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Reviews
Hippo vs Croc (2014)
Testosterone fueled killing machine
If you would like reassurance that your testosterone makes you an unrivaled killing machine, this is the documentary for you. A thousand pound female crocodile will be described as being sensitive and caring, with sensitive skin and compassion, but the crap-scattering tail of a hippo is an intimidating adaptation.
The camera work is nice, but they overdo the use of extreme slo-mo, and add horror movie cries and screams over it for dramatic effect. Want to see an eagle take a full minute to move ten feet down a river while a Banshee screams in the background? This is the awful documentary for you.
Oh, and they spend a solid three minutes showing a partially disemboweled baby hippo at the end. This was the WORST.
Joker (2019)
Not the Joker. Missing the point.
Inevitable Spoilers ahead.
Sorry, no... this movie misses the mark on so many levels. I get why some may have thought it great and an amazing take but this is why it misses the mark for me. Joker does not care about anything. That is his shtick... so you can't birth that idea out of him just wanting to be appreciated and liked.
This origin story falls flat and really really does a disservice to the mentally ill. It attempts to deliver a message about the gap between the unfortunate and fortunate, and in that there is a worth while story, albeit poorly executed, but the story of the Joker shouldn't be an attempt to make the Joker relatable. His love of chaos should be inherent, not the result of the cracks in society become a burden no longer bearable.
That aside some pettier complaints... when the hell was this movie supposed to take place. It seems like the goal was to have the poorest people living in the early 80s while the richest are some how in the 20s. The police force somehow in the middle with 60s decor. Joker is in his mid 50s, with Thomas and Martha Wayne in their late 60s maybe even early 70s, while Bruce is maybe 10. There is no believable way Thomas and Martha are young enough to be his biological parents, especially when it's revealed that Joker's mother, portrayed as convalescent, is a contemporary with Thomas. This means that by the time Bruce becomes Batman, Joker is going to be in his 60-70s at least.
Maybe none of that matters to the story they are trying to tell, but then why are they using the Batman universe as the launch point.
There are some points of quality acting, and I must say poor traumatized Gary seeing his colleague getting murdered was the peak performance. Leigh Gill made my evening, but so much else was a waste. The fantasy version of Zazie Beats character was as obvious as watching Fight Club for the 10th time in a row and as soon as it's revealed they dropped her character like she wasn't even worth fridging. The two detectives were incompetent and got themselves mauled by being idiots. I guess I can go with the flow that Murray's hubris is what gets him shot.
The cinematography constantly relies on one moody blue filter and poor lighting to create a sense of eerieness and the same melancholy out of tune viola riff to create discord. It's repetitive and trite, but somehow appeals to the mass audience because it's artsy.
I think if this movie falls in the category of film that you will know if you are going to like it or not from the trailer. I really wanted to like this, but it really really missed the point of who the Joker is.
Fainaru fantajî sebun adobento chirudoren (2005)
Requires a independent understanding g of source material.
This film is fantastic, AND it is vital that you really understood the game's original plot to get the most out of it. Sadly FF7 in its translated English format lost a lot of nuance and there are a lot of plot points that are easy to overlook and/or flat out miss in a casual play through SO that leaves the demographic of the target audience for this film a bit thinned.
None-the-less if you are the fan that really gets the plot there is a lot of carryover and symbolic reference back to the source material. If you find yourself not understanding who Kadaj and his gang are, who mother is, how Arieth is talking to Cloud, or what any of the conversations are about, its okay. I had to explain the plot to my 12yr old daughter at least 5 times over and I don't think she got half of it. She did however cry at the end and loved the animation 15 years after it was made, so thats a plus.
What I love is that this film is mostly about Cloud accepting forgiveness and that he is forgiven. The game never goes in depth into his grief over his perceived failures, and its nice to get closure to this part of his story. The plot does focus primarily on this, and even while Tifa is prominent she is not very central to the plot. Like Tifa the other veteran/returning characters are also just there but do not have much significance to the plot.
However to really follow the point of the film and that its not just an excuse to showcase fight choreography and cgi models, you really need to understand 1. Cloud's relationship to Arieth, 2. Why Arieth died mean . (and I don't in a medical sense but in a "why she chose her fate" sense) 3. How Arieth's choice was perceived by Cloud, and somewhat Tifa. 4. What the Jenova Project was. 5. How the Jenova project relates to Cloud, Arieth and Zack. And 6. For Bonus credit allegorically speaking what Cloud, Zack, Arieth, and Sephiroth each represent.
Honestly thats just not going to be everyone's cup of tea.