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ChristerDoo
Reviews
Asaruto gâruzu (2009)
More existential slice of life than movie
By spoilers, I mean more by way of telling what this movie is not as opposed to what happens in it. I would really not call this a movie per se but more of an experiment in existential nihilism. The entire proceedings are not really explained - you are just thrust into this VR world and see a few player avatars killing giant sand worms a la Dune (or Vexille's Jags). As said, if you watched this expecting a movie which has a start/ middle/ and end and a plot which makes sense, you will be disappointed. If you are someone who likes experimental cinema and is willing to go for the ride, however bizarre and truncated it may be, you will be less disappointed. If you are the former and appreciate anime and video games, and Japanese cinema and culture in general then you will probably find it an interesting watch, even if it is ultimately without true context or meaning in a traditional sense. Slight shades of Final Fantasy and ICO can be seen, as well as perhaps a very roundabout homage to TRON and a more obvious reference to Mortal Kombat or its ilk. So while not really a movie in the traditional sense, it is nonetheless interesting enough to watch.
Disaster Movie (2008)
Pure crap. Such a waste of everything.
OMG. I got this as part of a 4 pack of similar movies (so no - I did not purposefully purchase it for its own merit). It was the worst of the lot. I want my $2.50 back. This movie is so bad it's not worth the disc it came on (25¢?). I think this is honestly the single worst travesty I have seen and it doesn't deserve to be called a movie. A high school drama class with a vidcam could do a better job. The 'plot' is non-existent. It doesn't even parody disaster movies, but rather just jumbles in EVERY type of movie that has been popular with teens for about the last 5 years. It just steals everything from movies that were good, puts them in a blender, hits TURBO, and then pours the resulting spew into your eyes and ears. The actors are all a bunch of nobody wannabes with utterly stupid dialog. Bottom line - this is total garbage and should have killed dead the 'careers' of everyone involved. Don't waste your time. There is nothing good, funny, whatever about this movie.
El lince perdido (2008)
One word - lacking.
Well colour me disappointed. It seems hard to not make a good animated film these days but this film definitely fails to impress on just about every front. The story itself is simplistic and poorly conveyed. I really wanted to like this movie but could not. I wanted to just shut it off and go to bed at about the half-way mark, which I never do. I stuck it out just to be able to voice my honest opinion of it.
Given the calibre of animated film available for over 10 years, any child will have seen far better movies than this so even a child would probably be bored to frustration with this movie. The fact of the matter is simple - the movie is dull and there isn't even sufficient eye-candy via the animation to compensate for that.
On the animation front - the scenery and backgrounds were well modelled and interesting but the character modelling and animation were definitely not up to today's standards.
Overall - I would have a hard time recommending this even for rental. A five year old just might be able to find something redeeming about it but I cannot.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
Anime in all but origin - GREAT series!
Wow - I cannot recommend this highly enough. I am a total fan of anime (owning 100s of series) and I have to say this is about the closest I have seen an NA animated series come to real anime - that's high praise indeed. Story arc and character development are fantastic. You want to see what happens to the characters because you either root for or against them and you want to see how it ends. This is a totally addictive series which I went through 4 or 5 episodes at a sitting.
My only minor quibble would be that the video quality on the DVDs is not the best, being blurry/ jaggy - especially Disc 1 of Book 1 - whether due to compression techniques or whatnot. This especially stands out on a large 1080p TV, upscaling aside.
Overall - great series. You can see where it borrows from anime, especially Miyazaki, but this strengthens rather than detracts from the show. Excellent.
Rambo (2008)
Satisfyingly gritty - John Rambo comes home.
Wow. For a well-paced and gripping drama with a message you can't go wrong with the latest Rambo. I don't think I have seen effects done like this in any movie before. To me this sets a new bar for visceral realism which I can only hope will be as well done in like movies to come. The story is presented in a hyper-violent manner which really serves as an ironic counterpoint to the genocide it speaks so loudly against. The moral of the plot and the solution as presented by the movie makes you wonder - although I guess it's a simple enough enactment of fighting fire with fire. This movie is finely balanced on its own moral tightrope and could come crashing down on either side depending on the viewer. I will not pass judgment on the message or the morals - you can make these decisions for yourself. Stallone is his usual taciturn, stoic self and is in remarkable shape for his years. He embodies a more mature and self-aware John Rambo well. While not for the squeamish, I whole-heartedly endorse this movie and will be watching it many more times on blu-ray.