Slight spoilers, though nothing big.
First of all, it's refreshing to see a Chinese language animation for once. There is so little good Chinese media coming out that I'm happy this exists.
The good things: the animation is very good, a little bland when it comes to the drawing style, but incredibly creative in what it's telling. I really appreciate the Chinese style of mythology and depictions, and there is so much to look at. I also admire them for trying a less generic story.
Now, the story... It's quite messy, unfortunately. There is so Mich happening so quickly, and I can see the animators and storytellers wanting to make an epic story and want to tell so many things, but they try to fit too much into this story. The pacing is incredibly fast, there is at least four or five moments trying to be very emotional and important, but because of the pacing, they lose all their importance.
There is no real villain in this story, which is not a problem, but even when the movie tries to tell me things are at great stake, it doesn't feel like it. Drama also sometimes appear out of nowhere, especially in relation to Qiu.
The relationship between the two main characters is also really hard to pinpoint. There are some good moments, sometimes also moments that do feel real. But again, everything happens too fast, and they act as if they've known each other for years, when it's gone just a couple of days(?). I just don't believe their relationship.
One little note is the score. It's super intense and emotional, and is mostly the typical classical score. But there are a couple of instances where suddenly there's an electric guitar chiming in and it does not fit at all! If it was sci fi or something similar, maybe it would, but not in this overwhelmingly fantasy land.
I hope they do continue animating, because there is such potential here, but it's only the animation saving it from me giving it a 4 star. But if they get some proper writing in, this can be China's (or Taiwan's) new great animation department.
Reviews
11 Reviews
Big Fish & Begonia
(2016)
Great animation department, not so much in the story department
17 October 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Thirst
(2009)
Not as good as I hoped it would be, but worth a watch
26 December 2017
One thing I've noticed with Chan-Wook Park's movies is that his strongest skills lies in the visuals, while sometimes the story has some bigger holes and weaknesses. This is especially the case of Thirst.
I enjoy Chan-Wook Park's movies as any other, I love his visual style. I think my favourite so far is The Handmaiden. Oldboy is also good. First, some complaints.
My problem with this movie is that it doesn't seem to know exactly what it wants to be. It's a bit dark, but not that dark. It's a bit comical and odd, but not that odd or not that comical. It has elements of a long Journey/rise and fall story, but doesn't fill that criteria either. I had quite many problems with the end because it built up to something dramatic (not epic, but quite emotional), but in between of when you know what is going to happen and the ending itsself, there's some odd, misplased comical part (but it also seemed natural at the same time, because of the weird comedy? I have mixed feelings about it), and I didn't believe the way Tae-ju (Ok-bin Kim) acted and reacted to any of it (I feel that's more fault on the screenplay and less on the actress).
The movie jumps a lot in time and has a lot of fades where there's no necessity for fades. One character is about to say something, but then it cuts to something else, one thing happens, and the next there's a misplaced scene right after it. I've seen movies where this kind of editing can work, but in this movie, it just doesn't work that well. There were also a couple of scenes where the action of a character really didn't make sense and wasn't explained in any way.
I like the characters, but some of them (especially Tae-ju) have some strange character arcs that somehow doesn't fit right with me. It works and doesn't work at the same time. They're interesting, but also act strange and unnatural, so it's difficult to know where you have them, and it makes them unpredictable in their behaviour (which, depending on your taste, can be good or bad).
Another complaint is that whoever did the sound design was a little too liberal with the licking/sucking/spit/mouth sounds. I get that it can be emphasized in a vampire movie, but it loses it's effect after the first ten times.
Now, things I liked:
I do like that the movie is a little out of the box when it comes to the vampire theme, although it still follows the more typical love vampire story. There's luckily no "order" or something of vampires, no explanation of where it came from, it just so happens that Sang-hyeon (Kang-ho Song) was unlucky and got the wrong blood. I like the lore in this one, where if he doesn't feed, he starts to become ill almost like a leper.
And my favourite actor in this movie, I have to say, is the mother Lady Ra (Hae-suk Kim). She's plays her character perfectly, she's maleficent and kind of evil, but also really funny (my favourite line by her has to be the very simple and short "Closing time" when the shops closes after no customers for the whole day), loves her son (a little too much), and further out in the film gets more and more interesting.
The visuals are, as always, beautiful. Like I mentioned, Chan-wook Park is really good with visuals, and I'm glad he continues to use it.
The movie is in general enjoyable. I can ignore the oddities, or appreciate them, and enjoy it as a relatively simple movie. I'd say this is a good vampire movie, not great, but worth a watch.
I enjoy Chan-Wook Park's movies as any other, I love his visual style. I think my favourite so far is The Handmaiden. Oldboy is also good. First, some complaints.
My problem with this movie is that it doesn't seem to know exactly what it wants to be. It's a bit dark, but not that dark. It's a bit comical and odd, but not that odd or not that comical. It has elements of a long Journey/rise and fall story, but doesn't fill that criteria either. I had quite many problems with the end because it built up to something dramatic (not epic, but quite emotional), but in between of when you know what is going to happen and the ending itsself, there's some odd, misplased comical part (but it also seemed natural at the same time, because of the weird comedy? I have mixed feelings about it), and I didn't believe the way Tae-ju (Ok-bin Kim) acted and reacted to any of it (I feel that's more fault on the screenplay and less on the actress).
The movie jumps a lot in time and has a lot of fades where there's no necessity for fades. One character is about to say something, but then it cuts to something else, one thing happens, and the next there's a misplaced scene right after it. I've seen movies where this kind of editing can work, but in this movie, it just doesn't work that well. There were also a couple of scenes where the action of a character really didn't make sense and wasn't explained in any way.
I like the characters, but some of them (especially Tae-ju) have some strange character arcs that somehow doesn't fit right with me. It works and doesn't work at the same time. They're interesting, but also act strange and unnatural, so it's difficult to know where you have them, and it makes them unpredictable in their behaviour (which, depending on your taste, can be good or bad).
Another complaint is that whoever did the sound design was a little too liberal with the licking/sucking/spit/mouth sounds. I get that it can be emphasized in a vampire movie, but it loses it's effect after the first ten times.
Now, things I liked:
I do like that the movie is a little out of the box when it comes to the vampire theme, although it still follows the more typical love vampire story. There's luckily no "order" or something of vampires, no explanation of where it came from, it just so happens that Sang-hyeon (Kang-ho Song) was unlucky and got the wrong blood. I like the lore in this one, where if he doesn't feed, he starts to become ill almost like a leper.
And my favourite actor in this movie, I have to say, is the mother Lady Ra (Hae-suk Kim). She's plays her character perfectly, she's maleficent and kind of evil, but also really funny (my favourite line by her has to be the very simple and short "Closing time" when the shops closes after no customers for the whole day), loves her son (a little too much), and further out in the film gets more and more interesting.
The visuals are, as always, beautiful. Like I mentioned, Chan-wook Park is really good with visuals, and I'm glad he continues to use it.
The movie is in general enjoyable. I can ignore the oddities, or appreciate them, and enjoy it as a relatively simple movie. I'd say this is a good vampire movie, not great, but worth a watch.
House
(1977)
Delightful insanity
2 November 2017
This is the kind of movie I would recommend everyone to watch, no matter what kind of movies you like. This isn't a scary horror movie, more of an amazing comedy with probably one of the more creative forms I've seen.
First off, the actors are obviously not trained to be actors. The characters are also absolute idiots, grinded down into the most stereotypical types of characters you can imagine (so much that they are actually named after their main attribute). They are not as much a character as they are pawns in an insane game. The house has more personality than the actual characters.
And this makes for a very entertaining murder spree. I could find myself get annoyed at how mind-boggingly stupid the girls could be, but also at the same time laugh at it all.
The special effects are not something to place in a scale of realistic or not, it's more like watching a moving pop arty art piece, with lots of colours, fast pacing, schizophrenic moods and a lot of funny details.
What is also funny is that if you know that the director has only made commercials before this, you'll notice it. There are some non- sensical shots of waving hair in the wind, strange jingle-like music in the background, very colorful (childish) backgrounds now and then, and some very strange humour I can only assume Japanese commercials do use regularly.
Go watch it, have a drinking game, watch it with your friends, laugh!
First off, the actors are obviously not trained to be actors. The characters are also absolute idiots, grinded down into the most stereotypical types of characters you can imagine (so much that they are actually named after their main attribute). They are not as much a character as they are pawns in an insane game. The house has more personality than the actual characters.
And this makes for a very entertaining murder spree. I could find myself get annoyed at how mind-boggingly stupid the girls could be, but also at the same time laugh at it all.
The special effects are not something to place in a scale of realistic or not, it's more like watching a moving pop arty art piece, with lots of colours, fast pacing, schizophrenic moods and a lot of funny details.
What is also funny is that if you know that the director has only made commercials before this, you'll notice it. There are some non- sensical shots of waving hair in the wind, strange jingle-like music in the background, very colorful (childish) backgrounds now and then, and some very strange humour I can only assume Japanese commercials do use regularly.
Go watch it, have a drinking game, watch it with your friends, laugh!
The Garden of Words
(2013)
A beautiful visual story, with not too much else to tell
11 October 2017
Within the first few seconds, you know you're in for a treat for your eyes. The animation in this movie so well done and pleasing to watch. It's one of the better animations I've seen, at least when it comes to the environment (the people are animated pretty much just like most other anime movies). There are so many details and work put into this.
We meet the boy Takao quickly through his narration. It's both beautiful to listen to and at the same time kind of funny, since he is only 15 and he makes it sound like an angsty diary entry. He like the rain, and shoes. He skips school to go to the park when it rains, where he meets a woman. They seem to have the same idea of going to the park on rainy days. He finds out eventually that he wants to design shoes for her.
The movie is unintentionally funny in its fixation in shoes and feet. In one way, it almost framed in a fetishized way, on the other hand, its very sweet and beautiful to watch.
The movie is very short, so there is not much time for character development or to let the story unravel in a slow pace. I don't know myself why Shinkai didn't make it longer (time or money or both probably), but if he could've made it longer, he should have. It has lots of promise, and would be way more interesting if it could tackle their relationship more, especially based on the massive taboo on age difference in Japan. It misses out on some really good opportunities for telling a deeper story.
There's a climax where there is a lot of feelings and crying going on and it is, unfortunately, bombarded with really loud emotional music. The dialogue is intense and almost violent, and at the same time kind of silly in a strange way. The music almost drowns out the dialogue and there is anger and sadness and love and it all happens so fast and in an intense way it's hard to know what to feel.
I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. It has a lot of potential, the animation, again, is gorgeous, the story is cute, but with not much substance (of course it has some, it tackles some issues of the woman, Yukari, for example, but not deeply enough. Everything is told so fast you'll almost miss it). I do want to see more of Shinkai (this is the first one I see), because I have no doubt he has made things better than this, and I look forward to see it.
We meet the boy Takao quickly through his narration. It's both beautiful to listen to and at the same time kind of funny, since he is only 15 and he makes it sound like an angsty diary entry. He like the rain, and shoes. He skips school to go to the park when it rains, where he meets a woman. They seem to have the same idea of going to the park on rainy days. He finds out eventually that he wants to design shoes for her.
The movie is unintentionally funny in its fixation in shoes and feet. In one way, it almost framed in a fetishized way, on the other hand, its very sweet and beautiful to watch.
The movie is very short, so there is not much time for character development or to let the story unravel in a slow pace. I don't know myself why Shinkai didn't make it longer (time or money or both probably), but if he could've made it longer, he should have. It has lots of promise, and would be way more interesting if it could tackle their relationship more, especially based on the massive taboo on age difference in Japan. It misses out on some really good opportunities for telling a deeper story.
There's a climax where there is a lot of feelings and crying going on and it is, unfortunately, bombarded with really loud emotional music. The dialogue is intense and almost violent, and at the same time kind of silly in a strange way. The music almost drowns out the dialogue and there is anger and sadness and love and it all happens so fast and in an intense way it's hard to know what to feel.
I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. It has a lot of potential, the animation, again, is gorgeous, the story is cute, but with not much substance (of course it has some, it tackles some issues of the woman, Yukari, for example, but not deeply enough. Everything is told so fast you'll almost miss it). I do want to see more of Shinkai (this is the first one I see), because I have no doubt he has made things better than this, and I look forward to see it.
Eyes of Laura Mars
(1978)
Promising plot, though lacks what it takes to be great
9 October 2017
I think Faye Dunaway is the best part of the movie. This is the second movie I see her in and she does a good job, but most of her character is about being afraid and have "visions".
I do like the premise of the plot, it sounds sort of supernatural in an old fashioned way combined with crime thriller. However, the way it works on screen is not too interesting. We have Faye Dunaway being a controversial photographer, taking pictures of models we don't really get to know. The models are the targets for the murderer here, and we don't really care too much about the girls because we don't get to know them before they're disposed of like eggshells.
Tommy Lee Jones is good, not great (he's young in this one, and we know he's become better), and he's one of the few people I've seen who looks somewhat good with a unibrow.
I have really liked Raul Julia in his later role as Gomez in The Addams Family, but in this one he's stiff as a stick. I don't think he knows how he wants to act in this one, which is unfortunate.
Of course this is a very typical crime romance, so we do get a romance plot, which does come out of nowhere, after the two lovers have met maybe four or five times, and nothing builds up to them suddenly being consumed by sudden lust and love. It's getting boring to watch these kind of plots.
There is a "twist" here of course, when it comes to guessing who's the murderer. The "twist" is pretty much impossible to guess because the movie doesn't put out clues, it just keeps you guessing wildly until you only have one or two left to think about. And the nature of the "twist" is lazy, it throws in some little understood mental illness in there to make it more nuts but also more compassionate, but it has literally no build-up until you get a symbolic (and vaguely verbal) answer of what's going in inside the killer's head. I'll throw in, though, the shot "explaining" what's going on with the killer and has all along is a really cool one, when it stands alone.
It's never explained what really happens to Laura Mars, with her visions and why. I don't think we necessarily need to get an explanation, but it's not really played with enough or talked about, it just happens that she sees from the killer's point of view. She explains it once to Tommy Lee Jones' character, but he doesn't really question it or talk about the subject at all (they just start goofing around with a camera that she used to illustrate her visions). It could at least be a little bit explained or played more with.
This movie has many good things, but it doesn't explore enough. It has lots of pretty women that has basically no character and more used for eye-candy, the script itself is nothing really spectacular, some acting is off, some is pretty good, the suspense is there, but never really gets high enough.
I do like the premise of the plot, it sounds sort of supernatural in an old fashioned way combined with crime thriller. However, the way it works on screen is not too interesting. We have Faye Dunaway being a controversial photographer, taking pictures of models we don't really get to know. The models are the targets for the murderer here, and we don't really care too much about the girls because we don't get to know them before they're disposed of like eggshells.
Tommy Lee Jones is good, not great (he's young in this one, and we know he's become better), and he's one of the few people I've seen who looks somewhat good with a unibrow.
I have really liked Raul Julia in his later role as Gomez in The Addams Family, but in this one he's stiff as a stick. I don't think he knows how he wants to act in this one, which is unfortunate.
Of course this is a very typical crime romance, so we do get a romance plot, which does come out of nowhere, after the two lovers have met maybe four or five times, and nothing builds up to them suddenly being consumed by sudden lust and love. It's getting boring to watch these kind of plots.
There is a "twist" here of course, when it comes to guessing who's the murderer. The "twist" is pretty much impossible to guess because the movie doesn't put out clues, it just keeps you guessing wildly until you only have one or two left to think about. And the nature of the "twist" is lazy, it throws in some little understood mental illness in there to make it more nuts but also more compassionate, but it has literally no build-up until you get a symbolic (and vaguely verbal) answer of what's going in inside the killer's head. I'll throw in, though, the shot "explaining" what's going on with the killer and has all along is a really cool one, when it stands alone.
It's never explained what really happens to Laura Mars, with her visions and why. I don't think we necessarily need to get an explanation, but it's not really played with enough or talked about, it just happens that she sees from the killer's point of view. She explains it once to Tommy Lee Jones' character, but he doesn't really question it or talk about the subject at all (they just start goofing around with a camera that she used to illustrate her visions). It could at least be a little bit explained or played more with.
This movie has many good things, but it doesn't explore enough. It has lots of pretty women that has basically no character and more used for eye-candy, the script itself is nothing really spectacular, some acting is off, some is pretty good, the suspense is there, but never really gets high enough.
A slightly better version than the original and with some chilling moments
8 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this a few days after I saw the original, since it's this one I've heard the most praise for. I'm conflicted in how I watch horror movies compared to other movies, because people who love horror movies almost indiscriminately look for other qualities in horror movies than in other types of genres. I'm in a little bit of both, I look for quality in several things, but there are some things I forgive more in horror movies than I normally would. This review will also compare it to the original quite much since it's so fresh in memory, but I'll try to avoid doing it too much.
I found this one better than the original. It has some flaws itself, going to get into that, but it has some moments that I found more genuinely chilling.
Like the first one, this didn't scare me (I'm 23 as I write this), as in it's not going to make it hard to sleep. But I don't really look for it to scare me, but to catch my interest, it doesn't have to be scary, just intriguing. And this movie has many really intriguing moments.
I still like the special effects, even more in this than the original (naturally, better resources in the 70's than the 50's). The body they find in this version is way more convincing and unsettling than in the original (where it looks like more or less a normal person, without any close-ups). The pods are even nastier and the bodies coming out are even creepier.
Though I have to already here file a complaint that this movie does wrong like the first one: there seems to be few stated "rules" for how the bodies work. The first we see are motionless, doesn't breathe or make any sounds (except one time where it opens its eyes, then closes them again). The same with the second, although the second body has plants surrounding it. Now the third time we see them, they come out of the pods, and the move A LOT and makes a lot of noise. Plus they develop super fast it seems. It's probably for a scare effect (it works, though, it's super creepy) but the movie seems to forget the rules it has set for the bodies so far.
Most of the actors are really good, like Sutherland, and Adams. Even Jeff Goldblum is quite fun to watch with his odd personality. I also do get a good sense of the friendship between Sutherland's character and Adams's character. They smile and laugh together with a kind of chemistry I don't often see in these kinds of movies. There's also a great warmth in Sutherland's way of just being.
This film is also very, very dark, and I'm not talking about the theme now, I'm talking light. I think it's both good and sometimes not-so-good. Sometimes I can barely see what's going on, other times, it works perfectly.
One thing, like in the first one, people seem to very quickly come to the conclusion that "my husband/uncle aren't my husband/uncle". There is some more hints of them not necessarily meaning it literally in this version, without any big changes in the script, but how they say it. They seem to think something's wrong instead of just concluding that yep, they're impostors. But it's very quickly thrown into the movie. It's forgivable I guess, since it's a horror movie and the audience wants the suspense, not deep three dimensional characters pondering about what is happening.
Another thing, going back to the "rules" of how the pods and new bodies work, there's the scene with Elisabeth turning. She falls asleep at last from exhaustion, then seems to turn into a crumbled human shell (a thing we haven't seen before now). Then out of nowhere, the new Elisabeth pops up, naked, behind Matthew. Where was the pod she came from? How did it happen so quickly? It happens in a kind of weird way that doesn't seem too well thought through. Sorry, but just bad decisions, I was hoping that the director would come up with a better solution, but it was just as lazy as in the original.
I have to say, though, I really like the shrieks, it makes the body snatchers seem more alien than they look like. It's a chilling sound, and there are some shrieks really early in the movie even before one is really introduced to the concept of them shrieking to draw attention to humans. And really, the very ending of this movie the best part of the whole movie, because even though I already knew about the ending, I was really looking forward to seeing it, and I still felt a little shiver.
The movie has several flaws, but it's very much worth a watch if you like sci-fi, horror, alien movies or just like movies from the 70's, where both many great films and plenty of awful movies also were made. But there are few decades that escapes having made bad movies of course.
I found this one better than the original. It has some flaws itself, going to get into that, but it has some moments that I found more genuinely chilling.
Like the first one, this didn't scare me (I'm 23 as I write this), as in it's not going to make it hard to sleep. But I don't really look for it to scare me, but to catch my interest, it doesn't have to be scary, just intriguing. And this movie has many really intriguing moments.
I still like the special effects, even more in this than the original (naturally, better resources in the 70's than the 50's). The body they find in this version is way more convincing and unsettling than in the original (where it looks like more or less a normal person, without any close-ups). The pods are even nastier and the bodies coming out are even creepier.
Though I have to already here file a complaint that this movie does wrong like the first one: there seems to be few stated "rules" for how the bodies work. The first we see are motionless, doesn't breathe or make any sounds (except one time where it opens its eyes, then closes them again). The same with the second, although the second body has plants surrounding it. Now the third time we see them, they come out of the pods, and the move A LOT and makes a lot of noise. Plus they develop super fast it seems. It's probably for a scare effect (it works, though, it's super creepy) but the movie seems to forget the rules it has set for the bodies so far.
Most of the actors are really good, like Sutherland, and Adams. Even Jeff Goldblum is quite fun to watch with his odd personality. I also do get a good sense of the friendship between Sutherland's character and Adams's character. They smile and laugh together with a kind of chemistry I don't often see in these kinds of movies. There's also a great warmth in Sutherland's way of just being.
This film is also very, very dark, and I'm not talking about the theme now, I'm talking light. I think it's both good and sometimes not-so-good. Sometimes I can barely see what's going on, other times, it works perfectly.
One thing, like in the first one, people seem to very quickly come to the conclusion that "my husband/uncle aren't my husband/uncle". There is some more hints of them not necessarily meaning it literally in this version, without any big changes in the script, but how they say it. They seem to think something's wrong instead of just concluding that yep, they're impostors. But it's very quickly thrown into the movie. It's forgivable I guess, since it's a horror movie and the audience wants the suspense, not deep three dimensional characters pondering about what is happening.
Another thing, going back to the "rules" of how the pods and new bodies work, there's the scene with Elisabeth turning. She falls asleep at last from exhaustion, then seems to turn into a crumbled human shell (a thing we haven't seen before now). Then out of nowhere, the new Elisabeth pops up, naked, behind Matthew. Where was the pod she came from? How did it happen so quickly? It happens in a kind of weird way that doesn't seem too well thought through. Sorry, but just bad decisions, I was hoping that the director would come up with a better solution, but it was just as lazy as in the original.
I have to say, though, I really like the shrieks, it makes the body snatchers seem more alien than they look like. It's a chilling sound, and there are some shrieks really early in the movie even before one is really introduced to the concept of them shrieking to draw attention to humans. And really, the very ending of this movie the best part of the whole movie, because even though I already knew about the ending, I was really looking forward to seeing it, and I still felt a little shiver.
The movie has several flaws, but it's very much worth a watch if you like sci-fi, horror, alien movies or just like movies from the 70's, where both many great films and plenty of awful movies also were made. But there are few decades that escapes having made bad movies of course.
A not-so-bad sci-fi horror with some funny old time quirks
8 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I decided to watch this one before the remake of 1978. I enjoy old time horror movies, they never scare me, but they can be fun to watch, either if they still hold up in some way or if they're so bad they're funny.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (amazing title btw) is lovable, though it doesn't hold too well into the 21st century. But I'll start with the things I like.
There is a sort of noire like quality to it, not necessarily by plot, but just by how it looks, at least at night. I love the shot in the basement where Dr. Bennell finds the duplicate of Becky.
The movie in itself is about a very unsettling topic, even if the movie itself doesn't scare as well as it might have back then. The concept of knowing people you know and love turn into mindless "robots"/"zombies"/"inhumans" is definitely scary.
I really liked the special effects on the pods. Really well made for the time. The effects for the unfinished body they find in the beginning is not something to brag about, but I forgive it.
The scene where the pods are given out to people by trucks works also really well. It's quiet, but we observe the whole arrangement, and realize how quickly it has become really bad.
Also, bonus, surprisingly, this movie passes the Bechdel test.
What I do find kind of (unintentionally) funny is the fact that it's like these characters know what kind of movie they're in. By that I mean that it takes little to no time before we're introduced to the whole "my uncle is not my uncle" thing, without any sort of build-up or any other theories. He doesn't act like normal, therefore he is an impostor, obviously. The same with the body they find at the Belicec house. I found it that they conclude a little to fast that this body isn't human. They don't realize that the body is a duplicate, but make assumptions only based on similarities in height and probably weight between the body and Jack, which I find kind of funny.
The rules of how the whole transformation from normal human being to body double/alien doesn't seem to have grounded rules. We're introduced to that it takes a bit of time for a pod to produce a body, maybe not days, but maybe one day or some hours. But when Becky is finally turned, it happens in a matter of a couple of minutes, and there is no pod in sight either (it seems especially out of place since they're hiding in a cave).
There's also some discontinuity in the scene where Becky and Miles are met by some of the aliens and pods are brought in to replace them. They're told they're gonna lose, the pods are brought in and put in another room, the other aliens/body snatchers go into the room with the pods, then Becky and Miles sit and are sad about their situation, but kind of as if they're trapped in the room, which they aren't at all. There's one other outside the door in the hallway, they can easily run away. When they do however overpower the body snatchers, they don't even bother to burn the pods. So the whole scene seems half-hearted, they're never really trapped, they could just run out of the room after the other two went into the room with the pods.
All in all, it's an old horror/suspense movie with the charms of an old horror movie. It's not scary, but it's a nice watch, not particularly brilliant, but with several parts that catch the eye and attention, and plenty that are more boring, not because it's slow, but because of how they handle the situations.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (amazing title btw) is lovable, though it doesn't hold too well into the 21st century. But I'll start with the things I like.
There is a sort of noire like quality to it, not necessarily by plot, but just by how it looks, at least at night. I love the shot in the basement where Dr. Bennell finds the duplicate of Becky.
The movie in itself is about a very unsettling topic, even if the movie itself doesn't scare as well as it might have back then. The concept of knowing people you know and love turn into mindless "robots"/"zombies"/"inhumans" is definitely scary.
I really liked the special effects on the pods. Really well made for the time. The effects for the unfinished body they find in the beginning is not something to brag about, but I forgive it.
The scene where the pods are given out to people by trucks works also really well. It's quiet, but we observe the whole arrangement, and realize how quickly it has become really bad.
Also, bonus, surprisingly, this movie passes the Bechdel test.
What I do find kind of (unintentionally) funny is the fact that it's like these characters know what kind of movie they're in. By that I mean that it takes little to no time before we're introduced to the whole "my uncle is not my uncle" thing, without any sort of build-up or any other theories. He doesn't act like normal, therefore he is an impostor, obviously. The same with the body they find at the Belicec house. I found it that they conclude a little to fast that this body isn't human. They don't realize that the body is a duplicate, but make assumptions only based on similarities in height and probably weight between the body and Jack, which I find kind of funny.
The rules of how the whole transformation from normal human being to body double/alien doesn't seem to have grounded rules. We're introduced to that it takes a bit of time for a pod to produce a body, maybe not days, but maybe one day or some hours. But when Becky is finally turned, it happens in a matter of a couple of minutes, and there is no pod in sight either (it seems especially out of place since they're hiding in a cave).
There's also some discontinuity in the scene where Becky and Miles are met by some of the aliens and pods are brought in to replace them. They're told they're gonna lose, the pods are brought in and put in another room, the other aliens/body snatchers go into the room with the pods, then Becky and Miles sit and are sad about their situation, but kind of as if they're trapped in the room, which they aren't at all. There's one other outside the door in the hallway, they can easily run away. When they do however overpower the body snatchers, they don't even bother to burn the pods. So the whole scene seems half-hearted, they're never really trapped, they could just run out of the room after the other two went into the room with the pods.
All in all, it's an old horror/suspense movie with the charms of an old horror movie. It's not scary, but it's a nice watch, not particularly brilliant, but with several parts that catch the eye and attention, and plenty that are more boring, not because it's slow, but because of how they handle the situations.
Chico & Rita
(2009)
Beautifully animated, great music, though it has some problems with characters
21 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This is definitely a movie worth watching. It has one of the more beautiful animations I've seen in an animated movie. Amazingly the animated Cuba is almost an exact replica of the real Cuba in the 1940's, which is some real dedication!
The music is also incredibly soothing to listen to. This is probably one of the best soundtracks I've heard to an animated movie. Cuban jazz, a little blues and some really relaxing slow jazz. It's a joy to listen to.
There's one thing about this movie that pulls it down for me, and that is, unfortunately, the characters. Chico is straight down unlikeable to me, I really do not understand why Rita likes him. Maybe because of their shared love for music, but other than that he doesn't exactly have too many charming sides of him. He flirts with her, she rejects him, he follows her, she rejects him, she sees him play piano at a fancy place, she likes him. Then they get together, she finds out he has another woman, she splits (as well as the other woman), then (because of music?) they get back together like nothing's happened, but then he gets jealous of her wanting to make it big, she wants him, but for some reason, the other woman has found him again and has claimed him again (without knowing why she wants him) and this goes on and on. And Chico says at some point to Rita: "I know I've been a jerk, but I'm here now and I love you!". No apology, no explanation, no effort to make it better, he just expects her to be happy he's there.
In short Chico is kind of a douche, and Rita is very easily turned over.
There are some holes here and there. We don't know why Chico's friend Hermano betrays him (except he might have been jealous, but we don't really know). Why did Rita stay in Vegas? To wait for Chico apparently (Rita doesn't really DO anything in the movie, things happen to her mostly).
In the end, I did enjoy this movie, despite its flaws with character and story. There are some tiny moments I wish they'd animate in here and there. Things progress really fast in this movie, but I can understand that since it's only one and a half hour long and it's animated with lots of details. The ending is not what I would expect, it's a little lazy.
But watch it, it's still worth it
The music is also incredibly soothing to listen to. This is probably one of the best soundtracks I've heard to an animated movie. Cuban jazz, a little blues and some really relaxing slow jazz. It's a joy to listen to.
There's one thing about this movie that pulls it down for me, and that is, unfortunately, the characters. Chico is straight down unlikeable to me, I really do not understand why Rita likes him. Maybe because of their shared love for music, but other than that he doesn't exactly have too many charming sides of him. He flirts with her, she rejects him, he follows her, she rejects him, she sees him play piano at a fancy place, she likes him. Then they get together, she finds out he has another woman, she splits (as well as the other woman), then (because of music?) they get back together like nothing's happened, but then he gets jealous of her wanting to make it big, she wants him, but for some reason, the other woman has found him again and has claimed him again (without knowing why she wants him) and this goes on and on. And Chico says at some point to Rita: "I know I've been a jerk, but I'm here now and I love you!". No apology, no explanation, no effort to make it better, he just expects her to be happy he's there.
In short Chico is kind of a douche, and Rita is very easily turned over.
There are some holes here and there. We don't know why Chico's friend Hermano betrays him (except he might have been jealous, but we don't really know). Why did Rita stay in Vegas? To wait for Chico apparently (Rita doesn't really DO anything in the movie, things happen to her mostly).
In the end, I did enjoy this movie, despite its flaws with character and story. There are some tiny moments I wish they'd animate in here and there. Things progress really fast in this movie, but I can understand that since it's only one and a half hour long and it's animated with lots of details. The ending is not what I would expect, it's a little lazy.
But watch it, it's still worth it
Battle Royale
(2000)
Worth a watch!
30 October 2016
This movie was pretty funny, actually, and it's very overloaded, but it's entertaining.
The movie's "weak points" (although they don't have to be) is it's script with over-the-top drama, funny lines (especially the "last words lines" some of the characters have) and stereotypical characters (Silent Bad Guy With The Hair; Main Male Character With A Tragic Past But A Strong Sense Of Justice) and the sublime over-acting. This is not my first Japanese movie (and not the first Japanese action movie either), and this acting would definitely be considered bad, but equally hilarious and even sometimes engaging and entertaining. The only actor I can think of that is not too bad is Takeshi Kitano, in his role as the teacher.
The characters are not very strong, there are some weird plot holes it seems, there is A LOT of screaming of dialogue. It does portray briefly Japan's obsession with "cute" things (like the Info Video Girl), which I think in this context really shows how creepy and weird that can be. It also can bring some of the thoughts to Japan's problem with the increasing senior population and problems with keeping its students in school.
I don't think this movie should be taken too seriously, but just enjoyed for the fun of movie watching. I don't know if the director took it seriously, but this is definitely worth a watch and you should be able to laugh about it.
Take drinking games every time somebody starts screaming dialogue, don't hit their targets (although it should've been VERY easy), somebody says some weird/sentimental last words before dying, The Bad Guy is being very typical Bad Guy, a character reveals something about themselves without anyone asking or when there's a very dramatic close-up of the actor's face and their expression of terror/sentimentality/incredible sadness.
The movie's "weak points" (although they don't have to be) is it's script with over-the-top drama, funny lines (especially the "last words lines" some of the characters have) and stereotypical characters (Silent Bad Guy With The Hair; Main Male Character With A Tragic Past But A Strong Sense Of Justice) and the sublime over-acting. This is not my first Japanese movie (and not the first Japanese action movie either), and this acting would definitely be considered bad, but equally hilarious and even sometimes engaging and entertaining. The only actor I can think of that is not too bad is Takeshi Kitano, in his role as the teacher.
The characters are not very strong, there are some weird plot holes it seems, there is A LOT of screaming of dialogue. It does portray briefly Japan's obsession with "cute" things (like the Info Video Girl), which I think in this context really shows how creepy and weird that can be. It also can bring some of the thoughts to Japan's problem with the increasing senior population and problems with keeping its students in school.
I don't think this movie should be taken too seriously, but just enjoyed for the fun of movie watching. I don't know if the director took it seriously, but this is definitely worth a watch and you should be able to laugh about it.
Take drinking games every time somebody starts screaming dialogue, don't hit their targets (although it should've been VERY easy), somebody says some weird/sentimental last words before dying, The Bad Guy is being very typical Bad Guy, a character reveals something about themselves without anyone asking or when there's a very dramatic close-up of the actor's face and their expression of terror/sentimentality/incredible sadness.
Burlesque
(I) (2010)
Incredibly obvious, bad script, good musical numbers
8 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This is a chick flick to the bone. Now I'm not usually a fan of chick flicks, so obviously I don't like this movie.
The script is a huge cliché and it has all been done before, and you're gonna guess what happens very quickly. Small-town-girl with big dreams, goes to the city, doesn't have to fight long to get that star role she wants, has a jealous female enemy, love triangle, gets the hot guy, relationship problems follow very shortly, girl solves problems, forgives the guy and everything is fine again. The end.
The only strong parts about this movie is it's musical numbers, obviously, since that is Christina Aguilera's strong side. Since she's a pop star already, she's obligated to be a character that sings in her first (and hopefully last) movie. I'm not against singers in movies, and Aguilera is definitely not the worst I've seen, but her character is so thin and without depth that it goes bad anyway.
The songs are good (except the ones they obviously put in to have Cher and Christina sing about their current state of mind), the dancing is very nice and the costumes dashing. I only wish I had seen more of Alan Cumming. His number with the two girls were very similar to the "Two Ladies" number Cabaret. Also, the first scene in the Burlesque club is also a huge reference/rip off to Cabaret's first musical number, which sort of made me a little excited. The biggest problem I have with this movie is that the whole Burlesque club is filled with glitter and expensive costumes and enormous props, and let's face it, Tess's financial problems could've been solved right away if she got rid of even half of those stuff and just toned down the club a bit. It would still be good, the dancer's wouldn't be any worse and it's still easy to make it look good. You don't have to make a Broadway musical to make a show good.
I love the art of burlesque (both the old kind and the new kind), and this is NOT burlesque. It is a cabaret, with a little burlesque dancing. But they had to make this movie available to all the teen girls who love Aguilera out there, so actual burlesque was probably out of the question.
This movie isn't horrible, but it can't be watched with a serious eye. The poor plot and the thin script is laughable and even with great music numbers, the incredible cheesiness of it all makes me not want to see this movie again.
The script is a huge cliché and it has all been done before, and you're gonna guess what happens very quickly. Small-town-girl with big dreams, goes to the city, doesn't have to fight long to get that star role she wants, has a jealous female enemy, love triangle, gets the hot guy, relationship problems follow very shortly, girl solves problems, forgives the guy and everything is fine again. The end.
The only strong parts about this movie is it's musical numbers, obviously, since that is Christina Aguilera's strong side. Since she's a pop star already, she's obligated to be a character that sings in her first (and hopefully last) movie. I'm not against singers in movies, and Aguilera is definitely not the worst I've seen, but her character is so thin and without depth that it goes bad anyway.
The songs are good (except the ones they obviously put in to have Cher and Christina sing about their current state of mind), the dancing is very nice and the costumes dashing. I only wish I had seen more of Alan Cumming. His number with the two girls were very similar to the "Two Ladies" number Cabaret. Also, the first scene in the Burlesque club is also a huge reference/rip off to Cabaret's first musical number, which sort of made me a little excited. The biggest problem I have with this movie is that the whole Burlesque club is filled with glitter and expensive costumes and enormous props, and let's face it, Tess's financial problems could've been solved right away if she got rid of even half of those stuff and just toned down the club a bit. It would still be good, the dancer's wouldn't be any worse and it's still easy to make it look good. You don't have to make a Broadway musical to make a show good.
I love the art of burlesque (both the old kind and the new kind), and this is NOT burlesque. It is a cabaret, with a little burlesque dancing. But they had to make this movie available to all the teen girls who love Aguilera out there, so actual burlesque was probably out of the question.
This movie isn't horrible, but it can't be watched with a serious eye. The poor plot and the thin script is laughable and even with great music numbers, the incredible cheesiness of it all makes me not want to see this movie again.
Bram Stoker's Dracula
(1992)
Love it or hate it, but I can't believe some people actually love this
18 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I've been in love with the Dracula story for a long time now. Bela Lugosi as Dracula was just my cup of tea. Yes, it was a long time ago and the acting was more overdone than today, but I still loved it to my heart. And then I watched this. I love Gary Oldman, I adore Keanu Reeves, and I worship Anthony Hopkins. ALL of them were terrible in this movie. All. of. them! How is this even possible? And don't even let me start on Winona Ryder. I've really, really tried to like her since I saw her in Beetlejuice. But everything else she did just doesn't to it for me. I'm doing this as a review of the movie as a movie, not an adaptation of the book.
The movie was really boring to watch. The curves of action and interesting stuff happening had not pattern what so ever. It looked very interesting in the trailer, especially when I heard Oldman's laughter as Dracula, but I was really disappointed.
The acting. Oh god the acting. I don't know where to start. I really cringed and sat with a "what the deuce"-expression in my face during the Dracula's Brides-scene with Keanu Reeves being seduced by some horny naked vampires. I get it, vampires are sexy nowadays, especially the women. I get the seduction. But really? He only looked at them and BOOM he looked like he was getting the pleasure of his life. And when he overly dramatically said "Music!? Those ANIMALS!?", after Gary Oldman had said the famous "The children of the night! What music they make!"- line, and it sounded like he said it without having nostrils, I really couldn't take any of them seriously at all.
Gary Oldman has a huge repertoire as an actor and it is just awesome! But what happened here Oldman? Where you drunk? Did you eat something that made your bowel movements go "oops"? Did you watch some kind of sad children's movie before you got on set? Because it sure looks like you did these things. Him as Dracula did just not work at all! I don't know what I should say about the accent, too thick for my taste. I have no idea what a Transylvanian accent sounds like, but I didn't like it this time.
Anthony Hopkins didn't make it to me either. I love his action usually, but here something happened to him. He was fitting as a Van Helsing, he did it OK, but there was no real feeling to it. It felt like he was just thrown into the movie by Coppola, saying to him: "Could you just do this scene very quickly? Then you can go home".
And Winona Ryder. Poor girl really can't act any more. There is this dead, boring aura around here that won't go away. It's like she knows there is a camera there and she wants to shine as the best actress you'll ever see. She wants to be Meryl Streep, but she is and stays Winona Ryder. No more. And I think the scene where she finds out that "her love" is Dracula and he killed Lucy. She cries for less than fifteen seconds. Then she clumsily, and very unromantically, says "I love you". And the "Take me away from all this death" line? Uhm, honey, you're talking to Dracula. He kills people every bloody night. You want to be a part of him forever? You're gonna have a bad time.
And Sadie Frost: stop acting like you're in an adult movie. Getting bitten in the neck and being sick isn't pleasurable, like you make it sound. It is supposed to hurt, not give you pleasure spasms.
And I can't even say how annoyed I was by some of the "special effects". The blood coming out from Dracula's "torso", his wrinkled face floating in the sky like in a badly made goth metal band's album cover,
I could rant about so much more, but I have one thing I want to say did go well. The makeup. Dracula's form as a bat and an old man was actually pretty scary. Whoever did the makeup made Dracula look frightening and threatening, which I don't see too often. The same with Lucy's vampire makeup. Maybe a bit overdone (we're talking the whitest of the white faces you'll ever see), but scary. I just got annoyed by thinking of the poor child being so frightened of her that they had to really, really sweet talk with her to do the scene. But credits and stars to the makeup artists. Thumbs down and shaking of heads to the rest, especially you Coppola. You did great with the Godfather. Don't ever make vampire movies again, please.
The movie was really boring to watch. The curves of action and interesting stuff happening had not pattern what so ever. It looked very interesting in the trailer, especially when I heard Oldman's laughter as Dracula, but I was really disappointed.
The acting. Oh god the acting. I don't know where to start. I really cringed and sat with a "what the deuce"-expression in my face during the Dracula's Brides-scene with Keanu Reeves being seduced by some horny naked vampires. I get it, vampires are sexy nowadays, especially the women. I get the seduction. But really? He only looked at them and BOOM he looked like he was getting the pleasure of his life. And when he overly dramatically said "Music!? Those ANIMALS!?", after Gary Oldman had said the famous "The children of the night! What music they make!"- line, and it sounded like he said it without having nostrils, I really couldn't take any of them seriously at all.
Gary Oldman has a huge repertoire as an actor and it is just awesome! But what happened here Oldman? Where you drunk? Did you eat something that made your bowel movements go "oops"? Did you watch some kind of sad children's movie before you got on set? Because it sure looks like you did these things. Him as Dracula did just not work at all! I don't know what I should say about the accent, too thick for my taste. I have no idea what a Transylvanian accent sounds like, but I didn't like it this time.
Anthony Hopkins didn't make it to me either. I love his action usually, but here something happened to him. He was fitting as a Van Helsing, he did it OK, but there was no real feeling to it. It felt like he was just thrown into the movie by Coppola, saying to him: "Could you just do this scene very quickly? Then you can go home".
And Winona Ryder. Poor girl really can't act any more. There is this dead, boring aura around here that won't go away. It's like she knows there is a camera there and she wants to shine as the best actress you'll ever see. She wants to be Meryl Streep, but she is and stays Winona Ryder. No more. And I think the scene where she finds out that "her love" is Dracula and he killed Lucy. She cries for less than fifteen seconds. Then she clumsily, and very unromantically, says "I love you". And the "Take me away from all this death" line? Uhm, honey, you're talking to Dracula. He kills people every bloody night. You want to be a part of him forever? You're gonna have a bad time.
And Sadie Frost: stop acting like you're in an adult movie. Getting bitten in the neck and being sick isn't pleasurable, like you make it sound. It is supposed to hurt, not give you pleasure spasms.
And I can't even say how annoyed I was by some of the "special effects". The blood coming out from Dracula's "torso", his wrinkled face floating in the sky like in a badly made goth metal band's album cover,
I could rant about so much more, but I have one thing I want to say did go well. The makeup. Dracula's form as a bat and an old man was actually pretty scary. Whoever did the makeup made Dracula look frightening and threatening, which I don't see too often. The same with Lucy's vampire makeup. Maybe a bit overdone (we're talking the whitest of the white faces you'll ever see), but scary. I just got annoyed by thinking of the poor child being so frightened of her that they had to really, really sweet talk with her to do the scene. But credits and stars to the makeup artists. Thumbs down and shaking of heads to the rest, especially you Coppola. You did great with the Godfather. Don't ever make vampire movies again, please.
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