Episode 134: “It’s shiinny! So pwetty!”

Twitter followers of mine might have noticed me tweeting last week that I was offered a Flip Video for the weekend to record a swede. It was for a Cisco competition (plus screening with Urban Screen) that was held yesterday evening, but I’ll write more about that entire event later. For now I’d just like to show the swede we made:

[Watch on MissGeeky]

I know it’s a bit silly, but it was great fun making it, and isn’t that the point of a swede? Making these type of “movies” though makes me only realize more how difficult it is to create an actual full-blown movie. There is just so much you have to consider while filming!

So anybody up for helping out on another one?

This review has two parts. First my normal review without any spoilers. Then, after a warning, my thoughts about this movie with spoilers.

I remember seeing the trailer for Passengers a long time ago, and thinking “huh, Anne Hathaway in a creepy thriller. Seems interesting.” And then I never heard anything about it.

Passengers is about Claire Summers (Anne Hathaway), a grief counselor working with the five sole survivors of a plane crash. Despite her better judgment, she develops a relationship with Eric (Patrick Wilson), the most mysterious of the survivors. But then, one by one, the survivors begin to disappear mysteriously, and Claire uncovers what might be a conspiracy…

There’s a reason I didn’t hear anything about this movie. The first two-thirds of the movie are boooring. The underlying plot is kind of intriguing, but everything else about the first hour is just bad. Everything unfolds way too slow, and there’s never any real tension or suspense. For a movie that’s being marketed as a thriller, Passengers doesn’t thrill at all. You never have the feeling that Claire is actually concerned that her patients are disappearing; she’s off fooling around with one of them. The threat of why they’re vanishing never feels real, and the conspiracy angle seems cliched.

But then that last half an hour happens (it could also be only the last quarter of an hour; I didn’t keep track when the ‘interesting’ part started). It’s not enough to save the movie, but I was semi-pleasantly surprised by it.

Another problem with this movie is the marketing. I’ve put the poster after the spoiler warning, cause anybody with a brain could figure it out just by seeing that poster. The DVD cover and tagline is even worse; don’t they want people to watch their movies?

If you catch this movie on TV, I’d say give it a go. You might turn it off halfway though, cause there’s not a lot going for it. If you’re able to watch beyond that (kudos to you!), I’m curious to hear what you thought about it. Don’t get this on DVD; it’s completely not worth it.

s
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
Argh! Here be spoilers

So if you’ve come this far, you’ve already seen the movie or you want to be spoilt. The big twist of the movie is that Claire is actually one of the passengers from the plane crash and that she’s dead and in some kind of in-between limbo world. Everybody she comes across in the movie is dead; either they’re one of the other plane crashees or they are ‘sent’ to help them deal with death.

The idea is pretty cool, even though it’s just a rehash of The Sixth Sense. And it could have worked, if it had been one of those ‘figure it out’ movies. But there just wasn’t enough clues in the first part of Passengers for this. The twist comes completely unexpected (although I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have; because it was so boring, so I was reading blog posts at the same time) and then it goes all gooey “we’re dead, but we’re in love”. Add to that a tedious first part, and I wonder how many people were actually able to watch the entire movie without turning it off halfway.

By the way: I hadn’t seen that poster before the movie. I’m wondering if I would have been able to guess the twist, cause it seems pretty obvious with that poster!

Last Tuesday to celebrate the release of the Watchmen DVD, Paramount arranged a special art exhibition. Below the Southbank Centre in the skate park, graffiti artist Chu showcased his artistic talents, as he and the Watchmen illustrator, Dave Gibbons worked alongside each other giving fans a one-off Watchmen experience to remember.

I arrived during Chu and Gibbon’s break (of course), so I didn’t get to see them creating anything. However when I got there most of the graffiti mural was already done:

It was pretty cool, although I would have loved to see the artists actually at work. I still managed to grab some pics of Dave Gibbons, when he was posing for one of the other (official) photographers:

Check out this Twitpic for the finished product. I don’t think there’s that much difference; most of it was done already, except the polaroid photo in bottom left corner. One thing I’m not too sure about is what was done with the graffiti after the event. I was there during the past weekend for the Hide & Seek fest and I don’t remember seeing it (or was I just blind?).

I first heard about Moon back in January, when the first reviews of Sundance came online. Everybody was gushing about it, and I’ve been looking forward to it since. Then in April I featured a trailer for Moon here on my blog; and I was even more intrigued. I finally got to see it last week and I was right to be so interested in this movie. This is one of the best sci-fi movies of this year (maybe even THE best) and it’s great to hear it’s getting a wider release here in the UK.

Moon takes place sometime in the near future, where scientists have discovered an alternative energy resource harvested from the Moon. Astronaut Sam Bell is an employee for Lunar Industries stationed on a lunar base to extract this resource and send it back to Earth. He is almost at the end of his three year contract, having spent the past three years without human contact, and only his robot Gerty as a companion.

I won’t say more than that, cause it’s mainly the story of this movie that’s interesting. I heard a couple of weeks back that the trailer “only shows scenes from the first 15 minutes of the movie”. That’s not entirely true; I think it’s more like 20-25 minutes. Still the trailer doesn’t spoil it at all, and that’s what I love about Moon. What might have been the end/climax of most movies is here only the beginning.

Moon is very much an intelligent sci-fi story about the moral consequences and dilemmas of a “What If” situation. It moves pretty slow, and harks back to those sci-fi movies of old, like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Outland. Everything unfolds slowly, moving at its own leisurely pace. For some, this might feel a bit tedious, but I think it added to the charm of the movie.

The visuals are pretty stunning and it feels as if it’s shot on a much larger budget than is actually the case. The outside moon landscape scenes were mainly shot with miniatures and it’s refreshing to see that again instead of CGI. Except for one scene at the end, I thought it all looked fantastic. I also should mention the music; the score from Clint Mansell adds very much to the effect of the overall movie with some hauntingly beautiful tunes.

Sam Rockwell’s acting is the highlight of this movie. He carries Moon on his shoulders and without his strong performance the entire movie would come crumbling down. I can’t go that much into depth without giving too much away, but believe me when I say his performance is extra special.

Moon is one of the most interesting movies this year so far and I think it could be the best sci-fi movie of the year (although we’ll have to wait for 9 and District 9 first before I can claim that). It’s got a great, intelligent story and goes beyond your standard space plot. Highly recommended!

Moon – Out now in cinemas

In anticipation of Terry Gilliam’s latest movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the BFI Southbank are holding a Terry Gilliam season. Each of Gilliam’s movies will be screened 2-3 times in August (excluding his short features). So that’s:

• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
• Brazil
• The Brothers Grimm
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• The Fisher King
• Jabberwocky
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Tideland
• Time Bandits
• Twelve Monkeys

Check out the dates of all the screenings on the BFI website.

I think it’s a great idea that the BFI are screening all of Terry Gilliam’s movies again. I loved Twelve Monkeys, but never got to see it in the cinema. Plus I still haven’t seen Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or Tideland, even though they’ve been for ages on my list of films to watch. If anybody else is up for it, I’m thinking we should arrange a meetup to (at least) one of these movies; leave a comment behind if you’re interested.

Thanks to BFI, I’ve got two pairs of tickets to give away here to any of the Terry Gilliam screenings mentioned on their site. All you have to do is leave a comment below with your name, email address, and which Terry Gilliam movie is your favourite (and why). Entries are open to anyone, but you have to be able to come to London to enjoy this prize. Contest deadline is July 31st 13:00. I’ll contact the winners that same afternoon and they’ll be able to choose which movie and which screening to go to.

Check out the screenings for the Terry Gilliam season on the BFI website.

I’ve been avidly following all the coverage from Comic Con; with attendees Twittering and live blogging, it almost feels like you’re there yourself (nah, not really: no sweaty people, no waiting in queues, but then again no seeing really cool features and the celebrities up close). At last year’s Comic Con the great surprise was a very early teaser of the at-that-time-not-even-announced sequel to Tron. This year we get some more VFX concept footage, showing a bit more of the actual world.

After a couple of temporary names like Tron2, Tron 2.0, Tr2N, it’s now finally be revealed to be called Tron Legacy. I won’t say anything more, just watch the footage first (there’s also a high def version available on the site Flynn Lives, which I’d highly recommend seeing):

Yep, if you hadn’t come across it yet, Jeff Bridges returns as Kevin Flynn! I think this trailer looks awesome; it’s been ages ago that I last saw the first movie, but I just love the visual style, and it looks like this could be a worthy follow-up.

Curious Fact of the Day: Tron was disqualified from the Academy Awards nominations for best visual effects, because using computers was deemed “cheating”.

It’s been ages ago since I actually saw this movie, but it’s one of those rare movies that deserves a bit more exposure than it has so far received.

The Fall is set in Los Angeles in 1915 and revolves around Alexandria, a five-year-old girl, who wanders around a hospital after breaking her arm. There she meets Roy, a Hollywood stunt man who is paralyzed after an ill-fated attempt at impressing a woman. Roy tries to convince Alexandria to bring morphine pills to him, by spinning her a wondrous tale of bandits, princesses and far away kingdoms.

The main reason you should watch this movie is for its visuals. The Fall is gorgeous, and I wish it had gotten a wider release in the cinemas; this is a movie I would have looooved to see on a huge screen. Director Tarsem Singh made this movie during the course of four years, visiting and shooting in over 20 countries to create this beautiful spectacle. This movie contains some of the most stunning cinematography I’ve ever seen, and it’s truly something you must watch at least once.

The weakness of The Fall though lies in its plot. While the premise of a story world within a story sounds great, its execution here isn’t that tidy. I was expecting much more of a fantastical complex story, maybe a touch of romance, a story that matches the beauty of its visuals. It’s still an okay movie, but it would have been so much more memorable and perfect if the tone of the story matched up with this gorgeous fantasy world.

Lee Pace, who shot this before starring in Pushing Daisies, is terrific as his scheming bedridden character. Even though he’s manipulating this sweet 5 year old girl, you can emphasize with him and understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. This was Catinca Untaru’s (the five-year-old Alexandria) first movie, and the director and crew conspired in a lot of the scenes to get a realistic performance from her; most of her reactions and lines are completely spontaneous. A lot of other people loved her “refreshingness”, but to be very honest I found her a bit annoying.

The Fall is a beautiful movie that deserves to be watched on a screen as large as possible. Even though the story isn’t completely up to scratch, the gorgeous visuals are well worth sitting down for an hour of two.

The Fall is available for £4.98 on Amazon.co.uk and for $19.99 on Amazon.com.

We’ve seen a couple of trailers for 9 already, and it’s definitely one of the movies I’m most excited for. Firstshowing has featured the latest posters for 9’s release, and they’re a series of character posters, each one featuring one of the 9 rag dolls. I thought I’d expand a little bit on that and give the descriptions that we have so far about each of the characters:

1: is the oldest of the dolls, and their self-proclaimed leader. He is clever and sly, but also domineering, irritable, quick-tempered, and slow, if not unwilling, to trust 9. Voiced by Christopher Plummer.

2: a kind, delicate old inventor. He is fascinated by garbage, and loves to explore the wastelands and look for parts for his inventions. He is not in very good shape, always walking with a cane, and can only see with a lorgnette. Voiced by Martin Landau.

3 and 4: curious but shy twin dolls. They are unable to speak, using flickering lights to communicate with each other, but when they need to explain things to someone else, their eyes turn into film projectors. They instinctively run and hide at the sight of danger.

5: healer, tutor, and skilled mechanic. He is the journeyman of 2, the great engineer and inventor. He is a diligent worker, a meek spirit, and a devoted friend. He is missing his left eye, which he presumably lost in a previous monster attack. Voiced by John C. Reilly.

6: a wild and impulsive artist. He has visions of the past and future, channeling his visions through drawings to interpret them, which are accurate in predicting events and help solve mysteries that puzzle 9. Voiced by Crispin Glover.

7: a female warrior. A rebel and a loner, she is fearless and brave. She is impatient and can be reckless and stubborn, but makes up for it with mobility and grace, caution of her surroundings, and calmness in dangerous situations. Voiced by Jennifer Connelly.

8: a giant, cumbersome brute. He is 1’s personal bodyguard and would die for him, though he is crude and mocking towards everyone else. He is strong and fierce, wielding two masterful weapons, but isn’t very clever and is easily deceived. Voiced by Fred Tatasciore.

9: the main character. Good-hearted, thoughtful, and sincere, he is always willing to risk his life to save others. Despite being a newcomer to the group, he displays leadership qualities that can help the others survive. He seeks truth in the history of the world and the dolls, and wishes to know the meaning of life. Voiced by Elijah Wood.

I love this series of posters and they’re a great introduction to all these different characters. I can’t wait for this movie to come out!

Years ago back when I was in high school there was this book that my sister had to read for school (in Dutch, might I add) and she hated it. Because of that I automatically assumed it sucked and refused to read it. Not long after that it became a world wide hit, yet I remained saying it was an awful book (while never having read a word of it). Until I saw the movie and decided to give it a go anyway. Well, that book was the first Harry Potter (to be very fair I have actually read the Dutch translation now and compared to the original, it does really really suck).

I kind of had the same reaction to Twilight from Stephanie Meyers. I had read a bit of it, a couple of chapters, but my opinion was mainly formed by the many book review blogs out there. In my eyes, it seemed like a weak hyped-up rip-off from many other great vampire books. Now I haven’t read the book yet, but after seeing the movie I might actually give it a go (ah, history repeats itself).

Twilight is about Bella Swan, a teenager that moves to the small gloomy town of Forks to live with her father. As she starts her junior year in high school she becomes fascinated by Edward Cullen, a mysterious and captivating student. Bella soon discovers that Edward is hiding a secret, after he impossibly saves her life from a van with his super-human strength and speed. She is determined to unravel his secret, but the truth is more terrifying than she realizes. Edward is a vampire. Any normal person would just keep away from him, but Edward and Bella fall passionately in love with each other. And so begins the forbidden relationship between a human and a vampire.

Is Twilight a great movie? No. Not by far. It seems much more like a made-for-TV film or a regular TV show. The special effects are horrendously bad, the acting is bland, the editing seems choppy at times and the pacing is pretty slow. And yet, it’s turned out better than I expected. True, my expectations were very very low, but there’s something about this movie that makes me like it. It’s one of those guilty-pleasures type of movies, that I know will end up on the list of movies I can watch when I’m sick to my stomach lying on the couch from fever or flu.

Story-wise it isn’t original at all. Girl falls in love with a good vampire boy. Vampire boy is tempted by her blood and refuses to see her. Bad vampire boy finds out about girl and hunts her down. Good vampire boy saves her and realizes he cant live without her. Been there, done that. If the book is anything like the movie, I still remain convinced that there are way better vampire stories out there, with much more complex and interesting mythologies.

If you want a cheesy easy romantic flick for a summer afternoon, try Twilight. I liked it much more than I expected, and I’m even considering seeing it’s sequel New Moon in the cinema (not completely sure yet, depends if anyone else is interested in coming along).

Twilight is out now on DVD.

I’m a bit late with posting my review on Tranformers 2, but seeing how opinions on this sequel are so diverse, I thought I’d add my thoughts to the big melting pot that is the blogosphere. As a small side note first though: I booked my tickets a month in advance on the BFI IMAX site; the film was only being released in IMAX a full week after normal cinemas received it, but I thought it would be worth it to wait for the IMAX. Imagine my surprise when I later found out that somehow they had managed to get the movie earlier anyway, on the same date as normal cinemas. I’m just a bit pissed off that they failed to inform people about it. It would have been great to hear about it, and maybe re-allocate my tickets or something like that.

Transformers 2 reunites us with Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), who are preparing themselves for a long distance relationship as Sam is moving away to college. But of course they get caught up again into the war between the Decepticons and the Autobots, as Sam gets affected by the final sliver of the AllSpark.

Transformers is a big stupid summer action movie franchise, and you shouldn’t be expecting anything more than that. Transformers 2 continues on with more gigantic robots, bigger explosions and  more battles between gigantic robots. It’s far from being a “great” movie, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. It’s a typical Michael Bay movie, and sometimes that’s exactly the type of mindless entertainment we need.

The CGI is gorgeous, and unlike the prequel we get to see a bit more zoomed-out shots of the robot battles. We also get to see some new types of robots, including a robot jaguar, a set of female motorcycles, a mini radio-controlled monster truck and a duo of “gangsta” Chevrolets (there has been a lot of debate about this characters online. My thoughts: it’s a Michael Bay movie, do we really have to overanalyze everything?). The sequences are superb, although with so many different robots on screen it sometimes difficult to follow who is who (also I was never that much of a Transformers fan growing up, so I don’t recognize many of the minor characters or which side they’re on).

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen is a fun summer action movie, full of robot battles and explosions. If you liked any previous Michael Bay movies, go ahead and see this one; there’s no doubt you’ll like it. If you hated the previous Transformers, there’s no chance in hell you’ll like this one.

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen is out now in cinemas.