What a lovely idea it is, that there could be a whole flock of blue macaws hidden away in safety in the Amazon jungle. Currently, the rare arara-azul is mostly spotted in Pantanal, and back in the early 2000's, there was major concern they were down to the last specimens! Documentaries were produced to alert adults, books and plays for children were mandatory in schools (some Brazilians may remember fondly of Angelo Machado's book "O Casamento da Ararinha Azul"), and the preservation of this wonderful species moved us in a very special way.
So I think this is a nice addition to this effort, and also a great way to once more bring the topic of preservation and the illegal and dangerous exploration of Amazon to the attention of kids, as the macaw and the jungles of Brazil are far from being safe! Aside from that, the movie is light hearted and fun, and displays several species that are special to Brazil and our culture, and I can definitely appreciate this movie as an educational resource. I am only sorry that I decided to watch it so long after its release. It would have been useful while I was still a teacher :)
The bad things about this movie outshine the good ones so overwhelmingly that it is even hard to remember what good things there were.
One line at the end particularly was extremely laughable, when Will Porter confronts Reynard and asks him "How do you expect me to do this with everything that I know now?" when in fact it felt like the character did not know anything at all beyond a basic "everything will be destroyed".
That is all the character has to go on. There is no relevant information on the rebels, no interesting information on the tower, the characters have no decent background or bonds, and in the middle of a huge conspiracy, we do not even understand why are there willing participants fighting for Reynard.
I do not really play video games, but I have many friends who do. The plots seem often well thought out and complete, and characters are usually at least interesting. The movie meanwhile having visuals that would already atract no one but video game fans, appears to fail these fans severely by underestimating the quality of the writing and story-telling they consume. I cannot honestly think of a single person whom I might recommend this movie to.
Wonderful performances and great music! I understand this is a fictional account, but I do not believe accuracy is particularly relevant in such an old case, specially when the names involved have already passed away.
Focusing on the connection between the characters was a great choice over telling a sensational murder tale, it made the Beat Generation look like a debauched version of The Dead Poets Society, and I loved it. The one flaw is that the story starts a bit slow. I found myself almost uninterested during the first half hour, but once relationships are stablished, they become quickly intense and complicated, and the characters develop into these tortured souls, so easy to empathize with, under this charismatic libertine façade, and it just makes you curious and more curious about how things will turn out even though you know exactly what dark event looms ahead.
The main cast was great, and this will probably remain as my favorite DeHaan performance even with his many recent projects (excellent example of well-deserved attention!). I was particularly impressed with Radcliffe, who totally made me believe he was born and raised in America, and gave life to Ginsberg in a way that made him look detestable and selfish and yet feel so relatable. Another excellent work under his belt.
Oh. Mary Pickford's first talking film, a box office hit, an Oscar winner, an instant classic and totally annoying. Besides being a plain and rather lame adaptation of the play, this is one of those movies made to display Pickford and Pickford alone, giving the audience no rest from the extremely whiny Norma. The secondary characters have so few lines each, that they are unable to balance her out and sort of just fade into the backround. Even Norma's love interest and his rival are written to be forgotten, and the short smiles brought on by Jimmy and Julia are quickly clouded by Norma again when Pickford reclaims the limelight.
There was a lot of care put into the production of this movie, and it is part of the big transition from silent to talking pictures, featuring a huge star and filmed in an iconic studio. This is a historically significant film, and there are many technical reasons to watch it, but all of those still do not make this a pleasant experience. That is not to say Pickford didn't transition well - I quite enjoyed The Taming of the Shrew, for example -, only that this particular piece just isn't a very good one.
Let's clear somethings first: cheesiness and questionable acting are essentially trademarks of the Super Sentai franchise and it's American descendant. You can't have Power Rangers without it.
This movie however, while produced by Saban like the original series, has very little of the feel of the original, even if those two traits remain. First, the characters might share the same name with their previous counterparts but couldn't be more different, with each offering an edgy bite to the stereotype they represent. Thanks to that, and the whole detention setting, their relationship gives a fair nod to The Breakfast Club, which I thought was awesome. In fact, there was another nods to a popular 80's movie with the the whole cave exploration and finding a secret lake, clearly taking a bit from The Goonies, which, like the Breakfast Club, was raging around the time the concept of super sentais came about.
The plot, as expected from PR, is simple and barely passable, but still tolerable, when you consider the targeted audience, which I don't think were the those who watched the original show at all - and I think bringing new and younger audiences into the franchise is a big part of the reason behind the new super shiny and cool visuals (which I wholeheartedly approve - for the most part, as I'm still not sure about the new Megazord, or even the smaller zords, as their shapes were hard to discern and the metallic colors sort of muddled together when combined). I also think that the interest in new audiences changed the dynamic of the group - in both versions you have the super cheesy "circle of friendship" thing, but where the MMPR were idealists in saving their city, this group leaned more towards a selfish side, that I think is easier for our current youth to identify with in our culture.
I did love all the small references to 80's and 90's kids shows and movies, and both the Japanese and American franchises. It felt like really cool easter eggs, and I kept pausing to text an old friend to confirm if the movie really was referencing this or that (he was watching at the same time in his own house, and it turned into a really long conversation about decoding everything!).
I think I could honestly recommend this movie to both children and adults who were/are fans of MMPR. It wasn't perfect, but it was quite cool, and it was very essential Power Rangers, in the good and the bad.
There was a lot of hype involving this movie, but ultimately it fell rather short. For a 2 hour+ movie, it's a bit surprising how the characters felt so flat all throughout the movie, with maybe the exception of the muggle. I also thought the the fantastical aspect of the original franchise was stretched a bit too thin... like either the magic of these characters is extremely more powerful and casually used than in Potter's time, or it's just not the same kind magic at all? I don't know, the constant apparating and disapparating during the chase scenes (something that doesn't really happen in HP) and Newt's version of the extension charm just felt a bit off - I mean, a whole apartment inside a camping tent is one thing, but a whole set of different environments with several creatures inside a suitcase seems a bit much.
Not that everything about it was bad - in fact, all the actors did a pretty good job despite their mostly insipid roles and the CGI was pretty decent. But not only does Fantastic Beasts have very big shoes to fill, it also has a certain place in the wizarding world to fit in to, and it just doesn't feel like it does.
Bruna was a girl who, sometimes because of her personality and temper, sometimes accidentally, took more wrong turns than right ones but still managed to turn out alright. And that, despite the path she set out on, is something admirable - she wanted to have control over her life, and she did it.
The movie was an overall nice one - not a great family option by any means, but I felt it didn't really exploit the character as much as I would have expected. Even the nude and sex scenes were not shocking or even distasteful, even for my rather prudish standards. So this won't cause any awkwardness should you watch it with friends or a date. Deborah Secco is an accomplished actress, and she played Bruna's transition from awkward teenage ugly duckling to a bold sexy woman to depressed addict very well. I think she was a great choice for the role, although her portrayal of Bruna at high school age was a tough buy for age alone (she was over 30 already, hard to play a 16 year old!). A thing to be mentioned is that I didn't think movie glamorized the life of a prostitute the way I would have expected it to either, though they did make it seem way easier than it probably actually was when she was working downtown for cheap before fame. Even if Bruna was cute and good at her trade, even if she liked it, surely there must have been really bad and difficult days that got to her deeper than a petty theft or a diss here and there, or even her adopted brother's scorn. Maybe it was the character's own need to put it aside to stay sane, or something else, but I wish her feelings towards her family at that time had been further explored too, although I liked how they chose to show her worst days at the peek of her popularity.
An interesting point the movie makes is why Bruna gained such popularity at first, and that's something I hadn't see prostitutes portrayed as in movies before - she was, despite all the stereotypes associated with her lifestyle, just an empathetic and genuine person who could connect with and understand people. And even after gaining more respect from men than most women get from their own husbands, she also shows herself as very insightful, saying "I was the perfect woman. I was there to fuck, to listen and to not complain about anything". Ironically, it was by gaining fame and perhaps bottling all those complaints up that she lost that empathy and become arrogant, announcing her doom and the beginning of that much needed dramatic climax that was slow in coming, but worth waiting for.
To conclude, I thought the movie was better than the hype and controversy around the time of its release allowed me to believe, and I wish I had watched it sooner.
Ok, this was a really fun movie, and it makes very smart points about social media and reality shows, the need for internet fame/attention and how teenagers interact with this culture of instant gratification and the protection of a screen name. The dark turn the story takes is yet another reminder that the things we do online may have very real consequences even if at first it all looks like a harmless game and a joyful thrill. (Unfortunately, if people haven't learned this by now, when will they?)
One should note though that this movie also works fine if you just want to ride along and not think at all, you won't be bored!
The one thing to lament is the aforementioned bland ending, which I guess was severely edited for whatever reason, making the whole development slightly choppy from the moment when Vee is branded a traitor. Story runs pretty smoothly until that point though.
All actors did a really good job, and the movie visuals are great, making NYC look a bit cooler and more high-tech than it actually is. Soundtrack does a fine job in fitting each scene just right, and you know, the plot is actually interesting for once. As noted, Emma Roberts did a wonderful job in the lead role, and Vee is a quite likable character!
One particular point that scored high for my personal taste is the fact that violence and sexuality were not exploited, even when this movie could have done it and make it seem perfectly justifiable. There are a couple of scenes in which characters show up in their underwear, but there's nothing even implicit, which makes it quite suitable to watch with younger kids in the room.
Keep in mind my score is really mostly based on personal taste, but I would still say that the overall quality of the movie would reach a 7 if I weren't biased.
It's a slow-bulding story, with a great cast who unfortunately doesn't get a lot of moments to shine (although I think many will find Lucy Fry a nice surprise like I did!). The suspense is well done, and I did find the movie satisfactory overall. I mean, it's not amazing, it didn't make me jump, but I was entertained, and I got into the characters too. Regarding other comment on this page, I think it's unfair to compare it to Poltergeist. There are many takes on poltergeist/haunted house stories, and this is just another one. The mythology did feel a bit weak, but the story still ran smoothly despite that. Surely, the final 15min would have been better had there been more background on the Anasazi, but really, not too big of a deal once you're hooked.
If I had to mention a real problem with it, is that it's part of that trend which tends to associate children within the specter with abnormal/evil behavior. I get it that taking a "strange child" as a catalyst is great for effect, but it's a disservice to all people trying hard to bring clarity on the issue, you know? It's good for story telling and all, but a bit disrespectful, in my opinion.
Plot: The plot is actually alright. Twins fall in love with each other and face the social stigma of it. If you can deal with incest in fiction, this movie isn't going to offend you. It could actually have been a very sensitive piece if it was made more carefully.
Technical review: Considering the cast (both MatsuJun and Eikura had solid careers long before this movie), I’m surprised it feels so… cheap? I’m not entirely sure whether it’s a matter of budget or style, but yeah. Characters have little to no make up and styling done, but that could have been a choice to make them more similar to real high school students. The clothes aren’t really fashionable nor truly flattering and Eikura sports some fried strands that makes me think they asked her to straighten her hair on her own. They made even Ayaka Komatsu look plain.
But while that could be explained as intentional, the bad light, the lack of soundtrack (several scenes in the movie that are completely silent and fail to convey a mood) and the acting itself all feel like inexperienced film-making. The dialogues were so lame that they made some key-scenes come off as awkward, and the movie is too long for such a mess. I was curious about this movie, but sort all these flaws were very glaring and distracting.
Characters: They were all just flat. Yori is angsty, Iku is naive, Yano is loyal, Kusonogi is determined. None of them are likable, or even relatable. I couldn’t feel them at all.
Warnings for the underage MatsuJun fans: This isn't by all means an indecent movie. At most, brother and sister are shown kissing, and there are a couple of implicit cases of sexual intercourse, but these were appropriately edited. There are no bad words or drugs. The only big deal is moral dilemma, so I trust anyone over 13 would be perfectly fine watching this movie.
Warnings for the original manga fans: the entire college arc is skipped and the general story is severely reduced, cutting off a lot of the drama between Yori, Iku and Kusonogi.
The first time I watched this when it was released, I was at a con, full of other fans, there were cosplayers, lots of chatting, and I didn't pay much attention. Mostly I remember a lot of cheering whenever Seiya got pounded and having many pictures taken that day. So I did have somewhat fond memories of this movie. Watching it again though... hm.
The animation is probably the best Saint Seiya has ever seen. The mood, set by the beautiful colors, shadows and textures is also something to be praised. The character design is another huge improvement over the original series, and even better than in the Hades Chapter, and overall, these technical aspects make the movie very easy on the eyes. I would say the only flaw there is the soundtrack. Several scenes seemed to demand music in my opinion, but only few had it.
The actual plot though, it was more of the same: Some god wants to harm Earth, Athena sacrifices herself to save it, the Saints fight to save her. Not that we expect anything different, really, but the development on this one is way boring, even worse than the other movies made from the series, and some of it was rather nonsensical. Marin's meeting with her brother was about the most interesting part, but I feel like I wasted my time watching the rest. Meh. Toei wasted money on this one. If only they had made the original series with the same animation quality though...
What a weird piece. The characters are highly sexualized, but the scenes are mostly visually clean. With the exception of one bar scene where there's partial nudity, the film isn't as shocking as one might expect. Which would be good, because then one could focus on the story.... except there doesn't seem to be one. The narrative goes on like an anecdote, about a prudish woman who finds herself dealing with a sudden sex addiction originated by a bump in the head, and goes on to explore what are the sexual perversions of the people surrounding her, while not taking part on it, just looking from afar.There's no proper conclusion, or lesson to be taken from the story, no point made, or at least I couldn't find one. It isn't funny either, just... odd and exaggerated, like a caricature emphasizing the personal sexual preferences of normal people. Rethinking while writing this, the point may be that it's fine to have your own perversions, as long as you don't get them in the way of other people's lives? I don't know, that seems like a silly point and I'm honestly confused. Having watched this feels like a big waste of time.
Visually striking as always, but lacking in many ways. While the pacing was actually good and you never feel bored, there was essentially no story to follow at all. The armies meet and fight - that's all there is to it.
There's no build up to the fight, no preparation, and the main characters have power beyond reason - see Legolas jumping the falling rocks when he was fighting the orc that had Tauriel. He's an elf, but he's not gravity proof as far as I remember.
Thorin was a such a powerful character and he went underdeveloped, as honestly did Bilbo and Galadriel at least. I like the attention Thranduil, Kili, Legolas and Tauriel got, but Thorin's epiphany was an important moment and it was actually kinda hurried.
It was a fun watch for sure, but I have a hard time accepting this as a stand-alone film. It was more like a very long battle shot that could have been put as an extra in a deluxe edition of the DVD.
I must definitely say I enjoyed The Hobbit as a trilogy, but I wish they had edited it somewhat differently. I think it still has a lot of potential if someone decided to make a different cut out of it.
