Oh yeah, it is silly. Like I said it isn't a good movie, but I sure enjoyed it.Originally Posted by JMG
Oh yeah, it is silly. Like I said it isn't a good movie, but I sure enjoyed it.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy
Most recently:
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (not as good as some folks will try to tell you it is)
Dredd (not bad, actually)
Fellini's Roma (filling out my '70s Fellini)
Annie Get Your Gun (the 6-year-old has discovered the joys of the movie musical)
Killer Joe (pretty good until its roots as a play start showing)
rewatched star wars and the empire strikes back in the last few days. i've seen each a dozen+ times, but this was the first time in at least 10 years. a new hope left me kind of flabbergasted—it's pretty bad. some great stuff in it, but lucas' greatest achievement there was the set design. i'm not enough of a nerd to know if he invented modern sci-fi fantasy there, but he certainly made it mainstream. but he's a lousy director, such a bare-bones plot for something that would eventually lead to the sprawling [i]star wars[i] universe. and leia and luke are terrible protagonists, petulant and adolescent in the worst ways.
empire is considerably better. it's more intimate, the relationships between the characters are more fully formed, the stakes are lower on a cosmic scale but seem more real—as in, han solo getting frozen in carbon here is more affecting than the destruction of alderan in the first movie. better light-sabre fights, and the battle on hoth might be the high point of the whole series. plus, boba fett!
at least he's not writing about metal this week
i've mused over the "petulant and adolescent" thing before and wondered, considering how the trilogy played out, if it was deft character arc setup or if it was a stumble backwards into genius sort of thing. having now seen how lucas dealt with anakin's development, i'm pretty sure i know the answer.
oh yeah—i remember thinking during episode III that the dark side of the force is pretty much a tantrum.
i'll be damned if i'll ever give george lucas credit for being deft at anything.
at least he's not writing about metal this week
after a month of binge-watching all 7 seasons of the west wing, i have returned to movies. sort of.
justice league: doom - the bruce timm helmed dc animated features are usually good, and this one may be the best i've seen so far. the action set pieces are typically great, but even the lulls are beautifully drawn and framed. nathan fillion again proves he makes a great lantern.
a couple of Lee G-approved men-in-the-wild gems: cornel wilde's 1966 african adventure the naked prey and the terrifying australian rediscovered classic wake in fright.
wake seems pretty unforgettable, and a huge influence on contemporary oz horror/thrillers like wolf creek and the snow town murders.
also: oslo, august 31st, which was elegant and sad but a little slight.
at least he's not writing about metal this week
nerd out.
batman: year one - from what i can tell, a nearly frame for frame rendition of the miller/mazzuchelli story. really tastefully animated. great voice acting cast including eliza dushku, jon polito, alex rocco, and bryan cranston as jim gordon ftw.
superman vs. the elite & all-star superman - i'm fascinated by the use of the supes mythos to tell big, psychedelic morality tales. more terrific animation, very stylized.
doctor strange - one of the better marvel features, but they're still way behind dc's curve. vacillates pretty wildly between imaginative and clunky. for starters, they need to pony up for more north korean tweeners.
also...
restoration - was this downey jr's first movie-carrying role? kinda hokey, but not prohibitively so. like the warm-hearted, hollywood version of barry lyndon, with a much better lead. ryan o'neal can suck it.
Doom was good, and the v. The Elites is next on my radar. All Star Superman was a pretty spot on translation of the source that I consider to be one of the better DC direct titles. I thought Dr. Strange was a good attempt, but you are right, Marvel can't turn em out like DC. Although, their animated TV series are getting pretty top notch (The Avengers, for example, is a really good cartoon), but I would easily claim not nearly up to the standards set by Batman, Superman, or JLU and not nearly as fun as The Brave and the Bold.
That said, as much as I enjoy the DC animated films, I don't think they have wowed me as much as the earlier releases, Green Lantern First Flight, Wonder Woman, Justice League New Frontier. Still, they all are pretty enjoyable.
And yes, Fillion as GL is great, but I think James Woods as Owlman in Crisis on Two Earths worked out so much better than I ever thought it could. Also, Nolan North does a great Lantern, but then again, he and Fillion have the exact same damn voice imo.
"It's a good thing there isn't a commandment in the Decalogue that simply says "Don't Be an Asshole," because a lot of American Christians would be in trouble right about now. And before you send me an email saying "I'm a Christian and we're not all like that," first write an email to a Christian you know who is like that."-J. Rowland
Take care, be good, & spread some around.
Seven Psychopaths.
It, er, had Christopher Walken in it!
I did actually laugh out loud a couple of times.
http://audioarchives.blogspot.com
Where odd audio errata, ephemeralities, and nonsense occasionally collide with actual music for serious contemplation. Trouble is - I'm not saying what is which.
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