tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41538559084737930422024-03-19T04:25:58.310+00:00CinewaffleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-90556423397751940622011-10-31T15:11:00.000+00:002011-10-31T15:11:27.437+00:00I Remember HalloweenA selection of movies to be watched over Halloween.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnyttbJ6f_Fw2ilnK8-BNQninarYL5qWWUE3TGo4f74S8eXFom3C__0GK3NqE1NnXxbG0AgsCF8FcMKeVK_UnPFLl5Gi7dzwqEF7jVcbFKe7A3Xq6X6pk54g8kTTbTPv_1bKdGmwMCU6s/s320/normal_cait_pumpkin1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Em... not quite what I had in mind...</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnyttbJ6f_Fw2ilnK8-BNQninarYL5qWWUE3TGo4f74S8eXFom3C__0GK3NqE1NnXxbG0AgsCF8FcMKeVK_UnPFLl5Gi7dzwqEF7jVcbFKe7A3Xq6X6pk54g8kTTbTPv_1bKdGmwMCU6s/s1600/normal_cait_pumpkin1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>I love Halloween. I think it's great. The atmosphere, the imagery and most importantly the movies. I love a good horror movie and I love anything with a bit of spooky charm. That's just me. So with this love of Halloween I thought I'd put together a list of ten movies that I'd like to watch over Halloween and therefore I think you should watch too. Why ten? Ten seems like a good number, wouldn't you agree? Good, I thought as much!<br />
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I should point out that these are merely the ones that do it for me. I am in no way claiming these are the best horror films that can be watched in the world. These just have special meaning for me for various reasons. So deal with it.<br />
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These are in no particular order really. Didn't really feel like doing a typical countdown or what have you. Ok so here we go:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b> Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Directed by Sam Raimi - 1987 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaJ7MSbae17QqxbnXP2sOmDJlhAWLrvSIMBofxV5lq3Ev1m4BOqKC9I8qGs30_AAxDm3mwOkFIZXKwKaeniHhkVM7kmfDk7g1VP5pofUgb-lZclHnC4c3R_6yyNGxSLE1IoHBk3F3qvY/s1600/evildead2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaJ7MSbae17QqxbnXP2sOmDJlhAWLrvSIMBofxV5lq3Ev1m4BOqKC9I8qGs30_AAxDm3mwOkFIZXKwKaeniHhkVM7kmfDk7g1VP5pofUgb-lZclHnC4c3R_6yyNGxSLE1IoHBk3F3qvY/s1600/evildead2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For years when someone asked the slightly dumb but oh-so-common question "what's your favourite movie of all time?" I answered "Evil Dead 2." Not that it really is or even ever was my favourite movie of all time (I mean, do I even have one?) but because it deserved to be and I felt it defined my taste in a good way. Obviously now I don't say that I just punch them in the face but I still love Evil Dead 2. It's a special kind of movie. From Sam Raimi, now massively famous for directing <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145487/">Spider-Man</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316654/">Spider-Man 2</a> and some sort of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413300/">filthy awful film</a> that I don't know the name of, Evil Dead 2 takes the extreme gore and horror of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/">its predecessor</a> and turns it up to comic levels. Think 3 Stooges with geysers of pus. Added to that, the lead character Ash replacing his severed hand with a chainsaw. What's not to like? Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZfJV45VgvG6ekoOotXLqdAGwMNpLfLV2s79YWVNRxS_8Jm6mMh1kpqtnPY_agTOXDKqBigaYgXrw59F83ELAv2A9PaWYHjf2RZVSbqKP-XRkx_JIaWyuP-2QwdGpzwnaMGh3loFTOGns/s320/evildead2_000.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It would make me very happy if you did!</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZfJV45VgvG6ekoOotXLqdAGwMNpLfLV2s79YWVNRxS_8Jm6mMh1kpqtnPY_agTOXDKqBigaYgXrw59F83ELAv2A9PaWYHjf2RZVSbqKP-XRkx_JIaWyuP-2QwdGpzwnaMGh3loFTOGns/s1600/evildead2_000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Halloween III: Season of the Witch</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace - 1982 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085636/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIkVfCQ6EelRqvMwRImrWtPfQJ_TGk8m02aV-5utk8CX6l_1OyTrlQc4fXgfXK8OS1Dt3vQHxLTZCzDlFeqyjwYUQ6DiMnQRAhfLjfOeYUC-eHxmx22DOOlBiItnGVElh8DcjT85LuYc/s1600/halloween+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIkVfCQ6EelRqvMwRImrWtPfQJ_TGk8m02aV-5utk8CX6l_1OyTrlQc4fXgfXK8OS1Dt3vQHxLTZCzDlFeqyjwYUQ6DiMnQRAhfLjfOeYUC-eHxmx22DOOlBiItnGVElh8DcjT85LuYc/s1600/halloween+3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Buh?!" I hear you say! "Really!?" you pipe up again. The answer is yes. Really. This is the film from the Halloween series that I choose. Why? Why?! Because it's brilliant that's why. Ok no, obviously it's not brilliant. It's shit. But I still love it. No film has made me sit in such utter confusion while still being able to follow the plot and action. This movie is insane to the point of insanity. Yes, that doesn't make sense... and neither does Halloween III. For those not in the know, Halloween III is the only film in the Halloween franchise to not feature the unkillable, Shatner-faced, stabbing enthusiast known as Michael Myers. When the original Halloween was made, there was no intention of a follow-up but once the sequels starting rolling in they decided to end the original thread with part 2, then turn the films into an anthology series, giving a different story to every movie. The title "Halloween" being vague enough for this. It didn't work out because people wanted Michael Myers back (and because Halloween III was terrible) so they made up some ridiculous crap and he came back to life in part 4 somehow. Either way, Halloween III is a rubbishy delight. I'm not sure what does it for me exactly. The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHUv2ooG38">tv ad jingle</a>, the snakes coming out of kids heads (somehow?) or the mispronunciation of Samhain as "SAM-HAYNE". It's just great. Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIj9ZPQV0wp9ty54OlSq6E4C4_iAN1J-fL87aR69eIXmV5ISb8k6zgsHhCr8EIO6NXiwOKllKEQS806aTB7EpBGQbt5DWhxCrCsdCNyYYGF6qoi7uUxkx2i8lLgW46gRasNuWOgizaom8/s400/vlcsnap-5745454.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This movie makes my pumpkin hurt!</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIj9ZPQV0wp9ty54OlSq6E4C4_iAN1J-fL87aR69eIXmV5ISb8k6zgsHhCr8EIO6NXiwOKllKEQS806aTB7EpBGQbt5DWhxCrCsdCNyYYGF6qoi7uUxkx2i8lLgW46gRasNuWOgizaom8/s1600/vlcsnap-5745454.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Day of the Dead</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by George A. Romero - 1985 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088993/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90umHWld0S1zJYx6Uz_AD5_4ugqx9x6rIY16rFUz7pBS7UKGVvG1BqBriEnHD2PQWMMw5spo-g6ZXzhYt1pBZDmnBEnf8H9QXq6hYDKnP7lZ-4SWHbcyocXqWgqr-q5WXcjyGU8Q6Y6U/s1600/day+of+the+dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90umHWld0S1zJYx6Uz_AD5_4ugqx9x6rIY16rFUz7pBS7UKGVvG1BqBriEnHD2PQWMMw5spo-g6ZXzhYt1pBZDmnBEnf8H9QXq6hYDKnP7lZ-4SWHbcyocXqWgqr-q5WXcjyGU8Q6Y6U/s1600/day+of+the+dead.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The third in Romero's classic dead trilogy. Of course he now has six of them, but most people don't count the last 3. I especially don't count <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1134854/">Survival of the Dead</a>... yeesh. <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/survival-of-dead.html">That was bad</a>. As well as Romero's own, the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489018/">remake</a> (albeit in name alone) of Day of the Dead should be <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-of-dead-2008.html">avoided at all costs</a>. Either way, this is definitely my favourite of them all. Basic story; a small group of scientists and soldiers are holed up in an underground bunker very far along the timeline of a zombie outbreak. Conflict arises between the now insane military Colonel's attempts to control everyone while the head scientist insists on perfmorming bizarre experiments on the living dead. The atmosphere and tension build to a spectacular level. I was lucky enough to see a screening of this last year around Halloween introduced and followed by a Q & A by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0683334/">Joe Pilato</a> who played the infamous colonel. This was a lot of fun. This movie is super great. Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Braindead</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by Peter Jackson - 1992 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Z_iqQBwgz6ZGrRe4KZ100O49zpEqAKOy8wu1J07YpXCs01SMh2Ap25HidZ2NxMgazLV_YZEWPoD7jUC8yC7nf0K7FmFj9zy1WbKauGtr9fUbnuSfc0EPWgjhjIAM3AJ7hHEINKf94sk/s1600/braindead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Z_iqQBwgz6ZGrRe4KZ100O49zpEqAKOy8wu1J07YpXCs01SMh2Ap25HidZ2NxMgazLV_YZEWPoD7jUC8yC7nf0K7FmFj9zy1WbKauGtr9fUbnuSfc0EPWgjhjIAM3AJ7hHEINKf94sk/s1600/braindead.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What do you think when you hear the name <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001392/">Peter Jackson</a>? If you think of dwarves and elves rather than zombie sex and kung fu priests then you've got the wrong frame of reference. This is Peter Jackson's second movie and there is no doubt in my mind that it is his best. Unbelievable splatter comedy gore. Everything that can be squirted, splashed and drenched is squirted splashed and drenched in this film including a long sequence involving a lawnmower and an entire house full of zombies that delivers the giggles better than any other film I can think of. It also contains some of the best one-liners in cinematic history: "She's... experienced" "I kick arse for the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/">Lord</a>!" "Some of my best friends are pedophiles!" "Party's over!" Also notable that this is the first movie on my list that isn't a sequel. Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The Texas Chain Saw Massacre</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by Tobe Hooper - 1974 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072271/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DsSAKO1cgRmdGeK2SJkjiLC5YpYnN2LUahyphenhyphen5oN8zVuar_HgpUQ9vPAc-WP50NVQwTY-e5WXw00RB7zOGD5LW3osksoCvZdLlWzTOc-_6Tw0KJOPtFMhWNccNzIKRMQF6LnDMbWe_rRg/s1600/TheTexasChainSawMassacre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DsSAKO1cgRmdGeK2SJkjiLC5YpYnN2LUahyphenhyphen5oN8zVuar_HgpUQ9vPAc-WP50NVQwTY-e5WXw00RB7zOGD5LW3osksoCvZdLlWzTOc-_6Tw0KJOPtFMhWNccNzIKRMQF6LnDMbWe_rRg/s1600/TheTexasChainSawMassacre.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last year I attended a screening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as the second part of a double bill. The first was John Carpenter's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/">Halloween</a>. We were surrounded by awful 'young folk' who didn't seem to understand that it's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-KV_xkrnc">polite</a> to remain quiet and respectful in a cinema. They talked and giggled their way through Halloween which I can understand to a degree. If one isn't versed in horror history Halloween may seem like a shaky example of a standard slasher formula flick. They probably didn't realise that such a thing didn't exist when it was first produced. However, when The Texas Chainsaw Massacre came on things changed. Clearly this lot expected more of the same from the second movie. They had a clear "oh wow can you believe this used to scare people, what a bunch of knobs" attitude about them that got quickly blasted away at the first appearance of Leatherface. After that they were quiet, by golly. It was clear that the ripping, intense experience that is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a touch more than they expected. Hilarious. Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The Blair Witch Project</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez - 1999 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HLqtAr3jAdlyHSW5WKkMuOO_P20scFqXk0vgKon5PdiiOG9TtJ4sfXG1K0ZZsXPwsCF7ZF5HZH9TCk5BW1KIpPeZ4K3-Vzb4Oleg91qzeEi0g6zfLYMxusgqL-fWmnCMIWuLc7bsaK0/s1600/blairwitchproject.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HLqtAr3jAdlyHSW5WKkMuOO_P20scFqXk0vgKon5PdiiOG9TtJ4sfXG1K0ZZsXPwsCF7ZF5HZH9TCk5BW1KIpPeZ4K3-Vzb4Oleg91qzeEi0g6zfLYMxusgqL-fWmnCMIWuLc7bsaK0/s1600/blairwitchproject.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Blair Witch Project is fucking scary. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If you aren't scared by The Blair Witch Project then you're either an asshole or you're the actual Blair Witch... and in that case you don't exist... I hope. Seriously though, the ballsiness of this movie is unfathomable. Sure it wasn't the first horror film to use the found footage angle (or the last) but it's certainly one of the most inventive. It takes talent to use your limitations and flaws to your benefit especially to the level of this film. Can't afford a monster? Don't show the monster. Can't afford crazy special effects? Make the killings enigmatic. Cast is kind of annoying? Use that to amp up the tension. The simplicity of filmmaking here is unreal. I watch this and quiver in fear at a bit of shirt... and a rock. Oh, and some sticks! OH NO!! STICKS!! Seriously. Fucking terrifying. He's standing in the corner! THAT'S THE SCARIEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN! Fuck. Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Beetle Juice</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Directed by Tim Burton - 1988 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094721/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigW0zxNz6_Na9SVWTDDOTOivC03nsa_Iqcjzw2cZBaERgQNQWpuj8PKYg2mW7kAk1e5zsDVj3NH76Pj4DnnehYusHBG7dYUgmywqZH4qSzcmnjDNRvXs5C43oMhO_1fmPhAypC_XNC690/s1600/beetlejuice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigW0zxNz6_Na9SVWTDDOTOivC03nsa_Iqcjzw2cZBaERgQNQWpuj8PKYg2mW7kAk1e5zsDVj3NH76Pj4DnnehYusHBG7dYUgmywqZH4qSzcmnjDNRvXs5C43oMhO_1fmPhAypC_XNC690/s1600/beetlejuice.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">What can I say about Beetle Juice? Really? This is arguably <a href="http://cinewaffle.blogspot.com/2010/03/we-need-to-talk-about-timothy.html">Tim Burton</a>'s best film for many reasons. It gets the best out of his German expressionist riffing and uses his rambling storytelling to its advantage. Most of his films tend to suffer by becoming baggy by his pacing and plotting or by feeling over-designed. Sometimes both... but Beetle Juice works. I watched this a lot when I was a kid. Like... a lot! I know it back to front at this stage but it still keeps me entertained. Michael Keaton is absolutely magnetic and it features one of my favourite opening credits sequences in cinema. Yesterday I was in a costume shop picking up some stuff for halloween and they had what appeared to be a spooky music playlist. The opening music from Beetle Juice came on and I felt at home. Brilliant. Watch it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjms0-FnrVmNrx9nNSugW80oqHmM_hJ7GkGkg7s82AnsK55CO5X3Ehb1u7AX6yII4v0hRfFT2yQObnPxzvAZ51Y5RHg6w269Yh0Kb3ME2_cq-CHE5oCNyzBiXR-IsVzo8LJFE01j1coQ6g/s1600/325744729a5946325291l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjms0-FnrVmNrx9nNSugW80oqHmM_hJ7GkGkg7s82AnsK55CO5X3Ehb1u7AX6yII4v0hRfFT2yQObnPxzvAZ51Y5RHg6w269Yh0Kb3ME2_cq-CHE5oCNyzBiXR-IsVzo8LJFE01j1coQ6g/s320/325744729a5946325291l.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I'm very cool</span></i></td></tr>
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</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Ring</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> </b>Directed by Hideo Nakata - 1980 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178868/">IMDB</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupfObu5M-vZG4thUFZCw_gLgotcLao9JWJrunSDs9ZjP2X8RMv_zr_F0fXqA8Km2bP78eG4NIBacSBHUC7b5YMDpNfIPftv6oZeVDVpyW6TVcW0S6Eh1DgQa7UMQmfOUEfTEpWuDYTa0/s1600/ringu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupfObu5M-vZG4thUFZCw_gLgotcLao9JWJrunSDs9ZjP2X8RMv_zr_F0fXqA8Km2bP78eG4NIBacSBHUC7b5YMDpNfIPftv6oZeVDVpyW6TVcW0S6Eh1DgQa7UMQmfOUEfTEpWuDYTa0/s1600/ringu.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Good god this movie is terrifying. I have to admit that I saw the inferior American remake before I saw this so unfortunately didn't find the story queues as scary as I should have. Barely matters though. The tone and atmosphere of this thing are unparalleled. I first watched it on broadcast television as part of a string of horror films being aired leading up to Halloween. My dad told me he also flicked on to it briefly and while the few moments he saw was merely people talking in a newspaper office, he found the atmosphere very unsettling. It's hard to have a film be that effective. It's great. Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <b>The Mist</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by Frank Darabont - 2007 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884328/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bVIEj6AmutiEHYBKLrruS28pQ-DurcHNKz7PwmSn1CjHLHXwg0mrSErrcFJZWjLno84PaJuzelyWLMOZaDwu5L6PFidpUtY8_b6-DcjzHj6MBtOVEhdm9Dcw_kalKNNUbyOtOgSGqEg/s1600/the+mist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bVIEj6AmutiEHYBKLrruS28pQ-DurcHNKz7PwmSn1CjHLHXwg0mrSErrcFJZWjLno84PaJuzelyWLMOZaDwu5L6PFidpUtY8_b6-DcjzHj6MBtOVEhdm9Dcw_kalKNNUbyOtOgSGqEg/s1600/the+mist.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I remember when this came out. I had seen the poster but for one reason or amother hadn't clocked it. Then a morning radio film review show mentioned it being rather excellent. I was intrigued. I bought me a ticket and got blown away. I have a very vivid memory of walking out of the screening room with a disturbed look on my face. The people waiting for the next screening saw me and seemed excited. This movie is exactly what horror should be. Simple, effective and strong. The real monsters are of course the humans. Yes, violent creatures in thick mist are spooky, but a psychotic preacher leading a mob to murder is something that could happen down the road. This is scarier. When I heard that Frank Darabont was leading the team adapting Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comic book series for the TV I knew it would be great because I'd seen The Mist. It's a good film. Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The Fly</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Directed by David Cronenberg - 1985 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091064/">IMDB</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYko3iIgY_s6x1PXWth-25K84sLzh8Rw8iE6_Ob6gvCYKf2pTtPV2gXhmP8q1MeVVMLEGvr9cElYHkBG8EWVdcJnTXpCUJ48NObX7Gf9ej4uXdkKGFdRIRGIS50rJYbwmIvjevJAxVEFo/s1600/thefly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYko3iIgY_s6x1PXWth-25K84sLzh8Rw8iE6_Ob6gvCYKf2pTtPV2gXhmP8q1MeVVMLEGvr9cElYHkBG8EWVdcJnTXpCUJ48NObX7Gf9ej4uXdkKGFdRIRGIS50rJYbwmIvjevJAxVEFo/s1600/thefly.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh man. This movie. Right? Oh you haven't seen it? Ok. Well you should. It's really good. Cronenberg's body horror is epitomised in this film. There are two things The Fly will shoot down for you. The first is the idea that Jeff Goldblum is something of an idiosyncratic comedy actor. He is incredible in this movie. Very moving. The second is that horror is a genre that is unemotional or campy or silly. This is a hard hitting dramatic film with strong themes of disease, pregnancy, alienation and humanity. The ending is a gutpunch that will haunt you well after you're finished. Oh and the special effects are cool too. Watch it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ok that's me now for Halloween. I hope you have a spooooky one. Yes! Spooooooky! Ghosts n shit! Oooooooooh!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-23229873170924288392010-12-31T23:55:00.001+00:002011-01-01T00:44:09.903+00:002010<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRy2V6BAqjoYFrsCLbkibI6k4OXAdTF6i3A19uyQDr6l-7iG_8LJF1SJZYEe9eLHhtB1N-jqgUR_Z3MzfLb8a7gcb4ZnZnD3QXgbrCc6W72uxcGipa0cxQLdqZafMN0SKJA_LJNzK6r4/s1600/A70-6962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRy2V6BAqjoYFrsCLbkibI6k4OXAdTF6i3A19uyQDr6l-7iG_8LJF1SJZYEe9eLHhtB1N-jqgUR_Z3MzfLb8a7gcb4ZnZnD3QXgbrCc6W72uxcGipa0cxQLdqZafMN0SKJA_LJNzK6r4/s320/A70-6962.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">lol</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>So it's been a mental year for me in terms of film watching. The final number came out at 151 films watched this year. This doesn't include repeat watches of course, because who cares? 151 is over twice the amount I watched last year. Various reasons there. I had 2 months where I watched 30 films (or more). In April I vowed to watch a film a day or at least the equivalent (some days I had to miss one so I caught up within a day or two). In October I vowed to watch all the Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street films that I hadn't already seen in order to somehow understand... or at least to... fuck... ok... just to watch them. Progress had to be made on my <a href="http://cinewaffle.blogspot.com/2010/03/horror-sequels_09.html">horror sequels article</a>! As well as that I vowed to only watch horror films apart from new releases, for obvious reasons. Somehow I managed to stick to all my vows and it's left me with that hefty number.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRi02u4PpWsu5f0yLBoZrW0koOcr_0I7cRuL3XEZQJ6kGMveNIrNdA-Bcv6ecBLudTkKfhaJT50yhV0Cp2Itc55FSs1RMPoOxfbYlBlQuyt3LzZETE0wk05EPULWilM3yB50zKRJXL9UA/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRi02u4PpWsu5f0yLBoZrW0koOcr_0I7cRuL3XEZQJ6kGMveNIrNdA-Bcv6ecBLudTkKfhaJT50yhV0Cp2Itc55FSs1RMPoOxfbYlBlQuyt3LzZETE0wk05EPULWilM3yB50zKRJXL9UA/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">This came up when I Google image searched "151"</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Now there are some things to be pointed out here. Of those 151, only 52 of them were new releases in the cinema. (I'm counting <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/">Metropolis</a> here as a new one because it was my first time seeing it and it had a new 25 minutes of footage which appeared to me to be absolutely essential to understanding the plot.) Anyway, those new releases were as follows:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/road.html">The Road</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/its-complicated.html">It's Complicated</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/princess-and-frog.html">The Princess and the Frog</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/ponyo.html">Ponyo</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/wolfman-2010.html">The Wolfman</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/alice-in-wonderland-2010-3d.html">Alice in Wonderland</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/exit-through-gift-shop.html">Exit Through the Gift Shop</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/legion.html">Legion</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/shutter-island.html">Shutter Island</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/lovely-bones.html">The Lovely Bones</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-love-you-phillip-morris.html">I Love You Phillip Morris</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/kick-ass.html">Kick-Ass</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/zonad.html">Zonad</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/cemetery-junction.html">Cemetary Junction</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-train-your-dragon-3d.html">How to Train Your Dragon</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/repo-men.html">Repo Men</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/extract.html">Extract</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/perriers-bounty.html">Perrier's Bounty</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/iron-man-2.html">Iron Man 2</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/four-lions.html">Four Lions</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/nightmare-on-elm-street-2010.html">A Nightmare on Elm Street</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/bad-lieutenant-port-of-call-new-orleans.html">The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/06/killer-inside-me-2010.html">The Killer Inside Me</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/whatever-works.html">Whatever Works</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/shrek-forever-after-3d.html">Shrek Forever After</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/predators.html">Predators</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/inception.html">Inception</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/toy-story-3-3d.html">Toy Story 3</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/splice.html">Splice</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/a-team.html">The A-Team</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/piranha-3d.html">Piranha 3D</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/scott-pilgrim-vs-world.html">Scott Pilgrim vs. The World</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/last-exorcism.html">The Last Exorcism</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/metropolis.html">Metropolis</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/resident-evil-afterlife-3d.html">Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/devil.html">Devil</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/enter-void.html">Enter the Void</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/hole-3d.html">The Hole</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/buried.html">Buried</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/wall-street-money-never-sleeps.html">Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/town.html">The Town</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/social-network.html">The Social Network</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/saw-3d.html">Saw 3D</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/jackass-3d.html">Jackass 3D</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/kids-are-all-right.html">The Kids Are All Right</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/let-me-in.html">Let Me In</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/easy.html">Easy A</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/paranormal-activity-2.html">Paranormal Activity 2</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/arbor.html">The Arbor</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/harry-potter-and-deathly-hallows-part-1.html">Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/monsters.html">Monsters</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/tron-legacy-3d.html">TRON: Legacy</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlQ1CYvRx7fg9szYDYC-1ZLmmiM5Nj-hviVjBhAfwCjpOrYMO2Urkp-a4BU5NqEvPsiwp3DsZBQ2dnWopm-JSfiyX21FFnWypzEaZKiFy6ezCmtKjc8vVfUo-s8c2iqnF5_uVmfsqT_o/s1600/pixel_scared.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlQ1CYvRx7fg9szYDYC-1ZLmmiM5Nj-hviVjBhAfwCjpOrYMO2Urkp-a4BU5NqEvPsiwp3DsZBQ2dnWopm-JSfiyX21FFnWypzEaZKiFy6ezCmtKjc8vVfUo-s8c2iqnF5_uVmfsqT_o/s320/pixel_scared.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>Sweet mother!</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Rather than doing some sort of top 5 bottom 5 thing I think I'll just mention some films worthy of note. Be it bad or good. Then I'll make an attempt at a favourite and least favourite. Starting from the top I think it's funny that the first 2 films I saw this year were the fascinating, haunting and plainly beautiful piece of art that was The Road & the utter shit bollocks that was It's Complicated. I don't really need to say much else, that sums both of those movies up really. Some other nice ones were Ponyo, I Love You Phillip Morris, Kick-Ass, Cemetary Junction, Perrier's Bounty, Four Lions, Splice, Piranha 3D and Buried. Some bad news now with The Wolfman, Alice in Wonderland, Repo Men, Whatever Works, The A-Team, Devil, The Town, Paranormal Activity 2 and Saw 3D. Let's not forget the mediocre The Lovely Bones and Extract.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">There were some surprises along the way too. Legion was far more fun than was expected (or should've been) and Shutter Island was far more disappointing than I thought. Amazing soundtrack aside, I saw the twist coming from the trailer. Not good. How to Train Your Dragon was far far better than Dreamworks' back catalogue had caused me to expect but they managed to resolve that hiccup with Shrek Forever After. The Killer Inside Me left me cold while Easy A threw me for a loop and put a huge smile on my face. Could be a future classic! For me anyway, I don't care about the "real world".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1i_oN65DuLPhbNPfIDiSZM_3tgm51DoBixJkozYkdM7aP0JcqzAVR9f4owUhiz_jCdb1Nw2uwULmQ6-20tsCUuQDdCerLoDxW6n4QdkpAhi4T7R46BeeI1KonB-lhyphenhypheneS8E_ADxgMOhw/s1600/the-real-world-denver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1i_oN65DuLPhbNPfIDiSZM_3tgm51DoBixJkozYkdM7aP0JcqzAVR9f4owUhiz_jCdb1Nw2uwULmQ6-20tsCUuQDdCerLoDxW6n4QdkpAhi4T7R46BeeI1KonB-lhyphenhypheneS8E_ADxgMOhw/s320/the-real-world-denver.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">They don't care about me either</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">I mean, obviously there are some big boys to mention here. The Social Network pretty much scored top marks and is appearing in many best of 2010 lists. It's obvious why, there's not a huge need to go into it. It's just a very good film. Inception the same. I feel both of these films have had everything said about them so I can leave it here. The same goes for Toy Story 3 although I will say that I was weeping like a full grown baby behind those 3D glasses. That's the real reason that movie was in 3D because it certainly didn't do much for the film. Harry Potter 7a was a pleasant journey leaving me itching for the final chapter while TRON: Legacy tickled me far more than it appears to have done for most people. And of course A Nightmare on Elm Street taught us all how to hate again!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh and Resident Evil: Afterlife prompted me to run home and make this comic:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPc4-bzjXTpNgjHG13K1SH1pD2QZKF4z9sgPpzzvMFgcnnSH9xtyBG0itQFi4RNGG7mJVMbi7KxmrtEDvhCe4yXYmvNmleTE7lIUVLiEG5WEQvK1jxAyCzLhYUcbXceYya3XEshTadSE/s1600/reaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPc4-bzjXTpNgjHG13K1SH1pD2QZKF4z9sgPpzzvMFgcnnSH9xtyBG0itQFi4RNGG7mJVMbi7KxmrtEDvhCe4yXYmvNmleTE7lIUVLiEG5WEQvK1jxAyCzLhYUcbXceYya3XEshTadSE/s400/reaf.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>If you saw the movie it would make sense... possibly</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">But yes, finally for my top and bottom of 2010.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Starting with the bottom:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7n11vYEFvry798rrz40REQiFjFU7Crf7k8A4rrWnL6uSwl_R4ja3vN76pZ77RQfWHLy4C_f3jAM3Bn34J1MzFAtiVcffjzby9GqfKZeBiKU26dymZs2jCIMIWfI_Hi0ON7aAiDwbvcc/s1600/zonad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7n11vYEFvry798rrz40REQiFjFU7Crf7k8A4rrWnL6uSwl_R4ja3vN76pZ77RQfWHLy4C_f3jAM3Bn34J1MzFAtiVcffjzby9GqfKZeBiKU26dymZs2jCIMIWfI_Hi0ON7aAiDwbvcc/s400/zonad.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>No it is NOT</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"> Odds are that a lot of you didn't see this film. Count yourselves lucky. Jesus fuck... where to begin. This film fell somewhere between trying to be a zany comedy and trying to be a parody of a zany comedy. Basically, whenever the atrocious setups and bad characters began to reach a point where you felt you had to leave the room, the film would give a sly wink and nod as if to say "don't worry... we know it's shit" only to not offer anything good to back it up with. As well as all that, it felt like a bad kids movie with lots of adult gags thrown in for no reason leaving it somewhere lost in between. Useless to anyone.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And my top film of 2010:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1MZMNIqCye22_hZGbSD6Xrtc8ScW2ViXQfmQCZfl8yCz8OHJqFd-uXwoKhaHyx9HARYCZjGbMMZWucVnhL2ySuqXzJ4Bat1aejSQ46jQtTJzWKM6nmPS5Dp1LL_CHzG_YeJ00fx6izE/s1600/Scott-Pilgrim_poster-535x792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1MZMNIqCye22_hZGbSD6Xrtc8ScW2ViXQfmQCZfl8yCz8OHJqFd-uXwoKhaHyx9HARYCZjGbMMZWucVnhL2ySuqXzJ4Bat1aejSQ46jQtTJzWKM6nmPS5Dp1LL_CHzG_YeJ00fx6izE/s400/Scott-Pilgrim_poster-535x792.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>Hardly surprising really</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">I'm sorry if this was predictable but come on! I can't help what I like! And what was yooooouuur favourite then?! Inception?!?! Oh please, how ORIGINAL!! Ahem. Anyway, yeah I really dug this. Now, being a big fan of the comic and the director Edgar Wright I came to this a little biased. The comics really speak to me and I relate to them in a way I haven't experienced with anything before. The film doesn't have as much of that personal poignancy but it retains the strength, charm and wit of the source material. Yes, there are some weak points but I feel like this movie highlights a corner of culture untapped by cinema effectively until now. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was always going to be a movie for me so of course I loved it. But I don't think that diminishes my need to say so. Also it has an opening credit sequence that's transcendental. I enjoyed</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Ok that's it. Watch the good ones. Avoid the shit ones.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Or don't, whatever.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Happy new thing.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-43550753231010806802010-09-14T22:23:00.001+01:002010-09-18T01:44:34.704+01:00Explode with KermodeNow I'm not normally one to stick something like this on the blog but I felt this was an exception as it's relevant and is about films and my comments on them:<br />
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In case you didn't spot it, at 1:36 Mark Kermode reads from my comment about the top and bottom 5 films of the year so far (this was mid August). From my post he picks out Four Lions and Ponyo. Both of which I liked a lot. I guess I'll talk about my list a little while I'm here.<br />
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My full top five were as follows:<br />
<br />
5. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1341167/">Four Lions</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/four-lions.html">review</a>)<br />
4. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1095217/">The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/bad-lieutenant-port-of-call-new-orleans.html">review</a>)<br />
3. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0876563/">Ponyo</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/ponyo.html">review</a>)<br />
2. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/">Toy Story 3</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/toy-story-3-3d.html">review</a>)<br />
1. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/">Inception</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/inception.html">review</a>)<br />
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My bottom five were:<br />
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5. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/">Alice in Wonderland</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/alice-in-wonderland-2010-3d.html">review</a>)<br />
4. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780653/">The Wolfman</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/wolfman-2010.html">review</a>)<br />
3. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/">The A-Team</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/a-team.html">review</a>)<br />
2. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179056/">A Nightmare on Elm St</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/nightmare-on-elm-street-2010.html">review</a>)<br />
1. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1105748/">Zonad</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/zonad.html">review</a>)<br />
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Oh and also:<br />
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The original Kermode thread I posted the lists on: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2010/08/the_year_in_review.html">The Year in Review</a><br />
The new Kermode thread including my comment reading: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2010/09/the_year_in_review_reviewed.html">The Year in Review Reviewed</a><br />
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Now as I said earlier that selection is a month old so it's not exactly what I'd pick now. It'd mostly be the same but I can be certain that if I picked it now, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/">Scott Pilgrim vs. The World</a> would be in there somewhere as <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/scott-pilgrim-vs-world.html">I really loved that.</a><br />
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I guess I'll say a few things about all these movies and why I picked them.<br />
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Four Lions - I've been a big fan of Chris Morris for years. I think that everything he's done has a certain poignancy and truth to it and Four Lions may be the strongest example of this. I was really moved by the characters and how it was nothing but a few mates simply getting in way over their heads. As I imagine the majority of people in their situation are.<br />
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The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Terrible title aside, this really surprised me. When I first heard about this remake/reimagining/removie and then saw the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrAVc4hXMn0">trailer</a> I had no idea what to think. On the one hand it looked like some sort of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450345/">Wicker Man remake</a> type disaster, on the other it seemed like it might be deliriously fascinating. Fortunately the latter was true. This is what I get for doubting <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001348/">Herzog</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">You can trust me</span></i></td></tr>
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Ponyo - It took me a while to go see this one but when I finally did I was captivated. I haven't seen many of Miyazaki's films but from what I've seen I've gathered that there's an honest simplicity to them. Ponyo felt very much like the characters were just allowed to behave and live comfortably and we just happened to be watching. It also has the distinction of being a Japanese anime film that's cute without being irritating.<br />
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Toy Story 3 - It's hard to believe it's been 15 years since I first saw Toy Story. It's had a profound effect on my over the years. Towards the end of this one I had tears literally streaming down my face. While I've often cried at moving moments in the cinema, nothing has ever hit me like Toy Story 3 did. What was running through my mind at the time was how these characters were a family who I felt a kinship with, seeing as they'd been there at key points in my life when I was growing up. Powerful stuff!<br />
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Inception - As Kermode puts it, Inception is proof that big budget massive blockbusters don't have to be dumb as nuts to succeed. Inception was dazzling and interesting. Any who claimed to be confused or lost by it were simply not paying attention and there is no excuse for that. If nothing else, seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a shifting gravity fight scene will always be a cinematic highlight for me.<br />
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Alice in Wonderland - For all the barking that this wasn't a remake, it was in fact an original story conceived as a sequel to the Lewis Caroll novels, no one seemed to notice that it was just a weak adaptation of Jabberwocky with the Wonderland characters thrown in for good measure. Far too long, far too over-designed, far too dull. Also, did anyone else burst out laughing when the Jabberwock opened its mouth and Christopher Lee's voice boomed out? Just me? Ok then.<br />
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The Wolfman - Half moody and serious costume psychological horror, half giant monster fighting b-movie. One look at the wolfman design and the film collapsed instantly.<br />
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The A-Team - Half the film I couldn't hear what anyone was saying, the other half I wished I couldn't hear it. Excrutiatingly bad dialogue, action and characters. A lovey dovey bit of rubbish shoved in for good measure. Utter crap really. Well, Sharlto Copley was pretty funny I have to admit.<br />
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The Nightmare on Elm St - Any sort of subtlety that existed in the original is thrown straight out the window and we spend the whole film building up a long boring backstory only to have it shattered at the end. Useless. I guarantee there'll be a sequel though... and another... and another...<br />
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Zonad - Everyone involved should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.<br />
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So yeah, that's a thing. I felt I had to make a mention of this as I can promise you this blog wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for me listening to Kermode's unique take on cinema for a few weeks. He serves as an inspiration for this blog and for that I salute him. If you don't follow his <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj">show</a> (I usually download the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/kermode">podcast</a>) or his <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/">blog</a> I highly recommend it. Oh, and I should probably get round to reading <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Its-Only-Movie-Adventures-Obsessive/dp/184794602X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284499138&sr=8-1">his book.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-28397527931524778132010-09-02T13:05:00.004+01:002010-09-03T01:21:26.422+01:00The D Stands for DickheadJames Cameron likes his films.<br />
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<tr style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Who'd have thought these things'd be so controversial?</i></span></div></td></tr>
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Hello all. It's been a while since I waffled. I feel bad about it. I apologise to the 6 (on a good day) of you who read this. You guys are great.<br />
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Anywho, I've been musing over doing a waffle about 3D in film for a while but haven't really felt the urge to really go for it until now. This is sparked by hearing the comments by some Canadian guy named <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000116/">J.F. Cameroon</a> or something. I don't know who he is, I think he's up and coming. Either way, he was shooting his mouth about the recent film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464154/">Piranha 3D</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/piranha-3d.html">here's what I thought</a>), saying that it "<i>is exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3D. Because it just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3D horror films from the 70s and 80s.</i>"<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">*</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFN-3qC7QgDR8k6kspRURstm7wPt5PqusAFIfKZlyi4P-3rIUSFacST9AnrrvYnTA0NPMTIQEqwN_EvO-It3ttxo4ndSYeVUkyx8RjkZaHeWEyThHjpShjvCmLYYoUOOlGV09UdsPEtGs/s1600/james_cameron.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFN-3qC7QgDR8k6kspRURstm7wPt5PqusAFIfKZlyi4P-3rIUSFacST9AnrrvYnTA0NPMTIQEqwN_EvO-It3ttxo4ndSYeVUkyx8RjkZaHeWEyThHjpShjvCmLYYoUOOlGV09UdsPEtGs/s320/james_cameron.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dammit James!</i></span></div><br />
Now, it's clear that this is mostly just mean spirited and frankly rude. James Canton, a producer on Piranha 3D has responded by saying that "<i>His comments are ridiculous, self-serving and insulting to those of us who are not caught up in serving his ego and his rhetoric</i>".<br />
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There are many things to be said here. Clearly James F. Cameron (the F stands for Fuckin'... at least... that's what he wants you to think) is taking a shot at the idea of using 3D as silly fun rather than something more artistic. The problem here of course is that he's ignoring the building blocks that allowed him to reach the point he's at now. If it weren't for the 3D of the 70s and 80s, would he have thought to pursue the technology to create what he wanted to create in Avatar?<br />
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Not only that, but was the 3D in Avatar all about creating an immersive environment to help pull the audience into the world and become more engaged in the emotion? Is that why the dialogue was so bad? Was none of Avatar intented to be fun, popcorn entertainment? The big robot at the end, was that artistic expression or was that adrenaline pumping action?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>This one represents my father</i></span></td></tr>
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The big problem here is that Cameron has been mislabeled as a master storyteller so has now started to believe this himself, despite his stories almost always being terrible or at the very best based on old reliable formulas. Do people return to Terminator 2: Judgement Day for the (hamfisted) emotional ending where Arnold Schwarzenegger gives the thumbs up? Or do they return for the scene where Robert Patrick chases a motorbike with a giant truck? Do we remember the relationship between John Connor and his mother? Or the really cool bit where the T-1000 gets shot in the face? There is no doubt that James Cameron is a spectacle based filmmaker. If he has a problem with rollercoaster 3D then why did he make <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117880/">T2 3-D: Battle Across Time</a>? Yeah that's right, the one that essentially IS a rollercoaster! (The only place to see it is a theme park.) I saw it James... and the story was shit. Even by your standard!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This part always makes me cry</span></i></td></tr>
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I hear you all saying "What about Titanic eh? That was more emotion and story based!" Now, that's a fair point and one worth raising. There's no doubt that what people remember about Titanic is the love story between Jack & Rose and not the action shots of the ship sinking. I'd be happy to let that slide if it weren't for <a href="http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a167884/james-cameron-confirms-3d-titanic.html">this</a>. That's right, he's converting Titanic to 3D. Seems the spectacle is taking hold again.<br />
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There are cases to be made for 3D. For example, Mark Kermode has recently said of Toy Story 3 that he forgot he was watching a 3D film but was unsure if this meant the 3D was effective or just that the story was engaging enough. Either way, I felt the same and I felt that the 3D certainly didn't remove me from the film. The same cannot be said about Avatar. A goal of any film should be to cause the viewer to become so immersed in it that they forget that they're watching a film and think only of what's happening on screen. Now of course it's a rare film that does this fully but when a film's effects make you stop and think very strongly that you are watching a film I think that this is a failing. In Avatar, when flakes of ash fall down around the characters and they appear to be very close to your face, do you feel like you are there in the scene with them, or do you think "ooh, wow it looks like it's very close to my face"? For me it's certainly the latter. That's one of the more pleasant examples, I won't go into how often I went crosseyed and got a headache, further removing me from the film.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>Oh no does Neytiri still love Sully???</i></span></td></tr>
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Another mistake made with 3D films these days is the attempt to have actions lunging towards the audience. Like an arm reaching out or a car tyre bouncing towards the camera. I have never seen this done successfully and here's my theory why: When you're watching this happen, you're eye can see that there's a big frame around the action and cops on to what's happening, ruining the illusion. I imagine in an Imax setting these actions are far more effective but it's still a failing of any film screened outside of an Imax theatre. 3D on regular cinema screens is far more effective when it's used to add background depth rather than foreground reach. Avatar is full of this.<br />
<br />
Another point raised by Canton in his response is how Cameron is ignoring genre cinema as an important area of filmmaking. He says "<i>Shame on you for thinking that genre movies and the real maestros like Roger Corman and his collaborators are any less auteur or impactful in the history of cinema than you.</i>" He goes on to say that "<i>Not everyone has the advantage of having endless amounts of money to play in their sandbox</i>". Yes, I absolutely agree. I'm far more impressed by Roger Corman types who can work and find creative ways of working with a small amount of money, making something from nothing than someone who needs to make the most expensive film ever made (twice) to get his vision across. You'd think with the amount of money spent on Avatar he could have afforded to hire a better scriptwriter than himself. As well as all that, some of the best cinematographers in the world started off in low budget genre cinema. Some examples include <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002892/">Wally Pfister</a> (Inception), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005696/">Robert Elswit</a> (There Will Be Blood) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0278475/">Mauro Fiore</a> (Avatar).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbIPjc2JJjpH7zPbVpxHiRPeu9g3FTALb5XPUBGCY5F5jWTUHUKG2H6lFbJLK2hKSwZIGg9TVEn48DRjeD5y7_O6BLHB0HAjiOaf5A4xnFrMBG4VMiqyFKSdrJ-DvkWSR6V-fSIoEnZw/s1600/5857_1135884930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbIPjc2JJjpH7zPbVpxHiRPeu9g3FTALb5XPUBGCY5F5jWTUHUKG2H6lFbJLK2hKSwZIGg9TVEn48DRjeD5y7_O6BLHB0HAjiOaf5A4xnFrMBG4VMiqyFKSdrJ-DvkWSR6V-fSIoEnZw/s320/5857_1135884930.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>Ok now make her boobs explode</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Cinematographers are of course not the only people who get their early starts in genre cinema. There are many directors who started there too. Some examples would include David Cronenberg, Peter Jackson and of course... James Cameron. Now, I've held off mentioning this because he did bring it up in the original interview and Canton mentioned it too but it can't go unsaid that James Cameron directed the sequel to the original <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078087/">Piranha</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082910/">Piranha Part Two: The Spawning</a>. Now he says he was fired off of working on it after a few days and I believe him. I can understand why he'd have bad feelings towards it and he doesn't consider it as part of his official filmography but it can't be denied that his name is on it. Seems more like Cameron has a grudge against the Piranha franchise rather than having a problem with the new film's utilisation of 3D. Doesn't stop what he said from being rude and assholey though.<br />
<br />
In the end I think the problem here is that Cameron seems to see himself as above it all and as an artistic soulful fimmaker when in reality he is more on the popcorn entertainment scale of things. Clearly he has a problem with being labeled as this but if that's the case, maybe he shouldn't make those kinds of films. It's not like he has problems getting a budget together. Really I have 3 words of advice for Cameron. If he abides by this simple phrase I think he can take steps towards making more interesting films and saying less callous comments about other filmmakers: James... get over yourself.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwv_6eN54cpNMvUopVX7NPU45yaEdkoJxw0bjLGKDHlglwMBNBVRUu0QFWwafePLm03Hblh41LvwA60TBvizPE9pZtm18OLQNudIiVbJLVIcaRH5NwH0orEJcaFSPlmi8YjYZBOuChgo/s1600/terminator_t2_judgment_day_thumbs_up_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwv_6eN54cpNMvUopVX7NPU45yaEdkoJxw0bjLGKDHlglwMBNBVRUu0QFWwafePLm03Hblh41LvwA60TBvizPE9pZtm18OLQNudIiVbJLVIcaRH5NwH0orEJcaFSPlmi8YjYZBOuChgo/s400/terminator_t2_judgment_day_thumbs_up_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">*</span> Cheapens the medium eh? Kind of like how Aliens cheapened Alien? Cough.<br />
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<a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2010/08/qa-james-cameron-talks-about-avatars-re-release.html">Cameron source</a><br />
<a href="http://www.movieline.com/2010/08/exclusive-piranha-3d-producer-rips-james-cameron-jim-are-you-kidding-or-what.php">Canton source</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-2344927995104662312010-05-18T20:23:00.003+01:002010-05-18T22:34:12.588+01:00FiltrationAdaptation is tricky business!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd1QwdpYZr28iesIXVPicY7eLQXejDt6tOXnti2Fbbasbep_vQ6op2AtjkfEuUigKhKBSaWRCFy0-k5GlvrUuoFEX6HxX-GKpn184zqmphdPGAQTssdVZk1vr-9Tt4GFnjdOSaE8iBw_k/s1600/adaptation-nicolas-cage-typewriter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd1QwdpYZr28iesIXVPicY7eLQXejDt6tOXnti2Fbbasbep_vQ6op2AtjkfEuUigKhKBSaWRCFy0-k5GlvrUuoFEX6HxX-GKpn184zqmphdPGAQTssdVZk1vr-9Tt4GFnjdOSaE8iBw_k/s320/adaptation-nicolas-cage-typewriter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">That's not what I meant... but that's pretty tricky too</span></i></div><br />
I don't know about you but I'm very excited about the upcoming Scott Pilgrim adaptation <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/">Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.</a> There are a number of reasons for this.<br />
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First and foremost I'm a fan of the original comic. For those who don't know <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Pilgrim">Scott Pilgrim</a> is a series of (currently 5, soon to be 6) books written by Bryan Lee O'Malley. They feature a Canadian twenty-something who, in order to date the girl of his dreams (literally), must fight her seven evil exes. It's great! Read it tomorrow!<br />
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Secondly, I'm a big fan of the film's director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0942367/">Edgar Wright.</a> Who's previous films are <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/">Shaun of the Dead</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425112/">Hot Fuzz</a> and also directed the sitcom <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187664/">Spaced</a> among others. All of which are excellent, not just in terms of humour either. They're brilliantly put together.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XNb3abMZngbOzGM-7kbPwyW2XomatGEi6608yltAwrRhIgjSYrUu7EWJEmRp_9qwYTOXHfqJ5C02ctrrZfUz2vRPfiJBx7lyPVHJrCifKACjRx3-6Cs6zNuxyeAEkm3KHaknw4VMo_c/s1600/cheers.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XNb3abMZngbOzGM-7kbPwyW2XomatGEi6608yltAwrRhIgjSYrUu7EWJEmRp_9qwYTOXHfqJ5C02ctrrZfUz2vRPfiJBx7lyPVHJrCifKACjRx3-6Cs6zNuxyeAEkm3KHaknw4VMo_c/s200/cheers.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Cheers!</span></i></div><br />
Thirdly and lastly, it appears from the trailer that the film has been faithfully adapted from the source material. Take a look for yourself actually:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="250" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xgOLmjhxVVU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xgOLmjhxVVU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="250"></embed></object></div><br />
Looks well good eh? Anyway, this got me thinking about adaptation, the various successful examples and the numerous unsuccessful examples. Some aren't faithful enough. Some are too faithful. Some are downright insane. I want to waffle about it so listen up.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5X6hUE0vPSGX_a1n-NcwTncwppuvrEGZraher0E2Q3V-PLGd5bLJ3Ckr_eDTtntisr4X8FKlkJv8qadKCQ_v4g-NBb8IBMlVqInyxORMnjeAZBR10b-qUpYiIFwiBT7ywz8jdke87W4I/s1600/ear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5X6hUE0vPSGX_a1n-NcwTncwppuvrEGZraher0E2Q3V-PLGd5bLJ3Ckr_eDTtntisr4X8FKlkJv8qadKCQ_v4g-NBb8IBMlVqInyxORMnjeAZBR10b-qUpYiIFwiBT7ywz8jdke87W4I/s200/ear.jpg" width="166" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">You're an idiot</span></i></div><br />
Now I'm not against adaptation. Hey some of my favourite films are adaptations! (See what I did there?) But neither am I always for it. I think one issue I have with the whole thing is that Hollywood seems to think that film is the be all and end all medium. That everything needs "A Film" made from it in order for it to be a thing. This I don't agree with and I doubt any right thinking person does. There are many things that just do not work as films. What's worse is, along the way, filmmakers seem to admit that the project they're working on doesn't work in the cinematic medium, yet they press on. Example you say? Oh alright then!<br />
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Back in 1995 someone made a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_dredd">Judge Dredd</a> film. Again, for those not hooked up to the cool information machine like me, Judge Dredd is an English comic character who lives in a dystopian future America and is a crazy strict cop. Well that's the basic description, anyway he's really cool and the Americans wanted to make a movie (despite it being a British creation, but hey). They made a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113492/">thing</a> with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000230/">Sylvester Stallone</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001705/">Rob Schneider</a> (Oscar bait) and it was abysmal. Shocking!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9witOsXqKcPYnYLw-mwbpAiwmhTwExl0fXRaNexFFYTIKFrkESerimX80I0yJEXOQRT4y8YdGw6GKpTgsMPnPmHUwkAITgARxPy94nP_L52yQhfKyRE3qa26Wf5939uMpdYGUJ5hUIA/s1600/rob-schneider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9witOsXqKcPYnYLw-mwbpAiwmhTwExl0fXRaNexFFYTIKFrkESerimX80I0yJEXOQRT4y8YdGw6GKpTgsMPnPmHUwkAITgARxPy94nP_L52yQhfKyRE3qa26Wf5939uMpdYGUJ5hUIA/s200/rob-schneider.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Derp De Der</i></span></div><br />
Now there were many reasons for this film being terrible, the inclusion of Deuce Bigalow notwithstanding. One thing stood out though: Judge Dredd takes his helmet off. Now this may seem like a small thing but it is representative of the entire approach of the film towards faithfully delivering the message and atmosphere of the source comic. These people did not get it. There are a million things you can change, adjust, remove, invent in every piece of work that's being adapted. Most of which won't be a problem but there are fundamental things that must stay, this is one of them. I've read a certain amount about the making of this particular film (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Judge-Dredd-Neal-Jr-Barrett/dp/0312956282/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273425626&sr=1-10">this book</a>) and the filmmakers seemed to believe quite early on in the process that there was no way they could keep Dredd's helmet on for the entire duration of the film as without the eyes, an audience cannot properly emotionally connect or relate to a film character. Ok, fair point... why are you making the film then? It seems like they immediately admitted that this character does not work in the cinematic medium, yet seem insistant on forcing him into it. (Incidentally, I disagree completely and feel an interesting and visually arresting film could definitely be made without removing Dredd's helmet. His character rarely arcs anyway which is usually left to any of the numerous characters around him who remove their helmets regularly.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Krgfih-OGTqtOHtG3oFw_dQ3TWrf0fRPeH74SjOFVKfIS-lGm_bwsrNJzlyhz6aDKTOSMGbRlddWvfoP6OUhtOK0DMSDmnqgcQ19tmxY-_2Z0apim5M_QJEQkIIu_buD09D1sEhXnm4/s1600/dredd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Krgfih-OGTqtOHtG3oFw_dQ3TWrf0fRPeH74SjOFVKfIS-lGm_bwsrNJzlyhz6aDKTOSMGbRlddWvfoP6OUhtOK0DMSDmnqgcQ19tmxY-_2Z0apim5M_QJEQkIIu_buD09D1sEhXnm4/s320/dredd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fuck yeah, I'd go see it!</i></span></div><br />
Now Judge Dredd is just a prime example of something that happens a lot in the adaptation process. Someone with a fleeting interest in the source material who can't see the forest for the large box office gross gets their hands on the project and starts missing the point. I've already talked about Tim Burton's Batman films <a href="http://cinewaffle.blogspot.com/2010/03/we-need-to-talk-about-timothy.html">suffering from this.</a> Of course the whole box office fixated executive is such a bizarre thing because if you look at the various celebrations and bastardizations of different works, the celebrations tend to win out, box office wise. Judge Dredd was a flop to say the least and while Burton's Batman films were hugely successful they ain't got nothing on <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/">The Dark Knight.</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiXYkDX_6C50XEMeuPgC6E1x68XQXoi_ARnilaadG_eCxmUjXHV3uhJjYdkNhInKVSrdqQpCYfX0CwjBXamLDiOxnFDzz5qohL0Gca8mhqdv16hkszDkxle-eS8YwaMu5fY9UpqEwYyM/s1600/batman_judgedredd2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiXYkDX_6C50XEMeuPgC6E1x68XQXoi_ARnilaadG_eCxmUjXHV3uhJjYdkNhInKVSrdqQpCYfX0CwjBXamLDiOxnFDzz5qohL0Gca8mhqdv16hkszDkxle-eS8YwaMu5fY9UpqEwYyM/s320/batman_judgedredd2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>We got a lot in common bro</i></span></div><br />
While we're at this poor example malarky, let's mention something that's likely to make anyone sensitive to poor adaptations buckle at the knees: Video Games. There are absolutely 0 examples of good films that have been adapted from video games. Don't believe me? Go ahead name one. I'll wait... hmm?... anything?... Resident Evil? Fuck off!... yeah I didn't think so! This I don't fully understand because a video game is something that's not as sensitive as a book or a comic. Video games aren't usually as nailed down with their canon or even their stories, it should be very easy to strip down a video game's universe to the bare necessities and build from there. I think what the problem may be is that the reason you think your favourite video game would make a great movie is because it's emulating the style and atmosphere of about ten movies that have already been made. Usually with pride, such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_%28series%29">Metal Gear Solid</a> series and their clear love for James Bond and Kurt Russell. And it's really awful for any genre to have the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108255/">Super Mario Bros.</a> movie as their cultural milestone, the one that began it all. Have you ever actually sat down and watched that thing? I mean really watched it? It's insane.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="250" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MdrlALQVEKM&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MdrlALQVEKM&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="325"></embed></object></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Seriously, this happens</i></span></div><br />
But it's not all bad! And it's not all comics and video games! (Or as my ex-girlfriend called them "gay nerd shit you're an asshole") Let me tell you a brief story:<br />
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When I was 16 I found myself in Nantes, France for six weeks. Being alone in that land and not exactly being a whiz at French I spent a lot of time reading. Most of my material was given to me before I left by my parents. One particular book was called The Children of Men by P.D. James. I enjoyed it, it was a strong idea but was flawed by a weak ending that didn't really go anywhere. But I always remembered it. A number of years later I'm sitting in the cinema waiting for some movie or other to begin (I don't remember which) and a trailer starts rolling with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0654110/">Clive Owen</a> on a train. His voice over mentions something about "ever since people stopped having children" and I jumped in my seat. "I know that story!" I exclaimed and I watched the trailer, interested. It was clear from the trailer that some artistic liberties had been taken for this adaptation and the whole atmosphere had been given an overhaul. Nevertheless, the initial strong idea remained. Not long after <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/">Children of Men</a> (apparently the "The" in the title was problematic) was released and I went to see it and I was blown away. Dudes and dudettes, that is one great movie.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYVnzC2ArzUHRz0vTYoQPmWF-dWfq0ZIPTKrFNMYBwagRL5Rmh_hBkBE9XYGpHT_dw_59An79EpDJ6k0VGMQyZpz9CzWdi9kZClRoOJqDHqL_1T_d63ZJe2IDFk70Rq-XSx9gq4NmU1k/s1600/clive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYVnzC2ArzUHRz0vTYoQPmWF-dWfq0ZIPTKrFNMYBwagRL5Rmh_hBkBE9XYGpHT_dw_59An79EpDJ6k0VGMQyZpz9CzWdi9kZClRoOJqDHqL_1T_d63ZJe2IDFk70Rq-XSx9gq4NmU1k/s320/clive.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Thanks!</i></span></div><br />
I realise that a lot of people didn't like it and if you happen to be one of those people, I'm sorry but, you're wrong. Yes that's what I said, your opinion is wrong. But anyway, the point is that while Children of Men wasn't faithful to the source material, it was still good. In fact, it was an improvement on the original. So it's not pure faithfulness I'm arguing for.<br />
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For more proof in the pudding (or something) let's jump back to comics! <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen">Watchmen</a> to be more specific. There's a lot to be said about that whole thing and I won't bore you with the details because they're all over the place and it gets very into the nitty gritty and such and boo. What I will say is, one of the main flaws of the film adaptation of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409459/">Watchmen</a> (and there are many) is the fact that it spends far too much time insisting that it's faithful. So much effort is put into recreating the comic visually that they forgot to make sure it works as a film. By the way, it doesn't.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinskKrXUDlLB1cxf1v_b-99ZA9Egj7XUquuU25QprSKecF8wj9hhP3llOAAJeb3Pl_jPtHYHwAANCZeEh2VpGxgHaN3WvF0WWsp071FtSmMeWJR0U98Co90J_qt36twHCR3zo2Nx5apDk/s1600/watchsex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinskKrXUDlLB1cxf1v_b-99ZA9Egj7XUquuU25QprSKecF8wj9hhP3llOAAJeb3Pl_jPtHYHwAANCZeEh2VpGxgHaN3WvF0WWsp071FtSmMeWJR0U98Co90J_qt36twHCR3zo2Nx5apDk/s320/watchsex.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Also this was awkward...</span></i></div><br />
This brings me back to something I touched upon earlier when talking about Judge Dredd. Why do Hollywood filmmakers insist that films be made of everything popular? There seems to be some assumption that film is the ultimate and definitive medium and all other works aspire to reach that level. If something is perfectly good in its own medium and doesn't work as a film, why force it into working? I'm all for adjustment and nurturing an idea but sometimes it just becomes ridiculous.<br />
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What it comes down to is that usually the big picture is more important than the details. By all means adapt. Adapt away! But do it because the work inspires something great, not because it's purely bankable. As I said before, as much as 'The Rules' are brandished as a business model, the films that stick to the truth of the source generally tend to win out financially anyway. Even if they stray from the beaten path. Try and stay faithful to the work but only when it serves the message/atmosphere/idea, don't do it just for the sake of doing so. And most importantly, keep Michael Bay the hell away from it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04qAaSDmeep-ni1SgBctrsviwhG4vcDA3vw8iEeuf_Lq1gToyqPWqFPt6gOpIn9W5O6A8BMiIbGvKXJT29gOR59REYcOanX0g0mRsilSIVjQ1luYzupvNxdCM6r2edb6hSHJTyKdxMVg/s1600/michael-bay-picture-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04qAaSDmeep-ni1SgBctrsviwhG4vcDA3vw8iEeuf_Lq1gToyqPWqFPt6gOpIn9W5O6A8BMiIbGvKXJT29gOR59REYcOanX0g0mRsilSIVjQ1luYzupvNxdCM6r2edb6hSHJTyKdxMVg/s200/michael-bay-picture-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>How about</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Shia LaBeouf as Leopold Bloom?</i></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-46334014883386791552010-03-25T15:23:00.005+00:002011-10-11T11:33:52.762+01:00We Need to Talk About TimothyLet's take a look at the film-making career of Tim Burton shall we?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpJ9_jZ18y8t58aLTftoukGrdXdplW7XTkg1OjzLlo63fMJKR5tv9kFLuhR6FSwZd1XpqnQM_JV4FHIIJCJ_BoVh9nlmaSD8jKxBy5p-V514XpZyOz3wHO6NTLUI3a40lOINSm9l-VPwk/s1600-h/TimBurton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpJ9_jZ18y8t58aLTftoukGrdXdplW7XTkg1OjzLlo63fMJKR5tv9kFLuhR6FSwZd1XpqnQM_JV4FHIIJCJ_BoVh9nlmaSD8jKxBy5p-V514XpZyOz3wHO6NTLUI3a40lOINSm9l-VPwk/s200/TimBurton.jpg" width="164" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>I'd rather we didn't</i></div><br />
This is the first in a series of waffles dedicated to the career of an individual director who I'd like to talk about. The focus will be on their directed features rather than any television, short films or producing work they may or may not have done.<br />
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So I thought I'd talk about the ups and downs of Tim Burton and the films he has made. This particular bit of waffle will focus mostly on his work as a feature director rather than his production work. Partially because it's the rules, and partially because <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/">The Nightmare Before Christmas</a> is the best thing he's put his name to bar none and to compare his other work to it is a silly exercise so we won't.<br />
Let's move on yes?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1xYXOv9hMP9l6FlZMvATN1-LmLORr73KxvkheKuYIaQ4bMFYcTF9W00TyP2kmHWruwWeiIlTH8-IhzeXG9ItxfmT5mq9GHWQ-8NDf9cbWkEK6s5TFI1jdIneDQR_bImnz-4Zc85DBbQ/s1600/jax.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1xYXOv9hMP9l6FlZMvATN1-LmLORr73KxvkheKuYIaQ4bMFYcTF9W00TyP2kmHWruwWeiIlTH8-IhzeXG9ItxfmT5mq9GHWQ-8NDf9cbWkEK6s5TFI1jdIneDQR_bImnz-4Zc85DBbQ/s320/jax.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>This guy likes it too</i></div><br />
To begin...<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089791/">Pee Wee's Big Adventure</a> (1985)</b><br />
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Now, I have to admit I didn't <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/pee-wees-big-adventure.html">see this until very recently.</a> Well, not entirely. I saw a chunk of it when I was younger but never really got around to sitting down and watching the full film so I finally did it. And guess what, I loved it!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGI7RmjmkBp1orZHedLx2a_YckuQIR4Aa0WdQrE-WbPKoIw9maYmGj4d7xerqITE6PtvfyZVgzXFFnhYUad2m2ofVhE1WHQx98XWlV8NX3q6Y3LrO0s9Z_uloJnT3HjefkuWICgljfEs/s1600/Pee-Wee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGI7RmjmkBp1orZHedLx2a_YckuQIR4Aa0WdQrE-WbPKoIw9maYmGj4d7xerqITE6PtvfyZVgzXFFnhYUad2m2ofVhE1WHQx98XWlV8NX3q6Y3LrO0s9Z_uloJnT3HjefkuWICgljfEs/s200/Pee-Wee.jpg" width="184" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Oh stawp</i></span></div><br />
Pee Wee's Big Adventure by all accounts should not work. Or at least, should not have such wide appeal. It's very rare that a manchild character (especially one as giggly, energetic and gurning as Pee Wee) is not irritating and annoying to the core. Pee Wee manages to be fun and hilarious and silly in a completely enjoyable way. I don't know what the formula is but Burton and Reubens (Pee Wee) cracked it with this movie.<br />
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Thumbs up for Pee Wee's Big Adventure.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094721/">Beetle Juice</a> (1988)</b><br />
<br />
Funny, IMDB seems to insist this is called "Beetle Juice" but I've always thought it was "Beetlejuice". I usually tend to trust IMDB with stuff like this so I took a look at the cover:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_x65yneKe_pyH5h6U574RS99wKjJsY_T1magXjI8Qz3LxZwJ5hAGo13QUq2h9vQgS1ihCLgi6VI_3OqK6h2vMQ3y3PUTamFfVG5JdbfKZL3U7hgMU3oYqP-1Cb7uvikxyLb2O1DB5MY/s1600-h/beetlejuice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_x65yneKe_pyH5h6U574RS99wKjJsY_T1magXjI8Qz3LxZwJ5hAGo13QUq2h9vQgS1ihCLgi6VI_3OqK6h2vMQ3y3PUTamFfVG5JdbfKZL3U7hgMU3oYqP-1Cb7uvikxyLb2O1DB5MY/s320/beetlejuice.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>Soooooo...</i></div><br />
Ok...hmm... well then. Still, I'll stick with IMDB on this. It's usually best to trust it as an authority.<br />
Anyway, yes! I think this might actually be my favourite of Burton's works. Aside of course for the aforementioned Nighmare Before Christmas. I watched the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096543/">animated series</a> a lot when I was a kid. (I notice IMDB has gone with "Beetlejuice" for that! Hmmm.) This was the early 90s though, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408427/">when</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090506/">everything</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472243/">seemed</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098752/">to</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365971/">have</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101042/">an</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112064/">animated</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111946/">series</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115084/">based</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0194622/">on</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094526/">it.</a> I really liked that show as a kid. I haven't seen it lately, I wonder if it holds up. Anyway, I was aware that there was a film version and one day the TV started advertising that it would be on. So of course we taped it and I watched it endless times.<br />
<br />
I really like Beetle Juice! (That still looks wrong to me.) The signature Burton spooooky German expressionist influenced design feels very natural here. It's actually tied to the plot quite well. The atmosphere and music compliment each other perfectly, far more successfully than any of his other films I think, except perhaps Batman. And of course Michael Keaton is on fire as the title character. It's rare that a zaaany eccentric character like this makes a film as much as the producers would like to think. But here it really works. He's funny, hypnotic, intriguing and sinister. Completely lovable without ever losing his status as the villain. That isn't to say the film would survive without the rest of the cast. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis are brilliant as the innocent leads. Winona Ryder gives a great mopey performance. Glenn Shaddix is hilarious, Jeffrey Jones is a great as the suffering husband and Catherine O'Hara is BRILLIANTLY obnoxious. This is a great cast!<br />
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Oh, and let's not forget...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrH76R8b5UnYladWBmK_7dSB7R9NXPlofq3UpXvAjbSnfX4mOk3qDh8eswQouXyAAS7O-3a7a2v_RWUv6Pir2BrP11XLwjidSAnhJq3ScwSqHVW-T2f42kZqpXhhCFFDSvwHFfGYDtm9M/s1600-h/bob_goulet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrH76R8b5UnYladWBmK_7dSB7R9NXPlofq3UpXvAjbSnfX4mOk3qDh8eswQouXyAAS7O-3a7a2v_RWUv6Pir2BrP11XLwjidSAnhJq3ScwSqHVW-T2f42kZqpXhhCFFDSvwHFfGYDtm9M/s200/bob_goulet.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>Goulet!</i></div><br />
Thumbs up for Beetle Juice.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/">Batman</a> (1989)</b><br />
<br />
Let me start with a metaphor:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">If I take this image of Batman...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MDzL3XJ6OqhSKtsS5wUELapbKNbUIxnhzwE1tX_H-a4IjSxKUsfbJTmPmBB8BlNcBG9Yt8zLghXd1gN0c9V0kqnZ_1WzXy9yZt3VAysB2dLuYSezlrHYANnAs2_cQ9wZ4pnzOIkT-5k/s1600-h/batman1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MDzL3XJ6OqhSKtsS5wUELapbKNbUIxnhzwE1tX_H-a4IjSxKUsfbJTmPmBB8BlNcBG9Yt8zLghXd1gN0c9V0kqnZ_1WzXy9yZt3VAysB2dLuYSezlrHYANnAs2_cQ9wZ4pnzOIkT-5k/s320/batman1.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...and then lighten it...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_UXdMVOI1bzzVv_YarWIDcd1H57RqVHpH7JYDoVIy0C1Lu6y0GIUq9GWTACFzqgSthLx3lnP1_L4slnoi7aBLZunmH4n8yRD96NkGzU2jaYLO4m-GrTh29DFU874HOFbSxjGAhhBnbI/s1600-h/batman2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_UXdMVOI1bzzVv_YarWIDcd1H57RqVHpH7JYDoVIy0C1Lu6y0GIUq9GWTACFzqgSthLx3lnP1_L4slnoi7aBLZunmH4n8yRD96NkGzU2jaYLO4m-GrTh29DFU874HOFbSxjGAhhBnbI/s320/batman2.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...and then decide to darken it again...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzRl8ryQMJlIg3JkdOfA5gyHET0t2c5ShRUD30QP7KIqsXPCgaTOr-7xI8f6tEodGl67mYp5bv41k8rmWd0BOIs8S4Ka_-AXd3SxrWOyjumj1LmU73NTlHies6kCn2G44Kk6FQGHa5bc/s1600-h/batman3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzRl8ryQMJlIg3JkdOfA5gyHET0t2c5ShRUD30QP7KIqsXPCgaTOr-7xI8f6tEodGl67mYp5bv41k8rmWd0BOIs8S4Ka_-AXd3SxrWOyjumj1LmU73NTlHies6kCn2G44Kk6FQGHa5bc/s320/batman3.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...it is not the same image I started with.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">This is how I see Tim Burton's version of Batman.</div>Hey, look. When I was young I did like it. I actually saw Batman Returns first believe it or not. Videos and TV and the like. I watched this film many times. But I've grown up now, and I've learned plenty since.<br />
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Looking at it now, I like a lot of the imagery. I like the music, I like some of the design. I think Jack Nicholson did a really good job and I quite like Michael Keaton's performance too. But guess what. It ain't Batman. I'm sorry, but it's not. You can argue preference, success, enjoyment etc. until your face turns blue. But if you tell me that is Batman up there you're wrong. There is one big reason for this. Batman doesn't kill people. Burton's Batman does. You could argue that I'm being picky here. That I'm not jumping on the difference of design from comic book to screen. I'm not against the origin stories changing, or the fact that the Joker's past is clearly defined. But I really think my problem is a fair one. I consider it to be a fundamental aspect of the character. When he's boiled down, this is what he's about. As fundamental as Superman flying or Spider-Man climbing walls. If you're not including them then why make the film?<br />
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For me it comes down to arrogance. It feels that Burton has not followed the two Rs of comic book adaptation: Research & Respect. (Yes I just made those up.) He seems to have followed some Rs of his own: Rudeness & Relentless getting Batman wrong. To me, it appears that Burton was never a reader of the comics. Which is fine, but upon being given the film to direct he made no effort to research and get to the bottom of the character and instead relied on his own experience which was the 60s Adam West TV series. Rather than exploring the darkness of the original source material, he opted to darken the lightened image from the TV show. No research of the character and no respect for the fans.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-oZL5wgX_GnVsGRU1y91uec1fEVQaG1dY23SzNFdw-_gG9QX6lG_1A0U2SOopvlw1YFH5Eixdo2Nx4SOznh1TTgfhTLl93eb7O9SDhbvJRDV9XspcIlHeSx0RccnXjZF03tzdjmCGvbo/s1600-h/batman_burton_keaton_onset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-oZL5wgX_GnVsGRU1y91uec1fEVQaG1dY23SzNFdw-_gG9QX6lG_1A0U2SOopvlw1YFH5Eixdo2Nx4SOznh1TTgfhTLl93eb7O9SDhbvJRDV9XspcIlHeSx0RccnXjZF03tzdjmCGvbo/s320/batman_burton_keaton_onset.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>If you could fit a few</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>puns in here that'd be great</i></div><br />
Thumbs down for Batman.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099487/">Edward Scissorhands</a> (1990)</b><br />
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The one that started his relationship with Johnny Depp. A good start it was! Edward Scissorhands is top stuff. Frankenstein meets suburban America meets Cesare from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010323/">The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari.</a> A lot of Burton's work meets The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari though.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBCeqKXIE-w04fDJ4wAvKsOJUG6j9APSFkDJ86H_l-3JCx-CKveQU-uJ2sOeaxf7pG55sNlqRrudZXbfA73pYWspOcis3HLIh1uSGAFoIV5OEkQKDNe3UbZ8i31PFJn9XNMloCL5rJcU/s1600-h/caligari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBCeqKXIE-w04fDJ4wAvKsOJUG6j9APSFkDJ86H_l-3JCx-CKveQU-uJ2sOeaxf7pG55sNlqRrudZXbfA73pYWspOcis3HLIh1uSGAFoIV5OEkQKDNe3UbZ8i31PFJn9XNMloCL5rJcU/s200/caligari.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>I think he likes this movie</i></div><br />
While Edward Scissorhands does feature Tim Burton's story telling flaws. In that, he has trouble holding a story together. Think about it for a second. His films tend to be quite fragmented and don't have a strong story arc to them. Some of them flourish in this environment and some of them die. Edward Scissorhands doesn't flourish as much as some of his other work, but it certainly holds up.<br />
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Despite story problems, I really love this. The painted skies and pastel colours work really well against the inky black context of Edward. Depp's broken innocent performance is heartbreaking and again, everyone here is bringing their A game. I particularly like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001848/">Dianne West</a> as Peg and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001637/">Vincent Price</a>'s brief part. The scene of his death and the ending of the film are both truly beautiful. Really great.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0YrV7aDK4-l8wUeY-2TK9s7So0SG9Q2LhIrrpOfs8FtS4QNvgWrOiYuEovPGYkrSFw4JiRb4FpyebLkqEpRMvgjR5DFo0MaSPQcoSIpFcDY7FFIgQovM39FFrtXbb3hHlu_oItiaoYg/s1600-h/amh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0YrV7aDK4-l8wUeY-2TK9s7So0SG9Q2LhIrrpOfs8FtS4QNvgWrOiYuEovPGYkrSFw4JiRb4FpyebLkqEpRMvgjR5DFo0MaSPQcoSIpFcDY7FFIgQovM39FFrtXbb3hHlu_oItiaoYg/s200/amh.jpg" width="156" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>I was in it too</i></div><br />
Thumbs up for Edward Scissorhands.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/">Batman Returns</a> (1992)</b><br />
<br />
Let me start with a metaphor:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">If I take this image of Batman...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MDzL3XJ6OqhSKtsS5wUELapbKNbUIxnhzwE1tX_H-a4IjSxKUsfbJTmPmBB8BlNcBG9Yt8zLghXd1gN0c9V0kqnZ_1WzXy9yZt3VAysB2dLuYSezlrHYANnAs2_cQ9wZ4pnzOIkT-5k/s1600-h/batman1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MDzL3XJ6OqhSKtsS5wUELapbKNbUIxnhzwE1tX_H-a4IjSxKUsfbJTmPmBB8BlNcBG9Yt8zLghXd1gN0c9V0kqnZ_1WzXy9yZt3VAysB2dLuYSezlrHYANnAs2_cQ9wZ4pnzOIkT-5k/s320/batman1.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...and then lighten it...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1COxZrU1thr9pQFuuswVgwTJd2jkizFqJr9MHtli8_gAnf31Lg40FSITc6EsdV8E3eBLI_S6yUC8260wJfBCCVrDcnWs4efJAQdK456-uC_rFxUfHkkb4ZfcFIT7nv3k0Up8QlmZFau4/s1600/6a00d8341c630a53ef0111690e85ff970c-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1COxZrU1thr9pQFuuswVgwTJd2jkizFqJr9MHtli8_gAnf31Lg40FSITc6EsdV8E3eBLI_S6yUC8260wJfBCCVrDcnWs4efJAQdK456-uC_rFxUfHkkb4ZfcFIT7nv3k0Up8QlmZFau4/s320/6a00d8341c630a53ef0111690e85ff970c-800wi.jpg" width="236" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">...and then decide to darken it again...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEC03vd-1EYDK-2NaavZ1oKf0dboX9hHLosbCSyPcndAOIigugxTXyT7HnY8TZ8gFhNtSbpMptcAPva0tUtESo3tCeJV36XhUs4DrpB0VQkAUh6MbtQYluybOzKfMZu86v4_wP-TOXUig/s1600/batman_1989_9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEC03vd-1EYDK-2NaavZ1oKf0dboX9hHLosbCSyPcndAOIigugxTXyT7HnY8TZ8gFhNtSbpMptcAPva0tUtESo3tCeJV36XhUs4DrpB0VQkAUh6MbtQYluybOzKfMZu86v4_wP-TOXUig/s320/batman_1989_9.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...it is not the same image I started with.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
Well, this may be the first Tim Burton film I ever saw. Possibly... who knows, I can't actually remember for sure. It's definitely one of the first. I borrowed the tape from my cousin and I liked it back then and there's elements I like now. It still contains (and magnifies) the big problem I have with his first Batman film. It's not Batman. You might say I'm being too harsh with this but really I don't think I am. Anyway, this movie is a weird one I think. I probably prefer it to the first one. Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman is very good and very close to the character. I like Danny DeVito's Penguin despite him being horrifying and twisted beyond belief. Most bizarre really is probably the inclusion of Christopher Walken playing a character named after this guy:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4kB3G2PJhHV90eknyborCuq6-PwAxevhbD8WHRuqGMzHJ5l4sjK2q6_y-0iG4XTSpequjEWgQJWbbiS8OcXe_hr6jH6FZN1Bmy-w6ORs6QZlIgfIAa2rTRwzj6TQ0KwCBOpmRdXjzHw/s1600/schreck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4kB3G2PJhHV90eknyborCuq6-PwAxevhbD8WHRuqGMzHJ5l4sjK2q6_y-0iG4XTSpequjEWgQJWbbiS8OcXe_hr6jH6FZN1Bmy-w6ORs6QZlIgfIAa2rTRwzj6TQ0KwCBOpmRdXjzHw/s200/schreck.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>Wait... are you telling me</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>Tim Burton is a fan of</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>German Expressionist film?!</i></div><br />
Now I like Christopher Walken a lot (who doesn't!?) but I find his character in this film a little bizarre. Mostly because his costume and hair are so unbelievably ridiculous he's impossible to take seriously as a scary villain.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjezK2l0K3cqIvKMGP4ApJsPwW-_mvt_yQByxDJ193EwuNFQGIENSgqBzdHreDAPMairvEFZnB6p-tJSWEH9GUa3VXZRV1WV6fEuRiof8HoDVvffs4SKPzvB3yICB6IXMzilj8Zso7SmQ/s1600/Walken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjezK2l0K3cqIvKMGP4ApJsPwW-_mvt_yQByxDJ193EwuNFQGIENSgqBzdHreDAPMairvEFZnB6p-tJSWEH9GUa3VXZRV1WV6fEuRiof8HoDVvffs4SKPzvB3yICB6IXMzilj8Zso7SmQ/s200/Walken.jpg" width="166" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>I'll eat your fucking children </i></div><br />
And this brings me to my main issue with this film. Burton's German expressionist film influences are far too overstated here. It's dizzying to watch. Also the whole penguin crap makes no bloody sense. There are things I like and things I don't. And also Batman jokes about killing people. Not cool.<br />
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Thumbs shaky for Batman Returns.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109707/">Ed Wood</a> (1994)</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNcUt3fmXcRPyRLrsIsmcngkmpMKFbVLU05RehjvHiLyXnLqj3hLlL9aMqufUbHNuQyuxBUCmikADhbPqAIAaxxpTdXEC13PJO0Sc51OUgyHXBxyFthK2kjhmCh2mk1a-hvbeCSncnGg/s1600-h/edw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNcUt3fmXcRPyRLrsIsmcngkmpMKFbVLU05RehjvHiLyXnLqj3hLlL9aMqufUbHNuQyuxBUCmikADhbPqAIAaxxpTdXEC13PJO0Sc51OUgyHXBxyFthK2kjhmCh2mk1a-hvbeCSncnGg/s200/edw.jpg" width="189" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>Edward Woodenhands</i></div><br />
Edward D. Wood Jr. Affectionately called the worst filmmaker of all time. His most famous work is the science-fiction horror <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052077/">Plan 9 from Outer Space.</a> A classic in awful ridiculously bad cinema. But charming nonetheless.<br />
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Burton's tribute to his legacy is great. While it provides giggles (it's hard not to laugh at some of the crazy notions Wood had) it never looks down on its central character and depicts him as a character of pure optimism. Johnny Depp returns and does a good job as the strange man but the real star here is Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. Some of Landau's scenes are genuinely moving and the film acts as a loving tribute to a true horror legend who was cast aside when Hollywood had no more use for him.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPshDQk1uH8nfYYkw392B7lh_T2ugDWsj2AGS2tU-4PPyIvEam9rPJwkViAy-sq-8zTdUGWf0zaYkDgOCTNtETcoj5vwsG9A8QTIIMxB4nXN7U68WYE3KzlZB60yEspRaye9Ttcm0tO44/s1600/bela-lugosi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPshDQk1uH8nfYYkw392B7lh_T2ugDWsj2AGS2tU-4PPyIvEam9rPJwkViAy-sq-8zTdUGWf0zaYkDgOCTNtETcoj5vwsG9A8QTIIMxB4nXN7U68WYE3KzlZB60yEspRaye9Ttcm0tO44/s200/bela-lugosi.jpg" width="171" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><i>Bela Lugosi's Dead</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Also Bill Murray's always a good idea.<br />
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Thumbs up for Ed Wood.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116996/">Mars Attacks!</a> (1996)</b><br />
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Burton's love of Plan 9 from Outer Space is clearly influencing the design of this film. The Martian spaceships and gadgets are heavy with inspiration from 1950s and 1960s science-fiction. I find that people often don't like this film. Not really sure why. Sure it's got Burton's classic story problems. After the Martians arrive, the story stops. But hey, there's a lot to like. The Martians themselves are hilarious, as is Jack Nicholson. I love Michael J. Fox and Annette Bening and the fact that they're eventually destroyed by horrible country crooning is just the right amount of silly. Yes!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFsKkaT5tFCQqP6lwB8z_89kdVLShblU9lbij2Ne0oGz1DrIoHm5nhq3NT4yhM8ci62lsTgctRDVY3hlya3Vb4cDIiEasoxCD7lSMJ3iIbLSYa4f2Jw2zZF0j_wl7E5VesktKnY505K84/s200/untitled.bmp" width="153" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I had nothing to do with it</span></i></div><br />
Interesting trivia. I read somewhere once. I can't guarantee it's true but I still like it. Supposedly the original plan for Mars Attacks! was to give it a Christmas release and this is why all the human skeletons are either green or red when they're killed. Adds a festive touch don't you think?<br />
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Thumbs up for Mars Attacks!<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162661/">Sleepy Hollow</a> (1999)</b><br />
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I saw this thing years ago and to be perfectly honest. I barely remember it. It's hard for me to tell you if it's good or not because of how little memory I have of it. Maybe the fact that I have such difficulty remembering anything says something about its entertainment value.<br />
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The main thing I remember is that Christopher Walken didn't look scary at all in the flashback sequences when he had a head. Christopher Walken is scary on his own. When he's done up to look like a monster that scariness is diminished. He just comes out looking silly.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YKyIfE4Oasm_ErHCZ95D5OlIJnl7unlpOCHPh-JHydnXJhdwaL6PvylkAmBC5PO74FW0W9ccBMn7fxnmcWsCivCU2fqL1vv1CRh1lr7MGajEpQHJuJ8kEEUGCSJCS59ohatI6xO65f8/s200/sleepy_hollow_xl_02-film-a.jpg" width="240" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'll eat your fucking children</span></i></div><br />
Thumbs uncertain for Sleepy Hollow.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133152/">Planet of the Apes</a> (2001)</b><br />
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Or as I like to call it "Planet of the Terrible Fucking Film"<br />
Seriously, I hate this. As far as I'm concerned this is Burton's worst film. I saw this before I saw <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063442/">the original film</a> so no claim can be made that while watching it I was forever comparing it to the superior classic. I just felt the ball was dropped on every level. So much of this makes literally no sense. The story and characters are a complete mess, the dialogue is laughable and the ending is a supreme moment of pushing a mystery too far.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G7fjPAdIghiuu6Lx-7qzXe75ERxF5LXGZGo38SNL834l7dtBJfBuPev_NnX8oTFtOJoHlUan4_98ApUxeXj5Tw6W5xQuZuMUkXHhecASyd2ehJTTxsjwZmP_EZ1rKUlPMzdXCA8ttIA/s1600/ape1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G7fjPAdIghiuu6Lx-7qzXe75ERxF5LXGZGo38SNL834l7dtBJfBuPev_NnX8oTFtOJoHlUan4_98ApUxeXj5Tw6W5xQuZuMUkXHhecASyd2ehJTTxsjwZmP_EZ1rKUlPMzdXCA8ttIA/s200/ape1.jpg" width="168" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I found it offensive</span></i></div><br />
Speaking of the ending actually, this video should be watched. I obviously don't think Burton stole the ending but it gives a good insight into his arrogance and foolishness (especially when it comes to Batman.) Watch:<br />
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<iframe width="400" height="320" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fKbAEmvZyKQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Eh? Eh!?<br />
But yeah, while I do like Mark Wahlberg and Helena Bonham Carter I do think they sucked in this. The only person not dropping the ball is probably Tim Roth but even still it's so badly written it doesn't make a difference. As well as all this, I think the amount of work put into teaching the actors move like real apes worked in detriment to the final piece as a lot of the characters just seem silly the way they move. It doesn't work. Maybe this time Burton did too much research. Who knows.<br />
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The worst part though, by a long shot, is the inclusion of this asshole:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMALM1K1Fs_x47bforhIkuvLTXvPwhiy4OtTTZhCZDZTEOd7Xht1r4qFPNbfzhXzocXRn-0FTE5i3XAsxVV9lWB4guoS3uYbThqYxi4mTBq7hVrSri-72TUdo5y-Lgk72iDyuG3D4Atg/s200/CharltonHeston.jpg" width="178" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dammit Chuck!</span></i></div><br />
Charlton Heston has a brief cameo in this film. Now, I'm not against giving him a cameo per se but it turned out to be one of the most offensive things in it. He plays the Tim Roth's old dying father whom Roth approaches for advice. What does Ol' Chuck suggest? Oh, take this amazing super tool that is brilliantly powerful and fantastic and will help you win:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRdPo6ppo3z0J2ArOvmyBaYJf2UdjRfcwqdNJdiOIAcUbs7BFRuijt3bIE18rAW8qQWFzO_Y9i1Dm0c309QXfbGu5wBuR3LCJz3M2zxdb23XqpZZdjX6UYQr7WMIxwjHXunL-4RIfNOU/s1600/gun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRdPo6ppo3z0J2ArOvmyBaYJf2UdjRfcwqdNJdiOIAcUbs7BFRuijt3bIE18rAW8qQWFzO_Y9i1Dm0c309QXfbGu5wBuR3LCJz3M2zxdb23XqpZZdjX6UYQr7WMIxwjHXunL-4RIfNOU/s200/gun.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>It's a gun</i></span></div><br />
This is wonderful considering at the time of filming, Charlton Heston was the president of the National Rifle Association of America.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSaJg0oR_Gm2V5iH2Hu7Ecv_dCWGvFCSb7_uS-onEFLEWHo2_XzcPYpimHjX-5dTtsENgmnd1u4uhZRO1yb_H1SNvP4qK-4twf2nFycSHExQBwQ_t1Ovh4fbjjMty8dNnnbNFa200-hU/s1600/nra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSaJg0oR_Gm2V5iH2Hu7Ecv_dCWGvFCSb7_uS-onEFLEWHo2_XzcPYpimHjX-5dTtsENgmnd1u4uhZRO1yb_H1SNvP4qK-4twf2nFycSHExQBwQ_t1Ovh4fbjjMty8dNnnbNFa200-hU/s200/nra.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Apparently so</span></i></div><br />
Thanks Chuck. Thanks a bunch. I'm glad you're dead.<br />
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Thumbs down down down for Planet of the Apes.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319061/">Big Fish</a> (2003)</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrel_oGy7FzfKciK1grGB8h0L3b9ntMCIYRHvF4bcOWQvDuZdjyfQYArCi8iE9Bao6Kk4iRxQEu8XDPXwYK8-dKEmSQbyaAK4yxxAG9VHV-eSc0jFOgRl6eDzfM6WNXWJympiHwml63s/s1600/BillyBass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrel_oGy7FzfKciK1grGB8h0L3b9ntMCIYRHvF4bcOWQvDuZdjyfQYArCi8iE9Bao6Kk4iRxQEu8XDPXwYK8-dKEmSQbyaAK4yxxAG9VHV-eSc0jFOgRl6eDzfM6WNXWJympiHwml63s/s200/BillyBass.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>More entertaining than this thing,</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>believe it or not!</i></span></div><br />
First time I saw Big Fish was for an essay on utopia in college. I knew a little bit about the film and knew it had certain utopian themes so I gave it a rent. My essay was terrible but the film was great! I really like Ewan McGregor and the visuals were strangely reminiscent of Pee Wee's Big Adventure. This is a good thing.<br />
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What you get here is a prime example of Tim Burton using his weaknesses as well as his strengths well. His story telling problems are catered for by structuring the film in such a way that it doesn't matter and, in fact, helps the film breathe.<br />
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I honestly don't have a whole lot to say on this one except that I really like it and consider it an exception to my general view that Tim Burton's later work is not as interesting as his earlier work. <br />
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Thumbs up for Big Fish.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367594/">Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</a> (2005)</b><br />
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As we're getting closer to the end I'm finding I have less and less to say. partially because I don't think these later films resonate nearly as much as the earlier ones, and as well as that I have far fewer personal stories to go with them. I went to the cinema. Wahey!!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2KSu_aotNfqUiSJ_LoVoel9uoqST7FPdsJ5UELp7gXsTs1_fQ5-7TwJsRlRjVnSkBAe78LzNALuCGm86cOq8YtxwVTVmy_dX4P6LFaTkEl4j7SKcqrnI58flg6zCe4bA_KDoJ6cvHzGQ/s1600/popcorn-cinema-g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2KSu_aotNfqUiSJ_LoVoel9uoqST7FPdsJ5UELp7gXsTs1_fQ5-7TwJsRlRjVnSkBAe78LzNALuCGm86cOq8YtxwVTVmy_dX4P6LFaTkEl4j7SKcqrnI58flg6zCe4bA_KDoJ6cvHzGQ/s200/popcorn-cinema-g.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then I got popcorn!!!</span></i></div><br />
Which brings me to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Earlier I said I don't remember Sleepy Hollow well. With Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I do remember most of it, it just doesn't interest me much. This film is very unremarkable. Oh look there's the Oompa Loompas. There's the bit with the blueberry. Oh he fell in the chocolate river I remember that. It's just a film that begs the question of its own existance. The book and the original adaptation are so much more exciting and interesting to experience, this just sits as a sub-par version of both.<br />
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Part of the problem is that Burton's design elements are too unwieldy. It makes sense that Wonka's factory is full of wonder and fantastical rooms and crazy goings on. So when the outside world is all quirky and bizarre and strange, Wonka's factory just feels like more of the same. Why are the characters so taken aback by it? Their lives are like this all the time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZX-OUW9-tW_5XPBvAvkd42pL6AFEQEvhNdNFrCo2ETdQtjJVymxnEfqsHUvqnJjIZuxAPinlPWedapq6Y7FYxHIA3xdaIOX0YVLfaUdBWGoToBUievxaseogvnIFp31PVGt0Lvkq2szk/s1600/yawn-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZX-OUW9-tW_5XPBvAvkd42pL6AFEQEvhNdNFrCo2ETdQtjJVymxnEfqsHUvqnJjIZuxAPinlPWedapq6Y7FYxHIA3xdaIOX0YVLfaUdBWGoToBUievxaseogvnIFp31PVGt0Lvkq2szk/s200/yawn-1.jpg" width="141" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Oh great, another</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Oompa Loompa song</i></span></div><br />
I both like and dislike Depp in this one. I see what he's doing but it gets old pretty fast I must say. Also there's the huge plothole of his teeth. If he ran away from hom when he was a small boy because he hated his father's dentistry then how come his teeth are so perfectly veneered? Surely he'd have avoided dentists since? Eh? Think about it!<br />
<br />
Thumbs down for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. <br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121164/">Corpse Bride</a> (2005)</b><br />
<br />
So yeah I remember this one coming out and all. There was some buzz about it due to it being animated and as previously mentioned, The Nightmare Before Christmas is the best thing he's ever done. The difference is though, he didn't directe The Nightmare Before Christmas, and he was directing Corpse Bride... I guess that difference matters.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaknJdh7RFqkItWy86wu9smDE-2zyRiGRhBJxQDfNIkzdo0bNcpY3rsBkP_JoP0o4RK6gONaATP3H8O62kMVqz_GLkEN58EVFIuJcpvTkQQGtQRFrSnG4H6HzMcqxCDsFNTHUDJikwLK0/s1600/tim-burton1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaknJdh7RFqkItWy86wu9smDE-2zyRiGRhBJxQDfNIkzdo0bNcpY3rsBkP_JoP0o4RK6gONaATP3H8O62kMVqz_GLkEN58EVFIuJcpvTkQQGtQRFrSnG4H6HzMcqxCDsFNTHUDJikwLK0/s200/tim-burton1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>I don't think it matters</i></span></div><br />
Now, I did enjoy it to some degree. There's some fun to be enjoyed and Richard E. Grant is perfectly pompous as the villain. The problem here is the charm seems to have been lost somewhere along the way. Yeah the animation is incredibly adept (apart from the running, I mean, man) but that's not enough. A rough edge goes a long way and the edges of this are smoothed to a fault. Not only that but the story is all over the place. A complete mess! At the end of the day I think the mark was admirable but was still missed.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Thumbs down for Corpse Bride. <br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408236/">Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street</a> (2007)</b><br />
<br />
This one took me a while to see. When it came out all the advertising just made it seem so Tim Burton by numbers. You have your kooky haired lead (played by Johnny Depp). You have Helena Bonham Carter playing a spooky lady and you have darkness and fancy design. Bob Byrne once wrote a comic talking about how much he hates when pop-punk bands cover classic songs as the whole process is redundant. If you think to yourself "Green Day covering House of the Rising Sun" you automatically hear it in your head. You don't need them to make it, you know how it sounds. A friend of mine who saw Sweeney Todd before me used that comic to describe it. "Just think to yourself 'Tim Burton directing Sweeney Todd' and you know what it's like." <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/sweeney-todd-demon-barber-of-fleet.html">So I watched it.</a> And he was right.<br />
<br />
That isn't to say it's a wholly bad thing. It's just, predictable. The only real surprise for me was Sacha Baron Cohen's performance as the rival barber. But only because he was far more comical and bizarre than I thought he would be. I expected Sacha Baron Cohen to defy expectations... but he didn't. It was unexpected.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3XdzWjJ-fkhyphenhyphenQQ1IcbTWLohhn9sqdpNaSkkIiJkQw6bIBmaEWcreRyIQa7Oys1P3q8QIy3oVd3AHOm_byyzuuRKwWvdt1NdhWD99-VxZ5wGg8SmBHxgFp_3ULsTNWTKUF5lMWToHY9E/s1600/sacha.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3XdzWjJ-fkhyphenhyphenQQ1IcbTWLohhn9sqdpNaSkkIiJkQw6bIBmaEWcreRyIQa7Oys1P3q8QIy3oVd3AHOm_byyzuuRKwWvdt1NdhWD99-VxZ5wGg8SmBHxgFp_3ULsTNWTKUF5lMWToHY9E/s200/sacha.bmp" width="264" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Have you ever seen</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Ali G Indahouse?</i></span></div><br />
It holds together though and I wouldn't put it as a black mark on his career. Just not a particularly interesting mark.<br />
<br />
Thumbs sideways for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. <br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/">Alice in Wonderland</a> (2010)</b><br />
<br />
And finally we come to Tim Burton's <strike>adaptation</strike> <strike>remake</strike> <strike>reimagining</strike> version of Alice in Wonderland. This one <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/alice-in-wonderland-2010-3d.html">I saw on the day of release</a> and there was (and still is) a lot of buzz in the air (and on the sides of buses) about it. So of course I rushed to see it.<br />
<br />
The only word to describe Burton's Alice in Wonderland is underwhelming. I found it overdesigned and lacking a necessary substance. It felt to me to be a showreel for costume designers and visual effects artists. But allow me to explain some other issues I had...<br />
<br />
The biggest one is the title. If you've watched the film you'll know that the narrative takes place after the time of the original story. Whether it's referring to the book or original Disney film as canon is unexplained, but also unimportant. The film is essentially and adaptation of the poem Jabberwocky re-appropriated as a sequel to Alice in Wonderland. So, with that in mind, why is it called Alice in Wonderland?! It almost implies that the intent is to replace the original story and/or film and if that is the case it's just plain offensive. A different title is needed. Thanks.<br />
<br />
The other small issue I had was toward the end when Alice prepares to face the mighty Jabberwocky (incorrectly named I might add) he flies towards her in a big scary way, ready for the epic battle that the entire film has been leading up to. And then... he speaks!? With Christopher Lee's voice...? This completely jarred me in the cinema, I burst out laughing because it felt completely out of place for the creature to suddenly show such clear consciousness and intelligence. Why is he fighting her physically? From the way he speaks it seems like he'd destroy her in chess. Ill-advised I must say. Although not as ill-advised as the dance the Mad Hatter performs right afterwards. What was that? That jarred me further.<br />
<br />
But hey it's not all bad. The cast I quite liked, apart from Crispin Glover's poor English accent. I really like him but that accent was dire. All the voice cast were great especially Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat. In particular I liked Alice. I've been a fan of Mia Wasikowska ever since her role in the first season of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0835434/">In Treatment.</a> She was darn good. I really liked her performance as Alice. She gave it just the right amount of distance to keep us intrigued but was engaging enough to keep our trust. Brillo.<br />
<br />
But that's not enough to save it. All in all I felt the film never really justified itself to me.<br />
<br />
Thumbs mostly down for Alice in Wonderland. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SpuVwq-4eyKkkmt2PRICVY5XWhnyO3wfAzGTFSbd0hhg_5hZY8EM_-B3OwXu8JUUFNPaxN8A-rpKRrQXY3MKUWcPp4pyDCDBZeWL8Rlcl6_JcHrK-qZlqQFyfUnlUYtwRegOcKFngfQ/s1600/Tim_Burton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SpuVwq-4eyKkkmt2PRICVY5XWhnyO3wfAzGTFSbd0hhg_5hZY8EM_-B3OwXu8JUUFNPaxN8A-rpKRrQXY3MKUWcPp4pyDCDBZeWL8Rlcl6_JcHrK-qZlqQFyfUnlUYtwRegOcKFngfQ/s200/Tim_Burton.jpg" width="176" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>That's the last guy who</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>dissed him on the internet</i></span></div><br />
So that's all the films he's already made. But what about the future. There's talk of a film called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Shadows_%28film%29">Dark Shadows</a>, an adaptation of the gothic soap opera of the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059978/">same name.</a> There's also been mention of a feature length animated adaptation of his short film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087291/">Frankenweenie</a> that has been circulating for years. I began writing this believing that Burton was planning to make a new film of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_addams_family">The Addams Family</a> but these rumours have since been proven false. So never mind all that.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6IhJjyj1JzfYbAHE2M5vAaXHG_ojgK8PqP8Pq8iG_meTKtLb5-M_QsDeHehZybqFkqzEfXgsbkb1sqU0oZhq4yGNbPojHbZHQlSFMOKm60x3hSJmBvlbbfgPC5kGAL1X17AU5wj4iXE/s1600/gomez1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6IhJjyj1JzfYbAHE2M5vAaXHG_ojgK8PqP8Pq8iG_meTKtLb5-M_QsDeHehZybqFkqzEfXgsbkb1sqU0oZhq4yGNbPojHbZHQlSFMOKm60x3hSJmBvlbbfgPC5kGAL1X17AU5wj4iXE/s200/gomez1.jpg" width="176" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>You can put those away</i></span></div><br />
What needs to be said though is, when you look at this overview, Burton is clearly far stronger when working on either original screenplays or working with something that's not as well known/liked/loved. I don't think it's simply a case of the inevitable comparisons that arise when a remake or adaptation of a classic occurs. I truly feel Burton's skills have lacked at these projects. I look forward to Dark Shadows because it is his first film in a while that the audience isn't expected to have a certain amount of knowledge about the source material. I'm also interested in Frankenweenie but that could be just because I have a soft spot for animation (could be something to do with having a degree in it, I don't know.) It also helps when he's not so damn arrogant.<br />
<br />
Burton, I haven't written you off completely yet... but be careful alright?</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-85323617205139067932010-03-16T17:09:00.002+00:002010-03-16T21:09:12.708+00:00Do Not WantGeorge Lucas needs to fucking stop.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDvUQn1xxB-IcMWYbSdO4-6zGdk7koATsjnlkRp-luj3ROVfs2zvi7slw-Z9yHqs0ANIZ1z06myC5haEHfgysmm00rBKAXiGr5XJ-RAStaWAymoBmWt6Lpd53te6OrpU6oSlQENKGH-k/s1600-h/stop-picking-on-britney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDvUQn1xxB-IcMWYbSdO4-6zGdk7koATsjnlkRp-luj3ROVfs2zvi7slw-Z9yHqs0ANIZ1z06myC5haEHfgysmm00rBKAXiGr5XJ-RAStaWAymoBmWt6Lpd53te6OrpU6oSlQENKGH-k/s320/stop-picking-on-britney.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Leave Star Wars alone!</i></span></div><br />
<b>Warning!</b> This thing's full of Star Wars spoilers!<br />
<br />
I recently read that George Lucas plans to <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/star-wars-3d-not-so-far-far-away-432716">re-release the Star Wars films in 3D format.</a> Now, I realise that this article is far from new but I have no doubt that this project will eventually go ahead. This is the type of guy George Lucas is. This is irritating for a number of reasons.<br />
<br />
Now, I'll start by explaining my own Star Wars history in hopes of giving some context to why I'm not happy about this.<br />
<br />
Actually, before I do that I'll just give a very quick basic timeline of Star Wars for those not in the know:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Original Trilogy</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">The story of Luke Skywalker and his quest along with the Rebel Alliance to destroy the evil Galactic Empire and the scary villain Darth Vader.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>1977</i> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/">Star Wars</a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">(Title later changed to Episode IV - A New Hope)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>1980</i> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080684/">Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>1983</i> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/">Episode VI - Return of the Jedi</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>1997</i> </div><div style="text-align: center;">These films were re-released theatrically with new scenes, special effects tweaked and a lot of new CGI characters and backgrounds were added.<br />
<i>2004</i><br />
These films were released for the first time on DVD featuring even more changes including updates of the original CGI changes.<i> </i> <br />
<br />
<b>The Prequel Trilogy</b><br />
The story of Anakin Skywalker and how he began as a young slave child in the desert eventually growing up to be the scary villain Darth Vader.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>1999</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/">Episode I - The Phantom Menace</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>2002</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121765/">Episode II - Attack of the Clones</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>2005</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121766/">Episode III - Revenge of the Sith</a></div><br />
So anyway...<br />
<br />
I found Star Wars when I was about 9-10 years old. I don't remember ever hearing about it for the first time. Return of the Jedi was originally released theatrically 3 years before I was born. So obviously I'm not even close to being part of the original generation of fans nor do I claim to be. In fact, I feel that my love of the first 3 films only goes to show how great and important those films are as someone like me can plug into the excitement years later.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0L2VRYrug4AS27m6OSoPrq_czO9v91dKHfcdPF-RItVR9mI_593jyrlSnS424wc1-4YFhIIzDEB3psKWOAA9zfnluVRC6qDHlSgaaVpF4up8bgANKd1TTT-bSijSItruRBaXB4q9pW5Q/s1600-h/ru11681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0L2VRYrug4AS27m6OSoPrq_czO9v91dKHfcdPF-RItVR9mI_593jyrlSnS424wc1-4YFhIIzDEB3psKWOAA9zfnluVRC6qDHlSgaaVpF4up8bgANKd1TTT-bSijSItruRBaXB4q9pW5Q/s200/ru11681.jpg" width="190" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">I am seriously </span><span style="font-size: small;">into</span></i><i><span style="font-size: small;"> Chewbacca</span></i></div><br />
Anyway, I remember a point in my life when I was about 9 or 10 when I started thinking "Hmmm, yeah actually. I should give that Star Wars thing a look." I remember knowing my older cousin was into them and one of my old VHS movies had a trailer for the home video release of the original saga on it. I must have seen that trailer a hundred times. Don't remember what film it preceded, funny that.<br />
<br />
My brothers and I rented all three films from Xtra-Vision over a period of a few weeks. There wasn't much to surprise us in all honesty, by osmosis or whatever we knew most of the key plot points. But nevertheless we loved them. Now, this would have been around 1995-1996. I can't quite remember the exact time period, but I do know this, I did actually start with the original untouched trilogy. Without any of the controversial changes or dickery that have infamously peppered the movies since. (Yeah, I know there were some small changes, but nothing so serious and vast as was to come). But yes, I find it interesting that we just managed to catch them right at the end of their run. Of course I wasn't aware of this at the time and I'm not trying to say anyone who started with the 1997 re-releases is any less of a fan than I am. I just think it's interesting in retrospect.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBF0ygU3ilt1_BF-eF3dbOUEpLEb6zEnzTjKd3sTHaQr1VyQ-V1PmS-bAFmWeEy8hWpIHeEJD-fwmRAPGNCescCh4f87Kk790jfuMTzSUHBeBS_sGdw66ncOBgLhCRcZb26UMJg3N9cc/s1600-h/90+You%27re+a+Little+Obese+for+a+Storm+Trooper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBF0ygU3ilt1_BF-eF3dbOUEpLEb6zEnzTjKd3sTHaQr1VyQ-V1PmS-bAFmWeEy8hWpIHeEJD-fwmRAPGNCescCh4f87Kk790jfuMTzSUHBeBS_sGdw66ncOBgLhCRcZb26UMJg3N9cc/s320/90+You%27re+a+Little+Obese+for+a+Storm+Trooper.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I'm a real fan</i></span></div><br />
Now, after viewing (or perhaps before) I saved up my pocket money and purchased an issue of Star Wars magazine from a local shop. I was genuinely fascinated. It had a big C-3PO head on the front and was filled with articles and interviews about the world of Star Wars. You may be thinking "but the movies were nearly 20 years old at this stage. How much could they possibly have to write about." Fair point, but this is just it. This particular issue was filled with information and speculation about the upcoming re-releases. Ooooh! These were exciting times for a new fan of the trilogy!<br />
<br />
In 1997 me and my two bestest buds ventured to the cinema and saw the whole trilogy in all of their Special Edition glory. Now, we were 11-12. So, we didn't give a shit about the extra stuff. The changes. As far as we were concerned, more was good. I don't want to claim I hurled my popcorn at the screen and stormed out in disgust the moment Greedo shot first.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHh9t69TRLLnJljw8la7gpr2Ckq-qmYj-fWhtt0KYfY2CdaTqFw2U9mHdAjvzhFKuryQPFDKWCjx4AKdEpmtikrkbRWkHiR3NmtwVJ2JyNLfxwlgeoErxukftWWp2v2IOuWjP48WRx74w/s1600-h/angry+child.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHh9t69TRLLnJljw8la7gpr2Ckq-qmYj-fWhtt0KYfY2CdaTqFw2U9mHdAjvzhFKuryQPFDKWCjx4AKdEpmtikrkbRWkHiR3NmtwVJ2JyNLfxwlgeoErxukftWWp2v2IOuWjP48WRx74w/s320/angry+child.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>That's not fucking Mos Eisley!</i></span></div><br />
After this my brother got his hands on the VHS boxset. We watched the shit out of those. Our preference usually lay on Return of the Jedi (we were idiots. Obviously The Empire Strikes Back is the superior film.) We owned the toys, we knew the music and characters, we played with our lightsabers. It was a beautiful time but an even more exciting horizon drew near...<br />
<br />
Ok so, I can't remember the first time I heard about the Star Wars prequels going into production. Due to the nature of these things I may have heard about it before I ever saw a Star Wars film in a cinema but I really don't think it was before I ever saw a Star Wars film full stop. It is possible though. Anyway, hype levels were strong. I was caught up in all the buzz and build up. When I sat in that cinema when The Phantom Menace was (finally) released, I was ready to be fed some Star Wars. And it was great!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48jx_dmnmj2w0FjBDvmWA7H6O-wXxcA2uPQtV2BKrC5sYxlgkM_hNYLmO_lOwZvcodlUYj1zXYLuxxPQO3r16miRzGgdeLoyhg7r25IygJfJF6-7DZEJLxBsZsQ33GXbYvPNZAqFfVUQ/s1600-h/kid-thumbs-up2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48jx_dmnmj2w0FjBDvmWA7H6O-wXxcA2uPQtV2BKrC5sYxlgkM_hNYLmO_lOwZvcodlUYj1zXYLuxxPQO3r16miRzGgdeLoyhg7r25IygJfJF6-7DZEJLxBsZsQ33GXbYvPNZAqFfVUQ/s200/kid-thumbs-up2.jpg" width="123" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Jar Jar is cool!</i></span></div><br />
Ok obviously it wasn't great. It was awful. But I didn't know that at the time. I loved it then. There's no point in pretending otherwise. But really for little 13 year old me it was more an exercise in being able to spot the references rather than actual merit of filmmaking. I didn't know shit. Now, you could argue "Ya but if a kid enjoys it surely that's all that matters?" And you'd have something resembling a point. Problem is though, it's a mess. It doesn't hold up to the longevity, quality or even continuity of the original films. Not only that but it's an insult to the intelligence of the fans.<br />
<br />
If you want a properly detailed analysis of the nonsensical insanity of The Phantom Menace I suggest you spend 70 minutes watching this YouTube playlist. He sums it up better than I ever could. Go ahead, watch it... I'll wait:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="320" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/4C6D02CAAD56053F&hl=en_GB&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/4C6D02CAAD56053F&hl=en_GB&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="320" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br />
Three years later, I was beginning to mature. The cracks began exposing themselves. I went to see Attack of the Clones and while I wasn't completely aware of the stream of rubbish being pedalled before me, one giant factor was apparant: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121765/">Hayden Christensen</a> was beyond a joke. This was the kind of bad acting that wasn't a matter of opinion. He was genuinely cringe-inducing. This was worrying.<br />
<br />
Roll forward another 3 years and I'm graduating secondary school. A big ceremony, dinner and night out were enjoyed. We couldn't party too hard though, there was a new Star Wars film coming out the next day! A group of friends and I ventured to the cinema first thing in the morning to gaze at Revenge of the Sith.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21Zj2H_02Ev08O_NBP3lb0OqqWWjZWmG3aLu8uekt2TEGHGHJPkao5GJUlQ1KMsgtA7hpu7LdkBlhgTm7zGbZ-tZ3IZZJeeDxyJGN4D-U2Exw8Q6y9wbbOseAPy3ewZwypSg-I5BBO8c/s1600-h/47669002a459507945b843655054o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21Zj2H_02Ev08O_NBP3lb0OqqWWjZWmG3aLu8uekt2TEGHGHJPkao5GJUlQ1KMsgtA7hpu7LdkBlhgTm7zGbZ-tZ3IZZJeeDxyJGN4D-U2Exw8Q6y9wbbOseAPy3ewZwypSg-I5BBO8c/s320/47669002a459507945b843655054o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>This is me right after seeing it.</i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>You can see it in my eyes probably.</i></span></div><br />
At this stage the joke had worn off. None of us expected anything from this film.We knew that Wooden Christenwood was still in it so there was no way it could be genuinely <i>good</i>. But there was a point towards the end where a glimmer of hope arrived. After turning to the Dark Side, Anakin had been badly injured by Obi-Wan. He needed some sort of life support system. A cyborg suit... This was the moment we had been waiting for. The suit was on. The breathing echoed. James Earl Jones was in... and...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="250" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2xQQm_4FdEc&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2xQQm_4FdEc&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="250"></embed></object></div><br />
<b>FUCK OFF!!</b> There's almost some sort of argument defending this scene. The moment on screen was an accurate depiction of our emotions upon seeing the moment itself. George Lucas had created some sort of new type of meta-art. But obviously that's bollocks.<br />
<br />
The epilogue of course is that a couple of years ago I went to see <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185834/">The Clone Wars</a> film and it was a bucket of <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2008/08/star-wars-clone-wars.html">piss.</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJT65jDbiCtZOaD9Poi-8r_SUb93UyCPyHCKGqKp6r7eN_RN7am4aYrJqfwYPuPoS_167prMQvfnUk9lIhW3_hyOkc4HQ52rs_JiDPLd7lHgaqlMyXwGkZTIW5BdBA8FypomynkQZ0mNI/s1600-h/Ziro_the_Hutt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJT65jDbiCtZOaD9Poi-8r_SUb93UyCPyHCKGqKp6r7eN_RN7am4aYrJqfwYPuPoS_167prMQvfnUk9lIhW3_hyOkc4HQ52rs_JiDPLd7lHgaqlMyXwGkZTIW5BdBA8FypomynkQZ0mNI/s200/Ziro_the_Hutt.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Not even worth a paragraph I'm afraid.</i></span></div><br />
Now, that's done with. Let's get to the point shall we?<br />
<br />
Firstly, the prequels were terrible. There was no need for them. Simply having them exist damages a lot of the mystery of the original films. But if you really have to make these films, at least make them good. Is that so much to ask?<br />
<br />
More importantly, Lucas' changes to the original series. Now, these have been very controversial, a lot has been said and written about them. There's probably even more to say but I'm not here to give a scene by scene rant about what I hate about the new stuff. Fundamentally I have no real problem with them. Now that isn't to say I don't think each and every one of them is awful. But the idea of tweaking and adjusting your film is understandable. Ridley Scott has famously made various adjustments to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/">Blade Runner</a> over the years. Eventually releasing <i>The Final Cut</i> in 2007. Why am I not attacking Scott's new adjustments of his classic film? Well, partially because his changes aren't sickening. But mainly because (and here's my main beef) Scott has made every single version along the way available on DVD. This is a serious difference. If we want to watch the original untouched versions of Star Wars episodes IV, V and VI we're only given a low quality DVD transfer as a bonus disc on the Star Wars 2004 version DVDs. Clearly reluctantly placed there after the fact due to humongous fan insistance. (Those who want the 1997 versions are screwed. There's no DVD version at all!) What it comes down to is selfishness. Lucas has decided his way is the one way and no one should be allowed a different option. Why can't Lucas just give us, as fans, the choice to watch whichever version we want? Given that it is fan loyalty that has allowed him the freedom to make these adjustments over the years.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexX3V8Gukf_0YEGvXAVGwbgwIfJuFRGL_yJRWMKrUQSIvyvyhKAhRBQZv__kqwCqeBRXza4FCHVlnQdJpc8VDaP9AProb4pXjb3YJBCpO_ZRe8uRwWvoxO9Akn3FZ2VZ6ONXup6q7MfE/s1600-h/bib.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexX3V8Gukf_0YEGvXAVGwbgwIfJuFRGL_yJRWMKrUQSIvyvyhKAhRBQZv__kqwCqeBRXza4FCHVlnQdJpc8VDaP9AProb4pXjb3YJBCpO_ZRe8uRwWvoxO9Akn3FZ2VZ6ONXup6q7MfE/s400/bib.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Because he's Bib Fortuna now.</i></span></div><br />
The news of the 3D re-releases annoys me because it made me realise that this will never stop. The 3D versions will no doubt feature more changes, as well as the inevitable Blu-Ray release. Rather than create innovations with ever changing technology, George Lucas would rather clumsily update his old films forever in order to appear on the brink of technology. And he didn't even direct 2 of the films. George, you stopped being a Star Wars fan a long time ago, please leave us alone.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-3779485346289690332010-03-14T15:20:00.005+00:002010-03-15T00:38:09.835+00:00Trailer Alert<span id="goog_1268576171954"></span><span id="goog_1268576171955"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>Too many trailers reveal too much information.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlEfSVOBTzikJ0aEpelOuvXjpBWrM_P4gmHs2Rwf6-pj7M8pSVrADx_SZ5ZOaZD-1pSLU5OvshbQb0Kq6csnHYP2Hp9WSBrBExQgW14KtwDb71zJ-W3_SgvuTpjVJLzOnHmy7LnAiY6X4/s1600-h/peeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlEfSVOBTzikJ0aEpelOuvXjpBWrM_P4gmHs2Rwf6-pj7M8pSVrADx_SZ5ZOaZD-1pSLU5OvshbQb0Kq6csnHYP2Hp9WSBrBExQgW14KtwDb71zJ-W3_SgvuTpjVJLzOnHmy7LnAiY6X4/s200/peeach.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">I saw the trailer for this orange and it spoiled it.</span></i></div><br />
<b>Warning!</b> <i>By nature of the topic, this post will most likely contain spoilers for certain films mentioned. I'll do my best to flag all of them and keep them separate so you can still read the parts that don't involve the films you haven't seen yet.</i><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Shutter Island</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="250" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HYVrHkYoY80&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HYVrHkYoY80&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="250"></embed></object></div><br />
So I recently went to see <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/">Shutter Island</a> (<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/shutter-island.html">here's what I thought</a>). While I certainly enjoyed it and found it to be well made, the end of the film was obvious. In fact, it was so obvious, I saw it coming from the trailer. Seriously you guys! I first saw the Shutter Island trailer about 6 years ago and as I watched I was thinking "ok cool, Scorsese, interesting, DiCaprio, good, Kingsley, spooky" but then once DiCaprio uttered the line "What she seems to be suggesting, is that you have a 67th patient" I immediately said to myself "DiCaprio is the 67th patient." This moment was followed by a montage of DiCaprio's character clearly hallucinating and experiencing high levels of stress, in case there was any doubt in our minds as to the ending of the film. I went into the cinema 2 days ago hoping I was wrong. I wasn't. What up with that?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhff6PdHb9OQ5VXUUHMASSNfgffD3PMlobO2jrftRehRlwMFAF_ugvhJ3-w5kZisOs9-nlVzs-Fgp6Qrn7FwEifxVDLfOGNR8hO26pR66S4CP-39uVdH6WyVaJ-Dw7p5slTfdL4KC70wtI/s1600-h/ben-kinsley-shutter-island.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhff6PdHb9OQ5VXUUHMASSNfgffD3PMlobO2jrftRehRlwMFAF_ugvhJ3-w5kZisOs9-nlVzs-Fgp6Qrn7FwEifxVDLfOGNR8hO26pR66S4CP-39uVdH6WyVaJ-Dw7p5slTfdL4KC70wtI/s320/ben-kinsley-shutter-island.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Turns out he's Jesus</i></span></div><br />
Sure it's not the most blatant example I can think of, in fact if I hadn't seen it coming from the trailer, I'd have picked up on it pretty fast while watching the film, but it's still irritating. The worst offender I think I've seen (and I invite you to show me worse) is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070723/">Soylent Green</a>...<br />
<br />
Now, I've never actually seen Soylent Green. I admit it! But I've known the ending for a while due to its legendary nature and it's mentioning in various TV shows when I was growing up. Not least of which is the Simpsons.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEdK8qcnkRsndsN9DLjGa55xujHtjNaS4mrvbDYJo1bmhZ-PBsJ0MCw-App0e8b8aWhjy0dhBRaqHv-_AeLGJaSeIXpJUBQ_yq_W-NPfKhL0HiF_NzBivHZ__Vu1dfHWTOklQl9cBSNE/s1600-h/homersimpson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEdK8qcnkRsndsN9DLjGa55xujHtjNaS4mrvbDYJo1bmhZ-PBsJ0MCw-App0e8b8aWhjy0dhBRaqHv-_AeLGJaSeIXpJUBQ_yq_W-NPfKhL0HiF_NzBivHZ__Vu1dfHWTOklQl9cBSNE/s200/homersimpson.jpg" width="168" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I'm disappointed too</i></span></div><br />
But it's not their fault! If any of them had seen a trailer for Soylent Green before it came out they'd have had it ruined too! Take a look at this damn thing:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Soylent Green</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="320" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SVpN312hYgU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SVpN312hYgU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="320"></embed></object></div><br />
The trailer does a pretty great job of building up the suspense and intrigue. As an audience member you're sitting in the cinema thinking "ooooh, interesting. I wonder what the hell Soylent Green is! I'm definitely going to go see that, if only to find out the answer!" But hey folks, don't fret! We'll tell you now! At around the 2:40 mark, we know what Soylent Green is. Gee, thanks guys!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPD6v89tAWZy44fQrK2eRHilb151ulEvyoNO0yejEHbUremFDDDIHke5M-Wz0fI_eq5UhW5CLpXiE7JtQfxdtKMEC3ZOBPKXfpJ1ZBPh8Cva97eKGMQonHK6Ej65VvecuiYbhy7TfU_A/s1600-h/CharltonHeston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPD6v89tAWZy44fQrK2eRHilb151ulEvyoNO0yejEHbUremFDDDIHke5M-Wz0fI_eq5UhW5CLpXiE7JtQfxdtKMEC3ZOBPKXfpJ1ZBPh8Cva97eKGMQonHK6Ej65VvecuiYbhy7TfU_A/s200/CharltonHeston.jpg" width="178" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Dammit Chuck!</span></i></div><br />
Here's another suck ass example:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Halloween</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="320" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/m9I_-WWs62w&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/m9I_-WWs62w&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="320"></embed></object></div><br />
Not only does it give away the opening twist, but if you're going to see this film for the scary tense scenes where the masked villain chases Christopher Guest's wife with a blade, do you really want all those scenes shown to you before you've seen the movie. If you went to see <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/">Halloween</a> after seeing the trailer, everytime something happened you'd just say to yourself "Oh, here's that bit." If I were John Carpenter and I was shown this trailer in the editing room I'd have just said "Don't you show anyone this goddamn trailer"<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LOM-2OYri6mSSXKH9GPVfnt6ikjz0GDFpZ0M4DpuMuuPZHfyDORnSbJSwvkOfH_yHuLeONcGOsOB0TzELG9cwYX9AueGxvNsBnxI3KDymTfHQ4TZopqngb7qNWzt3IAQZu8Ied3BzVs/s1600-h/002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LOM-2OYri6mSSXKH9GPVfnt6ikjz0GDFpZ0M4DpuMuuPZHfyDORnSbJSwvkOfH_yHuLeONcGOsOB0TzELG9cwYX9AueGxvNsBnxI3KDymTfHQ4TZopqngb7qNWzt3IAQZu8Ied3BzVs/s200/002.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Seriously, if anyone sees this, you're fired.</i></span></div><br />
Now that trailer brings me to my next beef, trailers that don't so much give away a twist ending, but tell you the entire friggin story. Soylent Green and Halloween do tell us quite a lot considering they're 2-3 minute advertisements for the films. But hey, that's how they did it back in the seventies right? They don't do it like that anymore of course!<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824747/">Oh wait...</a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Changeling</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="320" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G0i9vHYiW2g&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G0i9vHYiW2g&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="320"></embed></object></div><br />
Sure we don't see how it ends, but we know way too much.<br />
<br />
Sidenote:<br />
Let me tell you why I've never seen Changeling. I first heard of this film whilst idly browsing <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000142/">Clint Eastwood's IMDB page.</a> (We've all done it) And I see he had a new film coming out... 'Changeling'. "Hmmm," I thought "What's this about?" So, I read a brief plot synopsis, that said something along the lines of "A woman loses her son only to have him return to her but she starts to suspect that the person living in her house is not her real son." Now the image in my head was not that of the film, but of a boy who disappeared and say, 30 years later, returned as a grown man and moved in with his mother and then she starts to suspect him. I then read the first two names on the cast list: Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich. This gave me a really creepy chill down my spine as the image of John Malkovich pretending to be her son was so disturbing I was terrified.<br />
So when I saw the actual trailer I was so dissappointed that the plot was not as I imagined I never got around to seeing it. True story!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUT2KftYwFNk3NljhrZkAz7SKy5yayxYNvOA8cimBQSJ8UvLiZffHPLjhAo_zbIqzXcVavuJFiEh6HNHEVgCM9eUtwMgQpX5zjnr25nvlgzw98wL_Y9bl-jsr2ta6kXDdK2eSVtYHTZc/s1600-h/john+malkovich-saidaonline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUT2KftYwFNk3NljhrZkAz7SKy5yayxYNvOA8cimBQSJ8UvLiZffHPLjhAo_zbIqzXcVavuJFiEh6HNHEVgCM9eUtwMgQpX5zjnr25nvlgzw98wL_Y9bl-jsr2ta6kXDdK2eSVtYHTZc/s200/john+malkovich-saidaonline.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Mom, I had a bad dream.</span></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Can I sleep in your bed?</span></i></div><br />
But hey, it's not all bad eh? There are some stunningly great examples of trailers. Old and new! Here are two of my favourites:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Inception</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="250" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7DwuVKfjctk&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7DwuVKfjctk&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="250"></embed></object></div><br />
Our friend DiCaprio returns with the exact opposite of the Shutter Island trailer. This one for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/">Inception</a> tells us all we need to know if we're deciding whether to go see it or not. It's gripping, it's spooky and most importantly, it's intriguing. We want to know more. How will we find out more? Go see it!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBaqXbEOT6sm2bKD70gyEyXpHmYU_IHt7LyEvLOFzZN3XEOrsRRbgMY9nkQmreFiJXrF3ot9fuz3TjgiyP-zAlrdR9iK5V3gcMvs0gzMTigx86iJ7bkmCMAWD9QV7TMKeFwkEVVrL54A4/s1600-h/Parmer1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBaqXbEOT6sm2bKD70gyEyXpHmYU_IHt7LyEvLOFzZN3XEOrsRRbgMY9nkQmreFiJXrF3ot9fuz3TjgiyP-zAlrdR9iK5V3gcMvs0gzMTigx86iJ7bkmCMAWD9QV7TMKeFwkEVVrL54A4/s200/Parmer1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>All information can be found here</i></span></div><br />
And finally my super favourite trailer I ever did see:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Shining</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="320" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dKdKc06av1g&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dKdKc06av1g&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="320"></embed></object></div><br />
If you knew nothing about this film or the story and this trailer came on the cinema screen, you'd either go away saying "What the fuck was that!!? I'm definitely seeing it!" or "What the fuck was that!!? I'm definitely not seeing it!"<br />
<br />
Its audience is found immediately. No one is missed and no one is decieved. But would we really expect any less from Stanley Kubrick?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBal7FF7LmSE1TJSJ_oyyhZIfYkTyfv-zCVkKqCGamHk-4p_kMFGFBaVFwtJ-qFT89D8rQ87-6KO9htl2mupIriimgVQAU50aGk1mQjruShzPhklLdteHkNR6bV2qwViRkxNXvNzoF5Sg/s1600-h/stanley-kubrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBal7FF7LmSE1TJSJ_oyyhZIfYkTyfv-zCVkKqCGamHk-4p_kMFGFBaVFwtJ-qFT89D8rQ87-6KO9htl2mupIriimgVQAU50aGk1mQjruShzPhklLdteHkNR6bV2qwViRkxNXvNzoF5Sg/s320/stanley-kubrick.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Where did he get all that blood?</span></i></div><br />
Basically what I'm saying is, use a trailer to tell me if it's my kind of movie, not the entire friggin plot. I think filmmakers need to have more say over the release of their material and the presentation of their films in the advertising because I doubt anyone creatively involved in Soylent Green wanted the ending to be publically revealed in the marketing. It's a matter of control.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-55768665451098747612010-03-10T15:18:00.003+00:002010-09-03T20:21:11.510+01:00Unobtainium<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPpgbIRxbNMKUXYk5GkVgGkSX035eRlX-5voFS61p_qXIZVoVuVSmpITWSYyM3p2Zhn9AcqdflYjvyF6lEGtmB2Fk1azBhoSiD03feH5sSSoRbbtP8WA0gtxT_9DhIepD8aSvIa-Be3c/s1600-h/oscar-statue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPpgbIRxbNMKUXYk5GkVgGkSX035eRlX-5voFS61p_qXIZVoVuVSmpITWSYyM3p2Zhn9AcqdflYjvyF6lEGtmB2Fk1azBhoSiD03feH5sSSoRbbtP8WA0gtxT_9DhIepD8aSvIa-Be3c/s200/oscar-statue.jpg" width="145" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">I'm Oscar!</span></i></div><br />
I recently got invited to a Facebook group called "Avatar - The People's Choice for Best Picture" and this annoyed me.<br />
<br />
Recently <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/">The Hurt Locker</a> won an Academy Award for Best Picture over the expected win <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/">Avatar</a>.<br />
<br />
The reasoning behind this group's existance was that they felt that Avatar was "one of the best films ever made" and that the winning picture The Hurt Locker was chosen not by merit but by political leanings and underhanded friend boosting. (Based on the fact that The Hurt Locker is based in Iraq during the conflict and that its director Kathryn Bigelow is in face Avatar director James Cameron's ex wife... jeez.)<br />
<br />
Obviously this person barely knows me. Hey look, <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/avatar-3d.html">I liked Avatar</a>. Really, I enjoyed it despite its flaws. To be perfectly honest, I've never been a huge fan of James Cameron. His films never really hit the right note for me. I've always felt Aliens was the dumbing down of one of my favourite horror films and one of my favourite science fiction (separately!). Although in fairness I'm lately starting to see the merit of Terminator 2. But despite all that, I did like Avatar. And no, I haven't seen The Hurt Locker yet and I realise that this bit may not be fair considering I haven't seen the protagonist of the story. (See what I did there, I used film terms to make an analogy that doesn't make sense.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvL6vLItr6ISSTI6mNQ8feiYlEdubCWAuJ8OcV8jxpbneEPgYEqCDPoeJgoD_jp99Kh6-fBldZopIT_VfQsTalgbD4QpNXt1XZKC07d5yKmNJTm8KtAFPhmZoBmklSBzAvg0z6HZk0xbw/s1600-h/the-hurt-locker-lead_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvL6vLItr6ISSTI6mNQ8feiYlEdubCWAuJ8OcV8jxpbneEPgYEqCDPoeJgoD_jp99Kh6-fBldZopIT_VfQsTalgbD4QpNXt1XZKC07d5yKmNJTm8KtAFPhmZoBmklSBzAvg0z6HZk0xbw/s200/the-hurt-locker-lead_0.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I'm Hurt...</i></span></div><br />
But let's take a look at this situation. The group's reasoning was that the Best Picture Oscar should be chosen based on the entertainment value of the feature and they felt that Avatar was clearly the better film in this regard.<br />
<br />
Well firstly, bullshit. Best Picture has never been purely about entertainment and you know it. Best Picture holds a mixture of meanings including but not limited to, originality, skill, resonance and representation of the time it was released. Not only that but the Oscars have never ever been a sound science and I doubt one member of the Academy would disagree with me there. Not only that but I'm sure many of them would agree that they've made some flagrant mistakes in the past. So why get knotted up over Avatar of all things? I won't go on a rant pointing out various examples of this because there's a thousand internet lists about that and I'm not in that business baby. All I will say is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097239/">Driving Miss Daisy</a> won Best Picture the same year <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097216/">Do the Right Thing</a> wasn't nominated.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoozexS4yh57QJM_3iqHu-E8eaduooW0NVJNGdkWNugLpp7uWT1qfQd31HMB1pDj4X2vD-EV7UGWyTz_R0KpJ0UX9as6W1W7G3dZn6gZSvCGvj6PlgcxvESbQX85uVzSLcbMkNRtI7O1w/s1600-h/morgan-freeman-cbs-evening-news.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoozexS4yh57QJM_3iqHu-E8eaduooW0NVJNGdkWNugLpp7uWT1qfQd31HMB1pDj4X2vD-EV7UGWyTz_R0KpJ0UX9as6W1W7G3dZn6gZSvCGvj6PlgcxvESbQX85uVzSLcbMkNRtI7O1w/s200/morgan-freeman-cbs-evening-news.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Your film was worse!</i></span></div><br />
Now let's take a look at the other nominees:<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/"><b>The Blind Side</b></a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/"><b>District 9</b></a><a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2009/09/district-9.html"> *</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1174732/"><b>An Education</b></a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361748/"><b>Inglourious Basterds</b></a><a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2009/08/inglourious-basterds.html"> *</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929632/"><b>Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire</b></a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1019452/"><b>A Serious Man</b></a><a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/serious-man.html"> *</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049413/"><b>Up</b></a><a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2009/09/up-3d.html"> *</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/"><b>Up in the Air</b></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Full disclosure: I've only seen the films marked with a *. If you click said * it will take you to my review of the film. Ooh! That's clever eh?</span><br />
<br />
Now, as you can see I've only seen half of the films that were nominated for Best Picture. In fairness, they doubled the nominations this year, so I'm on the level ok!<br />
<br />
So, The Hurt Locker aside, Avatar would at least have to be better than these 8 other films yes? Ok, let's start from the top:<br />
<br />
<i>The Blind Side</i>: Did not see it, as I said, but Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for it and her <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYced7GB8k">acceptance speech</a> for her <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0881891/">Worst Actress</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razzies">Razzie</a> the night before makes her ok in my book. But that's not really a reason this should win Best Picture. So boo.<br />
<br />
<i>District 9</i>: I loved this. Most criticism I've heard is focused on the lack of strength in the political aspect of the story. I never felt the film was about that. The apartheid backdrop was merely that, a backdrop. The film resonated for me due to the strong character emotions and the tension from scene to scene.<br />
<br />
<i>An Education</i>: Didn't see it but Carey Mulligan was in it. So, if I was on the Oscar jury I'd give it all my votes in hopes that she looks at me. Nuff said.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91O0D34ha9oN5LAmgqHJJ4545m6Vg3IIVyuVmxovhZl9q-sjq9hRxbP2-dj5vThkn7ZQPhzYAK5FzQaCu7AeMMxLNRECNC_A3q-ovnfwSMN50wgiT6Uk2w-8QCShM_WAviFcmvEr45Ak/s1600-h/d7986b30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91O0D34ha9oN5LAmgqHJJ4545m6Vg3IIVyuVmxovhZl9q-sjq9hRxbP2-dj5vThkn7ZQPhzYAK5FzQaCu7AeMMxLNRECNC_A3q-ovnfwSMN50wgiT6Uk2w-8QCShM_WAviFcmvEr45Ak/s200/d7986b30.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Marry me! </i></span></div><br />
<i>Inglourious Basterds</i>: Yeah, I mean. I really liked it but I can see where people's reservations come from. If arguments are made for people being 'due' Oscars it's hard to get past Tarantino's miss for Pulp Fiction but that's hardly a real reason. I still think it's amazing that a film with such a silly trash/cult based ending can make it to the nominations. But then we're getting worryingly close to my college thesis, so, moving on...<br />
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<i>Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire</i>: Awkward title aside, from what I can tell this is serious business. Heavy dramas = Oscars yes.<br />
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<i>A Serious Man</i>: Like, a lot of people hated this. But a lot of people also watch X-Factor. So really that's nothing to go by. It was really good. Just... yeah. I loved it.<br />
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<i>Up</i>: Pixar know how to make films. This is what it comes down to. They are fucking good at this. It's not my favourite of theirs but it's rock solid and it makes sense that it won Best Animated Feature.<br />
<br />
<i>Up in the Air</i>: Haven't seen it but George Clooney is a king and while I haven't been overjoyed by Jason Reitman's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/">previous</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467406/">efforts</a> I still feel he's got some good stuff in him.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPkaq_P-9PlkGgSb1mPE5p7Sbc32WJqqZuI4jozglz8HtgbreiGEPFjeB8DOzKMTobBdkgAOc8PXAMEeMWMsDeMmM7RitYU1WYuVP8SOvdEB3XQlpmf7ZfWODlMcgthlIMOcmJhiyKT8/s1600-h/585724_f248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPkaq_P-9PlkGgSb1mPE5p7Sbc32WJqqZuI4jozglz8HtgbreiGEPFjeB8DOzKMTobBdkgAOc8PXAMEeMWMsDeMmM7RitYU1WYuVP8SOvdEB3XQlpmf7ZfWODlMcgthlIMOcmJhiyKT8/s200/585724_f248.jpg" width="152" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don't mention my dad</i></span></div><br />
What it comes down to is this. Avatar was fine. It's visual effects were absolutely something else, mind blowing on a technical level. But it won Best Visual Effects, deservedly. Other than that though it had almost nothing going for it. The design wasn't particularly interesting. The story was fiercely unoriginal, the dialogue so hackneyed and cliché it was almost taking the piss. I would pick any one of the four other nominees I saw as a better film. You could argue that James Cameron needs another Oscar...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijIZFl77emut7QjL0MnMzB3VNuubLO2DVHImU8UKj6aH0lMkVZOqznZlXLCmrA10WL3_SZJfYzoYRdShjHV1cKqgCvxuxG9Z-l8U4BTvoGIYx5c9Jbd_8zXbncJ9BAcnJN-8MHEKd0FFo/s1600-h/james-cameron-king-of-the-world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijIZFl77emut7QjL0MnMzB3VNuubLO2DVHImU8UKj6aH0lMkVZOqznZlXLCmrA10WL3_SZJfYzoYRdShjHV1cKqgCvxuxG9Z-l8U4BTvoGIYx5c9Jbd_8zXbncJ9BAcnJN-8MHEKd0FFo/s200/james-cameron-king-of-the-world.jpg" width="157" /></a></div><br />
But that's dead in the water. More likely is that the Academy don't like giving him these things because of how he behaves when they do.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEwLual7BJ3MoSbze6K-2TNRyDfTbT37L31p1izBjx71xHRjTFJQwofUaNmSfQeKFq0HLZA-wUDP8y_TSC2mX7S50yNpuITRmzeaA53PXql-VXQTSD-HM3zyjJDPrALcgBBY81xvfeJ0/s1600-h/cam0-028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEwLual7BJ3MoSbze6K-2TNRyDfTbT37L31p1izBjx71xHRjTFJQwofUaNmSfQeKFq0HLZA-wUDP8y_TSC2mX7S50yNpuITRmzeaA53PXql-VXQTSD-HM3zyjJDPrALcgBBY81xvfeJ0/s200/cam0-028.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Dammit James!</i></span></div><br />
Yeah, it does come down to opinion and everyone is entitled to their blah blah blah. But look, starting groups and bloating on about how your favourite should clearly have won over the real winner is the real opinion pushing. I'm just trying to set the record straight. You lost, move on.<br />
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<u><i>Appendage: </i></u><br />
I've since <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/06/education.html">seen</a> An Education and it was definitely better than Avatar too. The list grows!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-77811578265545121052010-03-09T17:13:00.021+00:002013-10-12T17:11:57.010+01:00Horror Sequels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGWz4LJh_5U9mGazQnMjJ_7pw831Op_fO7vi_9CyDSKcqFf7vPQFpIZM7Rw4OFbGXRprWytFffHEv9M8_ruodIv1W2UCX_MHu2cs9lH8wgB6o32H7NlQEhX992EHoTAhoNNe2dntBmV8/s1600-h/Gustov_the_Spooky_Ghost_38_by_Falln_Stock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGWz4LJh_5U9mGazQnMjJ_7pw831Op_fO7vi_9CyDSKcqFf7vPQFpIZM7Rw4OFbGXRprWytFffHEv9M8_ruodIv1W2UCX_MHu2cs9lH8wgB6o32H7NlQEhX992EHoTAhoNNe2dntBmV8/s320/Gustov_the_Spooky_Ghost_38_by_Falln_Stock.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<photo 1=""></photo><span style="font-size: small;"><i><photo 1="" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ooooooooooh!!</photo></i></span></div>
<br />
I somehow feel inadequate for my lack of completeness when it comes to terrible horror sequel viewing.<br />
<br />
I don't think there's any other genre that invites such immense numbers, often reaching into double digits. Also, it's rare that any of them are particularly good to begin with, let alone once multiple installments show up.<br />
<br />
Case in point:<br />
<br />
This feeling of incompleteness is the reason why I have to date, seen every Saw film. No, I do not like them. The Saw series started going downhill around 30 seconds before the end of the first film and has since reached the bottom of the hill (somewhere in the opening titles of Saw III) and have burrowed through the planet and are now flying through space (they exited the Earth's atmosphere around 40 minutes into Saw III). But... I have to see them! This is me!<br />
I watched Saw and Saw II on DVD at home and have since seen the rest in the cinema (barring Saw V, I was busy when it was out, I saw it later). Yes, I have actually gotten on the bus, walked to the cinema, queued for 10 or so minutes., asked the cashier for a ticket, made my way upstairs, sat patiently through the trailers, and watched all toward the end credits, for three entire Saw films. And yes, they were shit.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvLhTlP4tVZXvcbt4o9_rZIm3Wdwn88itqxTGs1AMrfnfhppk5E2sh6yhX-ZXxNLZBThhdqU1g68hXChyphenhyphenGUvdLBnX5OZA83mffyXCMXq7P0Haf4pfFnorzuTzhxs-nBd2MBIiYubrDNk/s1600-h/46091_press01-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvLhTlP4tVZXvcbt4o9_rZIm3Wdwn88itqxTGs1AMrfnfhppk5E2sh6yhX-ZXxNLZBThhdqU1g68hXChyphenhyphenGUvdLBnX5OZA83mffyXCMXq7P0Haf4pfFnorzuTzhxs-nBd2MBIiYubrDNk/s200/46091_press01-001.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You suck!</span></i></span></div>
<br />
I won't be happy until I have sat through all chapters (and remakes) of these particular spoooooky franchises:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child%27s_Play_%28film_series%29"><b>Child's Play</b></a> (5) <i>(0)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_the_Corn_%281984_film%29#Sequels"><b>Children of the Corn</b></a> (8) <i>(0)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist_%28film%29#Sequels_and_related_films"><b>The Exorcist</b></a> (5) <i>(1)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th_%28franchise%29"><b>Friday the 13th</b></a> (12) <i>(3)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_%28franchise%29"><b>Halloween</b></a> (10) <i>(4)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellraiser_%28franchise%29"><b>Hellraiser</b></a> (8) <i>(3)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun_%28franchise%29"><b>Leprechaun</b></a> (6) <i>(0)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nightmare_on_Elm_Street_%28franchise%29"><b>A Nightmare on Elm St.</b></a> (8) <i>(2)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Omen"><b>The Omen</b></a> (5) <i>(3)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Texas_Chainsaw_Massacre_%28franchise%29"><b>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre</b></a> (6) <i>(5)</i><br />
<br />
<small>Plain numbers denote number of installments. Italics denote how many of these chapters I've seen.</small><br />
<br />
Notably absent are zombie films as the numbers and various strands and tangents become a little dizzying once you start including Fulci's sequels to Romero films other such madnesses. Due to the confusing nature the completist in me doesn't panic at the thought of not having seen them. That isn't to say I'm against it, I just can't keep track. It's the more clean cut examples that cause the frothing insanity.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipg_D1Bg07rSdEY7EzHOuHjuB-BA9kF6GgRSECdduy-_AUJVVYfMr8n7FQY2ps5Iu7tltk_fdqNlvEDdzmxFXt8w1En493KmHpmz7tuyv5kG5GkU92VevlFU8bC6Cjo5g7KKSCIgiSKfk/s1600-h/L_Vsc029-48175.Jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipg_D1Bg07rSdEY7EzHOuHjuB-BA9kF6GgRSECdduy-_AUJVVYfMr8n7FQY2ps5Iu7tltk_fdqNlvEDdzmxFXt8w1En493KmHpmz7tuyv5kG5GkU92VevlFU8bC6Cjo5g7KKSCIgiSKfk/s200/L_Vsc029-48175.Jpg" width="145" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Zombie movies are like zombies. </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>There's shitloads of them!</i></span></span></div>
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Now, I have varying familiarity with these franchises. Three of them I haven't seen a single entry of. One of them I've seen all but one. One of which I own the boxset of so it won't be long before I can strike it off the list (The Omen).<br />
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A few of them have upcoming remakes or sequels (some even have TV series! yikes!). These will only make it worse.<br />
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Here's the worrying part, most of them I haven't even enjoyed the initial entry! I won't get into what I liked and disliked here but I'll just say The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is definitely my favourite of the bunch and is a top film in general.<br />
<br />
So I invite anyone who reads this to remind me of any franchises I've forgotten about (perhaps leaving absent the aforementioned dizzying zombie tangents, unless you can make me a decent easy access flowchart that explains the whole thing.) Yes, you will be feeding my idiocy, but you'll also be helping.<br />
Doooo it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHFrS-7wSMuHHgnGu-xPUpnSUmUhyHKs7kM7WnBYvc4aQph-WbgH8qJ-_w7uUVYVvQBVwR_U3JPv6hoj2v8XtNXmo0SzKIX0nOIWWSJWD9WIRfaTaTp_qhsrlX73vinPyy2vCzrtumU4/s1600-h/audrey2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHFrS-7wSMuHHgnGu-xPUpnSUmUhyHKs7kM7WnBYvc4aQph-WbgH8qJ-_w7uUVYVvQBVwR_U3JPv6hoj2v8XtNXmo0SzKIX0nOIWWSJWD9WIRfaTaTp_qhsrlX73vinPyy2vCzrtumU4/s320/audrey2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Feed me!</i></span></div>
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And don't even get me started on Dracula films. Seriously, I'm this close to compiling a separate list of those...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddyLb0DoOmeYAs1uLGNhM2uFPJ7CB-Sx40CoJf6txrBB3N8NMfB__BWd_4CtJWzQk21cGujaltHFa3M6_-ry4rvV3H5edQVtqoyNWNUByk4oi606cckYIxokmKG41zv8CDN106CuHZxI/s1600-h/image_halloween004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddyLb0DoOmeYAs1uLGNhM2uFPJ7CB-Sx40CoJf6txrBB3N8NMfB__BWd_4CtJWzQk21cGujaltHFa3M6_-ry4rvV3H5edQVtqoyNWNUByk4oi606cckYIxokmKG41zv8CDN106CuHZxI/s320/image_halloween004.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>This guy!</i></span></div>
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<br />
<u><i>Appendage 1:</i></u><br />
<small>This is where I add the ones you fancy people suggested:</small><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket_Case_%28film%29"><b>Basket Case</b></a> (3) <i>(0)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasm_%28film%29"><b>Phantasm</b></a> (4) <i>(0)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slumber_Party_Massacre"><b>Slumber Party Massacre</b></a> (5) <i>(0)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-Animator#Sequels"><b>Re-Animator</b></a> (3) <i>(1)</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candyman_%28film%29"><b>Candyman</b></a> (3) <i>(0)</i><br />
<b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Destination_%28film_series%29">Final Destination</a></b> (5) <i>(3) </i><br />
<br />
<i><u>Appendage 2:</u></i><br />
Since I originally wrote this I've seen:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2011/10/candyman.html">Candyman</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2012/10/candyman-farewell-to-flesh.html">Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/candyman-day-of-dead.html">Candyman: Day of the Dead</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/childs-play.html">Child's Play</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2013/10/childs-play-2.html">Child's Play 2</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2013/10/childs-play-3.html">Child's Play 3</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2013/10/bride-of-chucky.html">Bride of Chucky</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2013/10/seed-of-chucky.html">Seed of Chucky</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2013/10/curse-of-chucky.html">Curse of Chucky</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/exorcist-ii-heretic.html">Exorcist II: The Heretic</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/exorcist-iii.html">The Exorcist III</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/exorcist-beginning.html">Exorcist: The Beginning</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dominion-prequel-to-exorcist.html">Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/final-destination.html">The Final Destination</a> <br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/final-destination-5.html">Final Destination 5</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-13th-part-2.html">Friday the 13th Part 2</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-13th-part-iii.html">Friday the 13th Part III</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-13th-final-chapter.html">Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-13th-new-beginning.html">Friday the 13th: A New Beginning</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/jason-lives-friday-13th-part-vi.html">Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-13th-part-vii-new-blood.html">Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-13th-part-viii-jason-takes.html">Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/jason-goes-to-hell-final-friday.html">Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-13th-2009.html">Friday the 13th (2009)</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-ii.html">Halloween II</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-4-return-of-michael-myers.html">Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-5.html">Halloween 5</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-curse-of-michael-myers.html">Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-resurrection.html">Halloween: Resurrection</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-ii-2009.html">Halloween II (2009)</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2012/10/hellraiser-bloodline.html">Hellraiser: Bloodline</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/hellraiser-inferno.html">Hellraiser: Inferno</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/hellraiser-hellseeker.html">Hellraiser: Hellseeker</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/hellraiser-deader.html">Hellraiser: Deader</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/hellraiser-hellworld.html">Hellraiser: Hellworld</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/hellraiser-revelations.html">Hellraiser: Revelations</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/nightmare-on-elm-street-part-2-freddys.html">A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/nightmare-on-elm-street-3-dream.html">A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/nightmare-on-elm-street-4-dream-master.html">A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/nightmare-on-elm-street-dream-child.html">A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/freddys-dead-final-nightmare.html">Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/wes-cravens-new-nightmare.html">Wes Craven's New Nightmare</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/nightmare-on-elm-street-2010.html">A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/omen-iv-awakening.html">Omen IV: The Awakening </a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/omen-2006.html">The Omen (2006)</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/wishmaster-2-evil-never-dies.html">Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/wishmaster-3-beyond-gates-of-hell.html">Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell</a><br />
<a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.ie/2012/10/wishmaster-4-prophecy-fulfilled.html">Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled</a><br />
<br />
Click for reviews.<br />
<br />
To elaborate, this means I've completed the Candyman, Child's Play, Exorcist, Final Destination, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Hellraiser, Nightmare on Elm Street, Omen and Wishmaster series. I'm slightly closer to the dream...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153855908473793042.post-27962436467117111022010-03-09T17:12:00.000+00:002010-03-09T17:16:00.153+00:00What's all this then?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8WgX_vbj4mOss24-NNd7-E2kSCQZkiEm0_Hy7Qxgn31plDY0MI-UWPcGSjzMX-zec43GaoHPL0OzpWftgGkzRrf9k1ADMeuX7GwmvpmGVTHLLRQZKjUhvfOBmHWrj5D_JN8MDXQJ11o/s1600-h/Mario-Box-question-mark.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8WgX_vbj4mOss24-NNd7-E2kSCQZkiEm0_Hy7Qxgn31plDY0MI-UWPcGSjzMX-zec43GaoHPL0OzpWftgGkzRrf9k1ADMeuX7GwmvpmGVTHLLRQZKjUhvfOBmHWrj5D_JN8MDXQJ11o/s200/Mario-Box-question-mark.gif" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> It's about a mushroom</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>My name is Diarmaid and I like the sound of my own voice. Well, sight of my own text. I guess?<br />
<br />
I like films. I especially like to talk about films... at length. That's what this blog is for. I will spill my mind thoughts.<br />
<br />
<b>HOWEVER</b> This is not a film review blog. No no no. This is more based on genres and concepts and film as a whole. While yes there will be posts on particular films they will not be critiques of the films themselves. (Although they may contain criticisms.)<br />
<br />
I do have a film review blog though! It can be found <a href="http://onesentencefilmreviews.blogspot.com/">here.</a><br />
<br />
As you can see my reviews are brief. I don't like writing long reviews. It's not my interest. Not that I don't love reviewers who do. I subscribe to the long detailed opinions of plenty! It's just not my thing.<br />
<br />
This blog is for my musings, my opinions, my ideas.<br />
<br />
So yeah, read it or whatever.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0