Wall-E is a delight. It’s about a little trash compactor robot that goes on a romantic journey. One of the best things about the film is the lack of dialogue. There will be long segments where all you hear our sounds. It’s just a great example of visual storytelling.
If you stay for the credits, you’ll be treated to a mini art history lesson epilogue followed by 8-bit renderings of the two main characters: Wall-E and Eve.
It’s an amazing story that we take for granted. The images that they returned, specifically of Earth Rise are tremendous and life changing. The human will and ingenuity to achieve such an enormously difficult task is awe inspiring.
What makes the series so good is that even though we know the ending, they still manage to weave a tail full of tension and suspense. This is achieved through masterful narration by Gary Sinise, a terrific soundtrack, and fantastic editing of archival footage with new interviews with the astronauts.
The images are beautiful in HD and gave me that sense of wonder of space all over again.
Iron Man is fantastic. It’s about a multibillionaire, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) who develops powered armor to fight terrorists.
What makes Iron Man so good is how tight the story is. It’s a great example of telling the story on the cut. We get just enough of each scene that it develops the characters and progresses the narrative. You get a real sense that Tony Stark is a real guy which makes it seem like a real movie, not just another comic book movie.
Iron Man has everything, action, comedy, and heart. And unlike most other movies, especially comic book movies, Iron Man’s second act is really strong. It doesn’t drag or ever feel slow. It develops naturally, bringing us into the third act and the final battle almost seamlessly.
Egon & Donci is a free for download CG animated movie. It’s about a an amateur astronomer, Egon and his pet cat, who discover a “map” to Earth.
The animation is pretty good. There are some nice shots and good use of the medium. The scenes in space are beautiful, full of color and atmosphere. Unfortunately, that’s really all that’s good about it.
There are so many times where the film feels like a really long tech demo. The camera flies around a little too much. The plot is mainly just a vehicle to show off the environments and animation. It takes too long to start and by the time any tension or drama comes in, you’re kind of bored.
To download it for free, you have to sit through a short ad before the link is served.
One thing I really have to give to the filmmakers is their willingness to put almost everything online for download. I haven’t had a chance to go through it, but they made all the sound effects they used in the film online. There are also texture maps and cloud sequences.
The cinematography is amazing, presenting New York city as a living character, just as much as any of the actors. Although it was shot on DV, you’d be hard pressed to notice because of the use of natural lighting. Unlike Once, where the grain is obvious, we see all the shadows.
The ending does sort of come quite abruptly leaving you with a sense of lack of closure. Granted, it may be necessary for the myth, but it probably could’ve been handled better.
Update: Ninja didn’t understand why I gave this a 2/4 stars. The main reason is because none of the characters really go anywhere. I understand that that’s kind of the point of the myth of Sisyphus, but in the same vain, the way the third act forces the character back into the routine is a bit contrived.
Paranoid Park is about a teenage skateboarder, Alex (Gabe Nevins) who accidentally kills a security guard. The film is adapted from the novel of the same title.
Van Sant tells a lot of the story through visuals and non-chronologically. This is probably the best part of the film. As information is slowly revealed to us, we get a sense of Alex’s paranoia. The cinematography is gorgeous. At times artistic and at times like a traditional skate video, it all works to form a cinematically striking film. There’s one scene where Alex breaks up with his girlfriend and the entire sequence is presented without any dialogue. It’s truly beautiful.
The film’s greatest strength is also its weakness. The images drag down the narrative and at times makes the film drag. Which is odd considering it clocks in at 88 minutes. Coupled with the non-chronological story structure and some people may get lost.
If you’re into stuff off the beaten path, you’ll enjoy Paranoid Park.
Midnight Clear is about 5 people and their struggles. As with most multipart structures, it’s hard to get to know all the characters. Some are fleshed out a little more than others, but they’re still 2D at best.
There are points where Midnight Clear feels like it’s about to get preachy, but luckily, it doesn’t go down that route. It effectively takes all the different narratives and link them together in a fairly natural way. In the end, you feel encouraged by an otherwise depressing movie.
Since the characters can be a little thin, you get a fair sense of their lives pretty fast, so for the remainder of the film is just waiting. You kind of know where the characters are going and you want them to deviate, but it just takes such a long time to get there. And that’s the problem. The entire thing takes way too long to get to the punch line. At 103 minutes, you’d think it’d be a little more brisk.
Lars and the Real Girl is about Lars (Ryan Gosling) who is so emotionally detached, he starts dating a Real Doll. In order to get the premise to work, they have the whole town to go along with his delusions for Lars’ sake.The premise is really interesting. They could’ve been sophomoric about the way they approach the material, but they choose to take it seriously. This is not to say there isn’t any humor in it, there is, they just downplay that aspect. Which is a good thing, because that would’ve been way too easy. Instead, they make Lars’ emotional problems real. By not laughing about them, it gives it a sort of gravity and seriousness which is effective.
Even at 90 minutes, the film does feel long. It almost gets boring, but not quite. It’s just that not much happens. There are some touching moments, like a scene where Lars gives CPR to a teddy bear (he’s being playful), but there just aren’t enough of them.
Blow Out is about a sound recorder, Jack (John Travolta) who’s trying to unravel the murder of a presidential candidate.
Brian De Palma knits together an effective thriller filled with murder, conspiracy, and mystery. There’s a large emphasis on sound that’s used effectively both to tell the story and drive the story forward. There’s a particularly interesting shot where the camera spins while Jack runs around the room playing different reels. It’s one continuous take that’s borderline nauseating but works.
Looking back on the 25+ years since it was made, it’s interesting to see the dramatic progression of technology. We still use tapes, but not reels. Video and phones are now pervasive. It’d be interesting to see if you’d be able to do a modern remake that’s just as effective. Although dated, it doesn’t take you out of the film at all.
The best thing going for Sweeney Todd is the art direction. There are times when it feels too dark, but Burton does a good job of setting the tone and doing all the costumes. Unfortunately, that’s also the only thing going for it.
The music, though interesting, would’ve been better served by a pair who can actually sing. Depp and Carter do a fair job, but their diction made it difficult to understand what they were saying at times. Not that there was a lot of plot or narrative in the songs, but trying to understand what they’re saying really takes you out of the moment.
Still, without the music, the entire narrative is really predictable. Granted, that may be a function of just having seen a lot of movies or understanding storytelling.
