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12 Monkeys (2015)
First two episodes as a fan of the Film
As a huge fan of the 1995 Terry Gilliam film, I was pretty excited for the release of this series. Right away the series departs from the film by not questioning Cole's sanity and accepting the time travel elements as simply the truth, Something that was in my opinion one of the better aspects early on in the film. The series is also missing the unique visual style, soundtrack and camera-work that made the film so well regarded, which I kind of expected from a television adaptation and likely having a fraction of the budget.
Its clear this series isn't afraid to stray from the source material and go in its own direction, the jury is still out on if this will be a good thing or a bad thing as far as I'm concerned.
The above observations noted, I am willing to give this series a chance to do its own thing with the material. The plot itself is interesting enough to carry a series like this and perhaps a less roundabout/ambiguous approach could be pretty cool to see, maybe some of the questions left by the film will be answered, and I do like seeing the little nods to the original film here and there.
While Aaron Stanford (Aka Pyro) isn't Bruce Willis he does alright with the less complex, more coherent version of James Cole, I can't blame the actor for the changes to the character that makes him feel kind of bland, hopefully as the series progresses we'll see a bit of a character progression and thus more of a chance for the actor to sink his teeth into the role.
Emily Hampshire on the other hand is strong right out of the gate, following up Brad Pitt's portrayal of Jeffrey Goines isn't an easy task, but she pulls off the twisted character perfectly. While not quite as cartoon-character-like as the film version, the simple female spin on the twisted mental patient Goines works quite well.
I came into it expecting to be slightly disappointed so I was prepared for a "TV" version of one of my favorite movies. Its not horrible or amazing, but I'll give it a few more episodes to warm up and see where it goes.
If you are interested in hearing more of my opinions check me out on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/fadedragontear Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dragontear
Rock & Rule (1983)
Rock & Rule Review
Rock and rule also known as the ring of power in the UK is a 1983 Canadian animated film created by the Nelvana company. Legend has it that Nelvana was approached to create a segment for Heavy Metal but declined instead opting to create their own feature length film. Legend also has it that it failed so epically that the studio almost went bankrupt because of it. So lets take a look at Rock and Rule.
We are introduced firstly to our villain Mok, An egotistical rock star who looks and acts like the result of a hot night of passionate love making between Mick Jagger and David Bowie. The Plot exposition computer explains that he is seeking something called the Armageddon key, and that he will need a voice to open a gateway to another dimension.
We cut into Ohmtown and are introduced to our protagonists, members of a smalltime band playing gigs at a open mike night. Its around this point in the movie you might be asking yourself why everyone looks like rejects from the goofy movie, iunno, anyway there's the vocal duo of Omar, Angel backed up by the musical accompaniment of Dizzy and Stretch.
Without doing a scene by scene analysis Mok invites the band to his mansion to discuss a record contract, but we quickly learn where his interests lie when he instead kidnaps angel and its up to Omar and the gang to pursue mok to Nuke York to rescue her.
This film seems very confused as to who they are aiming for, it has a very child friendly Disney-esque look but with adult content such as drug abuse, some brief nudity and adult language mixed in.
The villain Mok also seems seriously confused about his role, hes extremely menacing in some pretty scary ways but he has this super campy "ohhh I'm the villain" song and he goes from looking like a stereotypical 80s rock star to lookin like a F***in California raisin on extacy somewhere along the way.
animation is very good with lots of fluid movements and eyecandy for the viewer, compared to other animation of the time it comes out quite well. Its like the flipper baby result of a passionate night of love making between Heavy Metal and Disney which seem like polar opposites but in this case it actually works in this films favor.
The high points of this film are definitely the musical scenes with awesome soundtrack contributions from greats like cheap trick, Debbie Harry and Lou Reed and earth wind and fire.
As mentioned before this film was a huge flop making only 30 grand of its 8 million dollar budget according to IMDb, did it deserve better? I think so. While not quite on the level of classics like heavy metal, I find it to be an enjoyable film worth bringing up over 30 years later.
So that's my short look at Rock & Rule, if you would like to see the video version of the review it can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUzRnHnFTOo
Now You See Me (2013)
Extremely Fun
I must say I have an affinity for films that keep you guessing and this is a perfect example.
Centering around themes of misdirection, showmanship and prestige this film not only had me engaged with the brilliant acting from the A-list cast, but also with an amazingly written story which had me rethinking each characters motivations and roles in the situation.
While the cast is stellar and everyone gives a good performance, I feel that Mark Ruffalo really steals the show here, serving as a great analog for the audience as he muddles through the mystery trying to make sense of the events that transpire.
I would suggest this for any fan of magician movies, mystery movies, or just good movies in general.