Reviews

All right, I just recently watched this series on Netflix and DVD, based on my positive recollections seeing the first few episodes when it premiered on Nick back in '05. Overall, I really enjoyed revisiting, as well as finally finishing it. The animation is fluid and hands- down the best of the Japanese-influenced American shows broadcast in the country, the narrative is wonderfully paced and interesting, and the characters are memorable and engaging from square one. Props to Dante Basco and Mako especially for their portrayals of two of my new favorite characters of all time. I really dig that this was appreciated on release and has the massive following it does, as well as a good sequel series from what I hear. If you haven't seen it yet, this is a high recommendation from me to stop and immediately rent/buy this. You'll not be disappointed.

Now I must post a few of my gripes with the show, -SPOILERS AHEAD- Now, overall, this show handles wonderfully when it comes to dealing life lessons and morality to young children, which was its primary audience. However, I sensed, especially in Books 2 and 3, a desperate struggle amongst the writers to avoid the mortality issue when it came to ANY character in the show, as well as most of the darker elements in the show, (see Bloodbending). In order to be lasting, and relatable, I felt it would be wise to address the fact that in shows dealing with these titanic struggles, there are losses on both sides, the Book 1 finale worked this in fine. When it came to Lake Laogai, they chickened out at outright telling the audience that a character was dying, and I believe subtlety was the best option they had and it mostly worked. However, Sozin's Comet gave the impression that the writers struggled to come up with a deus ex machina that they could write off as a fantastic element of the world. IT DID NOT RUIN THE FINALE, that's not what I have to say at all. I simply regret that fact that the writers seemed to think: "D'oh we can't kill the Fire Lord! We can't defend/promote that!" The deus did work, but it was a shot in the dark that just happened to work in context. Oh well, oh hell. When it comes to bloodbending, I simply wish they had gone all out and used it more to its darker advantages, ie REALLY DARK USAGES (see heart-stopping, SCANNERS!). Also, WHY THE HELL DIDN'T KATARA USE IT ON AZULA?!? I'm a messed up, grit-loving pop-culture buff; sue me for trying to make your children's show more interesting.

So close to being something remarkable that the screen it plays on can sometimes fold out and reveal lush detail of romance and intrigue of old that we folk just don't see anymore. The pacing is just galloping on ahead when the actors need allowance to breathe and spread their talents into the cogs and springs of their characters. Alas, the central romance is a tad rushed, less Bergman/Bogart and more modern hack rom-com, which leads to suffering on-screen and off.

I do appreciate the return of Bob Zemeckis, after his CG adventures at the turn of the millennium. He's got some talent, but his screenplays and their authors need to be allowed to insert a bit more life and wit into the works. That being said, the final suspense sequences with Cotillard waiting for her husband in the car are so good, it comes close to being forgiven for its horribly muddled storytelling. Worth a watch for the middle Americans who want a gentle throwback to the thrillers of WW2 and Hitchcockian/Watergate-era paranoia alike.

This is a film that truly holds up, even outside of its particularly problematic and quaint setting. By that, I mean that the goggles have never been on in my case regarding the 1950s. Many of the population wants to kid themselves that those were the wonder years, with no issues or problems whatsoever, while I am reminded of the McCarthy trials, civil sit-ins, and the Cold War paranoia overriding the quasi-intelligence of the nation. This is a film that stands as a true notable time capsule of said paranoia that plays out much like I imagine something like a visit from the extraterrestrial could happen, before the extremists decide that difference and "the other" is just too scary to handle, as illustrated so perfectly in the likes of Villeneuve's ARRIVAL and Zemeckis' CONTACT.

Patricia Neal is the MVP of this movie. Her face is so expressive and her body language is filled with cool calm. Rennie does the job he was hired to and Hugh Marlowe is the perfect subversive prick who's only in it for the personal glory. Take that, clean-cut America. Not so respectable now, are ye?

A mandatory viewing for all interested in anything approaching smart fictional allegories.

"And thus, the furries spread their legions far across the continents, growing and nurturing fans of anthropomorphic fauna, young and old alike, for decades until the sickened scores of conservative ballet moms, white collar lobbyists, and chauvinist bankers defected to the reaches of Uranus where the terabytes of glorious fan-art could not penetrate their virginal eye holes."

FIN

Near-perfect save for an awful, horribly miscalcuated Shakira song and the questionable design of the accompanying character. I really dug Nick Wilde and wish he was the main character, as initially intended in the pitched concept. But the movie still works in a neat, if mildly heavy-handed message on tolerance and avoiding prejudices. That being said, it should not be taken as a direct corollary to the state of the country. If such steps are interpreted, this becomes a terribly questionable premise from the get-go.

However, I see it as a quality family film from a company I really don't care for, but will approach their work honestly without prejudice. And that's a beautiful thing, I guess. Carry on, friends.

This flick is practically unreviewable. The emotions and responses I had to the viewing of this are just about review-proof. This is not a narrative film as much as it is an exercise in droll tension and a slowly unspooling sense of unease. The constant use of long takes only adds to the atmosphere of consternation and claustrophobic terror.

Both of the actresses are spot-on in all of their interactions, as is the creepy sumbitch playing Mr. Bebe. This experience is one that everyone not tethered by the expectation of narrative structure and the concept of "entertainment" should by all means explore and seek out for their gain. I will not order you to see it, but I'll let my words do their own work. After all, it's your choice.

What in the unholiest of hells was Shyamalan on when he convinced himself this could be marketable? That this unkempt cluster of indulgence and fantasy could actually work as cinema or entertainment?

He has no idea how children talk. He has no idea how people interact at gatherings. He has no idea how human beings work, period. There is a difference between heightened reality and utterly unbelievable BS, and Shyamalan just kept digging farther down his personal rabbit hole until no one knows who he intended this for, unless his kids convinced him this was great storytelling, demonic trolls that they are. And on top of all that he wastes a perfectly good Paul Giamatti and a halfway decent cast, too.

The fault is entirely the director's problem. 'Twas his story, his directorial decisions that utterly wrecked the storytelling here. James Newton Howard deserves an apology from Shyamalan for making a horrible movie set to his beautiful soundtrack. And the worst of it all is the movie is just no fun. It's all just rather sad, actually. It's impossible to laugh at this level of indulgence, even by Shyamalan standards.

Let it be known that I am wholly against Disney's policy of scavenging old properties to remake simply to make an easy buck. There's a reason why Cinderella was one of the most disappointing flicks of last year. The film had no substance to it aside from that it looked nice and the Prince had a character, for once. Otherwise, the movie was a vapid valley of fluff story and lackluster substance that was a couple steps down in quality from the joyous original.

This movie, compared to Alice in Burtonland and Cinderella, is a better example of what they should have strove for. Enough is similar so that the ol' nostalgia still clicks, but enough is changed that most audiences can accept this film was almost necessary. The voice work by Kingsley, Murray, Nyong'o, and Elba is fantastic. That being said, the musical numbers did not belong in this movie, nor did Christopher Walken the Monkey Man. The storybook credits were the best parts of the movie, for my money. Also, what was with the Scarlett Johansson lounge song at the end?

Who knows? Perhaps next year's Beauty and the Beast will upset the original by throwing caution to the wind and daring to be even more inspiring than the original. But I'm not holding out hopes for such, as the original is Already PERFECT!!

TL;dr: Disney --> STAHP!

"We will conquer this wilderness. It will not consume us.""

Creepy little folk tale constructed with slow-burning passion and slack atmosphere. There's something to be said for director Eggers' attention to period details and the way he builds terror via conventions and subversions. Much like others have said, an easy way to sell this is to describe it as mashing together equal parts The Crucible, The Shining, and just a smattering of Blair Witch's atmosphere and A Field in England, oddly enough.

Cast really shines through, special props to gravel-voiced, six- packed Ralph Ineson of Game of Thrones notoriety, and newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy, who brings a sense of strangled fright to her leading performance. The script, combined with the Olde Englishe accents, proved a little hard to understand at times. The music overplayed its hand way too early for my taste, but it got more restrained later on in the film. The final scene is going to haunt me as I sleep later on.

Definitely see this one.

I seem to not be the audience for this film, which I find remarkable. I think Quadrophenia is a magnificent album from The Who and rather looked forward to seeing this with my dad. Well, on his birthday, we watched it and came away thinking that we saw something that A- Was not The Who's rock opera as we wanted to see it, and B- Was made for a completely specific misunderstood mod audience who likes their main characters whiny and unlikable. I really tried to like this movie, as I had known ahead of time it wasn't a movie rock opera a la Ken Russel's Tommy, but more a drama with the songs making up the soundtrack. But the main character keeps antagonizing the audience with his self-loathing, ratty disposition and he loses hope entirely when he makes poor decision after poor decision. The camera-work is fine and the soundtrack is still fantastic, but I wish it were part of a more enjoyable movie. 2.2/5

An artistic experience. I sat thru mesmerized from the opening text to the final shot. There is a reason film festivals, 2013 top ten lists, and most nay-sayers of modern effects went wild. GRAVITY is a hypnotic, magnificently realized vision of what our furthest reaches contain, astounding beauty with a dark, dangerous edge. I'd been following this specific project since it was announced in COMING SOON in mid-2012. I remember thinking, "So...Clooney and Sandra Bullock float through space for 90 mins: Need to see." The most surprising element for me was the performance of Sandra Bullock. I've seen her work mostly in comedy, and was thoroughly impressed by her performance. I wished she had won Best Actress, but since she undeservedly won for The Blind Side back in '10, they wouldn't give it to her now. The cinematography is fan-bloody-tastic; the effects are some of the most hypnotic and shockingly convincing I've seen in any science-fiction work; and the direction is flawless, showing a mastery of mise-en-scene and composition not seen since the days of Kubrick and Hitchcock. The 3D wasn't as mind-blowing as say AVATAR or Hugo, but it helps envelop viewers in the seriousness of the isolation among the stars. I went to see the flick late in its run with a dear friend who exclaimed, before the movie began, "All right, impress me Spanish man!" Afterwards, he said simply, "He won." If you haven't seen it yet, which is unlikely considering the blockbuster it was, Go See It. You won't be disappointed by it, at all. 4.9/5

Frank Capra's It Happened One Night is one of the Hollywood legends that in film-lover circuits has achieved a status usually reserved for Scorsese-helmed gangland dramas, Wellesian experiments, and most musicals with Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly. This film, more than any other film of the time before, made comedy classy and personable. It has genuine heart, skillful gags that have no need for pies or extravagant slapstick, and intelligently written characters who are along for a ride, literally and figuratively. It is one of my favorite comedies and my goal for this post is to renew interest in my readers who have already seen it and ignite a curiosity in those who haven't experienced the joy of viewing it for the first time.

For those unfortunate ones who haven't yet seen Frank Capra's master work, or simply those who have forgotten its plot, here are the basics. 'Ellie' Andrews, the irresistible Claudette Colbert, is a young socialite from Miami who is bored with her smothering father. She impulsively marries a fortune hunting heel of a man which infuriates her father. She rebelliously runs away and determines to meet her husband in New York, traveling by Greyhound bus. On board, she makes the acquaintance of recently laid-off reporter Peter Warne, the ever charming Clark Gable, who within hours deduces her identity and makes her an offer. She'll allow him exclusive story rights to cover her journey to reunite with her love and he won't tell her daddy where she is. The rest of the movie is a wagon-load of shenanigans that the two of them get into on the bus, off the bus, on the road, in the wilderness, and in the process of multiple overnight rooms. This movie was the boasted favorite of Friz Freleng, one of the pioneers of the Looney Tunes and you can see why. The gags and dialogue are snappy and always effective, all the actors are in rare form, and the story moves at a brisk, yet leisurely pace to compliment the sometimes leisurely, sometimes chaotic journey these two share. Why don't I own this one yet?! Time and generational gaps have unfortunately given It Happened One Night the label of an "old movie", something an unfortunate number of youth today will go out of their way to avoid, which saddens me. I am as much a proponent of classic film as Scorsese or Roger Ebert, and that does not make me old. That makes me educated in a certain regard to history. It Happened One Night was the first of only three films thus-far in American film history to win the Big Five Oscars: Best Picture, Screenplay, Director, Actor, and Actress. This movie is a time capsule of how it was in the Depression on the road. I would rather watch this movie than another time capsule of the Depression-era, John Ford's Grapes of Wrath, since this movie is nothing but lighthearted fun from start to finish. Grapes of Wrath is so heavy-handed and sappy, that it tends to make Paul Haggis' Crash look subtle and that movie could hardly have been less subtle.

This film is a bundle of joy wrapped in caustic lunacy with love from one of America's prime comedic directors, Frank Capra, whom most would remember as the maker of 1939's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and the public domain classic It's a Wonderful Life. If you're interested in seeing more from super-zany Capra rather than soapbox, melodramatic Capra, look for 1938 Best Picture Winner You Can't Take it with You. This movie is begging to be watched, so do It Happened One Night a favor, and give it a look. I personally guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Final Rating: 5/5 Practically Perfect in Every Way

The film that was banned for 4 years. Why..? (original Finnish poster tagline) Probably because the people who initially saw this were bored to tears! Geez, I'm going to draw a lot of controversy and pretentious sneers from others, but I could not stand this trite, senseless attempt at 'film' or 'art'. The main character is an absolutely boring, outrageously stupid sleazebag who couldn't display charisma if given a death threat. The editing is choppy and unrealistic, even by MTV standards, which is a comparison drawn by many "obviously smarter and open-minded" reviewers who drink vinaigrette by the barrel while delivering unrelenting praise to the latest Terence Malick endeavour. There was no soundtrack to speak of, at least none I could notice over the banal, uninteresting dialogue and slower than molasses narrative. The only half-decent thing in the flick was Jean Seberg, and even she was as enthusiastic as Valium can make you. Blech! I had no investment in anything happening on screen, and once that happens, you've lost me from your picture. If you liked it, you can have it. I will not take this away from you. Just keep it the hell away from me! 0.1/5

I feel Lon Chaney was the first extremely great actor to come out of the American film industry. He embodied characters like nobody's business. The fact that he was in this alone got me interested. Overall, the film was worth a watch to see Chaney portray the jaded stage magician turned African warlord. He was just so stone cold throughout the whole thing only to keep the audience guessing what he was actually going to do next. Lionel Barrymore was also a neat addition as the truly heartless villain who hadn't a care in the world, even when his life was at stake. Not as inspired as The Unknown or Phantom of the Opera, but still a worthy addition to the Lon Chaney catalog.

This movie is one I had been searching for for a long while. Ever since I saw a documentary on James Whale's career, this one caught my interest as an interesting and worthwhile venture to undertake in my constant viewings. However, it seems somewhere along the way, I mixed up this with The Cat and the Canary. That is not to say this is a 'bad watch', I just seem to have misplaced and misinterpreted the material I was to be watching, seeing as they are so close in basic overview, but completely different in production. This film deals with a group of wayward souls, including an early appearance from Charles Laughton, taking shelter from the rainy weather in a creepy house butled by Boris 'Freak Show' Karloff. It has plenty of creep-tastic moments, anything with just the sounds of the house and nothing else is fantastic, but the comedy seems to fall really flat, as dated as it is. Overall, for the film historians, give this one a look. But don't expect comedy gold or you'll be sorely disappointed.

This was the first 'true' Miyazaki film from what I hear and I had to check it out, seeing as Mononoke-hime is my 2nd-favorite film of all time. The story is well-adapted, if shortened from the superb manga. I must say it is not quite as 'mind exploding' as people who love Spirited Away keep telling me, (I'll get to that film later). I'm glad I saw it, and I happen to own all 3 versions now, the original Japanese, the Disney dub, and Warriors of the Wind! If you know whats good for you, stick to the original Japanese version. That way you can avoid Shy Labeef and terrible localized dubbing in one swoop. Miyazaki still has a mini-masterpiece here as well as a neat little eco-fable. Nothing else to say other than Enjoy it!