17 March 2009
Behind the scenes - The Book of Eli (2010)
Teaser - Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre (2009)
New horror film from Island. I don't know why, but even most used horror cliches still look good in European film.The teaser is via official website. And direct download link.
Movies - Last Seen
Wonder Woman, USA (2009)
Fast paced action, violent battles and brutal deaths. Not much blood, though, probably to make it suitable for the PG-13 rating.This animated film is very entertaining, with nice images and good story, and the content is more mature than you may think.
Everything, of course, is in the spirit of comics universe, so don't expect too much, but the imagination and serious approach are there. Nice dialogs, thoughtful character's descriptions and sense of humor - there is something for everyone. Good ride.
7+/10
Ice Pirates, USA (1984)
Grotesque and ridiculous space adventure with absurd costumes and wacky storyline. The film is a cult classic B movie, mixing post-apocalyptic with futuristic, and it's quite entertaining and watchable, if only to see Anjelica Huston in funny costume swinging a sword and fighting bulky robots. Many other famous actors here too.Very amusing movie with many jokes and memorable moments, from the times when special effects were done manually, therefore people tried harder.
7/10
Frozen Days (Yamim Kfuim), Israel (2005)
I could label this movie as a bad rip-off of Polanski's The Tenant, but I guess there is more to it. The movie is very experimental and enigmatic, officially it's been branded as "psychological thriller", but I think it's not entirely true. This movie is rather political statement about the state of individual and about human existence in the current Israel, country that is always under a threat.Anyway, this movie more suitable to be a 20 minutes short film, because this is all its potential can actually hold. Awful dialogs most of the film, long and boring scenes that suppose to create the mood, but most of them really unnecessary. The movie takes off a little towards the end and the actual ending is good, but it's not worth to suffer 60-70 minutes before that.
This is example of the dialog, when the actress is talking on the cell phone: "Hello? Where are you? Hello? I can't hear you. Hello? I am going out, hello? Are you there? Hello?"
I mean, come on! And it's like that for 5 minutes. Not the only example for terrible conversations, the little strength this film has is in its visuals, not dialogs, not characters and not even weird story.
I can also compare between this film and 13 Tzameti, which is similar in spirit and because both were done with very low budget. And when 13 Tzameti is very thoughtful story, painfully rational and meticulous, holding the attention from the start to finish and very suspenseful, Frozen Days is mostly unfocused and amateurish, with very few strong points, mostly boring and fails to create big interest, just a little bit.
The creator of this film may claim that this alienation and the bland feeling of the movie is intentional and suitable for the clean and simple aesthetics (the movie is called Frozen Days after all), but it's bullshit. The days when director didn't want to involve the viewers are long gone, and Danny Lerner is certainly not Michelangelo Antonioni, not even close.
If anything, this movie, despite many praises it received, is a perfect example of Israeli cinema - existing in its own bubble and completely disconnected from the rest of the world.
6/10
Devil's Game (Deo ge-im), South Korea (2008)
Original and interesting story, great acting and great ending. This is another proof how strong Korean Cinema can be with such films.Recommended to everyone that likes Asian films and movies with twisted sense of reality.
8/10
Body Of Lies, USA (2008)
Leonardo DiCaprio proves once again he is one of the best actors of our generation, if not the best. What he can do with mediocre characters and unoriginal story is amazing. And on the other hand the movie is additional proof how old fashioned Ridley Scott actually is.The movie is very well done, big production with enough action and suspenseful plot to stay tuned. Russell Crowe is very amusing and goofy, the film has certain satirical feel to it and it's generally entertaining and watchable.
The problems starts toward the end, when there is a need to finish this story and to tie all lose ends. As usual for such Hollywood films, everything falls down and all achievements so far just crash into small pieces. Why do we need a classic direct confrontation between the good guy and the bad guy, including dumb ideological conversation? Only Ridley Scott knows. The Kingdom was much better film if only in that sense.
Average and not memorable movie that ok to watch once, and then it just vanishes by itself.
7/10
Geek Stuff - Robot With Human Face
After many animal robots and robots with weird heads, Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology finally presented new robot, named HRP-4C, with human face and capable for facial expressions. Yeah, it's a robot. Creepy, ha?
Read more in original story here.
16 March 2009
Trailer - Thirst (2009)
Fantastic news! Cinematic genius Chan-Wook Park (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) was working on his new film for some time, and now a short teaser was released to show us some images from the film.
As it very popular today, the story is about vampires, or kind of vampires. With Park you can be sure it's not going to be some cheap imitation of already used content, and the approach to such theme will be quite original.
BTW, this is Ok-Bin Kim (leading role) and Mercedes Cabral (Playboy model turned actress, probably with small role), both in the film. Guess who is the Playboy model.
Park once mentioned that he is planning a lot of sex scenes in the film with lots of nudity, so we are going to see both showing some skin.
15 March 2009
Trailer - Blood (2009)
This is just not going to stop. Another trailer for Japanese film Blood, starring famous Aya Sugimoto, and it's about vampires or something, but who cares anyway. With trailer like that, story is not the main reason I am going to see it.
Courtesy of Nippon Cinema.
Courtesy of Nippon Cinema.
14 March 2009
5 Most Underrated and 5 Most Overrated Movies
No movie can be perfect, no film can be everyone's favorite. No matter which movie you'll think about, you can always find people that either liked it or hated it. So how can a movie be evaluated in such chaotic world? That's right, the opinion of majority. But work of art is never a common opinion, it's never an objective perspective, and with art you can never accept everything that majority says.
So you end up in situation when certain movies that you really hated receive high praises and rated high by majority of people, and other movies, that you really like, become everyone's laughing-stock.
So now I'll try to fix such misjudgments by listing 5 most overrated and 5 most underrated films. Since I can't list them all, I chose movies from recent years only, and I chose popular movies, largely known everywhere, not some obscure films that no one ever saw.
This I will do from my personal subjective opinion, and based on my own perception. The order of the movies is kinda important, and #1 in each category will be the movie that I think was most misjudged.
Enjoy.
Most Underrated
# 5. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
The movie was affected by the negative press coverage of personal relationship between Jolie and Pitt, and his divorce from Aniston, so no one really talked about the quality of the movie besides mentioning the chemistry between them. And the chemistry indeed amazing, but so is acting, story, entertainment value and, most of all , the symbolism inside the script.
Under simple action plot with assassinations, car chases and explosions, lies complex and intriguing symbolic relationship between husband and wife, with all their problems displayed in very direct and painful way, only masqueraded under silly action film. Their secret lives as assassins symbolize their infidelity, their mutual cheating, and their eventual collaboration as a team symbolizes their attempt to overcome marriage problems and "fight" the obstacles they encounter.
Very enjoyable and surprisingly smart movie that you can watch again and again, discovering even more details every time.
It has rating of 6.4 on IMDB, 58% freshness and average 6 on Rotten Tomatoes, but it deserves much more than that.
# 4. Constantine
Postmodern and cynical religious tale, with new interpretation of the ways of good and evil. Minor religious preaching of Christian morality is not what's going to ruin this really worthy film.
Reeves gives here great performance as the hero, which is more anti-hero, maybe because such type of the character is most suitable for his acting skills, when gloomy face and erratic body language is what makes him so eminent. Dark humor with cynical approach towards life, backed up with 'I don't give a fuck' attitude makes Reeves very efficient and memorable in this role.
Rachel Weizs is going to win an Oscar for her role in The Constant Gardener that same year, and she is on her top, displaying very vulnerable personality with emotional inner complexity. She is very pretty too.
The cinematic values are also superb. Starting from design and rough feeling of the cinematography, to convincing special effects and capable directing. The movie is great as fantasy/horror, with many surprising and creative moments full of imagination, and beautifully filmed. The script and the dialogs are perfect for this kind of a movie, and even Shia LaBeouf as sidekick has his moments, occasionally stealing the show. Great film and great ending. Reeves is giving Satan himself a finger - classic.
It has 6.7 on IMDB, 45% freshness and 5.5 average rating on RT. Very unfair.
# 3. Sahara
One of most laughable and ridiculed movies in recent years, that its name connected more to different lawsuits and money loss, than to actual film making. This is failure of truly epic proportions, failure that revealed the ugly side of Hollywood, with dirty laundry and bitter accusations between the production companies and the author of the book, which this movie was based on.
Somehow the combination of eccentric McConaughey with the face of Penélope Cruz and African landscapes didn't appeal to the moviegoers too much. And worse of it all were the deadly reviews.
Totally unjustified. I admit it's not very easy to follow the story. Too much complexity, too much side plots and no special magic touch to make this adventure to look exciting. What they needed is a little bit of Spielberg.
But is it really that bad? Definitely no. The movie is very entertaining, filled with humor and live energy. Classic American rock songs of Steppenwolf and Lynyrd Skynyrd are very suitable, the story is really smart and sophisticated, the complexity of the plot is really its strength, and the movie turns out to be very effective on all levels. Something always happens, always an action, always a joke - Steve Zahn in the role of sidekick Al is very funny. The movie is a great adventure, shadowed only by the weakness of emotional involvement of the viewer.
Sahara is one of this movies that can be viewed many times without loosing it's charm. First viewing can be confusing, it's on the second viewing that this movie really shines, showing its rich potential. Very underrated movie with bad publicity. Unfortunately, because the movie is really good.
The movie has 6.0 rating on IMDB, 39% freshness and 5.2 rating on RT.
# 2. Speed Racer
Surprising flop of 2008, that can only be explained by revenge of the nerds, angry at Wachowski brothers for ruining the Matrix experience for them. And although I was considering Matrix Reloaded to this list, eventually I think it kinda deserves it. But Speed Racer is certainly not.
Whether it's geek's vengeance, barely understandable hyper fast action, or even bright and emphasized colors that hurt the eyes, this movie failed with most loud sonic boom. It was absolute disaster in the box office, crushing the studio and forcing Wachowski to go on creative hiatus until the fury is over. It will take them couple of years to recover from it, but I have to say - there was really no reason for that.
Bad publicity made this movie anemic, unclear of what this is all about and first evil reviews with negative buzz didn't help either. I think people just wanted it to fail.
Speed Racer is very entertaining eye candy, very simple movie on the edge of kitsch, and story-wise it's not very complicated at all. Visually it's amazing, creative and the level of imagination is remarkable. Too bad the public wasn't ready for such massive explosion for the eyes and ears, I hope history will judge this film more fairly.
The movie has 6.5 rating on IMDB, 36% freshness and 5 average rating on RT.
# 1. Into The Blue
Burning sun distorts the air, adhesive heat slowly cooking tan bodies intertwined on the white sand, blurred horizon mixing blue skies with incredibly blue ocean, the sense of time is long gone and so all the problems in the world. Freedom...
And look, it's sexy Jessica Alba in bikini swimming under the water, lazy twisting her exposed body with slow motion and down-tempo music on the background. She exists from the cool ocean, still dripping water, stretching her steaming body and posing for the sun.
No, it's not effects of magic mushrooms, it's from this movie. I remember that watching Into The Blue was out of the body experience, I was simply pulled inside of it, floating as invisible ghost above everyone's heads. When the final credits were rolling and I was slowly coming into senses, I wondered - what the hell happened? How was that possible, that such cliche and shallow film had such impact on me? I am not really sure why, but there is something in this film so liberating, so light and so attractive that I just gave up.
Besides Alba, there is also muscular Paul Walker, playing a diving expert with amazing ability to be long time underwater without breathing. His character is a little childish, with unexplainable idealism, dreaming about big success and about finding that hidden way that leads to fulfillment of so real, yet so evasive American dream. As an actor he manages to create true and convincing connection between his character and the ocean, like the ocean is his natural habitat, his safe environment and he truly controls it. Not easy at all, if you ask me, but he pulls it successfully.
The movie is very simple, it's very clear who are the good guys, bad guys or just lost sheep. The story is predictable, the motives and actions are clear, the characters have just enough depth and complexity to make them believable. Still, this film is very good. Maybe because the story is so obvious, everyone just decided to take it easy and create very light film, following used but entertaining formula. The story is very interesting, with correct level of action, suspense, adrenaline, adventure and emotions to get you involved, and involved deep.
The result is very enjoyable and pleasant experience, almost hypnotizing and blurring all senses. Not many movies can do that, although many try. And with this film it happens without big effort, just with open mind and a little attention.
Into The Blue has rating of 5.7 on IMDB, and 22% freshness with average rating of 4/10 on RT. Trust me, this is completely underrated, this movie can only surprise you.
Most Overrated
# 5. No Country For Old Man
Love Coen brothers, seen all their movies, and not just once. So how is it possible that one of their weakest films received so many prises and appreciation?
More than that, it managed to win 4 Oscars, stealing best picture award from the real masterpiece There Will Be Blood.
And don't get me wrong, Coen team really deserves all the prises in the world, they are outstanding artists. But with No Country For Old Man?
Whatever they tried to say in this film, if anything at all, missed me completely.
This pointless and weak movie has 8.3 rating on IMDB ( #103 right now in top 250 of all times), 94% freshness and 8.5 average rating on RT.
# 4. Sin City
It would've been same movie if the graphic novel was filmed on the camera and narrated by the actors. Truly, this film is for people that too lazy to read.
What can be passable as still pictures not necessarily works on film, especially monologues and narrations. The violence can be effective only when it looks real, otherwise it's just red color on the black background.
This material can't work as solid and well structured movie, and showing cool visual effects is not enough with this kind of storytelling.
8.4 on IMDB (# 91 in top 250), less impressive on RT with 77% freshness and only 7.4 rating. And even that is too much.
# 3. The Dark Knight
Really? Is general opinion, based on absolutely nothing, is more important than actual movie and dictates the rating instead of normal critical analysis? Does usual and established film criticism, evaluating basic cinematic qualities, should be neglected and transformed, instead, into simple popularity contest? Seems like in the case of TDK it is.
Nolan can't direct action for shit, the story that he wrote, probably in one week, reeks of total disrespect for viewers intelligence. Big and impressive production can't hold infantile story with no logic, lousy editing, laughable dialogs and logically implausible events.
Two Ferries scene is the lowest point in this film, among many others. The biggest achievement of TDK is the successful publicity that managed to fool everyone, especially film critics that were forced to write positive reviews just to show they understand the movie and they are not too old for their readers. (At least with Watchman it didn't happen.)
This movie is boring, stupid, and has little creative inspirations, just posturing actors in cool costumes, playing with cool gadgets. And since everything so cool and shiny, people are so blinded that they think this movie is actually any good.
Hordes of fans, that only see movies that displayed on "New Releases" shelf in Blockbuster store, never watching any film dated before year 2000, suddenly dictate how film should be reviewed, brutally crushing any opposition. Anyone with eyes can see that TDK has more problems than prisoners in Arkham, but the power of denial makes them ignore anything like that. The wish of belonging to majority, the chase for common cause, the childish desire to worship pop culture trends, all these overcome logic and reason. This self convincing and selective memory is truly a mass psychology phenomena.
The Dark Knight has 9.0 rating on IMDB and 6th place in top 250, but I remember the time when it had 9.5 and it was holding the 1st place. 94% freshness and 8.5 rating on RT.
# 2. The Prestige
Another Nolan's film, indicating my contempt towards this director. And I would put Batman Begins here as well if it was a bigger list. I really liked Memento, but since that film all Nolan shows is bad writing.
How can this movie be considered as worth watching is beyond me. I don't even want to spend more time to explain my opinion on this hollow garbage.
8.4 on IMDB and # 83 in top 250 (damn fanboys), 75% freshness and 7.1 rating on RT, which is way, way higher than it should be.
# 1. Gladiator
5 Oscars, including Best actor and Best picture, and another 45 awards this terrible movie have won, is what makes it most overrated movie, probably of all times.
Russel Crowe has only two facial expression - one of disgust, the other one of pain. He is walking around, touching with pathos growing millet and making emotional and over the top serious speeches. Pompous music is playing very laud, hiding the complete lack of dramatic substance.
Ridley Scott spent all the money creating sets and decorations without even looking at the script he suppose to direct, the need for spectacular overcomes the need for interesting story, believable characters and rational motives for their actions, something more than just shallow "you killed my family, now prepare to die".
Watching this movie is annoying and embarrassing experience, it is filled with grandiose pathos and mythical heroism, and I can only wonder whether Scott has any sense of humor at all. And what about action, battles and general entertainment value of Gladiator? Despite some mild effort and attempts to make it at least entertaining, the movie fails even in this part. Shaky camera and bad editing create a sense that something big happens, but on the closer look you can't see a thing, just a shiny cover for shallow and unfocused content. Exactly like the entire movie.
8.3 on IMDB, making it #118 in top 250, and 77% freshness with 7 as average rating on RT.
--------------------------------
That is all. I don't think I am alone with such opinions, and from the reactions of other people that I see on the mighty web, many think as I do. Feel free to leave me hate comments.
So you end up in situation when certain movies that you really hated receive high praises and rated high by majority of people, and other movies, that you really like, become everyone's laughing-stock.
So now I'll try to fix such misjudgments by listing 5 most overrated and 5 most underrated films. Since I can't list them all, I chose movies from recent years only, and I chose popular movies, largely known everywhere, not some obscure films that no one ever saw.
This I will do from my personal subjective opinion, and based on my own perception. The order of the movies is kinda important, and #1 in each category will be the movie that I think was most misjudged.
Enjoy.
Most Underrated
# 5. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
The movie was affected by the negative press coverage of personal relationship between Jolie and Pitt, and his divorce from Aniston, so no one really talked about the quality of the movie besides mentioning the chemistry between them. And the chemistry indeed amazing, but so is acting, story, entertainment value and, most of all , the symbolism inside the script.Under simple action plot with assassinations, car chases and explosions, lies complex and intriguing symbolic relationship between husband and wife, with all their problems displayed in very direct and painful way, only masqueraded under silly action film. Their secret lives as assassins symbolize their infidelity, their mutual cheating, and their eventual collaboration as a team symbolizes their attempt to overcome marriage problems and "fight" the obstacles they encounter.
Very enjoyable and surprisingly smart movie that you can watch again and again, discovering even more details every time.
It has rating of 6.4 on IMDB, 58% freshness and average 6 on Rotten Tomatoes, but it deserves much more than that.
# 4. Constantine
Postmodern and cynical religious tale, with new interpretation of the ways of good and evil. Minor religious preaching of Christian morality is not what's going to ruin this really worthy film.Reeves gives here great performance as the hero, which is more anti-hero, maybe because such type of the character is most suitable for his acting skills, when gloomy face and erratic body language is what makes him so eminent. Dark humor with cynical approach towards life, backed up with 'I don't give a fuck' attitude makes Reeves very efficient and memorable in this role.
Rachel Weizs is going to win an Oscar for her role in The Constant Gardener that same year, and she is on her top, displaying very vulnerable personality with emotional inner complexity. She is very pretty too.
The cinematic values are also superb. Starting from design and rough feeling of the cinematography, to convincing special effects and capable directing. The movie is great as fantasy/horror, with many surprising and creative moments full of imagination, and beautifully filmed. The script and the dialogs are perfect for this kind of a movie, and even Shia LaBeouf as sidekick has his moments, occasionally stealing the show. Great film and great ending. Reeves is giving Satan himself a finger - classic.
It has 6.7 on IMDB, 45% freshness and 5.5 average rating on RT. Very unfair.
# 3. Sahara
One of most laughable and ridiculed movies in recent years, that its name connected more to different lawsuits and money loss, than to actual film making. This is failure of truly epic proportions, failure that revealed the ugly side of Hollywood, with dirty laundry and bitter accusations between the production companies and the author of the book, which this movie was based on.Somehow the combination of eccentric McConaughey with the face of Penélope Cruz and African landscapes didn't appeal to the moviegoers too much. And worse of it all were the deadly reviews.
Totally unjustified. I admit it's not very easy to follow the story. Too much complexity, too much side plots and no special magic touch to make this adventure to look exciting. What they needed is a little bit of Spielberg.
But is it really that bad? Definitely no. The movie is very entertaining, filled with humor and live energy. Classic American rock songs of Steppenwolf and Lynyrd Skynyrd are very suitable, the story is really smart and sophisticated, the complexity of the plot is really its strength, and the movie turns out to be very effective on all levels. Something always happens, always an action, always a joke - Steve Zahn in the role of sidekick Al is very funny. The movie is a great adventure, shadowed only by the weakness of emotional involvement of the viewer.
Sahara is one of this movies that can be viewed many times without loosing it's charm. First viewing can be confusing, it's on the second viewing that this movie really shines, showing its rich potential. Very underrated movie with bad publicity. Unfortunately, because the movie is really good.
The movie has 6.0 rating on IMDB, 39% freshness and 5.2 rating on RT.
# 2. Speed Racer
Surprising flop of 2008, that can only be explained by revenge of the nerds, angry at Wachowski brothers for ruining the Matrix experience for them. And although I was considering Matrix Reloaded to this list, eventually I think it kinda deserves it. But Speed Racer is certainly not.Whether it's geek's vengeance, barely understandable hyper fast action, or even bright and emphasized colors that hurt the eyes, this movie failed with most loud sonic boom. It was absolute disaster in the box office, crushing the studio and forcing Wachowski to go on creative hiatus until the fury is over. It will take them couple of years to recover from it, but I have to say - there was really no reason for that.
Bad publicity made this movie anemic, unclear of what this is all about and first evil reviews with negative buzz didn't help either. I think people just wanted it to fail.
Speed Racer is very entertaining eye candy, very simple movie on the edge of kitsch, and story-wise it's not very complicated at all. Visually it's amazing, creative and the level of imagination is remarkable. Too bad the public wasn't ready for such massive explosion for the eyes and ears, I hope history will judge this film more fairly.
The movie has 6.5 rating on IMDB, 36% freshness and 5 average rating on RT.
# 1. Into The Blue
Burning sun distorts the air, adhesive heat slowly cooking tan bodies intertwined on the white sand, blurred horizon mixing blue skies with incredibly blue ocean, the sense of time is long gone and so all the problems in the world. Freedom...And look, it's sexy Jessica Alba in bikini swimming under the water, lazy twisting her exposed body with slow motion and down-tempo music on the background. She exists from the cool ocean, still dripping water, stretching her steaming body and posing for the sun.
No, it's not effects of magic mushrooms, it's from this movie. I remember that watching Into The Blue was out of the body experience, I was simply pulled inside of it, floating as invisible ghost above everyone's heads. When the final credits were rolling and I was slowly coming into senses, I wondered - what the hell happened? How was that possible, that such cliche and shallow film had such impact on me? I am not really sure why, but there is something in this film so liberating, so light and so attractive that I just gave up.
Besides Alba, there is also muscular Paul Walker, playing a diving expert with amazing ability to be long time underwater without breathing. His character is a little childish, with unexplainable idealism, dreaming about big success and about finding that hidden way that leads to fulfillment of so real, yet so evasive American dream. As an actor he manages to create true and convincing connection between his character and the ocean, like the ocean is his natural habitat, his safe environment and he truly controls it. Not easy at all, if you ask me, but he pulls it successfully.
The movie is very simple, it's very clear who are the good guys, bad guys or just lost sheep. The story is predictable, the motives and actions are clear, the characters have just enough depth and complexity to make them believable. Still, this film is very good. Maybe because the story is so obvious, everyone just decided to take it easy and create very light film, following used but entertaining formula. The story is very interesting, with correct level of action, suspense, adrenaline, adventure and emotions to get you involved, and involved deep.
The result is very enjoyable and pleasant experience, almost hypnotizing and blurring all senses. Not many movies can do that, although many try. And with this film it happens without big effort, just with open mind and a little attention.
Into The Blue has rating of 5.7 on IMDB, and 22% freshness with average rating of 4/10 on RT. Trust me, this is completely underrated, this movie can only surprise you.
Most Overrated
# 5. No Country For Old Man
Love Coen brothers, seen all their movies, and not just once. So how is it possible that one of their weakest films received so many prises and appreciation?More than that, it managed to win 4 Oscars, stealing best picture award from the real masterpiece There Will Be Blood.
And don't get me wrong, Coen team really deserves all the prises in the world, they are outstanding artists. But with No Country For Old Man?
Whatever they tried to say in this film, if anything at all, missed me completely.
This pointless and weak movie has 8.3 rating on IMDB ( #103 right now in top 250 of all times), 94% freshness and 8.5 average rating on RT.
# 4. Sin City
It would've been same movie if the graphic novel was filmed on the camera and narrated by the actors. Truly, this film is for people that too lazy to read.What can be passable as still pictures not necessarily works on film, especially monologues and narrations. The violence can be effective only when it looks real, otherwise it's just red color on the black background.
This material can't work as solid and well structured movie, and showing cool visual effects is not enough with this kind of storytelling.
8.4 on IMDB (# 91 in top 250), less impressive on RT with 77% freshness and only 7.4 rating. And even that is too much.
# 3. The Dark Knight
Really? Is general opinion, based on absolutely nothing, is more important than actual movie and dictates the rating instead of normal critical analysis? Does usual and established film criticism, evaluating basic cinematic qualities, should be neglected and transformed, instead, into simple popularity contest? Seems like in the case of TDK it is.Nolan can't direct action for shit, the story that he wrote, probably in one week, reeks of total disrespect for viewers intelligence. Big and impressive production can't hold infantile story with no logic, lousy editing, laughable dialogs and logically implausible events.
Two Ferries scene is the lowest point in this film, among many others. The biggest achievement of TDK is the successful publicity that managed to fool everyone, especially film critics that were forced to write positive reviews just to show they understand the movie and they are not too old for their readers. (At least with Watchman it didn't happen.)
This movie is boring, stupid, and has little creative inspirations, just posturing actors in cool costumes, playing with cool gadgets. And since everything so cool and shiny, people are so blinded that they think this movie is actually any good.
Hordes of fans, that only see movies that displayed on "New Releases" shelf in Blockbuster store, never watching any film dated before year 2000, suddenly dictate how film should be reviewed, brutally crushing any opposition. Anyone with eyes can see that TDK has more problems than prisoners in Arkham, but the power of denial makes them ignore anything like that. The wish of belonging to majority, the chase for common cause, the childish desire to worship pop culture trends, all these overcome logic and reason. This self convincing and selective memory is truly a mass psychology phenomena.
The Dark Knight has 9.0 rating on IMDB and 6th place in top 250, but I remember the time when it had 9.5 and it was holding the 1st place. 94% freshness and 8.5 rating on RT.
# 2. The Prestige
Another Nolan's film, indicating my contempt towards this director. And I would put Batman Begins here as well if it was a bigger list. I really liked Memento, but since that film all Nolan shows is bad writing.How can this movie be considered as worth watching is beyond me. I don't even want to spend more time to explain my opinion on this hollow garbage.
8.4 on IMDB and # 83 in top 250 (damn fanboys), 75% freshness and 7.1 rating on RT, which is way, way higher than it should be.
# 1. Gladiator
5 Oscars, including Best actor and Best picture, and another 45 awards this terrible movie have won, is what makes it most overrated movie, probably of all times.Russel Crowe has only two facial expression - one of disgust, the other one of pain. He is walking around, touching with pathos growing millet and making emotional and over the top serious speeches. Pompous music is playing very laud, hiding the complete lack of dramatic substance.
Ridley Scott spent all the money creating sets and decorations without even looking at the script he suppose to direct, the need for spectacular overcomes the need for interesting story, believable characters and rational motives for their actions, something more than just shallow "you killed my family, now prepare to die".
Watching this movie is annoying and embarrassing experience, it is filled with grandiose pathos and mythical heroism, and I can only wonder whether Scott has any sense of humor at all. And what about action, battles and general entertainment value of Gladiator? Despite some mild effort and attempts to make it at least entertaining, the movie fails even in this part. Shaky camera and bad editing create a sense that something big happens, but on the closer look you can't see a thing, just a shiny cover for shallow and unfocused content. Exactly like the entire movie.
8.3 on IMDB, making it #118 in top 250, and 77% freshness with 7 as average rating on RT.
--------------------------------
That is all. I don't think I am alone with such opinions, and from the reactions of other people that I see on the mighty web, many think as I do. Feel free to leave me hate comments.
13 March 2009
Anime Update - First Squad (2009)
A project that I follow for some time now is First Squad - The Moment Of Truth, first original full length Russian anime, created by two Russian guys.Leading Japanese Studio 4°C, responsible in the past for such works as Animatrix, Mind Game, Spriggan, Memories, Tekkon Kinkreet and more, took charge and helped them to realize the idea into life, and it looks like they did incredible job.
The story happens during World War II, and it's about group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities, that have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading German army. They are opposed by an SS officer who is attempting to raise from the dead a supernatural army of crusaders from the 12th-century Order of the Sacred Cross, and enlist them for the Nazi cause.
The project started back in 2007, and this week at Film Market in Moscow, Sony Pictures announced that they have purchased the rights for the film and now decide what to do with it. This is great news because Sony Pictures is one of the major production and distribution companies in the world, and if they purchase rights for something, especially such creative anime, you can be dead sure it will be treated properly. The film is planned to be released in 2009 and I can't wait.
Meantime here is demo trailer to enjoy the senses.
Update: New video clip is available.
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