Editorial - The Movies of the Decade

As 2009 rolls to a close and with it the 00’s as a whole, the time has come to reflect on the best and worst this decade has produced.

As for the best, well there was always one clear winner, 2007’s Hot Fuzz, directed by Edgar Wright and written by him and star Simon Pegg, the Fuzz brilliantly combined action and comedy as well as embracing the whole “movie geek” culture in a way no other film has, prior to seeing this film I hadn’t had that one cinema experience that blew me away, after seeing this film, I had an answer.

But that doesn’t mean there were others that tried, as there most certainly were, and here are the other runner ups:

2. Avatar: James Cameron’s absence has left a gaping hole in action filmmaking, with Avatar he makes a heroic return that at this moment is on track to become the biggest film since his runaway hit Titanic, despite a somewhat choppy beginning, Avatar showed Cameron’s skill with combining heart and hardware in a way only very few can.

3. The Dark Knight: director Christopher Nolan’s 2008 follow up to his earlier film from 2005 Batman Begins was faultless in combining a tense story and high end action that rivals Cameron’s efforts as well as those of director George Miller and John McTiernan, as well as a riveting performance by Heath Ledger as the crazed out Joker, the film was a non stop thrill ride that was both exciting and terrifying.

4. Pan’s Labyrinth: Easily among the top 5 films of the decade, Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro constructed a modern day fairy tale set against the backdrop of fascist Spain in the 1940’s, some of the creatures here are among the most imaginative ever created and despite the film being in Spanish, it never lost my interest.

With the best out of the way, we now head to the worst of the entire decade, and the worst was easily this year’s Dragonball Evolution, taking a series I was fond of and flushing it down the toilet, but apart from that the film made little to no sense at all, looked very cheesy and wasted the talents of both Emmy Rossum and Chow Yun Fat, truly a complete piece of shit if there ever was one.

But some weren’t that bad, and here are those runner ups:

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: This failed to make my worst of 2009 listing but became the second worst film of this entire decade because of one thing: the film was a complete mess as it had no shooting script before production started, there was far too many characters, subplots and lame jokes all of which were in a movie that went for 2 and a half hours, now I didn’t think it was that bad as Peter Cullen and Frank Welker were good in their limited scenes and I also liked the battle in the forest and Starscream’s final monologue, but this film to me was a sign of what Hollywood has become in the last 10 years, the special effects comedy club.

Eagle Eye: A truly preposterous rip off of the Terminator, in which an all powerful computer tries to kill the US President (I know it’s a spoiler but in this case I’ll save you your $4 to rent it) and using Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan as the means to do so through it’s control of the power lines, the mobile phone network, the construction yards, construction cranes, the subway system, the traffic lights etc oh and apparently you can fit two grown people inside a crate and put it on a cargo plane without anyone noticing, ridiculous screenwriting.

Get Smart: Not only was this not very funny but it was one of the most depressing experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theatre, the action was dull, the actors annoying and wasted, the jokes not very funny and hardly any storyline to tie it all together, as I watched this film I thought “I would like MAD and Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget to come and hijack this movie” as that might have held my interest more than what I saw.

Gladiator: All the way from 2000 was director Ridley Scott and actor Russel Crowe’s first film together and also a very dull one as the battle scenes were poorly edited, the visual look of the film not very interesting and looking like being shot on large soundstages, a weak villain in Joaquin Phoenix and an overall disappointment when compared to Scott’s masterpiece Blade Runner, which had an extraordinary visual style and a truly dynamic villain in Roy Batty.

Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines: Following the first two Terminator films, which are among my all time favourite movies, this 2003 offering was the most anticipated movie for me that year and it ended up being a bitter disappointment as all it really did was serve as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s farewell to filmmaking before becoming the Governator later that year, Claire Danes was given nothing to work with and the film just didn’t have any heart to it as Cameron’s Terminator movies did.

Die Hard 4.0: Being a big fan of the original Die Hard, I was quick to see this in a cinema, and it just didn’t hold up, first off the plot was nothing more than an excuse for non stop action scenes and gobbledy gook computer dialogue, none of which made any sense or were exciting to watch, but both of those were nothing compared to the absence of the series trademark line and the Ode to Joy, both of which are staples of the series and their absence was nothing short of criminal.

Star Wars Revenge of the Sith: Concluding the prequel trilogy in 2005, this final offering for the Star Wars saga promised to deliver what the fans wanted ever since seeing Return of the Jedi in 1983, the rise of Lord Vader, the fall of the Jedi Knights and the birth of the Galactic Empire, well sort of as the film really only delved into that in the last 45 minutes and again suffered from the key problem it’s predecessor’s had, that we don’t care about anyone or anything that happens as we already know that from Alec Guinness in the original films but one moment near the end when the Vader mask is put on for the first time and the iconic breathing sound is heard for the first time left me with chills but despite that, nothing at all.

So there you have it folks, the best and worst of the last 10 years, I apologize for it being a very short list but for me the film had to be that good or that bad to qualify and I also didn’t see very many films from this decade to do 10 for each, hopefully the new decade upon us will give us a better outlook as 2010 already looks promising with Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and others but will these deliver, only time will tell.

Film Review - Avatar (2009)

Avatar is the latest film from writer/director James Cameron since his monstrous 1997 hit Titanic and concerns an ex-marine named Jake Sully played by Sam Worthington who is wanting an expensive operation to fix his legs but to get that he have to undertake a special mission on the jungle world of Pandora, full of wonder and danger.

Cameron’s absence has left a gaping hole in action cinema but with this he makes a heroic return, losing none of his magic touch from the days when he made such action powerhouses like Aliens and his two Terminator films, as well as those two films he also brings over the love story of Titanic and the mystery of the Abyss, the on screen action here is simply outstanding, expertly edited and showing us every move each side makes, as well as every act both heroic and otherwise, current action directors would do well to study this film to learn how to properly edit action scenes.

But like all of the other great Cameron films, there is a real beating heart in the form of the native Na’vi, who are one with the land and can see into a person’s heart, on top of that everyone of the major actors brings us their A game and the pacing is near perfect, despite a somewhat choppy beginning.

I can’t recommend this movie enough, to both Sci-Fi and Action film fans but also people who like good movies in general, finally 2009 delivers a film on peak form just as it looked it would wither and die, so this gets a full 5 out of 5, well done Jim and welcome back, you’ve been sorely sorely missed.

Editorial - A War on the Web

In my last editorial for 2009, it’s unfortunately not going to be a good one.

As recently as today, federal communications minister Stephen Conroy has released the results of his mandatory ISP filtering trial on his website, which were somewhat rigged by excluding high traffic sites as well as allowing people to go into the trial if they wished, it seems only a small few decided to do so as the results show near total success.

But I wouldn’t believe those results as any mandatory filtering of the internet in Australia, which would come with enormous problems as every connection would be placed under this filter and would strangle speeds enormously and in some places where broadband is only available as a mobile option, it would kill the internet almost completely.

But unfortunately, this is only one part of a growing problem, as all over the world there is a War on the Web being raged by Governments and Corporations who cannot see that the world has changed and want to take things back to the way they were before the Internet came into existence (for more info on this, see my editorial on the ACTA negotiations).

The reason for that being that governments could control the flow of information to bring the masses under their power and corporations would get record profits as consumers would be enforced to play by their distribution rules, which would mean Australians, would miss out as the release windows here are among the worst in the world and to buy a DVD or Blu-Ray would cost you upwards of $50.

But some hope remains, the filter has to go before the parliament so I will wait to see what happens there before giving up, but this war has only just begun.

Editorial - Does Avatar have a chance at Box Office Success?

As I sit here writing this editorial, we are essentially 6 weeks away from the release of James Cameron’s long awaited return to filmmaking, Avatar.

But in that time the anticipation has gone two ways, those like myself who can’t wait to see if Cameron still has the Midas touch or if it will fail spectacularly under it’s own weight, for that we’ll have to wait and find out.

But what I want to ask is does the film stand a chance at that most important of champions: Box Office, this year alone has seen many underwhelming movies that still returned a profit for their distributors due to the fact that they carry a safe and comfortable audience, this film doesn’t and to my eyes this could hurt it’s chances of being a money maker, especially when Transformers 2 despite venomous reviews went on to make $400 million dollars at the US Box Office.

Another matter that complicates this is the runaway success of Cameron’s last film Titanic, which still sits at the top of the US Box Office with $600 million dollars and almost anything that doesn’t reach that mark is certain to fail, so I suppose it’s just a matter of waiting and seeing how this goes, hopefully it will all turn out for the best.

Film Review - 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)

3000 Miles to Graceland stars Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner as two ex-convicts who along with some associates steal $3.2 million dollars from the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas during an Elvis impersonation weekend, but when that type of money goes missing, some unexpected parties decide to want a piece of the action.

This movie starts off with some interesting ideas in regards to the use of Elvis as well as the hijack but quickly falls apart like a house in cards through its endless gun fights and snappy camera tickets as well as the standard “I’ll take you all on” climax.

In short, this movie is a mess and didn’t do much to entertain me so I’m giving it a 1 and a half out of 5.

In Memorial: Edward Woodward

As the worst year for celebrity deaths in recent memory marches to a close, one more of our greats is claimed, British actor Edward Woodward who has died at age 79.

Woodward had a long and varied career behind him, starring in such films as the original Wicker Man with Christopher Lee, the TV series the Equalizer in the 1980’s, Callan another TV series, the Australian film Breaker Morant and most recently he was seen as Tom Weaver, civilian liaison for the Neighborhood Watch Alliance in 2007’s Hot Fuzz, which is in the running for my one favourite film of the decade.

May Edward rest in peace and his family find what they can to deal with their loss.

Film Review - Crimson Tide (1995)

Crimson Tide stars Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington as the captain and XO (Executive Officer) of the USS Alabama which after an attack from a Russian submarine loses it Communications grid and with it, final orders on whether to launch its compliment of nuclear weapons on Russia, what follows is high stakes.

And high stakes is what you could say to describe Crimson Tide, as Washington and Hackman take centre stage in their fight for the Alabama with Viggo Mortensen the key to it all, now Crimson Tide is well made, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson and directed by Tony Scott, it recalls the feeling of Das Boot, the German WW2 submarine film with its use of close ups and tracking shots.

Bit it also feels very bombastic with its constant use of music and bright lights, which undercut the tension of the scenes, something that John McTiernan’s Hunt for Red October had in spades, one also gets the feeling that Simpson, Bruckheimer and Scott made this film to get revenge on Red October, which outdid their Days of Thunder at the 1990 Box Office.

Overall though, Crimson Tide is well made but only scores a 2 and a half out of 5.

Strange Sensations: Next Time, Gadget, Next Time

And now for the launch of a new segment called Strange Sensations, which has some stuff written for it that would have served under this new banner but here is the first official editorial under this banner.

And it deals once again with one of these topics I think up for fun or because of some movie I saw that made me think this way, and this is about what I like to call the “Next Time, Gadget” Ending.

And what is said ending you ask, well it has to do with the Gadget TV series, at the end of every episode Dr. Claw said “I’ll get you next time, Gadget, next time” which left it very open ended for Claw to have his revenge, how this is relevant to movies has to do with the way a lot of them end in this climate, which is that they are very open ended with the bad guys getting away or not being killed off, this is done to really set up the next movie much in the same way that Claw’s getaway set up the next episode.

And there you go folks, the first of the Strange Sensations.

Editorial - The ACTA Proposal and it’s lasting effects

As an internet user and film fan, I was deeply disturbed to read about the recent news that leaked out of a meeting in Korea earlier this week.

And that is classified negotiations in regards to global copyright agreements, normally as far as I know they depend on local laws in regards to copyright and as long as the content has not been sold by the person copying it for their own use, then law officers are powerless to do anything about it as technically, they haven’t really broken any laws.

But if this new treaty is signed by world governments from places like Australia, Japan, Canada and the US to name as examples then they would be obliged to enact “three strikes” laws in which if you’re accused of infringing copyright, you’re internet access will be cut off, even if the accusation turns out to be completely bullshit.

Now again, this did disturb me as I feel that Hollywood studios who simply refuse to adapt with the times in fear of losing their profits (not that they’d lose much anyway as if it can be gotten legally at the right price, people will go for it) have no right to judge my private internet connection, hey I condemn online piracy and pretty much every disc, tape, whatever has been legally bought but I can understand why people do it for these reasons:

1. People simply don’t have the time to do stuff like this, I talked to some friends about the issue of online piracy recently and they sympathized as well when I told that they do long hours, sometimes working from 8am to 6pm and after that, you would feel so exhausted that the last thing you would want to do is go to a cinema.

2. Even if people had the opportunity to do that, most people also work Saturdays and their Sundays are already taken by having to clean their house, do the grocery shopping, pay the bills, scrub their toes and so on and so forth, so again most people I know probably won’t have the time and/or money to travel to a cinema to see a film.

3. And lastly, there’s also the issue of the pricing, now I don’t consider myself a great supporter of the video game industry here in Australia for two reasons, first there is no R18+ rating for Games and as a result, games have to be toned down to get the MA15+ rating and second, games are just too expensive, ranging from the $100-$120 mark on average, which for my money is simply too high for most games.


But it’s doubtful that most studio executives would care about such matters as they want the world to revolve around them and to stop all of the progress we’ve made over the last 10 years because they’re too scared of change, well I’m sorry but there can be officially be no going back to the ways things were before the internet existed as the medium has opened up the world in a way we could never imagine in terms of communications, distribution, financial opportunities and educational methods.

Treading on this in a big way will have very dire consequences for the world economy and may even threaten the chances of economic recovery as one of it’s biggest assets would be shut down because of Hollywood studios wanting more money, well this to me is totally unacceptable and must be fought at every possible turn or these studios will get their way and turn the internet into another broadcast medium and that is NOT what it was designed for, it was designed as a service like the post office and telephone networks and we must fight to keep it that way for the good of all mankind.

Film Review - Titanic (1997)

Titanic is based on the world famous maiden voyage of the aforementioned ship which also sunk after hitting an iceberg, here the tale is told from the point of view of two people: a rich but depressed woman played by Kate Winslet and a wanderer wanting a way home played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Director James Cameron has made some of my most admired movies with his two Terminator films, Aliens and the Abyss, this film sits right on the shelf with those as again I sat there thinking “I hate it when he does this” as the movie worked, setting up a brilliant framework within the first 20 minutes that prepares you for what’s to come, the chemistry between DiCaprio and Winslet is some of the strongest I’ve ever witnessed but on top of that, the finale is masterfully made with sections of it recalling Aliens and Terminator in your mind, which proves that when it comes to action, Cameron is still one of the masters.

Yes folks, I enjoyed this movie even if it doesn't hold up on repeat viewings but in terms of my rating I’m going to give it a 3 and a half out of 5.

Twitter me this

Hello all,

I am pleased to report that the Cinema Scene is now operational on Twitter, and you can be in on the fun.

Link is here: http://twitter.com/thecinemascene

A Guide to Critic Proof Movies

As I like to do here, I talk about the trends of movies both big and small and whether they’re good or bad but there is an important one that has surfaced in recent years that I feel deserves some attention.

And that is what’s known as Critic proofing and what is Critic proofing you ask well it is essentially when the reviews from critics like Roger Ebert and Mark Kermode to use as examples are totally disregarded by people as they want to see that movie despite the fact they may be right and here I would like to present just a few examples as there are literally heaps to draw from:

The Matrix Reloaded: Opening in 2003, ending a 4 year wait for this sequel, the sequel to the popular 1999 Sci-Fi hit arrived in cinemas across the globe to many lukewarm reviews feeling that it didn’t live up to the first and too much emphasis on the philosophy and long winded speeches rather than the high concept Science Fiction that helped make the first film so popular, but hey most people wanted none of it and the film made a principal’s ransom at the box office.

Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest: Opening in 2006, this sequel to the surprise 2003 hit reunited all the key players and despite many terrible reviews from both fans and critics with many saying that the film was too long and bloated with the endless CG effects, everyone that saw the first film pretty much went to this movie regardless, as they couldn’t wait to see the further adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Opening in June of 2009, this sequel to the 2007 worldwide hit from director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg was greeted with some of the most venomous reviews ever given to a motion picture which is best summed up by the quote from Ebert’s review saying that it was “a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments” and Kermode saying to a live audience at the Edinburgh Int. Film Festival “I HATED IT” which then received a standing ovation, even fans of the first film didn’t think much of this sequel at all, but did most people care, nope, they all wanted to see it regardless and as a result, it’s made $400 million dollars at the US Box Office.

And because of that last statistic, expect this trend to increase and press showings of big movies to become few and far between as other studios will hope for a similar reaction from movie goers, it’s been said that when such a thing happens it’s normally a bad sign but Hollywood seems to have reverted to its excessive roots so one could say as someone who loves the movies that it’s a bit of a disappointment.

On the Road Again: Mad Max 4 hits the Highways

In recent weeks some mixed news has come my way, some that I feel deserves my attention.

And that is the recent announcement of Mad Max 4: Fury Road which is now to be made in Broken Hill, NSW ironically enough where 1981’s Mad Max 2 was shot, so having this series to do its principal photography in its native land is fantastic news.

But what is not so fantastic are the rumored casting choices of Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, as an Australian who loves this series (well, the first two in the series anyway and to give you a sense of how much, the only thing stopping them from reaching the top of my favorites list is the Star Wars Trilogy) I feel very strongly that it should be headlined by Australian actors, Hardy was born in England and Theron in South Africa, now I have nothing against them at all but to me this wreaks of the possibly similar decision to cast Tina Turner in the previous film, which I’m sure was made to “appeal the series to international viewers.”

WTF, seriously, this series needs no such appeal nor in my eyes does it need to be made to please them before us, WE’RE the ones that gave them this series and it shouldn’t be dumbed down once more in favor of international box office, the first two Mad Max movies didn’t have hundreds of millions of dollars, shit they didn’t even have tens of millions of dollars but what they had were raw, savage, kinetic guts and an all Australian cast but guess what, they made shit loads of money regardless and made a star of Mel Gibson, as well as his director George Miller.

But look, I could be wrong and it could be a good film despite those obstacles and I’m certain to go check it out when it hits cinemas but so far it’s not off to a good start and as someone who loves MM 1 and 2 so much, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed.

Trailer Watch: Avatar

Seeing as how I didn’t do a trailer watch on the teaser of Avatar, I thought I’d better do one for the main trailer that was recently released.

And to cut through the bullshit as I like to do here, this trailer is not only very fucking awesome but it is also outstanding, showing off a scope and size that only someone like Cameron can provide and the way this trailer shows off his filmography is expertly handled, as if it is saying to the audience “remember all of those badass films you grew up watching like The Terminator and Aliens, well he did those” and again, you get a much better sense of what the film will be like and based off what we’ve seen, it looks as though Cameron has done it again and captured lightning in a bottle once more.

But of course, I could be wrong as I also have severe doubts as to how well it will do at the box office seeing as how Transformers 2 despite horrible reviews became the year’s highest grossing film, I don’t know if this film will reach those heights or even the heights of New Moon, which seems to be the only film that stands a chance of making that amount of money, but the future is always in motion so I can’t wait now more than ever to see how this plays out.

Full Avatar Trailer to be released this week

Hello all,

No reviews this week after last week's double header but I will fill you all in this week about some really cool news.

And that is the online release of the full theatrical trailer to James Cameron's Avatar, I found a bootleg version a while ago and LOVED it but you should be able to find it at davestrailerpage.co.uk or movie-list.com with various HD options.

Stay Tuned for my thoughts on the trailer itself over the coming days.

Film Review - Days of Thunder (1990)

Days of Thunder stars Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, a rookie race car driver wanting to make it to the big leagues of NASCAR Racing, but after being severely injured in a crash, he loses his edge and he’ll have to rely on the help of his doctor played by Nicole Kidman who would later become Mrs. Cruise in real life to regain it for one last victory.

Days of Thunder, well I have to say that I did enjoy it a lot more than Top Gun, which was an okay film not all that great where as this I felt was far better written but in this instance not enough to save it, despite some excellent stunt sequences, I also felt just as strongly that the movie felt telegraphed and really little no more than Top Gun in a car.

But hey, like I said, I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to so I’ll give a 3 out of 5.

Film Review - G-Force (2009)

G-Force is the latest family production from Jerry Bruckheimer and it concerns a crack team of guinea pigs who are on a mission to stop an evil electronics millionaire played by Bill Nighy and prove their worth to their human counterparts.

G-Force is not a bad film but it also not a very good one, with most of the first half consisting of repeats of the same joke be it either a fart joke, a one liner or a plot to escape their new home, luckily once the action kicked in during the second half the film found its footing but a little more of that would have gone a long way.

Out of the two family films released these holidays, one would be better advised to see Up instead and action fans wanting to see this should wait for Avatar in December, as for my rating well I liked the action scenes and the cast but the rest didn’t do much for me at all so I’ll give it a 2 out of 5.

Editorial - Recommending Movies: Good or Bad?

This one is a more general editorial piece but like a lot of the others, its one that I feel is worth paying attention to and that is the recommendation of movies to family and friends.

Now, most critics I’ve listened to i.e.: Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel and Mark Kermode dance around this issue but most of the time will recommend the film they’re reviewing anyway where as I personally actually do have a problem with doing that.

Now the reason for this is because of the fact that I honestly do not know how that film will play with the people I’m giving the review to, I alluded to this in an earlier editorial regarding this subject but one of my feelings when regarding films is that certain ones are going to speak to certain people, in my case be it Die Hard, Dead Poets Society and Star Wars to name a couple of them, but in terms of recommendations I actually hesitate to do so because of this fact.

So there you have it folks, my editorial on recommending movies and how some are better at it than others.

Film Review - Angels and Demons (2009)

Angels and Demons stars Tom Hanks once more as Harvard professor Robert Langdon who finds himself on his way to the Vatican after the death of the Pope and four cardinals who are hot favorites to replace him are kidnapped and due to be killed once every hour in a space of four before the bomb goes off that will destroy them all in a bath of light.

And that last part of the plot explanation is pretty much going to give you the feeling of a rousing adventure in the style of Indiana Jones, well sadly it doesn’t and the whole thing just feels ludicrous in many ways, first off the plot could very well have been the plot of the next Batman film if Heath Ledger had lived to play the Joker again with the Vatican standing in for Gotham City, secondly the use of the four elements Earth, Wind, Fire and Water made me think ‘why not just throw Heart in there to make the full set while you’re at it and have them summon Captain Planet at the end of the movie’ I mean that’s how stupid this film is.

Oh and if all of that isn’t enough, every time Hanks comes across an important plot point it turns into ‘we must go there’ dun dun dun dun dun dun dun I mean as I’ve said earlier in my review, the whole thing just feels cartoonish and also for people who are meant to go quickly they like to take they’re sweet time while they’re at it I mean you just end up putting your finger to your watch to signal to them to get going before someone gets killed, I mean can’t you sight see another time when a bomb isn’t threatening to blow everyone to kingdom come I mean come on.

I could of course go on but to close things off, this movie does not come recommended unless you want to laugh yourself stupid at the ludicrousness of it all but in terms of an actual rating well I will say that in it’s defense this is probably the funniest film I’ve seen since Hot Fuzz so I’ll give it a 1 out of 5 on that basis.

A Look Back: Batman Returns

In the first of a new segment of editorials, called A Look Back I will look at movies that were once the champions of their franchise, but have now been relegated to the history books as products of their time, eclipsed by superior films in its series or pieces of forgotten memory.

First I’ve decided to look at Batman Returns, the 1992 follow up to Batman and the last film in the series directed by Tim Burton, in it the Dark Knight faces off against three villains, The Penguin played by Danny Devito, Catwoman impressively played by Michelle Pfeiffer and businessman Max Schreck played by Christopher Walken.

Now prior to Christopher Nolan’s batman films, this one wasn’t too bad, an okay film but not a great one by any means, looking back however, the film is a complete mess, the storyline meanders, it doesn’t handle its three villains well and the film has the look of a large soundstage and backlot, Nolan’s films alluded to earlier, have a much better storyline, its use of multiple villains is the best of any film in this genre and it looks more real, with its use of soundstages minimal.

Foresight some have said is an interesting thing, and Batman Returns does not hold up 17 years after its release, now some may still have a fondness for the film, but it is clearly been bettered by far superior work.

Film Review - Dragonball Evolution (2009)

Warning: This review contains mild coarse language.

Dragonball Evolution tells the story of a young man called Goku played by Justin Chatwin and his quest for the seven mystic Dragonballs which when brought together will grant their finder a single wish, but there are forces both good and evil who will stop at nothing to find them.

And I pretty much have one thing I want to say in regards to this film: It is a complete piece of fucking shit and the worst movie to be released this year, and here is where my review splits in two, first off just on its own the movie is laughable, the special effects are poor, Chow Yun Fat is wasted and the film has the look of a low budget film.

Second, the storyline makes no sense as several key characters from the TV series on which this is based are gone, the most criminal omission being Kami, now in the original show, Kami and Piccolo were one being who were later split in two and from there Kami created the dragon balls and because of this, Piccolo was allowed to live despite being Goku’s enemy at that point in the series, the point being that if he died, so would Kami and the dragon balls would become useless, here none of that matters as Goku is also reduced to a whiny brat whereas in the show, he always kept going and knew how to win the day.

I could of course go on but I was a big fan of the TV show and to see it get this pointless treatment makes me pissed, so I’m giving this garbage a 0 out of 5.

Editorial - Would Frank Welker’s Return as Megatron have made any difference?

Recently I saw the new Transformers movie Revenge of the Fallen and one of the few positives about the film I felt was the return of Frank Welker as the voice of Soundwave, one of the key characters from the original TV show and like Megatron, a voice originated by Welker himself.

But like the first Transformers film, Hugo Weaving provides the voice of the character albeit heavily modulated but in this film you can tell its simply him doing his Agent Smith routine although one could also say and indeed some have said in their reviews of the film that Welker was really doing his Dr. Claw voice from Inspector Gadget for the character but there is one question at the heart of all of this that I wish to pose: would having Frank Welker also voice his more iconic role as Megatron in both of the live action films made any difference to how they turned out?

Well that depends on how you feel about it, on the one hand it would have been great to have had Welker voice Megatron and have indeed voiced my opinion on that when I reviewed both this film and the first film but I have also voiced the opinion that even if director Michael Bay reined his ego in and brought him in to voice the character it would not have made much difference in the long run.

And that is due to the fact that both of the live action Transformers movies were simply not very good with too much sexual innuendo, blatant rip offs of other films, very long running times and not enough emphasis on the transformers themselves which are also very poorly written, with Megatron being completely out of character in this new film.

So to sum it all up, Frank Welker voicing Megatron would really not be much of a good thing in the long run as I said before really due to the fact that like Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, he would have been wasted in what have been two very bad films and that’s my say on this.

Film Review - (500) Days of Summer (2009)

(500) Days of Summer stars Zooey Deschanel as a girl named Summer and Joseph-Gordon Levitt as the man named Tim who is completely in love with him, but Summer has her own ideas in regards to how love works.

(500) Days of Summer is a movie that I really enjoyed, the characters played by Deshcanel and Levitt were well developed as was the character of the younger sister, there were times where I smiled, chuckled and laughed but there were also a couple of problems I had with it as well, firstly the script is unfocused in that it jumps from day to day without a care in the world which undercuts the emotion of the story, second some of the voiceover narration and split screen effects were a little too forced for my liking and lastly, the screening I went to played the teaser trailer for Avatar before the film, which probably didn’t help matters all that much either.

But hey I think people of both genders will find a lot to like here, I did despite my reservations so I’m going to give it a 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Three Kings (1999)

Three Kings stars George Clooney, Mark Walhberg and Ice Cube as three US Soldiers who during the end of the Gulf War in March 1991 learn of a secret bunker which is said to contain stolen gold, but their quest for it will drag them into situations that they should not have any part in.

Now, this movie is not a bad film as there are some parts of it that made me laugh, such as the discovery of the cars and the early part of the film which I felt was wild and wacky and that put me in a good mood for the rest of the film, but the film turned into an action picture where the soldiers try to save the people living under Saddam Hussein’s rule and the action is actually quite good but I also found it hard to care for anyone besides the Walhberg character.

So there you have it folks, A movie that is good sometimes very good but not great by any stretch of the imagination so it skimps by with a 2 and a half out of 5.

Editorial - Too many People, Too little Time

For my latest editorial, I want to talk about something that has really gotten on my nerves recently and that is the notion of characters in a motion picture.

And why talk about this you ask, well I feel that this has become a big problem in the last few years of characters that don’t have any real reason to be in the film at all apart from explain a plot point, perve on their female co-stars and collect their paycheck and to illustrate this point here are a few examples.

Star Trek: If you read my review of JJ Abrams’s Star Trek reboot, you will learn that I was not too impressed with the film, and one big problem was the insertion of Leonard Nimoy, to me he felt like one character too many and that all he ever did in the film was explain the plot, meet his younger self, do the hand thing and collect his paycheque, personally I would like to have seen that screen time go to Eric Bana and have him explain the plot while he’s talking to Pike and it would also give the newer actors a chance to get more screen time themselves.

The Devil Wears Prada: Anne Hathaway’s character has a boyfriend who stares at her in a very perverted way throughout the film and turns into a complete grump because she misses his birthday party and her other friends think she has become a monster, personally get over it guys and again, those characters take us away from the characters played by Emily Blunt, Simon Baker and Stanley Tucci, who could have filled those roles easily through a rewrite of the script.

Transformers 2: A big one here with at least half a dozen or so characters that could have been removed, first off was The Fallen as in the actual character referred to in the title, he should have gone and allow that to go to Megatron and Starscream, who got too little screen time again, second is the parents, they should have gone and have Shia’s character living with Megan Fox and have the two of them go off to college, third is the college roommate again cut him out and let Fox take that role and lastly, Mudflap and Skids really should have gone thereby letting Bumblebee and the other Autobots fill their roles which may have gone a long way to filling in the middle of the film.

Spider-Man 3: This one is an example where a character is dictated by a movie studio, in Sam Raimi’s original idea for the film he wasn’t to use the character of Venom as he had never liked the character and felt he was for nerds, but Columbia Pictures had gotten so much correspondence over it “When is Venom going to appear?” that they forced Raimi’s hand and had the character crow barred in at the end of the movie, a move that made the film feel overlong and overstuffed.

And I could go on, but my point is that many movies bring in too many characters in order to either justify the main character’s actions or to move the plot forward, neither of which are really necessary, but the examples above will show that not all types of films are safe from this problem so make of it what you will.

Film Review - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the second movie in the Transformers series and this time the Autobots have formed an alliance with a secret division of the US military to weed out any remaining Decepticons after the destruction of the all spark at the end of the first film, but when Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers a shard of it while moving to college, the race is on to find it and set about an ancient prophecy.

Now, I have to say that Revenge of the Fallen was a big letdown overall; don’t get me wrong it was nice to see the return of Frank Welker as Soundwave, who nicely channels Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, a voice I thought I would never hear on the big screen and I loved Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and the fight sequence in the forest with Prime taking on Megatron, Starscream and Grindor all at once is wonderful.

But even with all those positives, sadly I can’t summon up any enthusiasm for this movie as a whole, as it was far too long by at least 45 minutes, I still wish that Welker had been given his rightful place as the voice of Megatron, there was no real through line to the story as it felt unfocused and in the end, all it did was signify sound and fury and special effects and lots of money that ended up not having any heart or emotion to it, as even the movie’s best moment comes undone by the end.

As for my final rating, I’m going to give this 2 out of 5 due to the positives above but apart from that, there wasn’t much to this movie at all that warrants an immediate ticket purchase and after last year’s Iron Man and The Dark Knight, this is a real shame.

Film Review - Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek is the eleventh film in the series and the storyline concerns a Romulan captain named Nero played by Eric Bana who wants to exact his revenge on Spock since he fails to save his home world of Romulus, while that goes on we also see the beginnings of a man named James T. Kirk and a ship named Enterprise.

Now here is where I have to go against the grain in regards to the response to this picture: Star Trek to me was a big disappointment, but it was not a total letdown as I did laugh at places, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg and Zoë Saldana are terrific in their roles and the pre credits sequence actually did rise up to the level of emotional depth that Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan had and it also did remind me of “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one” from that film.

But unfortunately the movie as a whole simply didn’t work for me, I thought it was too long, too repetitive with the special effects, wobble cam and snappy one liners and it all just for me at least got to a point where I was like okay, so what, big deal and I honestly don’t care any more.

So in closing, Star Trek scrapes through with a 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

The Devil Wears Prada stars Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, a Midwestern girl who goes to New York to apply for a job at Runway Magazine under what she will find out to be the boss from hell, played by Meryl Streep.

Now, even though this is a chick flick by design, I did get some good laughs out of this film, mainly due to the performance by Emily Blunt who looks like a drag queen throughout the film and talks like a character from an old British comedy and Meryl Streep’s performance surprisingly made me think of Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, so much so in fact I was expecting her to be petting a cat throughout the film, the reason I say that is due to the fact that her performance at times crosses into cartoon territory.

Hathaway on the other hand was merely okay, she was better than in Passengers but most of the time she speaks in a snarky and sarcastic tone of voice that reminds you of Alec Baldwin, which I suspect she may become the female equivalent of in the next few years.

As for the film itself, well I did laugh as I said but I didn’t really get with it, so I have to give it a 2 out of 5, there’s a lot to like here from Blunt but Streep bordered on being a bit too cartoonish at times and the rest didn’t do much for me at all.

I would have waited an eternity for this: The Return of James Cameron

As the title says above, December this year sees the release of Avatar, an action sci-fi film starring Australia’s own Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana from Star Trek and Sigourney Weaver, but why am I saying that I would wait an eternity for it.

Well it’s because of who is in the director’s chair, Avatar is the first major movie to be directed by James Cameron since his box office champion Titanic soared to the top of the charts in 1997, Cameron also had a hand in the first two Terminator movies and the 1986 sci-fi sequel Aliens, all three of which are nearly revered by sci-fi fans, myself included due to the fact that they combine heart and hardware effortlessly, a lesson Michael Bay and McG seriously need to learn.

But one question still remains, will Avatar actually deliver the goods and have people like myself jumping for joy at Cameron’s long overdue return, well unfortunately no one can answer that as a trailer hasn’t even been released yet but based on very early word it seems to have more in common with an earlier film from Cameron titled “The Abyss”, which I found to be a very good film that was ultimately undone by its ambitions, but I’ll definitely be watching with intense interest and will try my darndest to see it opening weekend.

Film Review - Knowing (2009)

Knowing stars Nicholas Cage as a recently widowed father who is trying his best to look after his son Caleb, but 50 years earlier a little girl wrote down a series of numbers that have now ended up in a time capsule and handed to Caleb at a dedication ceremony, but as Cage has a closer look at the numbers, he can see within them a pattern, and not a very good one.

And that last part of the sentence could describe this film as it is really one of the worst films released this year, the storyline makes no sense at all and is also laughable, Nicholas Cage really needs to start putting some effort into his acting and the film has no idea about how to end, piling on one ending after another when you’re at the point of “Enough already, just end the damn thing.”

I’m sorry I really am for the people worldwide who saw this as this is one of the worst of 2009, so much so I’m giving this a 1 out of 5.

FIlm Review - The Boat that Rocked (2009)

The Boat that Rocked stars an all star British Cast including Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Davenport, Nick Frost and others during 1966 which was the golden age of pirate radio in England, but not for long.

I thoroughly enjoyed Boat that Rocked, it contains a sweet story, some great humor and a great soundtrack, Nighy is very funny with his comedy regarding the “testicals”, Phillip Seymour Hoffman totally hams it up as the half breezy American DJ on board the boat and it was really nice to see Nick Frost again, having seem him before in Hot Fuzz, a strong frontrunner to become my favourite film of the decade, sadly though if I have to say something negative about it it’s a little bit long but this time I enjoyed myself that much that I’m willing to let that float aside.

I really don’t want to say too much more other than it deserves a look on Blu-Ray and to close this up, I’m going to give this a 4 out of 5 and after the last few duds, it’s nice to see a film that rejuvenates your interest in movies to begin with.

Plan of Attack

As I said earlier, The Cinema Scene has returned from the dead and with a new focus.

-Reviews of newer films
-More editorials
-To help build interest in James Cameron's Avatar

As well as other stuff, I hope you enjoy reading and the archive of reviews is always open.

James Cameron’s Avatar: Thoughts on the Teaser

At long last, director James Cameron has released a small 2 minute teaser for his big December release: Avatar, but what was my reaction to it?

In a word, I thought it was awesome with many shots causing my jaw to drop, the mechs looked fucking amazing in motion and having seen a picture of the life size one from the Comic-Con presentation a few weeks back, I made the comment that it sat right on the shelf with the power loader from Aliens and the hunter killer tanks from Terminator 1 and 2, it also went a long way as to helping to make the wait for its December release a little better.

But sadly, there are many on the internet who don’t feel that way with some comments saying “He’s made a thunder cats movie”, “the CG looks questionable”, “It looks like halo the movie”, “It’s fern gully 3” and so on leading to an overall reaction of “This is it, come on Jim”, my reaction to that is “IT’S A TEASER TRAILER”, I mean all we’ve seen is 2 minutes of footage and as we’ve seen in the past, trailers can be very misleading, what with the trailers for Quantum of Solace being very average and the main trailers for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen showing us Megatron’s resurrection, which reeks of irresponsible behavior on Paramount’s behalf.

So to wrap this all up, my advice to people would be just to go and get a ticket to see this in December, as I most certainly will, ignore all of the hype, the spoilers and the marketing for this time around, I’m not going to tell you what’s it like, you have to see it for yourself.

I'm Back Baby

Hello All.

In order to help build interest for the upcoming film Avatar as well as publish further reviews, The Cinema Scene is back in action baby.