Guardians of the Galaxy - Movie Review

                

          

           Watching the trailers for the movie, I thought to myself that Guardians of the Galaxy looked ridiculously silly. But did it look interesting? Yes. Did I want to see it? Absolutely. Was the film like it was presented to be in the trailers? Yes. Is it a funny, non-stop entertaining blast? Absolutely.

            Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is a human on Earth that gets abducted from by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker), an alien that lives in the far reaches of space where technology is years and years in advance of human technology. This is obviously where almost all of the film takes place. Peter is the only human among this different race, and he is a thief that steals things for different people for money.

            Gamora (Zoe Saldana) works for Ronan (Lee Pace), who works will Thanos, an incredibly powerful god of some sort. Gamora is ordered to retrieve an orb that Thanos needs to carry out his plans.

            Drax (Dave Bautista) is in a high security prison for what I assume to be murder. The only reason why he does anything is to eventually seek revenge on Ronan for murdering his family.

            Rocket (Bradley Cooper - voice) is the product of an experiment. He is a raccoon that can speak, handle things, move around, and understand things. He can basically do all a human can. He has Groot (Vin Diesel - voice), a tree that grow by himself. Groot only knows three words - I, Am, and Groot - and usually only in that order. Rocket basically just keeps Groot as a pet to help him. What he does is seek out outlaws with prices on their head and captures them to get some money. It’s also implied that Rocket is a thief and probably commits a lot of crimes.

            All of these characters eventually join to become the guardians of the galaxy so they can stop evil Ronan from doing bad things.

            Going into this movie, I just expected to have a lot of fun with it. I assumed that the visuals would be fantastic as they are in all the big-budget Marvel superhero films. Did it deliver? Yes it did. It had an extremely fun time with this movie. There is not one dull moment from beginning to end. It’s fast-paced and full of action, yet there is no lack of character development. One thing I was really surprised by was much attention the writers and director paid on the characters. All the main characters in this movie felt so well realized through the script and direction. Director James Gunn does an excellent job filming the action sequences and making the scenes look good, but he also does give some depth to the film regarding the characters. No, I didn’t read the comics to the movie, so I have no idea how the characters were in the comic books, but in the film, the characters are thought-out well. It seems as if all of their actions are justified by what they want or what they feel like they have to do or etc. Every character has a depth that really makes the film even more enthralling than it would have been before.

            As for as the performances go, they are all great. Bradley Cooper is fantastic as Rocket, Chris Pratt really nails Peter Quill, Zoe Saldana really fits as Gamora, Dave Bautista works very well as Drax, and I can’t really comment on Vin Diesel’s performances as Groot, but what little lines he had, he delivered well. I was very skeptical about what the acting would be like going into to movie, but I was actually surprised by how good the performances were.

            To expound more upon how the direction is great, every shot seems necessary for the film. There are several wide shots used in the film as well as close-ups. Some shots linger, and some do not. What the shots do have in common is that they all make the movie greater than it was. The action is pristinely directed. No shaky cam. No quick-cut editing. And I’m not just rewarding the director for not using bad techniques, but for also directing the action marvelously with precision and care.

            It’s no secret that the visuals for this movie would be great. However, the visuals are beyond great. They are spectacular. There are so many details in the action sequences that the visuals effects people had to get down, and they do it flawlessly. Some of the visual effects almost seem real. They are incredible to look at. But it’s not just the visual effects that are great. I commented that director James Gunn really did make the scenes look great, and I wasn’t kidding. It seemed in some scenes that cinematographer was shining because everything was so well-lit and it all looked so good. The look of this movie is great as well as the performances and the characters.

            The film is very, very funny. The dialogue is very clever in some parts. Aside from the characters, the script is not fantastic, though. Not that it’s bad, but the dialogue was never truly great (not that I expected it to be). It served for the film and I didn’t have a problem with it. However, the script has some issues. For one, there were times that I could not suspend disbelief. Some of the logical errors were huge. In a maximum security prison, the inmates have access to knives. And at night, they were able to just move around freely. The guards never paid any attention to anything. The prisoners did things right in front of them that they didn’t stop. They didn’t see many other things that prisoners did that they should stop.

            During an action scene, when one person is up against twenty or thirty, the one kills some while the others don’t use their guns to shoot. They just stand there.

            Also, sometimes chemistry between characters that was not there at all the scene before is randomly there in the next scene. Characters go from hating each other to liking each other in one scene. That’s not how people work.

            There are other smaller flaws in the script, like some of the dialogue coming off of as expeditionary and some conflicts solved by deux-ex-machina, but I don’t I have to touch on those quite as much. I could continue to nit-pick the script of this film for a while, but that is not necessary.

            Going into this movie, you know what you’re getting - a humorous, fun, exciting, adventurous, sometimes silly and sometimes nearly ridiculous action movie with amazing visuals. However, the film has legitimately fantastic direction by James Gunn, great performances, and an excellent set of characters.

            As far as the 3D is concerned, I did feel that is was satisfactory. It’s used as more of a tool to immerse the audience than a gimmick. However, it did not stand out. It did not always look like I was looking into a field of different layers. Therefore, I don’t think it’s necessary at all to spend extra money on 3D. I say just see the 2D version.

            And for the after credits scene (I will NOT give spoilers), it’s not worth waiting through all of the credits for. It’s just a ridiculous, short jab for comedy and does not progress the story like the Marvel superhero movies of recent years have done in their after credits scenes.

The Bridge - Season 2, Episode 4, "The Acorn" Review

            I would refer to the entire series of The Bridge as a crime drama and thriller. The show is full of person drama, it does have thrills, and there is a mystery going on with some crime. It’s a very serious, dark, and intelligent series. In this episode, the crime and drama genres may apply, but thriller absolutely does not. I could say that not much really happens in this 45 minute episode, and that would be true. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this episode. It really proves that great setup and execution can make what would have possibly been a boring episode into a very entertaining and engaging one.

            In this episode, we see… everyone. Steven Linder (Thomas M. Wright), Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger), Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir), Hank Wade (Ted Levine), Daniel Frye (Matthew Lillard), Charlotte Millwright (Annabeth Gish), Adriana Mendez (Emily Rios), Fausto Galvan (Ramon Franco), Eleanor Nacht (Franka Potente). We see all of their storylines progress. I could say the premise of what happens in every single storyline, but won’t do that. All I’ll say is that the mystery gets more twisted as the different storylines start to intertwine, as well as people’s personal lives getting more complicated.

            This is an expertly crafted and executed episode. The script and direction are both great here. The script is able to combine all of these different storylines and make them flow together, almost as if they belong together. The episode is so well directed that even beyond the framing, crafting, and decisions behind the shots, the episode has a sustained tone and a very even and in-all-ways good pacing. There is a great sense of depth with every character here, is that is due how deep the script goes and how well the director does focus on the characters of the episode.

            The dialogue is great in the episode, as it has been for the past few. I could just copy and paste what I said about it in my review of this episode’s predecessor. It’s realistic, almost to the point of which the characters seem like really people. Not quite there yet, though. It’s compelling and interesting. It helped me get a greater interest in the characters.

            The look of the episode is very good. The Bridge has been known partly for its great look in just about every episode, but it was even better here. This director delivers visually as well as in the tone and pacing of the episode. The cinematography really captured the look of Texas and Juarez outside. And the cinematography is very good inside, too. The director of photography really seemed to have an attention to detail, and that really adds a lot to this episode.

            With these past three episodes, The Bridge is really starting to deliver. I’m getting more and more interested as the episodes continue to be great. The dialogue is realistic, compelling, and interesting. The cinematography looks very good. The direction engaged me and gave me a great sense of depth in each storyline. The episode was very entertaining as well as deep and clever.

The Strain - Season 1, Episode 3 "Gone Smooth" Review

            Sometimes while watching thrillers I find myself starting to be unsatisfied with what I’m seeing. I’ll wonder to myself, “Why do I feel like the movie (or television episode) needs to give me more? I’m really enjoying it. I’m interested in it. I’m not bored by it. It’s well directed. It’s well acted. It’s well written.” Whatever I’m watching has to be well directed, acted, and written for all of that to work, so it’s movies or television episodes that I do feel are well directed, acted and written that I’m finding really entertaining that I also think have something missing that I think this in. I’ve recently realized that these thrillers are just lacking thrills. It’s well done and I’m enjoying it, but it’s just not having enough thrills. I’m not saying that I felt this way throughout this entire episode, but I did feel that way for the first half.

            In this episode of The Strain, the “surviving” passengers on the airplane start to get even stranger and more disgusting and disturbing symptoms, Ephraim (Corey Stoll) goes to the custody hearing, and Abraham (David Bradley) gets released from jail and starts his plan to stop the spread of the disease. When Ephraim is done with his person business, he joins Nora (Mia Mastro) to find out what disease is in Captain Redfern (Jonathan Potts) and hopefully get rid of it. While Ephraim is at the custody hearing, Nora meets up with Abraham to find out what he thinks they have to do to stop the disease. Jim Kent (Sean Astin) meets up with somebody he made a deal with to find out what’s going on.

            As I have already said, for the first half of this episode I was very interested in what was going on. I was not bored by the show. I didn’t find it dull. I just felt that something was missing. The episode needed more thrills. Thankfully, the second half is full of scares, thrills, and disturbing things. The first half is some character development. I was very interested in what was going to happen at the custody hearing, and what did happen boosted the episode. It had me feeling pity for the main character, but also feeling that he may not be right, which is always good for the main character. He is not a perfect human that is always treated poorly by everyone; he’s wrong once in a while. As far as the character development with Nora, we don’t learn anything, but the plot was progressed in her scene with Abraham.

            We also learn a bit more about Vaslily Fet (Kevin Durand), who I didn’t realize would become a main character. When he inspects what rat bit someone’s child on the face, he find out the rats are running away, scared of something. This plot point doesn’t seem crucial to the series, but it was interesting to me. I don’t whether Vaslily will remain a main character for future episodes, but I hope his storyline doesn’t become too big if he does.

            In my reviews of the first two episodes of this season, I commented on how well directed I thought they both were, even though they were done by different directors. I said that Guillermo del Toro did the better job of the two, although David Semel still did a very good job. This episode is directed by Semel as well, and I didn’t really find that the direction for it was fantastic. The episode definitely was well made, and the scares and thrills were well directed, but nothing really stuck out as great. However, the writing for the episode was still very good. The dialogue did seem very realistic like things actual people would say. The characters were well realized, and I enjoyed watching their progressions (and regressions, for some). The narrative elements of the episode were very good; they kept me interested.

            The first two episodes were very good at making the scares were abrupt and very affecting, to me at least. Luckily, they are the same here. There are some scenes with a build-up of tension, and although it was by far not the most affecting tension I’ve ever seen on horror shows on television, it was good. The scares in this episode that were more disturbing were done better. Something about those scenes made them very effective in actually scaring the audience instead of grossing them out. However, there was one scene that did rely on disgust to try to scare the audience, and it felt more disgusting than disturbing. It was only one, though. As far as the thrills go, they’re very sudden and very thrilling. There were some moments in these scenes that the direction did stick out to me. There were good thrills in this episode.

            This episode may not be directed as well as the first two, but it’s still very well written and very interesting. Any lack of scares and thrills in the first half were made up for in the second half, and there was also good character development.

The Bridge - Season 2, Episode 3 "Sorrowsworm" Review

            Many people’s definition of an “epic” (movie) is one that is generally over three hours long with grand scope, a very big and grandiose plot, and incredible, huge action sequences. Films like Braveheart, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Troy, Lawrence of Arabia, etc. are thought of as epics. Though, there are some who think that other types of films can be considered epics. Although this is just a 45 minute episode on television, it seemed like an epic to me.

            In this third episode of the second season of The Bridge, we finally see Steven Linder (Thomas M. Wright) and Charlotte Millwright (Annabeth Gish) again, for the first time in season two. And there are no other essential characters cut out of the episode. We hear from Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger), Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir), Lieutenant Hank Wade (Ted Levine), Daniel Frye (Matthew Lillard), Adriana Medez (Emily Rios), Eleanor Nacht (Franka Potente), Captain Robles (Juan Carlos Cantu), Fausto Galvan (Ramon Franco), and of course Steven Linder and Charlotte Millwright. And somehow, all of these different stories flow together perfectly. Every one of those characters gets their time in the episode. With the script written smartly, the direction very understanding and cohesive, and editing that makes all of the scenes lead into each other well, the episode turns out very well done.

            In this episode, Sonya and Marco continue working on the search for Eleanor, while she is starting to move on and eventually get back to Juarez. Daniel and Adriana are still inspecting the “money house” from the end of the last season, and trying to find out who killed whom and why all of this is happening. Steven Linder visits Eva for the first time in a while. Charlotte’s people lose some of their drugs to something set up, but they don’t know what, and have to figure out what to do.

            Although my rating for this episode and last episode are very close together, I feel that I like this much better. That is because it brings back some of the things that were so great last season. It pushes the boundaries, does original things. The tone is very dark, sad, and slightly disturbing. The characters are very well realized through the script and they make the logical decisions. The characters are actually relatable enough that the characters alone make the show interesting. This is almost all thanks to the near brilliant writing. The dialogue is very compelling in this episode, but also realistic. The events of this episode are very well thought-out, and the layout for this episode is very good. Although we don’t learn much more about Sonya, Marco, Hank, Charlotte, Steven, or Daniel, the character of Eleanor Nacht is built upon even more in this episode. Last episode we realized how bad she was, and in this episode we realize how crazy she is. What happens with the rest of the characters is mostly plot-related, but there are bits of character development in the episode, which is enough for the limited time each character has in the episode. And this also makes the episode very fast-paced and intriguing from beginning to end. Not once was I bored watching it.

            The direction is also one of the aspects of the episode that makes it great. Each scene is so well acted that feels as if the director has an incredible influence on all of them. Each scene is also done so greatly that I could have watched them go on for hours. It’s one of the things people compliment the Coen brothers about: that every scene is executed flawlessly. Here, I don’t know if every scene is executed flawlessly, by director Stefan Schwartz definitely does a great job with it.

            The main reason I consider this episode somewhat of an “epic” is because it takes several different storylines and puts them in this one episode. There are crossovers in some one of them, but for the most part in this episode, they don’t happen. The different stories are put together so well they flow together as if they are connected. This episode of The Bridge reminded me of the great things that were in season one of the series. It's a superbly written and directed episode.

Lucy - Movie Review

           




          
           It appears that now the idea that humans can only use 10% of their brain will be used in many, many more movies now that Limitless has happened… and I guess now they will star Morgan Freeman. I very much enjoy Limitless and think that it is a very underrated and smart movie. As for Lucy, I can say that it’s not a copy off of Limitless…

            In Lucy, a rather air-headed woman studying in an Asian country I believe to be China is forced into a very dark drug deal. The drug these dangerous people are dealing is new and very powerful. When the drug is accidently sent into the veins of Lucy (Scarlett Johansson), it is found out that the drug slowly enables the person who take it to use 100% of their brain. This unlocks abilities mankind has never seen before, and as Lucy is slowly able to use more and more of her brain, we see what she can do. After she starts being able to use more of brain than 10%, she turns on her captors and seeks out a scientist (Morgan Freeman) to help her figure out what to do with this power.

            

           This is a briskly-paced, action-packed thriller that I cannot say bored me. The film’s slightly short runtime really makes it compressed so that the audience will never get bored. As a form of entertainment, I cannot quite say that this film succeeded for me, but it will for other people. I was not bored by the film, but I did not feel thrills in the film. I wasn’t that interested either. I cannot quite say that I enjoyed watching it, but I wasn’t bored. I was somewhere in the middle. People who find this concept interesting, like action in movies, and can overlook a film’s flaws have a good chance of liking this movie. However, I cannot quite recommend seeing this over other movies that are out.

            In the movie, the “character” of Lucy is just a plot device. There is no development in the beginning at all, and once Lucy gets this power, she uses it to kill many innocent people. I don’t know how I’m supposed to connect to this “character” and like her if she just kills random people. Rewind ten minutes and she was crying in a room full of people who don’t speak English with a briefcase full of something that is very dangerous… and she is supposed to open it. I think we were supposed to sympathize with her then.

            During the first ten minutes of the film, they use a lot of… imagery, I guess… of animals doing things that represent what’s happening to her. A mouse about to eat the cheese on a mouse trap… a zebra getting chased down by a jaguar, then getting killed. These things didn’t add to the movie at all. I guess the filmmakers were going for visual metaphors, but it isn’t a visual metaphor when it’s that what’s happening with the animals is supposed to represent what’s happening to her. That’s what this whole movie is: spoon feeding information directly into the audiences’ mouth.

            Right before Lucy gets this drug in her system, we see Morgan Freeman (Morgan Freeman) giving a presentation on… you guessed it! That humans can only access 10% of their brain, and if they can access more, they can unlock new abilities. This is so we can know exactly what was happening to Lucy. During this presentation, we see shots of animals, landscapes, environments… things that Morgan Freeman’s talking about. This is so we can hear the audio and see these things at the same… to compress the film more. Sometimes during this scene it seems like Luc Besson (writer/direction) was doing something for this science class.

            As Lucy unlocks more parts of her brain, we get to see what percentage she is at by the film cutting to a text that says what percentage she’s at. When something happens to her a bit later in the film, we cut back to a part in Morgan Freeman’s report to explain what’s happening…

            As far as Johannson’s performances goes, I’d like to say that she was good in the film, but all I can say is that she is trying. There’s nothing for her to go off of. The dialogue is very inane, silly, and is only used as a plot device. And Luc Besson’s direction is no better. Each scene feels like it’s so poorly put together. The acting comes off as bad. Almost each shot seems isolated. The actors look they aren’t talking to each other, but at each other.

            One thing I can say is that sometimes during the action sequences I thought the camerawork was good. There are some panning shots that actually did boost the film’s quality and started to possibly engross me in what was going on… until they cut. After they cut, it’d be the same as it was before. Besson should’ve just made every scene a one-shot.

            Near the end, more of the sci-fi elements of the film kick in, and I say that’s the best part. The science fiction isn’t exactly original, but I found it interesting and some of visuals were fun to look at.

            I’m sad to say that now that I’ve said these compliments, I have no more to say, just more flaws. This isn’t an awful movie. It isn’t terribly boring. It’s just poorly written and mostly poorly directed. Everything, including the “characters”, is used as a plot device. The dialogue is all used as a plot device. The film is only interested in its plot. The movie of science fiction and action is not done well. As far as the action goes, the plot for it very silly and I was not able to suspend disbelief. The good aspects of the sci-fi do not save it. The action is neither engaging nor interesting; I didn’t care what happened next in the film.

            As far as Lucy goes, it was a letdown to me. The dialogue is only used to further the plot, and it’s not interesting. All of the characters are throwaway, there’s no material for the actors, and the action is ridiculous. The film was not interesting to me, although it didn’t bore me. The direction in the film was mostly poor, but there were times that it caught my attention. And there were some stronger sci-fi elements towards the end.

The Strain - Season 1, Episode 2 "The Box" Review

            Some people claim that jump scares in horror movies should be gotten rid of and never used. They say that jump scares add nothing to the movie, and just take away from it. Though, there are people who think that jump scares can be used for a good reason and can boost the quality of the movie. Others don’t consider these jump scares. In this episode of The Strain, there may be a couple of jump scares, but they do surely add to the movie. There is no added “boom” sound to make the audience jump, and thanks to David Semel’s talent in directing, it makes the episode much scarier than it was before.

            In this episode of The Strain, we learn more about Efraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll), we see symptoms of the survivors, and Mia Maestro (Nora Martinez) and Efraim try to keep the survivors quarantined while they grow stranger symptoms.

            While this episode may not be as good as the first, and David Semel’s direction may not match up to Guillermo del Toro’s, it is still a very good continuation. As far as the script goes, there’re some very smart additions to it. I enjoyed learning more about Efraim. The audience is able to learn about this situation he’s in, and sympathize with him, like I did. The dialogue is very smartly thought-out here. It does feel very real, while also being compelling and entertaining. The way the plot is taken in this episode makes it all the more interesting, too. However, there is one aspect of the episode that do make it seem like something written up just to progress the plot, or possibly have something entertaining happen. The conversation at the jail between Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) and Thomas Eichorst (Richard Sammel) seems shoehorned into the episode just so we can see a hero/villain conversation. What did Thomas seek to gain by visiting Abraham at the prison? Why did he go?

            David Semel’s style of direction for this episode was nothing special for portions of the episode, but it did stand out at some times. The color scheme in this episode was very well fleshed out and looked good, although not as good as it did in episode one. However, the scares in this episode are as good as they were under del Toro’s direction. Although they technically were “jump scares”, what was meant to scare the audience was the fact that there was a sudden, loud noise and something happened very abruptly, it was what was happening then and horrors of it. Semel directed these scenes very well. The camerawork for the episode has its moments from time to time, as well. The framing of the shots comes to play during some of the scenes. Although the direction did not always stand out as great throughout the entire episode, David Semel did do a very good job in accomplishing what he was trying to obtain.

            With the story of the series thought-out well enough that a conventional premise was taken and made into a slightly original plot and a direction that paces the episode well and really delivers in the horror scenes, this episode was very good. I enjoyed watching it quite a bit, and I am very interested in what will happen next.

The Bridge - Season 2, Episode 2 "Ghost of a Flea" Review

                The theme The Bridge began with is a very common theme that has been done many times, but what it made it so special in the first season of The Bridge is that it was presented very differently in a dark, gritty, but realistic, mature, and intelligent way. The second season of The Bridge may not be quite as good, but it is definitely still very smart and intelligent.

            I thought that this episode was an improvement over the season premiere. I’m not saying that the first needed improvement. I really enjoyed that episode. But I think this episode is more involved, more interesting, more intense, and a better written episode all around.

            One thing I complimented the last episode on was how it gave some of the characters we already know really well more development, like Sonya. Here, we don’t really learn anything new about Sonya, but we do learn a bit about Hank. We learn that Hank is not fond of Sonya spending time with her sister’s killer’s brother. He thinks that because he has the blood of the killer, he is like the killer. I don’t agree with him, but I like that. He is a “good guy”. He is a main character. And I’m glad that he’s not just all-around great person who does nothing wrong. He has views that clash with other people’s views… like everyone else

            I don’t think that it’s a negative aspect of the episode that there wasn’t as much character development one characters we already know, though. We also need development on new characters now that we have introductions to them. We have that one woman that Sonya found on the security cam footage, who we now know is ruthless. We have the police that took Hank and Sonya’s case. We have that one guy that came into the Juarez police department and is investigating the things that happen there… There is plenty of character development in the show.

            And the writing itself is great. The dialogue was fantastic. It was not clichéd. It did not come off as exposition. It was compelling and enthralling. And it is also seemed very “in-the-moment” as if it’s not pre-written and people are actually talking. It helps to tell us what we need to know about the plot and the characters without coming off as just a device for explaining to audience what is going on. And I thought that narrative of this episode was very well thought-out. I felt that in the last episode things were a bit confusing and I had a hard time grasping some elements of the plot, but here it’s set in motion in a way that I was able to piece together what I didn’t get out of the last episode. The events in this episode seem so well and smarty thought-out.

            And of course, as usual, the visual aspect of the episode is great. The cinematography is great as it always has been for this show, and the direction really helps sell the location. All of the camerawork is handled well.

            I really, really enjoyed this episode of The Bridge. From start to finish it never has a dull moment. It is consistent, constant, and paced evenly. The script for it is very mature, intelligent, and smartly thought-out. I hope future episodes of The Bridge are like this one.

Sex Tape - Movie Review

            “This script is amazing. It’s so original, so smart, and thought-provoking. The dialogue is all so good and so compelling and it’s just… brilliant. It has a social commentary and it’s very mature and intelligent.”

            “What is this? An art house movie? No one’s gonna watch that. That won’t make any money. What will make money is another one of those raunchy comedies. Get me a script for one of those.”

            And now we have Sex Tape.

            Sex Tape starts out with the story of a couple, Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, from when they met in college, from when (only a few months later) they get pregnant and married, from when they have been married for several years with two kids in elementary school and they have lost this “spark” they once had. They decide one night when their kids are staying at someone else’s house to try to regain that spark by have sex, which they have not done for a long time. Then, they stupidly decide to make a sex tape out of it, and when they stupidly don’t delete it, it gets uploaded to the Cloud and ends up on a lot of people’s iPads and iPhones and iPods and iOther things, so Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel go on an adventure to all of these people’s houses to get their iThings and delete the sex tape before they see it.

            I chose not to use the characters’ names because Diaz and Segel might as well be playing themselves. I’m not saying it’s their fault, but they are playing 1-Deminensional “characters” under a bad direction.

            From that summary I just gave alone, you already know what this movie will be like, how it will play out, and who its target audience is. If you like mindless, raunchy, stupid comedies, then there’s no need reading any further. You will like this movie. Its attempted laughs come about every thirty or so seconds. I’m not trying to demean those of you that will enjoy these types of movies; I’m just saying that you’ll probably enjoy this movie. Its target audience is people who enjoy raunchy, silly, mindless comedy. Anyway, for everyone else, you could enjoy this movie, but I’ll say there’s also a good chance you won’t. Of course it’s obvious that I did not like this movie.

            The lead actors are at least trying in this movie. I won’t quite say Diaz and Segel are good in the movie, but they were not awful. There was just nothing for them to walk off of. You could call the first 10 or so minutes of the movie character development, but we don’t really learn anything about the characters themselves. It’s just there for the plot. As for how the characters act for the rest of the movie, their actions are all incredibly stupid. With how stupid these characters really are, it was hard with me to sympathize with them in this bad situation that they’re in. Sometimes the stupid decisions they make are supposed to be funny. They are not. All of the stupid decisions throughout the film did for me was make me frustrated and ready to get out of there, because, of course, they are incredibly repetitive. The screenwriters didn’t know what other jokes to come up with, so they just decided to repeat some of their favorites.

            I guess now I should delve down into why the script is, in almost every way, awful. I’ll start out with the positive, the reason why the word “almost” is there. I actually did find 5 or 6 things in this movie funny. Now I’ll make that sound like it’s less than a positive by saying that there are between 100 and 140 attempts at humor in this movie. But it’s not just that the jokes aren’t funny, it’s that they’re all so lazy and unoriginal. Barely any of the attempts at humor in this movie are things that have not been done before. And I don’t mean specific things, like a character getting a laxative put in his/her drink and having to poop a lot. I mean ideas of jokes. Like… a character is making an analogy, but mixes it up and makes some gross, “funny” thing. All the screenwriters had to do was fill it in. Not every joke is written that way, but every joke has at least one thing wrong with it. Almost every joke is complete slapstick. It is forced, in-your-face comedy that is not funny at all. The subtler comedy is, the funnier it is. When comedy is made into something huge and grandiose, it loses at (nonexistent) humor attached to it. All of the comedy is so obvious thrown directly at the audience. There are some jokes that were taken so far that even the people that laughed at it in the beginning won’t be laughing anymore.

            The movie is also unbelievable. A lot of the events in the movie are over-the-top, ridiculous, and unbelievable. Also, the jokes are not the only clichéd aspects of the movie. The characters are as well… and the plot. And the ending of the film was completely dues-ex-machina. And… also… the only reason any characters are introduced into the film is just to progress the plot. Everything is used as a plot device. The script is that lazy.

            But the direction of the film is also not good. It’s very stale and it doesn’t feel like the actors really had anything to work off of. It just feels like the movie is not made very well. Like the studios were trying to make this movie so quickly and get it into theatres as soon as possible. And that’s not just because the people in the movie are trying to hurry and get to places as quickly as possible. Every take seems like it was the first they shot. The actors didn’t get a chance to do their best work. It seems like the scene could have been done better with the same style. I wondered with every scene, “Is that the best take they could get?” The whole thing feels rushed.

            One last bad thing I have to say about the film is drama. It doesn’t work at all. It is always in the middle of comedy. It is always out of place. There’ll be a series of jokes, and then it’ll randomly turn into a drama for 15 seconds, then back to comedy again.

            Sex Tape’s terrible script and rushed production makes for a completely unfunny and dull movie. A small amount of jokes were funny, but there aren’t really any more positives. I guess saying that the actors are trying is a plus for the movie, but it didn’t add much of anything to the movie thanks to the script and direction. No, this movie is not awful. At least it’s only 94 minutes long. The point is that it is bad movie that anyone that’s not in its target audience should go see.

Snowpiercer - Movie Review

            Among summer blockbusters: the big, visual effectsy spectacles, there are sometimes films that are released in that time because they are simply great movies that are considered by some to be “breathers”. Film critics see all sorts of action-packed blockbusters in the summer, and there is usually one film, like last year’s Before Midnight, which does not mix with the others, but is usually a great movie. Before Midnight was critically acclaimed, and so is Snowpiercer. Though, Snowpiercer is as much an action movie as it is a drama.

            In the near future, global warming is getting worse and worse, so there is an attempt by many countries to stop it, but that freezes the world, killing off nearly all life. But like all disaster movies, a there is a small group of humans that survived. These humans boarded this train that goes all around the world right before the world froze, so they were able to live. Though, the train is divided. There are different classes of people. The people in the front of the train, usually shown in bright and beautiful colors, live in absolute luxury, but the people in back of the train, usually shown in dirty, dry, disgusting, and dark colors, live in basically the opposite of luxury.

            Curtis (Chris Evans) leads a revolt to get to the front of the train. In this revolt, there are plenty of terrifically choreographed action sequences with fantastic stunt work and a lot of visually stunning shots of the outside world. When they get closer to the front of the train, many of the film’s deeper meanings are exposed.

            Many films of recent years have shared the theme that seems to be obvious in the summary of it, but that is not the theme that is used most profoundly in the movie. The writers and director of the film realizes that that is best left to last year’s Elysium.

            The official release year of this movie is 2013, but that’s when it premiered at festivals. It is made the Korean director Joon-ho Bong (who also co-wrote it). In the festivals this film premiered at, people loved it, but the studious thought that mainstream audiences wouldn’t like the movie because of how different (or un-mainstream) it is, so they thought about editing large portions of it, but there was a lot of outrage from both fans and critics who either saw it at the festivals and loved it or really wanted to see it, so the studios decided to release it uncut… but, of course, limited. People can see it all over the United States, but it goes to a very select group of theaters. I was going to see it in the theaters, but I then realized that the closest theatre to me showing it was an hour away, so I didn’t see it in theatres… but luckily On Demand has it. You only have to pay the same amount to see it in the theatre to watch it at home.

            This is a transcendent film. Many people who don’t really examine movies will watch this and think, “What’s so special about it? It’s just an action movie.” But if you really examine the movie, you can pick up some underlying themes that are told visually and through some tricks in the script. Not only is the action great and incredibly fun to watch, this film has a lot of great dramatic elements that the script mixes with the action smartly.

            This director is obviously a very talented one. All the action is directed pristinely with amazing precision and a lot of care taken to make sure that every aspect of the shot is how it needs to be. But the director also does a great job with the dramatic elements as well. He knows how to embellish characters with the camera. The shots are all framed flawlessly and the cinematography is another great visual thing about the film. All of the lighting seems on-point. Everything looks great. The cinematography really adds a lot to the feel of this movie.

            The script for this movie is aired tight. It is so original and different from what we get today in films. It is very unconventional, and some will see that as a negative. There are some very odd scenes in this movie, and some people will not realize that it is satire. There are some times when the film strays away from its plot for it a bit, but it does it to show us some character development and introduce themes. The dialogue is on-point. The characters are treated with care. The plot is interesting. The writing for this movie is fantastic.

            Yet another plus for this movie is the acting. Chris Evans really puts a lot into his character. He presents the dialogue and emotions very well. I could tell that he knew what the director was going for with his character. Kang-ho Song was also great in the film, as well as John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, etc…

            Snowpiercer is an excellent script presented fantastically by the director, cinematographer, and actors. The visuals are fantastic and the score is powerful. It’s 2 hours long, but every second of it is used to boost the film. It’s a non-stop entertaining film that I thoroughly enjoyed. We see themes of how we are taught to think and act, and how leadership can control people. Everyone is taught that they have a place. Everyone is meant to do one thing. Leaders can make people think through politics, religion, etc.

The Strain - Season 1, Episode 1 "Night Zero" Review

            I had two shows to watch last night. I had the season two premiere of The Bridge on the DVR, and series premiere of The Strain to catch live. I reviewed the season two premiere of The Bridge last night. Click here to read that review. Now I have The Strain to review.

            In my review of The Bridge, I said that I felt the episode was very good, but as good as the series premiere. I think this episode of The Strain is as good as the series premiere of The Bridge. This episode was great.

            It comes from the talented writer/director Guillermo del Toro, the writer/director of Pan’s Labyrinth, one of the best fantastic films ever made. He directed this episode, and was the co-developer and co-teleplay for the script of the show, but also co-wrote the series of novels this series is based off of. And here, with the direction and the writing, Guillermo del Toro delivers. Although he may not deliver as much as he does on the big screen (probably because of the lower budget television has), he uses what he has to make a great episode.

            The look of this episode is fantastic. The color scheme is so well realized in the visuals. del Toro was always good with the visual aspect of directing a movie. The production value also easily bought me. The locations all look great and the sets look so well thought-out.

 Guillermo del Toro was also great at getting the shots framed how they should be framed. It really looked like no shots were off-center or framed a bit too close. All of them were great. And Guillermo del Toro’s style really works here. There are not as many cuts as there are in a normal television series. And sometimes del Toro chooses to cut between the actors while they’re talking, but it always works. del Toro knows when to cut and when to hold a shot.

Another great thing about this episode is the feel of it. From beginning to end, there is this dark, creepy, closed-in feel of violation and discomfort. This episode definitely has its creepy moments. And one thing about those moments that makes them so creepy is how surprising they are, because this is a very unpredictable show in the plot and what will happen in the scene.

So far, this is a very original show. The characters might not be incredibly original, but the plot of the show is very different. We have seen things like this show before, but never really something that has the same plot points that this show does.

The writing of the show is also great. A lot is fit into this episode; we have character development and action. And sometimes we get to know the characters through the action. We learn about some of them because of what they do in certain situations and their reactions to what happens. Efraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) is a man that isn’t around much for his family, but is very good at his job, but thinks that his word is right and is not very open to suggestion but other people. Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) is also good at her job, and is open to other things. She will listen to other people, and is possibly easily manipulated by them…

The dialogue is also great. It sounds like human dialogue, and it’s original as well. There are no clichés in the dialogue here, and it does seem in-the-moment and not written before-hand. It is realistic, but it is also very entertaining and compelling. It is not tedious, incredibly classy dialogue that the common person will not connect with.

As I said about the season two premiere of The Bridge, this episode does what it needs to do. It develops all the characters while also kick starting the plot and setting up what could be a very cool season (or series). This is a thriller with many thrills. It is a very original sci-fi show. And it is a horror show with many creepy moments and a disturbing feel to it. I really, really enjoyed this episode and will be eager to see where the show goes.

The Bridge - Season 2, Episode 1 "Yankee" Review

            The Bridge returned to television for its second season a few days ago, but I just got a chance to watch it now. I really enjoyed the first season of The Bridge and thought that it was a very intelligent show. Now the show is back, and “Yankee” is the first episode of this second season.

            Since it was several months ago that season one of The Bridge ended, I had actually forgotten many things that happened near the end of the season that were not resolved. Thanks to the “Previously on The Bridge” opening I was able to find these things out.

            I felt that this episode was not as good as the premiere episode of the series, but it did what it needed to do: it set up an intriguing and complicated case with many, many people involved. But it did more than that, too. It helped further the characters. It not only focuses on the sides of the characters that further the plot, but it also focuses on the personal side of them. In Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger), we see part of her past used to further her character. And we have the same with Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir), although the past that is affecting him is much more recent than Sonya’s.

            In this episode of The Bridge, we see the building up of a case with new characters, but we also have our old characters. Ariana Mendez (Emily Rios) and Daniel Frye (Matthew Lillard) are investigating this “money house” thing that was left off at the end of season one and I had forgotten about. Hank Wade (Ted Levine) is still holding Eva (Stephanie Sigman), but police officers from Juarez are coming after her. Marco Ruiz finds out that other police officers in Juarez are targeting him because of the Eva situation. Sonya Cross’s sister’s killer is dying, and she meets up with his brother. They get to know each other. And for the new characters: there are several. They seem to be caught up in some narcotics deal of some sort and some are ruthless. Some are cops. There is one scene in particular with some of them that left jaw hanging after it ended and the show cut to commercial. It was powerful.

            The script not only does what it needs to for the plot of show and the characters, but it is also simply very well written. The dialogue is realistic and compelling. The order of scenes is mixed well. The characters are introduced well. It is a very good script.

            This episode is also very well made. The acting is beyond suitable in it. Diane Kruger is great here. She real sells the fact the character has asperger syndrome. Demian Bichir is very good here. He seems very natural in presenting his lines. I could go on and an about every actor that was in this show. My point was that the acting was very good. And the director also does a very good job. The look of every scene really sold me. It did look like El Paso when the scene was in El Paso and Juarez when the scene was in Juarez. The framing for the shots is also very good, and the director’s style worked really well.

            What a season premiere should do is done and more in this episode. I enjoyed this episode, but it’s the aspects of how well-made and well-written that make me thing very positively about the episode.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Movie Review

A sequel is expected to give you more of what you liked of the first, but an improved version. It is supposed to build off the success of the first, and make things bigger. It should build onto the characters and take them in different directions. Some aspects of making a sequel are simple, but many aspects of making a good sequel are very difficult. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is thankfully a sequel that does build off of the original. It does make things bigger, and it does build onto the characters and take them in different directions. And, of course, it takes more of what was good in the first and presents it in a better and improved direction.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place ten years after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The chemical used to make the apes more intelligent but killed humans was released in the air, and it spread a disease across the world that annihilated almost the entire human race. Now, the apes have created a civilization and the humans are struggling to survive with what they have. When a group of humans and the society of apes find each other, they are brought the brink of war as some on both sides try to keep peace, but some on both sides try to exterminate the other side.

I saw where each side was coming from in the film. It seemed that everyone, including the apes, had a good reason for doing what they did. I understood both the humans and the apes. This helped me connection with the characters more, so I actually did care about the characters, and that includes the apes. They were made into characters. They had human qualities. They were so well thought-out that I had an emotional connection to them. And they were also perfectly realized in the motion capture. The performance given by Andy Serkis (Ceasar) is better than any of the performances given by the actors that played humans. He was perfect as Ceasar, and he had competition from Gary Oldman.

As far as the actors for the humans go, Jason Clarke (Malcolm) was good in the movie. I didn’t feel that he gave this great performance, but he worked for the movie and it was not obvious that he was acting. Gary Oldman (Dreyfus) is a great actor. I feel that he always adds something to the movie. And he does that here. Although Dreyfus is not the main character and Gary Oldman does not have a great amount of screen time, his character is very important and Oldman is great here. Although he is a villain in some ways, Oldman gives a half-sympathetic performance to help boost the character. Keri Russell (Ellie) worked for the film. She did not give a bad performance, but she did not make the role hers and help boost the film. I feel like Ellie could have been played by anybody, but Russell still did a good job.

In both groups, there are power struggles among the leaders. There are people (and apes) who have been under a certain leader for a long time, but in this dilemma (coming in contact with the other group) believe that the leader is making the wrong choice and taking things into their own hands… These characters are usually some that have a problem with the other group because of this emotional and personal reason. Some of the humans blame the apes for the virus that eliminated almost the entire human race even though it was not their fault. There is one ape named Koba that was experimented on in the human labs and now has many scars from it. He believes they should kill all of the humans. The two groups are much like each other, and the leaders of the groups are both facing troubles, so there is an emotional connection with both of them. The two groups are very much like each other.

I felt that the narrative of this film was though-out and treated with much care. This is an extremely smartly written movie. The plot, from beginning to end, is taken in a much different direction than is expected. It is a very unpredictable film, and every beat of the narrative seems so well thought-out. The characters and the different groups in the film fantastically written, and the plot is excellent as well. The only gripe I have with the script, and event the entire film, is that there are some in-scene clichés (ex. girlfriend doesn’t want boyfriend to go to do dangerous thing so she goes too) and there was one in-plot cliché (two groups hate each other but one character in the villainous group wants to make peace with both groups).

The execution for the movie is pristine. The visual effects are a technical marvel here. In Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the CGI for the apes was good, but you could tell that they weren’t real if you looked closely. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, every aspect of the apes is done so well that the apes do look real. Down to every single hair, the motion capture for the apes is immaculate. Other visual effects, such as destruction of things, looks great, too. But the visual effects are not the only fantastic visual things here: the cinematography is excellent. The movie simple just looks great. The landscapes, the lighting, etc. all look great in the film.

The direction for the film is great. From the very first shot, I felt that the film was done so well and every take was executed the best it could have been executed. Every shot feels like it needs to be there. Every shot adds to the movie. And every shot seems as if is framed was care and the director made sure that it is perfect. And the action sequences are excellently executed. Not only is camerawork fantastic, but how they look and what happens in them seems to be excellent. There are also some one-shots in the film, and they are excellent. They really do add to the movie and they do not seem like they’re there just so there could be a one-shot. There are about two of them in the film, and they really do boost the action sequences to make them more intense and more fun.

Some sequels actually do boost the substance of the original in every aspect. Famous sequels, like The Dark Knight (2008), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) have done this thing. Those sequels are rare, but they come. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is definitely better than its predecessor, and it does boost every aspect of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.