The Review Thread!

[Donfuy]

2012


It was pretty comic.

3/10

[bobaganuesh_2]

2012


It was pretty comic.

3/10

thank god. I was going to see it with some friends, but when they bailed I decided not to got because it looks dangerously cheesy overdone.

[amomentlikethis]

I thought 2012 was pretty good.

[Mute Monk]

For 2012, I thought some of the acting was a bit overdone...And some of those archetypes get tired after a million times: the ignored genius, the crazy guy who turns out to be right, the power-hungry bureaucrat who cares little for human life, etc...

And of course, most of the disaster scenes were just absurd. I'm still not sure that enough water is stored in the ice caps to flood the Himalayas, but I doubt it. For me it was more laughs than anything, and probably laughs unintended by the producers. I give it a 5/10. Decidedly underwhelming, but a good evening distraction if you're bored.

[SlappyMcGee]

I'm tired of hearing about Oliver Platt has some malicious bureaucrat with no regard for human life. The reason he didn't let all of those poor people onto his boat is because there was a good chance that letting them in would kill them, and it almost did at least three times, if I recall the scene. Oliver Platt was a good guy who had to deal with a shit-ton of Tsunamis, and just because he wasn't a gambling man, he's viewed as a villain by you fascists.

[otters~1]

The one thing that pushed TDK over BB for me was that it basically has two male lead parts, and both of them are perfect. Two great movies, and I can't wait for whatever sequel emerges (but I do hope it's not disappointing, as it has the potential to be).

I think it has four-leads, of which three quarters are amazing and one is goofy. (Bale, Oldman, Eckhart, and the ever-goofy-ass Ledger)

Oh my, I forgot Gary Oldman, one of my favorite actors. Doh! Anyway, just rewatched both, and I'm even more undecided than ever. I might bother to edit my decade list if that was still going.

[Tunco]

For 2012, I thought some of the acting was a bit overdone...And some of those archetypes get tired after a million times: the ignored genius, the crazy guy who turns out to be right, the power-hungry bureaucrat who cares little for human life, etc...

And of course, most of the disaster scenes were just absurd. I'm still not sure that enough water is stored in the ice caps to flood the Himalayas, but I doubt it. For me it was more laughs than anything, and probably laughs unintended by the producers. I give it a 5/10. Decidedly underwhelming, but a good evening distraction if you're bored.

I would like to add that the end of the movie was way more sappy than it should be. Like, billions of people are dying and the rich-girl tries to save his puppy? Come on.

[a happy song]

Avatar
Directed by James Cameron
Staring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang

-


Too often people let themselves get caught up in the hype of a thing.

An event is announced that signifies a landmark or return of something momentous and suddenly all hell breaks loose. Some side with blatant aggression, raising pitchforks and lanterns and storming forward with disregard of reason or logic or any kind of care. They only see what they want to see, and nothing's going to satisfy their lust but spilled blood.

Then we have the trolls, who are just as bad.

It's a shame, because both sides seem to loose sight of any kind of objective reasoning. And, having made up their minds about the events quality long in advance of the event itself, they don't give themselves a fair shot at experiencing the event for real. They ride on the back of forced emotion and unrealistic expectation, and any kind of disappointment or unexpected surprise is met with fevered hostility.

And no one will ever admit they were wrong.

It's a shame, because many of the opinions you read on Avatar will be skewed by this factor, and while that won't matter on a personal level for most, it could in turn skew the opinion of others into locked down emotion in a similar fashion.

People are easily lead by the opinions of others, and this hype of extremes will play a large part in the way Avatar is heralded.

This isn't something to be watched, it's something to be experienced.

However, long after the hype has died, once new and better advances have been made, will Avatar stand with the genre classics as a timeless piece of filmmaking?

I'm not entirely sure.

There's no denying Avatar is a fantastic achievement in terms of visual design and implementation. Every penny of the budget is on screen for us to devour. This isn't something to be watched, it's something to be experienced. Fully. Throughout the movie I was there, on Pandora, sucking in the air and gasping in time with the characters at the beauty of this wondrous new world that Cameron had created.

The CGI is almost seamless. The motion capture technology developed for the film has breathed life into the CGI characters like nothing I've ever seen. Usually with CGI events I scrutinize for flaws and joins and actively hunt for the strings, scissors at the ready, but this time I wasn't even given the chance to catch my breath long enough to focus, let alone handle a pair of scissors with that much precision!

The 3D is great. It's not heavy handed, nor is it used in a gimmicky way to excite the audience. It merely heightens the reality of Pandora, especially in the areal scenes where my sense of vertigo was triggered on more than one occasion. At times it almost felt like there was too much to take in, and repeated viewings might be essential to grasp the full visual value.

I honestly think anyone denying this film is a remarkable technical achievement is in denial about something else entirely. I just wouldn't buy it. It's that good.

However, the film is not without flaw.

From the off the story lurches forward at a breakneck pace. We're given very little background or introduction before we're strapped into our shuttle and blasted toward Pandora. At first I assumed the narrative would even out once we reached the moon, that perhaps the beginning was where some of the inevitable snips had been made, that maybe it was an intentional quick-fire to get us into the spectacle as soon as possible, but after the first half an hour I realised this is where the film was going to let me down the most.

There's almost no solid exposition.

The transitions from scene to scene and the introduction of characters feels lacking in flow and a really considered structure. Scenes end abruptly, new ones begin with characters we've never met talking like we should know more about them, and while I appreciate the need to not spoon feed the audience their experience, I was left feeling very unsatisfied in places.

The relationship between the main characters, for example, lacked meaningful build up. Sure, Jake and Neytiri share a lot of time together on screen with her teaching him the ways of the Na'vi, and I got a sense of their bonding within them, but there weren't enough tender moments between them to make the reveal of their feelings toward each other as satisfying as it could have been. I felt a little cheated, and that scene in particular lack impact for me.

The characters felt a little disembodied, separate, and for all the themes the film contains of harmony and togetherness, it felt a little ironic that Cameron would let this happen.

Likewise, there is little interaction between any of the characters to support believable relationships in general. I got the impression of Neytiri's relationship with her parents and her intended mate-to-be Tsu'tey (one moment in particular where her father berates her causing Neytiri to stomp like a bratty teen is particularly endearing), and I get the gist of Jake and Grace's growing fondness for each other, but I never felt truly satisfied with the way the relationships were built. There just wasn't enough time on screen for them to grow naturally as well as make room for all the spectacle Pandora had to offer.

That's not to say the characters were weak at all, they were all individually well written and portrayed strongly and surely and each had a very defined personality, it's just that they all felt a little disembodied, separate, and for all the themes the film contains of harmony and togetherness, it felt a little ironic that Cameron would let this happen.

This is particularly evident at the end of the movie when certain characters are killed with little-to-no reaction from anyone. One minute they're risking their lives for each other, then they're gone with no further mention or memory. It felt hollow in that regard, or perhaps like something was missing. I'm hoping this was due to time constraints and that a Special Edition will fill in these gaps.

I'm pleased to say, however, that the dialogue is mostly fine. Sure, there are some corny lines, and some of the more emotional deliveries I found a bit unbelievable due to the problems mentioned above, but for the most part everything fit the characters just right and felt natural and honest.

The acting is also very good, with the exception of moments of Jake's video log recital feeling like they were voice-overs for a trailer rather than an film narration. Remember that line from the main trailer where it sounds like Sam Worthington describing the concept of Avatars? That's part of the actual movie, and it pulled me out of the moment.

As I said, though, the acting is very fine for the most part. Lines are delivered with conviction and real emotion and this helped a great deal in overcoming some of the issues I've mentioned so far as, regardless of them all, I was still given a very solid impression of each character's personality and their metaphorical weight within the universe. I found both Weaver and Saldana especially intense and alive, Worthington very watchable and warm, and Lang suitably bad-ass and believably threatening.

The story itself is a very clear-cut case of 'Good' Vs 'Evil'. There was never any doubt to me that the privately funded marines were the bad guys, the scientists the reluctant middlemen, and the Na'vi the embodiment of innocence and goodness. This simplicity will no doubt turn off some who hunger for something meatier to chow on, but for me the simplicity was a strength. It was Jake's journey that hooked me, and a convoluted and 'smart' plot would have bogged that down and over complicated the pure emotion of it all.

Also, the historical allegory the film makes to our imperialistic nature as a species could be misconstrued by some as a political commentary on contemporary events, which might cause some confusion and alienate potential viewers. I never felt like I was being preached to, and for the most I felt like I was discovering these truths along side Jake, and even though I was never as surprised as he was, it still felt like the revelations were part of a fiction rather than a lecture.

Just as the Na'vi 'jack-in' to Pandora, I felt jacked-in to Avatar. It flowed into me in euphoric waves of excitement and child-like awe.

The action is, of course, masterfully handled. The direction in general is a wondrous return to the old-school of long panned shots and well considered space and the editing is smooth and consistent. There's no ROTF huddles of incomprehension, or shaky cam for the sake of cool nonsense, this is Cameron showing the kids how it's done. Even if new directors don't enjoy the film as an overall experience, the film will still be a wonderful educational tool for them.

-

Just as the Na'vi 'jack-in' to Pandora, I felt jacked-in to Avatar. It flowed into me in euphoric waves of excitement and awe and for the first time in a long time, I felt the ice of my cynical adult expectations thaw and the child-like wonder I thought I'd lost took my hand and led me through the jungles of this beautifully realised world.

However, the lack of depth of exposition and in the relationships between the characters left some of the potentially most affecting moments of the story unsatisfying and gave the film a slightly hollow feel in places. And while the spectacle of the visuals and the emotional impact of the individual performance themselves certainly carried me along with the emotions of each scene, I didn't connect with everything in a way that would have made me hail this as the instant classic I've been hoping it would be since it was announced.

Perhaps my expectations were too high given the quality of Cameron's previous efforts, but there is one thing that I absolutely cannot deny: the overall sense of awe this film generated transported me on a magical journey that felt exactly like I was experiencing an alien world, like I was breathing the air, running with Jake through the training grounds as we both marvelled at his new avatar body, and cheering with the natives as they gathered their strength and courage to defend their homeland. It felt like I was a child again experiencing wonder for the first time.

And that's something very rare indeed.

[SlappyMcGee]

I've heard that the film is either excellent or blithering trash by a half-addled genre freak, too expensive to exist in its boots. Either way, I expect this to be a box office failure. But it's nice to hear your argument, which stands somewhere in the middle from the 100's it's getting from Empire or the 0's it's getting from friends.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Just one question: Is there magic? That's all I want to know.

[a happy song]

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Just one question: Is there magic? That's all I want to know.

Well, kind of...

If you don't mind a spoil, here's it exactly:

The moon of Pandora has a unique aspect. Every tree on the moon is connected by an underground network of natural energy. The Na'vi have evolved to use these networks to communicate. Think of it as a biological internet. They can upload and download memories and and communicate with each other.

To them it must seem like magic, and the otherworldliness of it all gives a very ethereal feel, but it's a cool spin imo, and one that I was comfortable accepting (even if it could have been explained in a cooler way).

You'll certainly be rolling your eyes at certain points, though.

Bear in mind, the lack of exposition and character development is most likely due to Cameron being forced to remove 20 minutes of footage from the original theatrical cut due to IMAX run time restrictions. This hints at two things:

1. At some point we'll see this footage restored.
2. That, as this was the theatrical cut he had to cut further, there will likely be even more footage that had originally been intended for the Directors cut.

We're probably looking at 30-40 minutes of potential extra footage here.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Just one question: Is there magic? That's all I want to know.

Well, kind of...

If you don't mind a spoil, here's it exactly:

The moon of Pandora has a unique aspect. Every tree on the moon is connected by an underground network of natural energy. The Na'vi have evolved to use these networks to communicate. Think of it as a biological internet. They can upload and download memories and and communicate with each other.

To them it must seem like magic, and the otherworldliness of it all gives a very ethereal feel, but it's a cool spin imo, and one that I was comfortable accepting (even if it could have been explained in a cooler way).

Hm. Interesting.
I was dreading what I saw as a high likelihood of there being some super-glowy spirit thing they summon for the battle, or that they'd start shooting pretty lights or go all Tinkerbell and bust out the magic flight dust.

Click to show/hide spoiler

But honestly, "tree internet" was pretty much the last thing I expected. Although I do find it hilarious that (as it seems from your description) they totally squander it, since any species with such an absurd advantage doesn't have much of an excuse not to be all space-agey.

Some friends of mine invited me to go see it tomorrow night, but I turned them down. I'm really not in the mood these days for... what did I say in the text message... "three-fucking-plus hours of spiritual tribalistic bullshit and burning a blatantly Strawman'd effigy of science." But that was really going under the assumption that the movie boils down to "the evil people are evil because they are technologically superior, and the good guys are good because they fuck trees or something, who also win because a Disney-sponsored 'morality' has totally ever been a deciding factor in any war in history ever."

[SlappyMcGee]

Science isn't the determining factor in War, it's whoever's on the side of democracy.

[Tunco]

N v1.4.
Freeware Game.
10/10

I downloaded it, extracted the file to my desktop, read through the notepad files came with it, and at last, opened the game. I didn't recognized this little game would introduce me to a community, and will be the only game I will play for the next few years. Indeed, when I opened it, a little screen came up. Because I didn't know how to play it at first, I pressed the 'Help' button. After learning enemy types and what you can do with your little ninja, I went to main menu, pressed 'Play Game' and pressed the episode 00.

At first the game seemed pretty sweet. I could wall jump a few times, not much. The physics of the game has amazed me, however, I started to get bored. I stopped trying to collect the all gold and finished the level. Hours after hours, episodes after episodes, columns after colums, months after months, I finished the game. Now I will try to summarize hours of enjoyment into words. I'm going to review this game under 6 categories.

...

The game itself is very simple, collect gold -not compulsory-, take the exit door's key, reach the exit.

Ninja
You can jump, wall jump, corner jump, double bounce block jump, triple bounce block jump, quadriple bounce block jump, jump nothing jump, bounce block backwards jump, jump nothing nothing jump, corner kick, half-frame jump, you could jump between mines and lauchpads, thwump corner jump, thwump squeeze (& jump) bounce block corner jump, normal doors' corner jump (& corner kick), E tile jump, facing-downwards-5-tile-jump (&and corner jump with it), am I missing anything? There is unlimited amounts of jumps, squeezes, kicks you can do with your ninja. The physics engine of the game is amazing, so amazing that I want to eat my socks. You could interact with everthing, and indeed, a complexity lies beneath the simplicity you see when you first play the game. Also don't forget to colllect the gold with your ninja, your time runs out otherwise, and you will find your amazing-little-ninja dead in one and a half minutes. 5/5 from controls.

Enemies
Mines, thwumps, drones, exc, exc. I won't even bother typing all of them. Even though there is so much enemies in the game, they work perfectly with each other. They are very simple robots that are trying to kill your ninja, it's up to you to run away from them. Sometimes you need to face with them and dodge them, sometimes you should just have to run away, the choice is yours. Enemies/robots adapt with the game so easily, it's like Metanet has copied the simplicity to every element of the game. Which they managed to do it perfectly, and precisely. Enemies' shooting skills, their speed and properties are different, yet they do a very good job in order to kill your ninja. 5/5 from enemies.

Ned/N-editor
One of the most important and great function of this game is it's in-game level editor, which called as 'ned' or 'n-editor'. You could place tiles, objects, ninja, doors and all the stuff game includes within the limits of your 32x32 squared level area, which includes total of 1024 squares. That means there are more than number of total of possible object placement, which is so cool because you can do whatever you want with it. The only thing that is bad with the ned is down and left facing one-way doors are always one pixel off. Illustration. And another problem is you can't place a floorguard to a downward facing 5 tile, apart from that, it's an excellent in-game level editor. Considering the fact that the defect of the editor is very detailed so I won't break off points from that. And another great thing with the editor is it is so simple, when you get to use it so often you'll realize about that. Another great thing is you can play your levels on editor or on userlevels, and submit the m to Numa! (N user map archive, go visit http://www.nmaps.net) Because of it's great features and simplicityness; 5/5.

Graphics/ Sounds
The devouring thing is we always invoke that how bad a game's graphics are or how great it is. But here, all I can say is totally flawless. Even n is a very simple game, graphics are catchy, simple, makes you easier to identify the function of the object easier. And the sound of the objects, or when they interact with each other, it's just amazing. No more words needed about it, 5/5.

Support
Go to http://forum.easterviking.com and you'll find a several hundred of people willing to help you about the game, discuss everything about the community and every shit happens in the world. Go to numa and share your own original n levels, give feedback and get feedback about your levels. How awesome is that. 5/5.

Overall
Do you know another game with so awesome gameplay, graphics, simplicitiness and yet being fun, gives you the chance to share your own thoughts and levels with others? No you don't. Now shut up and play your game.


Because this is our legacy, because this is our legend.

[Seneschal]

Aliens
Film
3.5/4

May contain minor spoilers

I'm quite a squeamish person, I don't mind admitting; I've chickened out of watching horror films in the past. Fortunately, I didn't find Aliens as scary as I had anticipated it to be. That's not to say it isn't; Cameron manages to maintain a sense of dread throughout the whole film, whether you're waiting for the first glimpse of an alien or wondering how on Earth (or rather, how on LV-426)Ripley and co. are going to escape from their increasingly desperate situation.

The visual effects are great and, apart from one or two instances, such as the descent onto the planet, have dated very well. The aliens themselves are mostly kept in the dark, enhancing their already frightening appearance. Cameron has wisely not explained much about them, for example how they reached the planet, why they seem to have no interestes other than killing, etc: the enemy you know nothing about is all the more deadly.

While the story isn't breathtakingly original, the script itself is well written: dialogue seems realistic, characters are fleshed out more than in the previous film, and the aforementioned tense atmosphere is established and maintained. Reprising her role from Alien, Sigourney Weaver gives a solid central performance as Ripley, the tough and determined heroine, and the rest of the cast, although not outstanding, carry the script well.

All in all, I found Aliens to be a very effective and taut thriller that successfully trades some of the horror aspects of the first film in favour of tense action sequences that keep the viewer on the edge of their seat throughout.

[bobaganuesh_2]

Just one question: Is there magic? That's all I want to know.

Well, kind of...

If you don't mind a spoil, here's it exactly:

The moon of Pandora has a unique aspect. Every tree on the moon is connected by an underground network of natural energy. The Na'vi have evolved to use these networks to communicate. Think of it as a biological internet. They can upload and download memories and and communicate with each other.

To them it must seem like magic, and the otherworldliness of it all gives a very ethereal feel, but it's a cool spin imo, and one that I was comfortable accepting (even if it could have been explained in a cooler way).

Hm. Interesting.
I was dreading what I saw as a high likelihood of there being some super-glowy spirit thing they summon for the battle, or that they'd start shooting pretty lights or go all Tinkerbell and bust out the magic flight dust.

Click to show/hide spoiler

But honestly, "tree internet" was pretty much the last thing I expected. Although I do find it hilarious that (as it seems from your description) they totally squander it, since any species with such an absurd advantage doesn't have much of an excuse not to be all space-agey.

Some friends of mine invited me to go see it tomorrow night, but I turned them down. I'm really not in the mood these days for... what did I say in the text message... "three-fucking-plus hours of spiritual tribalistic bullshit and burning a blatantly Strawman'd effigy of science." But that was really going under the assumption that the movie boils down to "the evil people are evil because they are technologically superior, and the good guys are good because they fuck trees or something, who also win because a Disney-sponsored 'morality' has totally ever been a deciding factor in any war in history ever."

I've seen Avatar now. it does not boil down to that kind of thing Tsukatu.

theme spoiler

rather, it becomes a corporate/colonial platoon that think the Na'vi that are protecting their culture and ancestry as "terrorists".

I pretty much have to agree with atob here, but I actually did not pick up on the harmony theme as I did the archetype spelled out for us in the form of Jake's journey. and James Cameron put a mythological spin on the character too, just to balance out the survivlist Marine ideology that Jake possesses. like always, the idiot grunt is transformed into an awakened hero reborn. This is not a cliche: this is an archetype. what was cliche was some of the uneeded one-lines and dialogue from the characters. but that is relatively minor, I guess.

anyone will admire the amazing landscape, and the examination of the different species of Pandora. the bioluminescence especially reminded me of the Planet Earth series, which I particularly fond of. So that is another aspect that upped my movie experience.

The movie was good, but it wasn't something that I fell in love with or will feel nostalgic about later.

[capt_weasle]

Daybreakers

So there I was, going to see some movie with a couple friends (I forget which movie), and I see the following trailer. Although it seemed a little cheesy at first, the concept intrigued me, plus the idea of Sam Neill as a vampire semmed pretty awesome. Anyway, I saw this movie a couple days ago, and well... it was alright. To be honest, I was expecting something a little deeper in terms of plot, and even lead actor Ethan Hawke stated that despite the serious allegory of humans using up all of their natural resources, the film was "low art" and "completely unpretentious and silly". Additionally, there was a lot more gore than I had anticipated. Needless to say, a few heads get ripped off. To compliment the occasional gore-fest (which was entertaining, I'm just not that into such genres, i.e. - Saw II and on) there was the "horror" factor of the movie, which was really nothing more than something popping out at you when you aren't expecting it (and sometimes when you are). So while it wasn't exactly what I expected, I can't really complain any further than the predictable plot. It was very entertaining, I enjoyed watching it, and the acting flowed well and the story moved along as you would expect it to. Unfortunately, it wasn't really more than that. Final grade: C. If you had wanted to watch it, go for it, just don't expect anything revolutionary.

[Neil_Bryan]

Stargate: Atlantis
TV Show
5.25/10

I'll have to say that Stargate: Atlantis is a bit very amazing. I think it would be better if it was a movie, although it was fine.

If you like read this spoiler. If not read on.

It's a sequel to the Stargate TV show in which humans will discover the city of Atlantis from a very far away galaxy. Soon they will meet the natives of the city, and later on they will meet their enemy, the Wraith (is this the right spelling?), and many other adventures will happen to them.

I think the theme is great; special effects were okay; but I think the story didn't really get further, I didn't feel amazement on some of the episodes.

Well okay, despite the flaws I really do like this TV show. So a five. (and a .25 also).

[bobaganuesh_2]

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho
Horror Film

I enjoyed this. It was plenty suspenseful in all the right places and never focused too much on one character. Anthony Perkins was spectacular as the timid lunatic and after already watching the original 12 Angry Men I think I'm starting to get a mancrush on Martin Balsam. That parlour scene with the stuffed birds was pretty cool, too.


Trailer Park Boys: The Drunk, High, and Unemployed Tour
Live Stage Comedy Performance

I got a chance to see the chums live last Tuesday. Although Mike Smith practically made the show, it was good without being tedious. Highlights included Julian selling hotdogs to the crowd for $10 each (except for one guy who got gypped and ended up receiving a jar of relish), Ricky's remarks during the audience-interactive gameshow "Are You Smarter Than A First Grader?", and of course Bubbles singing and playing on his acoustic guitar "Liquor and Whores" and a cover of Rush's "Closer to the Heart", I believe.

The best part by far was when Bubbles requested for "the biggest dickweed in the city" to come on stage to play a part in a re-enactment of a previous ordeal involving Cyrus and Julian, for Bubbles' ultimate goal in the show to record an audition for Jackie Chan. The sketch instantly became hilarious as soon as the volunteer began stumbling his way onto the stage, clearly baked and shitfaced to high heaven.

As usual, the Trailer Park Boys never fail to deliver the laughs. I'd recommend this sort of comic perfomance (they also have 7 seasons worth of a television show, dunno if Show Case still airs it) if you enjoy people acting stupid and doing wacky things.