Change Your Image
gofenris
Reviews
The Last Airbender (2010)
What did others see that I didn't?
I can only assume rabid fans of the show are the harshest of critics. I watched the show and enjoyed it but I also took the movie as a different telling. I am not much of a fan of M. Night but I enjoyed this film. Yes the film felt a bit rushed early on but the story was interesting and tragic at times. I felt the cast was good even if some of the TV characters weren't as developed as I would have liked in this film. Let's face it, how can you put 12-18 episodes of narrative into a two hour movie? You can't. What was there I enjoyed immensely. Was is interesting and I did appreciated is that this film was moody and free from predictable Hollywood characterizations and I felt the film was much stronger for it. Not perfect by any means but enjoyable to me and I felt we got a far better film from M. Night than the typical Hollywood treatment could have done with it.
Robot Bastard! (2002)
Wow!
OK hater, thanks for the feedback. Who cares if it was good or not, at least the creator is doing something he loves. If you love hating, then it's a win-win I guess. As for my take; is it great? No, but I did enjoy it. It appealed to me on a sort of 11 year old sci-fi action level. Being a fan of the original Doctor Who I find it very easy to overlook the low budget look in favor of imagination. I thought the overall style was pretty cool and Robot himself looked great. Sure, some of the timing and jokes were off but it is sort of an off-beat film. I thought the overall idea was pretty cool and interesting and even the sense of humor was quirky if a bit rough. Too bad it's all that exists, but maybe that's a good thing (in a good way).
Team America: World Police (2004)
Trey and Matt....
What can be said about this movie that hasn't been already... It's funny, it's irreverent and it's just plain silly. What isn't obvious is that while trashing Michael Bay films and paying homage (and parodying Gerry Anderson), Trey Parker has made a "Bayesque" film that is better than any of Michael Bays attempts up until this point. The Cinematographer Bill Pope (His resume' should speak for itself) makes this movie gorgeous to watch, even with the sound turned off, and has one of the greatest (and possibly longest) "pull-back" shots in movie history. Trey Parker's songs are (as always) simply hilarious. The composer Henry Gregson-Williams (another person in which his resume' should speak for itself) is in fine form as his soundtrack is worthy of note to classical music fans. The Chiodo Brothers (I think this is their official handle) are phenomenal puppet builders and I've read that the first attempt with the puppets was toned down by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for being too life like. The Chiodos and their puppeteers did a fantastic job with the emotions of these puppets and while in some scenes the puppets (and their inherent goofiness) is played for laughs, other scenes it's easy to forget they are on strings. I've seen this film 6 or 7 times now and every time I find something else to appreciate. Oddly, what at first seemed a goofy little movie too me, is quickly becoming one of my favorite and reminds me why I started watching movies in the first place. This film encompasses what movie making is... A great director (whether intentional or not), a great cast (although most of it is two guys), fantastic crew with a lot of heart and soul. Which is impressive considering it pretty much trashes the "popular American ideal and attitude" on many levels and along with many other things. If for no other reason, Trey Parker should be applauded for assembling is supporting crew for this film. Now if we can only get Gerry Anderson hooked up with the Chiodo brothers and make sure Jonathan Frakes is no where to be found (maybe an extended Trek cruise)...