. Wong

Music: Patrick Doyle

Starring (voices): Kelly MacDonald, Emma Thompson, and Billy Connolly

Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes

Rating: PG (Scary action, rude humor)

Genre: Animated, Adventure, Family

Release Date: June 22, 2012

Intro: While I am not a huge fan of Disney movies, I do have a lot of respect for Pixar, since their movies are almost always amazingly better than any animated feature any other company can produce, both story and effects wise. When I went to see this, I was expecting another amazing Pixar movie. Sadly, this was not the case for Brave. Though Brave is a good movie with incredible animation, it just doesn't live up to the high expectations Pixar movies receive, as a predictable story and a surprising lack of originality, usually two of Pixar's strengths, weigh the movie down.

Plot: In ancient, I guess it could be Middle Ages mythical Scotland, a kingdom has been divided into 4 sections by a devastating war. The kingdom has recently been reunited under King Fergus, the bear king, though three other clans still exist.  Anyway, the clans decide to meet so Fergus can marry his daughter, Merida, off to one of the other clans and further strengthen the bonds of the kingdom. Merida, however, is a reluctant princess, as she is an excellent archer who does not want to be married just yet. However, her mother, Queen Elinor, tries desperately to whip her into what she thinks a proper princess should be. Merida resists as much as possible until one day when the clans are in town, she runs away and stumbles upon a witch who gives her a potion to help "change her fate," so she gives it to her mom who eats it and the fate-changing potion turns out to be more of a problem than anything else for Merida.

Things people may find “objectionable”: It's a PG movie that's intended for families, so there's really nothing that bad in the movie. The only thing is some mild toilet humor, probably intended to make sure the movie got rated PG instead of G, since PG movies generally sell better than G movies.

Ratings:

     -Directing/Cinematography/Animation: 10/10. Stunning visuals. If it had not been for the cartoon-like characters, it would be hard to distinguish the animated scenery from real life scenery. It was that good. Even the characters, though they looked less real than the scenery, still had amazingly lifelike movements. What never ceases to amaze me about Pixar's animations is how realistically they can make the hair look, especially as it moves with the character. Having worked quite a bit with stop-motion animation in the past, I can imagine just perfecting the hair took weeks, if not months.

     -Acting (voices): 10/10. The voice actors were all good and fit the characters they were playing pretty well. I have to give it to Pixar, they do get the best for their voice acting.

     -Writing: 7/10. The script was good, though they overuse the phrase "change your fate." As for the story, I was a disappointed in the predictability and lack of originality. The story was fine and they did a pretty good job in telling it, but it was pretty easy to guess what was going to happen next, which is never a good thing for a movie script, especially for a movie studio in Pixar that usually has very original stories. There just didn't seem to be anything too surprising in the story, with no major plot twists.

     -Music/Score: 8/10. Nothing special in the way of music, it was mainly just Scottish-themed tunes, but the music did fit the movie well.

     -Power/Emotion: 6/10. Not as high as I expected, though after a while I became at least somewhat concerned for the characters. I think the predictability ruined some of my emotional response because I had a pretty clear idea of what was going to happen, so I wasn't that concerned for the characters I knew would live and end up happy.

     -Adrenalinw: 5/10. There were some fairly exciting moments, but they were not the intent of the film, as the movie focuses much more on the relationship between Merida and her mom.

     -Mind-Bendingness: 1/10. Doesn't really make you think that deeply, but then again, this is clearly not the intent of the movie.

     -Humor: 4/10. There were a few funny moments, but like adrenalin, comedy was not an emphasis of the movie.

     -Final Score: While it's not a bad movie by any stretch, Brave just doesn't compare to any of Pixar's classics and is not up to the level of movies the studio should be making. It's somewhat enjoyable, but it's not the engaging, emotional and clever kind of story Pixar has become famous for making. I hope Pixar is able to rebound some and go back to making the kind of great movies that everyone knows it for. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes animated movies just for the beauty of the animation. It could also function well as a family film.

Piranhaconda (TV 2012)

Directed by: Jim Wynorski
Written by: Mike MacLean and J. Brad Wilke
Produced by:  ROGER CORMAN!!! (and William Denver and Forest King)
Music by: Al and Jon Kaplan
Edited by: Tony Randel
Starring: Teri Ivens, Rib Hills, Michael Madsen, Shandi Finnessey, Chris Dechristopher, and Noah Blake
Runtime: 2 hours (more like 1 hour 30 minutes without commercials)
Rating: n/a.
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Action, Creature Feature
Release Date: June 16, 2012 (Syfy Channel)


Briefly explaining my love of bad cinema: I must confess that while I love good movies, I love bad ones just as much. There can be so much entertainment in someone getting their head ripped off by a giant badly-CGIed snake that really warms my heart at times. There is also something joyous about hearing laughably bad line after laughably bad line from actors who really should not be acting at all. My love of bad movies started with getting hooked on the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000, in which, if you haven't seen it, the main characters watch old, crappy movies and make funny riffs on them. Soon, I began to watch bad movies without MST's comments and that's when the infection took hold. My love for bad movies is like a contagious terminal cancer. I caught it and now I have it for the rest of my life and I can't possibly get rid of it.


Intro: From the channel that brought you such hits as Dinoshark, Sharktopus, Supergator, Dinocroc, and Dinocroc vs. Supergator, and the producer who gave you such classics such as Creature from the Haunted Sea, A Bucket of Blood, She Gods of Shark Reef, and Ski Troop Attack comes a new terror that is Piranhaconda. I decided to DVR this movie a couple days ago when it premiered because really, who can pass up seeing a movie called Piranhaconda? Most of these movies show lots of blood and guts and ridiculous monsters, but often get caught up in subplots like love stories that drag on and make them much less enjoyable when the clear reason most people (including myself) watch the movie is for the monster.  Piranhaconda, though it is a bad movie, is really one of the more entertaining Syfy Channel movies I've seen because it cuts most of the character development crap and cuts to right what we all want to see: the monster.


Things people may find "objectionable": Since it's a TV movie, they can only show so much, so you're pretty safe with swearing and explicit sex. However, the movie is very gory, as blood splatters everywhere every time someone gets eaten by the Piranhaconda. Yet at the same time, that's what's so damn entertaining, since all the deaths are ridiculous, badly CGIed and completely over the top. There are also numerous women in bikinis, and but hey, it's Syfy channel, what else do you expect?


Plot: Deep in the jungles of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, a scientist (Madsen) is researching an animal that killed his father some 20 years earlier and he has found its nest, so he gets takes an egg. Soon after, his 2 companions are killed by the monster and he escapes, only to be captured by some Latin American kidnappers. Cut to: movie crew on another part of the island that is filming a b-movie called Head Chopper 3 (Whoa. A b-movie inside a b-movie? It's b-movieception!). Anyway, the movie is going horribly with an impatient director (DeChristopher), a self-absorbed star (Finnessey) and a new couple (Ivens, Hills) who have to deal with it all. Anyway, after a few crew members disappear and several other meaningless characters are killed off, the crew is stopped and captured by the same gangsters and held for ransom from the movie studio. While in captivity, they meet up with the scientist.  Soon the piranhconda comes looking for food.

Ratings:

     -Directing/Cinematography: 4/10. Nothing to write home about.

     -Acting: 1/10. The casting methodology for the female characters in this movie must have been, “I don’t care if they can act. If they have big breasts, hire them!” As you can probably infer from this, the acting was pretty bad. The worst actress would probably be the woman in the science crew at the very beginning. I think a 2x4 could deliver a better performance than her.

     -Writing: 3/10. Bad. The lines are stupid. That pretty much sums up the writing. The story is stupid and formulaic, but that's kind of a given when you're talking about a move called Piranhaconda. I was impressed with the ending though. It was more satisfying ad surprising than usual for these movies. And the main kidnapper says "dios mio" at least 5 times throughout the movie when something bad happens.

     -Special Effects: 3/10. Cheap and lame, yet so cheesily glorious. If the special effects were good, the movie would draw much more respect

     -Music/Score: 3/10. This only gets a 3 because of the song they use during the credits that was written especially for this movie. It was a 60s beach theme with lyrics such as "Is it a snake, or is it a fish?" It was quite entertaining, to say the least. For the rest of the movie: well, for me, if a score is good, I tend to notice. If I don't notice it and it's completely background, it's never as good. The latter applies to this movie. Even after just watching it, I completely forgot the music, except for the main theme.

     -Power/Emotion: 2/10. Going into movies like this, you need to suspect that at least half of the characters you meet will be dead by the end of the movie, so after you've seen a few of these movies (believe me, I've seen way more than a few), you get

     -Adrenaline: 3/10. I really only got excited in anticipation for the next killing by the piranhaconda. The killings were stupid, formulaic and somehow so enjoyable.

     -Stupidity: 9/10. From now on for all b-movie reviews, this will replace the "mind-bendingness" section. Ok, so the monster is a hybrid piranha and anaconda living in the waters of the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. You think it's stupid? I mean, what are an Amazonian piranha and anaconda doing on a Hawaiian island? It doesn't make any damn sense! Also, there seems to be a danger on Kauai of being kidnapped by the Latin American gangsters who want ransom from small-time b-movie studios. A third thing: it seems that when someone is eaten by a piranhaconda, they disappear into a red cloud of blood instead of realistically (Really? I'm really using that word to talk about a movie called Piranhaconda?) having them be torn apart into pieces or be swallowed whole.
     -Humor: Intentional: 2/10, Unintentional: 5/10. A good portion of this movie was done tongue-in-cheek by the producers, so some lines poked fun of the movie and its concept. However, the tongue-in-cheek humor is fairly minimal, so the absurdity of the movie and the silly lines take over. There's something at least I find funny about a 30 foot badly CGIed piranha/snake hybrid eating a character that turns into a red cloud of blood while being devoured. 

     -Final Score: This is a bad movie, believe me, but it is also quite entertaining. For a first time b-movie watcher, this is a good place to start because it is entertaining fun and is less boring than some of these movies can be. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys bad movies or is entertained by cheesy monsters and over the top and badly CGIed gore.

Prometheus (2012) Review

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
Produced by: Michael Costigan, Michael Ellenberg, Damond Lindelof, and Ridley Scott
Music by: Marc Streitenfeld
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, and Logan Marshall-Green
Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
Rating: R (sci-fi violence, intense images, brief language).
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror, Action
Release Date: June 8, 2012

Before Watching the Movie: There are three things to take into consideration before watching the movie:
    -1). Technically, this movie is a prequel to Alien (1979), but you do not have to have seen it to enjoy Prometheus, although I do recommend looking up a picture of the alien from Alien just for reference if you don't already know what it looks like.
    -2). The less you know about the movie's plot going into it, the better. It's best to go in not expecting anything in particular and with an open mind.
    -3). When watching the movie, just buy into what they tell you and ask questions later. I think this will help you enjoy the movie more.
   
Things people may find "objectionable": WARNING: The movie can get pretty gory at times. If you do not like gore, this may not be the best movie for you. The whole movie is very intense also, as it is partly meant to be a horror movie. There is also some mild swearing, including 1 f-word.

Intro: Ever since I'd heard about this movie, I've wanted to see it. Sci-fi is easily one of my favorite genres and I also think Ridley Scott is a great director (his movie Blade Runner is a favorite of mine). After a few failed attempts at going to see it sooner after it came out, I finally saw it yesterday. This is kind of a landmark movie for me and my three friends I saw it with because it is the first R-rated movie we have seen in theaters without our parents, since all of us had recently turned 17. It was also the first time I have ever been carded for anything. Anyway, I saw a little bit of Alien once on TV, but for the most part I did not have much prior knowledge of the Alien franchise (though I knew what the alien looked like). Prometheus is a real mind-bender with stunning visuals, great acting, and intense action that is thoroughly enjoyable if you submit to what they're telling you first and ask questions later.

Plot: As I mentioned before, it's best to go into the movie knowing as little about the plot as possible, so I'll make this section brief just so it lays out the basic premise of the movie.. A team of scientists led by Doctors Shaw and Holloway (Rapace, Marshall-Green) and a businesswoman (Theron) goes out to explore a star system that they believe human life originated. They believe this because a lot of ancient cave paintings and drawings show a large figure pointing to a set of stars configured in the same way this one system is. They finally arrive on the moon they are looking for and begin searching for extraterrestrial life. What they find gets increasingly weird and terrifying.

Ratings:
     -Directing/Cinematography: 10/10. Ridley Scott is definitely one of the best directors out there in my opinion, and he does his magic in this movie.
     -Acting: 10/10. Very well acted, especially Michael Fassbender, who gives an outstanding performance.
     -Writing: 5/10. This is the weakest part of the movie. The basic story was fine, but some of the individual lines were not great and a few of them were pretty cheesy. The lines seem to work with the movie pretty well, though. There are a few plot holes, continuity issues, and unanswered questions in the movie too, but you should just ignore them and go along with wherever the story leads you. When I saw it, I didn't realize most of the plot holes and continuity until after the movie was over, so they are not glaringly obvious and don't really hinder the enjoyment of the movie that much.
     -Special Effects: 10/10. I will be disappointed if this doesn't win an Oscar for special effects. They were mind-blowing. If you can, see it in 3D. You will not be disappointed.  I'd give this a higher rating than 10 if I could.
     -Music/Score: 10/10. Very good score, fits the movie very well.
     -Power/Emotion: 7/10. Though it took me a little while to get into, by the end you really feel for all the characters as bad things happen to them. (I'd be more specific, but I'd prefer to keep my review spoiler-free, especially for this movie.)
     -Adrenaline: 9/10. The action gets very intense in this movie, especially towards the end, but there is very little action in the first 20-30 minutes because they are setting up the plot, yet it is still interesting.
     -Mind-Bendingness: 9/10. The movie throws out some mind-bending concepts that really grab you. I always love a good mind-bending movie, and this is a good one for that.
     -Humor: 0/10. The movie is meant to be completely serious, so there is really no humor built in intentionally. The only laughs you may get come occasionally from some of the cheesy dialogue.
     -Final Score: Though the movie has gotten some negative reviews, mostly for the writing, the visuals, action, and acting make up for it. My only warning is it's not for the faint of heart, so if you have a problem with blood and guts on screen, I would not recommend seeing this movie. However, I would strongly recommend it to pretty much anyone who can handle that stuff. Prometheus is probably the best true sci-fi movie (outer space and aliens) since Avatar and is not to be missed if you love sci-fi and/or great visuals.

Ocean's Eleven (2001) Review

                   

Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Ted Griffin (based off 1960 characters, story & screenplay)
Produced by: Bruce Berman, Susan Ekins, and John Hardy
Music by: David Holmes
Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, and Andy Garcia
Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes
Rated PG-13
Genre: Crime, Comedy, "Sexy Heist" (<---as one of my friends once said)

Ok, so I've completely messed with "fixed" order I created in the first post, but I think this format will work better.

Intro: One of my friends gave this movie as well as the other movies in the series and the original 1960 version, all bundled into a neat little pack, for Christmas this last year, and I've just gotten around to watching it now. Yes, I know it's June. What can I say, it has been a busy year so far. Anyway, I decided to watch it as kind of a fun escape from all the serious, heavy war movies I have been watching recently as part of a history project, and it served its purpose quite well. Ocean's Eleven, though in no way a perfect movie, is the definition of a fun, popcorn movie that does exactly what it's suppose to: entertain.

Things people may find "objectionable": The movie is PG-13, so there's not a lot of objectionable things, but I did come across 2 F-words. That's pretty much it, with some more mild swearing.

Plot: Daniel Ocean (Clooney) is a convicted thief who has just been released from jail on parole. His wife, Tess (Roberts) has left him for a Las Vegas casino tycoon named Terry Benedict. Danny wants to get back at Benedict for this, so he plots an elaborate scheme to rob the three casinos Benedict owns (the Bellagio, the MGM Grand, and the Mirage) simultaneously, since they share a common vault. He then sets about assembling a masterful heist team with diverse talents led by himself and his right hand man, Rusty Ryan (Pitt). They calculate the best night to rob, which is the night of a big fight, so the most money will be in the vault. Then they begin to plan how to steal the money from the extremely well-guarded vault as Danny hopes he can rob Benedict and get Tess back, all without getting caught again.

Ratings:
    -Directing/Cinematography: I liked the directing in this movie. The opening scenes are especially well-shot, and the whole slick, stylized direction by Soderbergh really sets the tone and mood of the movie.
    -Acting: 10/10: Between George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, you get a lot of good actors in this movie. Therefore, you get good performances.
    -Writing: 8/10: Pretty well written. The script didn't stick out, but it was solid. The writers worked in some funny lines, which I liked.
    -Special Effects: n/a: There wasn't much need for special effects in the movie, and the story does fine without them. The effects are not at all a key part of the movie.
    -Music/Score: 8/10: Good music. It was nice, smooth, and jazzy and it nicely the slick directing style. The only problem I had with it is that the smooth jazz was sometimes played during tense moments, and I felt it didn't completely fit the mood the scenes were trying to convey. Even if they had stuck with the jazz, they maybe should have made it little more dire-sounding. Even so, it didn't take away that much from the movie.
    -Power/Emotion: 3/10: This is the one area of the movie in which it was lacking, I thought. Though the movie is thoroughly enjoyable, I didn't exactly feel that deeply for any of the characters. This is probably what kept this movie from being great, instead of good and fun. The feeling comes for the team as a whole, as you want them to succeed in robbing the casinos.
    -Adrenaline: 6/10: Gets your heart rate up, especially during the heist scenes. You really want the characters to succeed in the heist and this makes these scenes exciting. Still, it is not really action-packed the whole way through.
    -Humor: 5/10: Though the movie was mainly a crime movie, it did have some funny moments. No scenes were created to be completely comedy, but some individual lines or exchanges were funny.
    -Final Score: Though the movie is in no way a masterpiece, it is definitely a fun movie. Steven Soderbergh's stylized direction carries the movie and sets the mood of a slick, fun heist movie, or a "sexy heist," as one of my friends once called this movie. It is not made to be taken that seriously, so it functions as a perfect Saturday night popcorn movie. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a movie that's fun and enjoyable and does not require full involvement.

First Post/Intro

Hi everyone. I'm going to start this movie blog because I love movies and like talking about them. I am also a high school student interested in maybe studying film or film production in college, so I thought this blog might help influence my decision some. I think it will also be fun, and it will give me an opportunity to write. My reviews will be of any movies I watch for the first time. I not review any movie I have seen before just for the sake of getting a blog entry in. When I do a review, it will be on a movie I have just watched for the first time (post will come at most a week after I've watched the movie). This includes any movies I might see on TV, or Netflix, or at a friend's house, so in no way will the reviews only cover recent movies. One review might be over a movie that just came out last week, and the next entry may be on a movie from the 1940s. Anyway, here's my proposed structure for my posts/reviews:

--Pictures & Credits: Poster picture with the names of the lead actors and the roles they play along with people like the director, writer(s), and producer(s). Will also include the year, running time, and rating.
--Before watching the Movie: A section where I might choose to say a few things people may want to consider before watching the movie. For example, if I were to do a review on the movie The Deer Hunter (which I watched last week so it's fresh in my mind), I might recommend that you read a quick Wikipedia article on Russian roulette. These suggestions might help the reader/viewer enjoy or understand the movie a little bit more. I might also just say something quick about the movie to consider when watching it. I could also say to not know anything going into the movie, as this may "enhance" the viewing experience. This section may not be on every review, but for some, I will include it.
--Intro: Will be a quick introduction into the movie, based off my thoughts on it.
--Plot: I'll tell a quick summary of the plot, just so people can get the gist of what the movie is about.
--What I liked/What was good: I'll write about what I liked about the movie and what I thought was good about it. Pretty self-explanatory section
--What I disliked/What was bad: Again, pretty self-explanatory.
--Things People Might Find Objectionable: I have a mom who dislikes... let's just say, 95% of the stuff movies get rated "R" for, so choosing a good movie to watch with her is sometimes difficult. Therefore, I'll use this section to warn people of any themes or moments, and stuff like that that some people may find objectionable. I personally don't have a problem with most of this stuff unless it's gratuitous, but it's always good to know if you are trying to watch the movie with someone who does.
--Summary/Rating: I will summarize my previous thoughts, and the the rating system (what I thought about the movie)will be broken down like so:
        -Power/Emotion: How powerful the movie is and how much the movie gets you to care about the characters/the situation. Will be a rating out of 100.
        -Adrenaline: How exciting the movie is, how much action is there? Will it get your adrenalin up? Will be a rating out of 100.
        -Humor: Is the movie funny? Will it make you laugh intentionally or unintentionally? Will be a rating out of 100.
        -Final Score: Will be a rating out of 100. It's my overall impression of the movie. I will also mention if I would recommend this movie to people and if so, to what kind of people.

The system is subject to change, but it's a good platform to start on. I hope you all enjoy reading my blog!