Ok, let us remember how the year in TV has been so far!
I will try to expand on these micro-reviews at some point:
FRINGE
Renewed, still going pretty well. Season finale was pretty good.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Cancelled, one of the best shows on TV ever. So sad to see it go.
SUPERNATURAL
Very random season, but season finale makes me look forward to whatever's next.
SMALLVILLE
Cancelled, season was good up until the very anti-climatic ending. Oh well.
THE OFFICE
Renewed, but probably won't care much for next season. Nostalgia shouldn't be a selling point, ever.
GAME OF THRONES
Renewed, amazing and awesome, one of the must-watch shows of 2011.
ARCHER
Renewed, freaking fun and surprising show.
ALPHAS
New, this is how HEROES should have been done. Liking it very much, hope it keeps it up.
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Cancelled, the last season of this show has been a nice surprise after it kind of bored me during s5 and s6. Glad I got back into it.
BREAKING BAD
Renewed, one of the shows I always look forward to watching, several times even just so I can get everything in. One of the best show on TV right now.
And I'll make a special mention here:
LOUIE
I don't know if I can find it in me to try to come up with a review or explanation for the unbelievable greatness that lies in the ~20 minutes that every episode of LOUIE every week. It's first season last year was without a doubt the sleeper hit show of 2010, and even though this year he has gotten more exposition, I still think that many people are missing out. And even more importantly- even if they watched, I don't know how many would get the point.
This is a funny show, that is brutal, honest and self-aware. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. But more importantly, it will make you think and reflect. And that is something that all the other shows on TV right now can't do, or aren't even trying. Louie C.K. has found a way to do that, in a manner that is entertaining. I really cannot give more praise and express more admiration for this man and the miracle that is having a show like his in our day and age.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Mini-Movie Review Update :: August 2011 Edition.
Well, time to catch up on movie reviews, although in a very brief manner, sadly. Time is of the essence. That said, here we go!
SOURCE CODE
From the same person who gave us MOON, came this amazing and original piece of sci-fi. I really liked CODE a lot, and would've easily been a contender for one of my top 3 films of the year (so far) if it had dared to be more ballsy with its ending. As much as I enjoy "happy endings," a not so definite one in this instance would've elevated SC into true greatness, imo.
HANNA
From the previews I saw way before it came out, I thought I would end up loving HANNA to death. However, the lack of anything to hold on emotionally to her really made it difficult to give a damn whether she succeeded or not. Still worth a look though, lots of interesting things to learn from this movie, and the score by The Chemical Brothers is amazing.
UNKNOWN
Someone get Liam Neeson a better agent. Such a dumb movie. I mean, if you can't figure out the ending halfway through (and I'm convinced you can even earlier than that) maybe there's a chance you'd like it. Avoid, imo.
THOR
Though the general idea/concept was terrific, I think the execution was handled a bit poorly, not really fit for the God of Thunder. However, this doesn't mean that the movie sucked; it was actually quite entertaining. Loki ended up stealing the show.
BRIDESMAIDS
I'll confess that I didn't have high hopes for this one, but was more than pleasantly surprised at how good, smart and fucking funny this movie is. Everyone in here is great. Truly one of the pseudo-sleeper hits of the year. Looking forward to whatever Melissa McCarthy does next- as long as Hollywood doesn't turn her into a female Zach Galifianakis.
YOUR HIGHNESS
And this one was a letdown. It does have its moments, but in the end, there just isn't enough to really make it memorable or recommendable.
HORRIBLE BOSSES
This one had it all to be a freaking good time, but instead they went for mediocrity. Really, I don't get it when shit like this happens. The movie isn't bad, but when you realize just how damn good it could have been, well, you kind of feel cheated on.
GREEN LANTERN
I remember when they premiered a ton of footage during WonderCon for GL. And Ryan Reynolds really sold it that day- I was truly excited for a superhero movie once again, and one whom I'm not a fan of in particular. Man, was I wrong. To say that this movie was a fucking letdown, would be gentle. I'll put it this way- after watching it, I wanted to throw away my GL shirt. It is that bad.
RUBBER
Technically, this was out back in 2010, but didn't see a bigger release until earlier this year. Not exactly a commercial movie by any means, but if you really can get past the in-your-face commentary about modern filmmaking, it is a charming little piece of miracle cinema. Have to give mad props to Mr. Oizo for something so weird and original.
Ok, I shall continue at some point soon; way too many movies to go through, too little time to remember them all.
SOURCE CODE
From the same person who gave us MOON, came this amazing and original piece of sci-fi. I really liked CODE a lot, and would've easily been a contender for one of my top 3 films of the year (so far) if it had dared to be more ballsy with its ending. As much as I enjoy "happy endings," a not so definite one in this instance would've elevated SC into true greatness, imo.
HANNA
From the previews I saw way before it came out, I thought I would end up loving HANNA to death. However, the lack of anything to hold on emotionally to her really made it difficult to give a damn whether she succeeded or not. Still worth a look though, lots of interesting things to learn from this movie, and the score by The Chemical Brothers is amazing.
UNKNOWN
Someone get Liam Neeson a better agent. Such a dumb movie. I mean, if you can't figure out the ending halfway through (and I'm convinced you can even earlier than that) maybe there's a chance you'd like it. Avoid, imo.
THOR
Though the general idea/concept was terrific, I think the execution was handled a bit poorly, not really fit for the God of Thunder. However, this doesn't mean that the movie sucked; it was actually quite entertaining. Loki ended up stealing the show.
BRIDESMAIDS
I'll confess that I didn't have high hopes for this one, but was more than pleasantly surprised at how good, smart and fucking funny this movie is. Everyone in here is great. Truly one of the pseudo-sleeper hits of the year. Looking forward to whatever Melissa McCarthy does next- as long as Hollywood doesn't turn her into a female Zach Galifianakis.
YOUR HIGHNESS
And this one was a letdown. It does have its moments, but in the end, there just isn't enough to really make it memorable or recommendable.
HORRIBLE BOSSES
This one had it all to be a freaking good time, but instead they went for mediocrity. Really, I don't get it when shit like this happens. The movie isn't bad, but when you realize just how damn good it could have been, well, you kind of feel cheated on.
GREEN LANTERN
I remember when they premiered a ton of footage during WonderCon for GL. And Ryan Reynolds really sold it that day- I was truly excited for a superhero movie once again, and one whom I'm not a fan of in particular. Man, was I wrong. To say that this movie was a fucking letdown, would be gentle. I'll put it this way- after watching it, I wanted to throw away my GL shirt. It is that bad.
RUBBER
Technically, this was out back in 2010, but didn't see a bigger release until earlier this year. Not exactly a commercial movie by any means, but if you really can get past the in-your-face commentary about modern filmmaking, it is a charming little piece of miracle cinema. Have to give mad props to Mr. Oizo for something so weird and original.
Ok, I shall continue at some point soon; way too many movies to go through, too little time to remember them all.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Summer 2011 Movie Rankings.
Oh, this will be easy:
1) Attack The Block
The rest of the list I'll try to figure out sometime, complete with explanations. But yeah; ATB is the freaking real deal. This film, this is what movies are all about, what they're supposed to be. Freaking mind-blowing.
Believe bruv.
1) Attack The Block
The rest of the list I'll try to figure out sometime, complete with explanations. But yeah; ATB is the freaking real deal. This film, this is what movies are all about, what they're supposed to be. Freaking mind-blowing.
Believe bruv.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Review: "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Disclaimer: I do not intend to sound like every other Transformers review out there, but I mean, C'MON- it's not like I can do much about it. Shit is what shit is.
So, without further ado; after the disappointment of massive proportions that REVENGE OF THE FALLEN was, did Michael Bay achieve the impossible and actually make a decent Transformers movie this time around?
Short answer: hell no.
What went wrong? Pretty much the same stuff as the other two movies before this one. The story doesn't even try to make any sense, there's way too much focus on the (boring and stupid) human characters than the (boring and bland) robots, and the only reason you might find yourself sitting in a theater to watch this orgy of CGI and 3D is because of the 'cool' trailer that came out not long ago. Plus, all your friends and their grandmas swear that the 3D is the best use of it ever.
Which it is, don't get me wrong. Especially after watching this film in IMAX 3D, it is amazing what Bay did with the technology. The movie looks great, and you can actually (sort of ) tell who is fighting who in any given action sequence. If anything, watching the last 50-40 min. of this film on the IMAX screen is just awe-inspiring, to say the least.
But that doesn't make up for all the dumb stuff that precedes it. From Sam's new girlfriend (seriously? I think it's more possible for Autobots to actually land on our planet than have that happen in real life) and his obnoxious parents to new characters, which seem like refugees from some (really bad) screwball comedy; you just can't help but with that the Decepticons do manage to gain control of the world and enslave this cast of assholes who aren't likeable in the least. Oh, but speaking of Decepticons- their plans of world dominance, or reconstruction, or whatever the hell their plans are (cause they seem to change according to what day of the week it is) do not have any real progress to them. They teleport to Washington to begin their invasion, only to THEN move to Chicago to blast it to pieces. I mean... couldn't they have just teleported THERE in the first place? Did they want to go in a mini road trip of sorts before their invasion began? I have no clue.
Again, trying to make sense of anything in the movie is just... a waste of time.
I suppose I could go on and on, bitching about it nonstop. Was I let down? I guess not, since the bar was lowered WAY too much this time around- I guess I was actually expecting a worst movie. But isn't that sad? I mean, I was not disappointed on the basis that I thought this would suck EVEN MORE. Sadness, I shed metallic tears for the Autobots.
And that reminds me- how the hell did Optimus Prime go from being Uncle Exposition to Gangster #1 in the blink of an eye?! What the hell man!!! All that was missing from that last scene, was Optimus spitting on "someone's" corpse and saying YOU GOT SERVED BITCH!
No, really. I wish I was kidding about that.
Thanks Mr. Bay, I no longer give a crap about Optimus Prime.
I foresee this movie making such a retarded amount of money, that I'm sure the fourth movie in the TRILOGY will be announced in a couple months. Yep, sounds about right- doesn't need to make sense, after all.
So, would I say go watch it?
If you have the money and time to spare, and don't care to throw logic out the window before entering the theater, I suppose it might be worth a look. If nothing, for the 3D, but again- that is the lamest excuse or defense for ANYTHING ever. If this is the future, I pray for a DeLorean to take me back to the age of Silent Cinema.
So, without further ado; after the disappointment of massive proportions that REVENGE OF THE FALLEN was, did Michael Bay achieve the impossible and actually make a decent Transformers movie this time around?
Short answer: hell no.
What went wrong? Pretty much the same stuff as the other two movies before this one. The story doesn't even try to make any sense, there's way too much focus on the (boring and stupid) human characters than the (boring and bland) robots, and the only reason you might find yourself sitting in a theater to watch this orgy of CGI and 3D is because of the 'cool' trailer that came out not long ago. Plus, all your friends and their grandmas swear that the 3D is the best use of it ever.
Which it is, don't get me wrong. Especially after watching this film in IMAX 3D, it is amazing what Bay did with the technology. The movie looks great, and you can actually (sort of ) tell who is fighting who in any given action sequence. If anything, watching the last 50-40 min. of this film on the IMAX screen is just awe-inspiring, to say the least.
But that doesn't make up for all the dumb stuff that precedes it. From Sam's new girlfriend (seriously? I think it's more possible for Autobots to actually land on our planet than have that happen in real life) and his obnoxious parents to new characters, which seem like refugees from some (really bad) screwball comedy; you just can't help but with that the Decepticons do manage to gain control of the world and enslave this cast of assholes who aren't likeable in the least. Oh, but speaking of Decepticons- their plans of world dominance, or reconstruction, or whatever the hell their plans are (cause they seem to change according to what day of the week it is) do not have any real progress to them. They teleport to Washington to begin their invasion, only to THEN move to Chicago to blast it to pieces. I mean... couldn't they have just teleported THERE in the first place? Did they want to go in a mini road trip of sorts before their invasion began? I have no clue.
Again, trying to make sense of anything in the movie is just... a waste of time.
I suppose I could go on and on, bitching about it nonstop. Was I let down? I guess not, since the bar was lowered WAY too much this time around- I guess I was actually expecting a worst movie. But isn't that sad? I mean, I was not disappointed on the basis that I thought this would suck EVEN MORE. Sadness, I shed metallic tears for the Autobots.
And that reminds me- how the hell did Optimus Prime go from being Uncle Exposition to Gangster #1 in the blink of an eye?! What the hell man!!! All that was missing from that last scene, was Optimus spitting on "someone's" corpse and saying YOU GOT SERVED BITCH!
No, really. I wish I was kidding about that.
Thanks Mr. Bay, I no longer give a crap about Optimus Prime.
I foresee this movie making such a retarded amount of money, that I'm sure the fourth movie in the TRILOGY will be announced in a couple months. Yep, sounds about right- doesn't need to make sense, after all.
So, would I say go watch it?
If you have the money and time to spare, and don't care to throw logic out the window before entering the theater, I suppose it might be worth a look. If nothing, for the 3D, but again- that is the lamest excuse or defense for ANYTHING ever. If this is the future, I pray for a DeLorean to take me back to the age of Silent Cinema.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Time Warp.
Ok, so I haven't updated since March.
Will I seek forgiveness for this? Hell no. Lots of things have happened between then and now. I don't think I'll do a "catching up" entry, but I might do the occasional review for some film released earlier in the year.
No idea still when I'll begin in earnest here, so no promises. But it IS coming. That is for sure.
Will I seek forgiveness for this? Hell no. Lots of things have happened between then and now. I don't think I'll do a "catching up" entry, but I might do the occasional review for some film released earlier in the year.
No idea still when I'll begin in earnest here, so no promises. But it IS coming. That is for sure.
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