Yeah that's a decent example of a Hollywood movie which obviously draws on the mass-appeal factor of both cowboys AND aliens, and do a good job of it.
Movie Reviews 2.0
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Yeah that's a decent example of a Hollywood movie which obviously draws on the mass-appeal factor of both cowboys AND aliens, and do a good job of it.
It's not strictly a movie, but BBC's Sherlock is the best television I've seen in years. 2x3 episodes with about 90 minutes of runtime each, so you could call them small movies.
The idea is to place the characters into our century, complete with all the modern technologies and social changes. They're also much younger, in their 30s, and although the crimes are based on Doyle's work, they're usually changed significantly so even fans of the books won't exactly know what's going to happen.
The scripts are very, very good, with clever plots and highly intelligent and funny dialogue; the actors are really amazing, and the cinematography is both beautiful and brilliant in illustrating Sherlock's thought process. Oh and the music's great, too.
You might need to google some British expressions and customs to fully understand all the dialogue though. But that's fun too
And by the way, Martin Freeman (Watson) ended up as Bilbo and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Smaug in the Hobbit, so their work really caught some attention. Still, the third season is going to come eventually, so there's going to be more
The idea is to place the characters into our century, complete with all the modern technologies and social changes. They're also much younger, in their 30s, and although the crimes are based on Doyle's work, they're usually changed significantly so even fans of the books won't exactly know what's going to happen.
The scripts are very, very good, with clever plots and highly intelligent and funny dialogue; the actors are really amazing, and the cinematography is both beautiful and brilliant in illustrating Sherlock's thought process. Oh and the music's great, too.
You might need to google some British expressions and customs to fully understand all the dialogue though. But that's fun too
And by the way, Martin Freeman (Watson) ended up as Bilbo and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Smaug in the Hobbit, so their work really caught some attention. Still, the third season is going to come eventually, so there's going to be more
I guess with a smaller budget, you have to be creative...
Hollywood doesn't have to, they have everything at their disposal so that hey don't have to take risks.
I think that good screenplays, equals risk, while explosions equals easy money...
A smaller budget makes it easier to take risks because failure doesn't mean losing more money than some small countries make in a year.
Additionally, big budgets also increase the need for international releases to bring in enough revenue. Witty banter in English might not translate very well to foreign markets.
Explosions and spectacle are more universal.
So Hollywood is careful to ensure that their movies speak the international language of incoherent bullshit.
Unfortunately, it's not a language which I'm too keen on seeing myself! :smile:
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
God Bless America trailer. Probably NSFW.
Oh, my, that looks right up my alley.
For a movie like that, what would you describe as a happy ending?
They get away with it.
And then die of the brain tumor, so he doesn't have to face any punishment from his actions.
Now I'm even more hyped, looks incredible. Might be the first movie go to the cinema to see in a long while.
I celebrated my return from self-inflicted blu-ray abstination (due to my PS3 dying, and then not buying another one) by purchasing a cheap LG player and four superhero-type Hollywood movies to watch on it.
Cowboys and Indians was alright, although Daniel Craig's overly snug pants were distracting (and not in a good sense). His american accent was actually quite good too. Not all brits manage that (although the reverse is often more difficult...) The story was rather pap as I don't think REAL space aliens would let themselves get whooped by a bunch of primitive rednecks, but whatever... Ford was the weakest of the lot, he's just too fucking old and tired these days to still be doing movies. Retire already, granpaw! 6/10.
Green Lantern was okay too. It's an example of the roughly two cases of archetypical big action-movie heroes, I'll call this one Type 1A, where the hero starts out as a simple farmboy who then gains great power only to suffer a sudden lapse of confidence, then overcomes his issues and goes on to squish the big baddie (and get the girl at the end.) Other example of the exact same character arch: Krull, and a million other movies. Good special effects, decent acting and weak plot; especially the ending was pretty damn lame. 6/10.
Captain America was a bit better than Green Lantern, it has the same basic Type 1A character development arch, but since this is a period movie it feels fresher and more unique. I feel the fictional high technology shown in the movie should have looked a bit more 1940s in its visual appearance and not been quite so shiny and smooth; Apple wasn't to be founded for another 33 or so years back then! Minor complaint perhaps, I guess. Still a decent popcorn-type flick, even though not even Hugo Weaving can make a red skull with a german accent badguy in a movie believable. 7/10.
Then there's Thor... DAMN. I love that movie. It's the best fucking action extravaganza I've seen in years and years. Must have watched it 5+ times in the last couple days. It's got it all. Absolute top-notch epic special effects (a few scenes look a little dodgy, but it's very rare), awesome cinematography, epic music and some amazingly good acting, especially for a blockbuster type production. Chris Hemsworth is an incredible personification as Thor, a real screen presence, and not just because they pumped him to He-Man dimensions in the gym before starting shooting it; the guy really can act too. All the other major actors are great as well, Nathalie Portman has never been bad in any movie I've seen her in, she was good even in the new Star Wars tripe back around the turn of the century, Tom Hiddleston (I had to look up his name on the disc case) as Loki is a new face to me and he's brilliant, and Stellan Skarsgård is also a class of actor that can outmatch any regular hollywood action star in his sleep. He doesn't get much room to flex his acting muscles, but he lends credibility IMO. And then there's Anthony Hopkins. Damn, that man never ceases to amaze. Every movie he's in he's like a totally different person than the previous. His voice control is absolute perfection, I get goose-bumps hearing him speak. This guy IS Odin, or at least the Marvel interpretation of it. Also loved having a female comic relief character for once, that's not very common, and such a brilliant job she did too. I totally bust out laughing out loud IRL at some of her lines.
Maybe having a "serious" movie director like Kenneth Branagh at the helm helped making this such an epic movie, I dunno. Maybe having J. Michael Straczynski on the writing team also played a part. I don't know what it is, I can just tell THAT Thor is - in my opinion anyway - absolutely one of the greatest action movies of the past decade, easily. Btw, this movie features character development arch Type 1B; the guy who has it all, loses it, has to gain it back and triumphs... Oh well. Wasn't it the ancient greeks who concluded that there were only like 7 different basic plots possible in a theatre play? I guess we shouldn't get so hung up on details, and instead look at the whole...errr...picture, and in Thor's case it's fabulous. I give it an easy 9.5/10 by me!
Cowboys and Indians was alright, although Daniel Craig's overly snug pants were distracting (and not in a good sense). His american accent was actually quite good too. Not all brits manage that (although the reverse is often more difficult...
) The story was rather pap as I don't think REAL space aliens would let themselves get whooped by a bunch of primitive rednecks, but whatever... Ford was the weakest of the lot, he's just too fucking old and tired these days to still be doing movies. Retire already, granpaw! 6/10.Green Lantern was okay too. It's an example of the roughly two cases of archetypical big action-movie heroes, I'll call this one Type 1A, where the hero starts out as a simple farmboy who then gains great power only to suffer a sudden lapse of confidence, then overcomes his issues and goes on to squish the big baddie (and get the girl at the end.) Other example of the exact same character arch: Krull, and a million other movies. Good special effects, decent acting and weak plot; especially the ending was pretty damn lame. 6/10.
Captain America was a bit better than Green Lantern, it has the same basic Type 1A character development arch, but since this is a period movie it feels fresher and more unique. I feel the fictional high technology shown in the movie should have looked a bit more 1940s in its visual appearance and not been quite so shiny and smooth; Apple wasn't to be founded for another 33 or so years back then!
Minor complaint perhaps, I guess. Still a decent popcorn-type flick, even though not even Hugo Weaving can make a red skull with a german accent badguy in a movie believable. 7/10.Then there's Thor... DAMN. I love that movie. It's the best fucking action extravaganza I've seen in years and years. Must have watched it 5+ times in the last couple days. It's got it all. Absolute top-notch epic special effects (a few scenes look a little dodgy, but it's very rare), awesome cinematography, epic music and some amazingly good acting, especially for a blockbuster type production. Chris Hemsworth is an incredible personification as Thor, a real screen presence, and not just because they pumped him to He-Man dimensions in the gym before starting shooting it; the guy really can act too. All the other major actors are great as well, Nathalie Portman has never been bad in any movie I've seen her in, she was good even in the new Star Wars tripe back around the turn of the century, Tom Hiddleston (I had to look up his name on the disc case) as Loki is a new face to me and he's brilliant, and Stellan Skarsgård is also a class of actor that can outmatch any regular hollywood action star in his sleep. He doesn't get much room to flex his acting muscles, but he lends credibility IMO. And then there's Anthony Hopkins. Damn, that man never ceases to amaze. Every movie he's in he's like a totally different person than the previous. His voice control is absolute perfection, I get goose-bumps hearing him speak. This guy IS Odin, or at least the Marvel interpretation of it. Also loved having a female comic relief character for once, that's not very common, and such a brilliant job she did too. I totally bust out laughing out loud IRL at some of her lines.
Maybe having a "serious" movie director like Kenneth Branagh at the helm helped making this such an epic movie, I dunno. Maybe having J. Michael Straczynski on the writing team also played a part. I don't know what it is, I can just tell THAT Thor is - in my opinion anyway - absolutely one of the greatest action movies of the past decade, easily. Btw, this movie features character development arch Type 1B; the guy who has it all, loses it, has to gain it back and triumphs...
Oh well. Wasn't it the ancient greeks who concluded that there were only like 7 different basic plots possible in a theatre play? I guess we shouldn't get so hung up on details, and instead look at the whole...errr...picture, and in Thor's case it's fabulous. I give it an easy 9.5/10 by me!Green Lantern did have Blake Lively in it though, you gotta give it a few points for that alone.
I watched Green Lantern for the first time last weekend. 5/10, I suppose.
Pretty uninspiring plot, average effects etc etc. I suppose the acting was OK. I've never read any of the comic books so don't have any idea how limited the screenplay may or may not have been by the comic's story arcs.
As for Blake Lively, I found her rather boring, I'm afraid. Very bland. Obviously not my type.
Pretty uninspiring plot, average effects etc etc. I suppose the acting was OK. I've never read any of the comic books so don't have any idea how limited the screenplay may or may not have been by the comic's story arcs.
As for Blake Lively, I found her rather boring, I'm afraid. Very bland. Obviously not my type.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
I'm still not sure whether Grall was trolling about Thor...
9.5/10
5+times in last couple of days?!
epic movie
Well I'm happy for you anyway. I hope I'll get to enjoy some movie soon as much as you enjoyed... uh... er... Thor.
9.5/10
5+times in last couple of days?!
epic movie
Well I'm happy for you anyway. I hope I'll get to enjoy some movie soon as much as you enjoyed... uh... er... Thor.
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