End of the World 2013 (So Bad it is almost Good)

End of the World 2013     6 out of 10  



So Bad that it was almost Good.   

The End of the World stars  Greg Grunberg  (Heroes)  and Brad Dourif  (Deadwood).  It is a cheesy disaster film that focuses on the end of the world as a result of  giant Plasma Balls that are bombarding the earth.   A couple of video store clerks that are really into disaster movies---try to use everything they have learned from those movies to survive the end of the world.   This gives us as the viewer  a bunch of giant plasma balls taking people out left and right in spectacular fashion.   The video  store clerks  reference and  repeat a bunch of famous movie lines --which must have helped the writers of the film cut down on quite a bit of dialogue.    The clerks  then decide to break sci-fi writer out of the mental hospital to help stop the end of the world  ---which leads to a great Deep Blue Sea moment.  The movie didn't feel the balls of plasma alone were a good enough antagonist so they add in a cousin he is only out to save himself as a extra human antagonist.
The movie is silly and preposterous and kind of fun at moments. 
 It was almost SO bad that it was Good---but didn't quite get there.

Total Recall 2012 8 out of 10

Total Recall 2012    8 out of 10

Watching the new Total Recall was like going The Magic Kingdom when you have grown up going to Disneyland your whole life.  It is fun and everything was really  familiar --but somethings are in different places,  the  Pirates of the Caribbean is missing the drops and you can't find the Indiana Jones ride at all.  It feels like if you had never been to Disneyland you would love it ---but since you have all you can do is compare it.  On its own the new Total Recall is a good solid Sci-Fi action adventure movie and if the original with Arnold hadn't existed I probably would have liked it even more.    However the  original does exist  and was a classic and the question as to why they even remade such a classic is one that will probably be asked for awhile.   Why not just do another Phillip K Dick book rather than redoing one that had already been done right.    Phillip K Dick books all have very similar  themes and subject matter and I'm sure more of his work would be worth bringing to the big screen.    Watching the new one was like watching  the remake of  Halloween or Psycho---you just wonder why?    Why not just watch the original again?   The script was so similiar that the only thing new about it was the special effects which were great.  As a result of this there were no twists or turns from the original as it follows the essence of the story so closely.    While watching it I was conflicted as to whether I should be enjoying it or whether I should just turn it off and watch the original.    The cast did a good job,   Kate Beckinsale takes over the role of Michael Ironside and Sharon Stone's wife character from the original as a combined character.  Collin Ferrell does a good job --but seriously  Arnold's  shoes are too big for him to fill. Jessica Biel is good as well as the agent that Collin Ferrell teams up with.  All in all it was a good film,  but if you only see one Total Recall watch the one with Arnold.

Fantastic Voyage 1966 7 out of 10

Fantastic Voyage 1966  7 out of 10

A great concept movie that was a precursor to a better more modern film  Innerspace starring  Dennis Quaid and Martin Short.  This 1960's Voyage into the human body in a miniature craft with a human crew now seems cheesy with its plastic ship and green screen backgrounds and odd sets -- but at the time it was made it was an adventure.  The crew of this miniaturized vessel must go inside of a diplomat's body  in order to save his life. 

 I s found this journey enjoyable if for no other reason than Donald Pleasance's performance as the (spoiler alert ) saboteur.  The film also stars Raquel Welch.   The movie takes a little while to get going as they detail the whole shrinking process so it isn't as  Fantastic as its title suggests --but it was still an  enoyable one with some good dialogue and colorful sets.

Skyline 2010 5 out of 10

Skyline 2010  5 out of 10

 A group of friends wake up after a night of partying to  strange blue lights and alien invaders.  This movie is a poor man's  War of the Worlds  meets Independence Day.  Sure they spent a lot of money on special effects for the giant strange alien invaders---but the world is pretty much devoid of humans.  For some reason pretty much the whole movie is them hiding in an apartment watching the aliens through the blinds or running around on empty roof tops.  After creative films like Cloverfield or major alien invasion movies like Speilberg's War of the Worlds----this film despite its special effects feels like a small  film.    As for the story it is pretty pointless.

The Golden Compass 2007 6 out of 10

The Golden Compass  2007

After Harry Potter every movie studio wanted to find its very own Potter like cash cow.  The Golden Compass was meant to be the first of a 3 movie series based  on Phillip Pullman's  His Dark Materials  book series.   It is an interesting film that focuses on the first book in this series  which features a story based around the adventures of a orphan living in a parallel universe where the world is ruled by  the Magisterium.  The people of this world all have demons  (animal spirits that follow them around).    The story follows her adventures using a  magic golden compass that helps her see the truth to find and save her friends that have been kidnapped.   It features talking animals,  Polar Bears with armour and magic.   The Digital polar bears were the most interesting part of the movie and the battle to see which polar bear would be king the best action sequence in the film.   The film although interesting didn't successfully connect with audiences so the 2nd and 3rd books in the series were never made.  The fact that this was to be the first of 3 films   leaves the audience with  what seems like an unfinished story.  Characters  so up out of nowhere (like the band of witches that show up out of nowhere)   and disappear from the story  (like Daniel Craig's character). 

The film features  Nicole Kidman,  Daniel Craig and Sam Elliot.

Frankenweenie 2012 9+ out of 10

Frankenweenie  2012   9 out of 10

I just recently reviewed Dark Shadows---which was quite possible one of my least favorite of Tim Burton's films.   Well  Frankenweenie is probably one of his best.  Tim Burton has recreated his  1980's short film into a fantastic and beautiful black and white  stop motion masterpiece.  Capturing the magic of Nightmare Before Christmas once again with stunning visuals and great storytelling.  Sparky is by far the cutest re-animated dog I've ever seen.  The animators were able to create a wonderful little dog  that the viewer will fall in love with.    The film has a Danny Elfman soundtrack (of course)   which adds to the greatness of the film and the ending is action packed.   I suggest also watching the original black and white live action short Frankenweenie that inspired this feature length version as well.    The one thing I love about Burton is his visual style which is uniquely his own.   Even a so-so Tim Burton film will look amazing... so all Tim Burton films  from a visual standpoint are worth seeing.    When you can match up those visuals with a great story and characters you care about the result is pure gold.     I would rank it just below Nightmare Before Christmas which was a 10 out of 10.

Here is another blog I did about the Frankenweenie exhibit that toured the country when it was in DCA last fall as well.  This exhibit had some excellent samples of the puppets used in the film.

http://braddisneylandblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/frankenweenie-exhibit-at-dca.html

The last man in Middle Earth to see The Hobbit 2012 9 out of 10

The Hobbit   2012   9 out of 10

When they first announced that they were going to be making The Hobbit I was thrilled.   The Lord of the Rings trilogy was an epic piece of work that changed the scale and possible scope of fantasy films and what could be done.   Anything was now possible in the Fantasy world.   From Harry Potter to Chronicles of Narnia....to remaking Clash of the Titans... none of which quite got it right as good as Lord of the Rings.    The Hobbit however was basically a children's book that didn't have the same epic nature of the Rings Trilogy.   How  would balance they handle  this difference against the expectations set by the other three films?

Well I finally got my answer this past weekend.   I was quite possibly the last person in Middle Earth to see the film.   It had a much lighter tone and sense of humor that wasn't in the Lord of the Rings series and  since they basically turned one book into three movies it took The Hobbit a bit longer to get into the main story which follows Bilbo Baggins on an adventure away from The Shire to see the world as a part of a group of Dwarves and Gandalf the Wizard to reclaim their homeland from a Dragon.   Even with the lighter tone of the film it quickly brought you back into the world of Middle Earth that was captured so well in the previous 3 films.   The movie had the typically great scenery from all over Middle Earth  (New Zealand such a beautiful country).  The music and epic nature of the film took over by the third act.  Some of the action was way over the top  (like Temple of Doom over the top),  but still really exciting and fun.    The scene with Golem in the cave where Bilbo finds the ring was perfect and couldn't have possible been done any better.

 Being only the first portion of a 3 film series it did feel that way,  much more than say the Fellowship of the Ring did,  but I'm definitely along for the ride as far as Middle Earth will take me.    I would rank this one probably 4th among the Tolkien films,  simple because of the more childlike aspects of The Hobbit itself ---but it is definitely worth the journey.