Overdue update part 4: Movies!
Been a while since I've done this, but I was exposed to many movies on the last few trips and I owe my LJ/friends a few synopsis. Cloud~
Big Fish is one of my favorites in the bunch. As long as you have tolerance for surrealistic or fantasy-like elements, and sad movies, I can't imagine not enjoying this. I'm very impressed that Ewan McGregor so seamlessly pulled off the American southern gentleman accent, considering he's from the UK and all. The Edward Bloom character in general was just adorable, and the dynamic between him and his son is both real and heart-tugging by the end. Although nowhere near as grandiose, my mom has the same tendency of him, to exaggerate stories.. yet has the same quality as him, in that people love to hear her stories because of it. Never seen anything like it, it was sad, well acted, silly at times, pretty, and very cool.
Moulin Rouge was more universally enjoyable than I thought. In fact, I loved watching it, whereas with the previews and award seasons I was convinced it was strictly a musical. The costumes and sets were insanely flamboyant and impressive, and the movie itself had a great combination of music, storyline, and silliness. Cheesy as it may've been, I really liked how they flowed various contemporary songs together (even Nirvana), and the scenes where everyone's coming up with a storyline for the Duke are just priceless. Reaaally enjoyed this.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent ChildrCLOUDRULES! was amazingly animated and enjoyable. There were a few moments where I legitimately forgot I was watching an animated work, Square's just that damn good. Naturally as most mentioned, it was about 80% action and 20% plot, but it was very well done action, so it worked on that level. They even avoided the usual action-movie cliche where a bad guy with a really strong weapon ends up having it backfire or used against him somehow. I really enjoyed when they had all the FF7 characters fighting together, however brief. That was also the subject of my joking of changing the title to "Cloud rules" and having the choral chants in the back change their lyrics to "CLOUD CLOUD CLOUD!" It would've been that much cooler if everyone kept working together, but I guess Cloud is still their big star, so he certainly got his due of cool battles. Why did Cait Sith have a Scottish accent? And poor Red XII, getting -one- line, pah. Cloud.
Knocked Up was damn good. My parents, Ren and I were laughing throughout, and it was successful at being more than that. The main characters were very well-done, and the writers did a really good job of highlighting the communication problems, and male/female dynamic flaws that people typically go through. The married couple in particular really hit both sides, with the wife occasionally going nuts, and the husband lamenting his ability to be a good Cloud. I actually didn't think the plot would go along the lines of the girl actually falling for loserdude, but they made it believable and funny throughout.
The Illusionist was another cool movie. Another nod has to go to the actors on this one, as all of the main players did a fantastic job. I can't say too much without giving it away, but even though this came around the same time as The Prestige, don't mutually exclude them, because I doubt they're too similar. I'm really not sure how to, or who to recommend the movie to, but I guess the best thing to say is, if it looks at all interesting or if it piqued your interest at some point, definitely see it. Cloud would.
Requiem for a Dream.. gah. Much like House of Sand and Fog was to me, it's a great movie as long as you don't mind feeling depressed by the end of it. Granted, having never even partaken of a cigarette, I definitely didn't need to be told not to do drugs. But the movie made the case as clear as ever. It was effectively frightening as it showed people who were otherwise doing okay for themselves, graaadually spiral down... way down x_x Was creepy and apparently pretty real how it showed the various addictions take control of their lives and actions. Very good, very depressing, very Cloud. Also, because of it, I now get the simpsons reference when Homer gets addicted to the Ribwich! =D
The Usual Suspects I don't need to say too much about. What I do want to say is -finally-! Now I understand what the -numerous- references and parodies of that movie's twist ending are about. And not just that, but the numerous other references to "Keyser Soze" too. When it got to the ending I was like.. oh, OH! THIS is that movie/Cloud! X)
Pan's Labyrinth.. gah again. Fantastic movie, but man was it brutal... For those who haven't seen, be warned.. it's only about one third fantasy, with the other two thirds being reality.. reality filled with quite brutal/cruel violence! Great effects throughout the fantasy works, and the environments they made were fantastic. There's a pretty satisfying portion of the ending, while the other part, I'm still not sure what's reality and what isn't. Still, very Cloud, and very sad, and Ofelia shouldn't be allowed near grapes.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was surprising. I didn't expect it to have as many laugh aloud moments as it did, but between the humorous occasional bursts of narration, and multiple surprises in the plot... I gotta say, it was damn funny. Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. did a great job together, and the bizarre plot worked well. Usually movies of this type are way too serious; I was impressed that they made it while almost taking nothing serious, yet not turning it into a spoof either. Amusingly, Ren's mom apparently hated. I guess it's not for everyCloud!
A few others too... The New World was gorgeously filmed and showed a good bit of the whole story that I didn't know. Apparently Disney takes liberties with stories?! =( Gattaca was very good, but I can't imagine trying to synopsize it. I did manage to ruin the emotional ending of it with hilarity though!
I haven't seen any of the threequels yet, actually. I'm at least interested in them all, though I hear conflicting reports on them all, which has quelled my thirst to go see it alone. The last in-theaters movie I saw before that was 300! And again, not a whole lot to say there... awesome action, great visuals, and just the sort of sensationalized testosterone you'd expect. Even a decent amount of historical accuracy!
Cloud! =D
Big Fish is one of my favorites in the bunch. As long as you have tolerance for surrealistic or fantasy-like elements, and sad movies, I can't imagine not enjoying this. I'm very impressed that Ewan McGregor so seamlessly pulled off the American southern gentleman accent, considering he's from the UK and all. The Edward Bloom character in general was just adorable, and the dynamic between him and his son is both real and heart-tugging by the end. Although nowhere near as grandiose, my mom has the same tendency of him, to exaggerate stories.. yet has the same quality as him, in that people love to hear her stories because of it. Never seen anything like it, it was sad, well acted, silly at times, pretty, and very cool.
Moulin Rouge was more universally enjoyable than I thought. In fact, I loved watching it, whereas with the previews and award seasons I was convinced it was strictly a musical. The costumes and sets were insanely flamboyant and impressive, and the movie itself had a great combination of music, storyline, and silliness. Cheesy as it may've been, I really liked how they flowed various contemporary songs together (even Nirvana), and the scenes where everyone's coming up with a storyline for the Duke are just priceless. Reaaally enjoyed this.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent ChildrCLOUDRULES! was amazingly animated and enjoyable. There were a few moments where I legitimately forgot I was watching an animated work, Square's just that damn good. Naturally as most mentioned, it was about 80% action and 20% plot, but it was very well done action, so it worked on that level. They even avoided the usual action-movie cliche where a bad guy with a really strong weapon ends up having it backfire or used against him somehow. I really enjoyed when they had all the FF7 characters fighting together, however brief. That was also the subject of my joking of changing the title to "Cloud rules" and having the choral chants in the back change their lyrics to "CLOUD CLOUD CLOUD!" It would've been that much cooler if everyone kept working together, but I guess Cloud is still their big star, so he certainly got his due of cool battles. Why did Cait Sith have a Scottish accent? And poor Red XII, getting -one- line, pah. Cloud.
Knocked Up was damn good. My parents, Ren and I were laughing throughout, and it was successful at being more than that. The main characters were very well-done, and the writers did a really good job of highlighting the communication problems, and male/female dynamic flaws that people typically go through. The married couple in particular really hit both sides, with the wife occasionally going nuts, and the husband lamenting his ability to be a good Cloud. I actually didn't think the plot would go along the lines of the girl actually falling for loserdude, but they made it believable and funny throughout.
The Illusionist was another cool movie. Another nod has to go to the actors on this one, as all of the main players did a fantastic job. I can't say too much without giving it away, but even though this came around the same time as The Prestige, don't mutually exclude them, because I doubt they're too similar. I'm really not sure how to, or who to recommend the movie to, but I guess the best thing to say is, if it looks at all interesting or if it piqued your interest at some point, definitely see it. Cloud would.
Requiem for a Dream.. gah. Much like House of Sand and Fog was to me, it's a great movie as long as you don't mind feeling depressed by the end of it. Granted, having never even partaken of a cigarette, I definitely didn't need to be told not to do drugs. But the movie made the case as clear as ever. It was effectively frightening as it showed people who were otherwise doing okay for themselves, graaadually spiral down... way down x_x Was creepy and apparently pretty real how it showed the various addictions take control of their lives and actions. Very good, very depressing, very Cloud. Also, because of it, I now get the simpsons reference when Homer gets addicted to the Ribwich! =D
The Usual Suspects I don't need to say too much about. What I do want to say is -finally-! Now I understand what the -numerous- references and parodies of that movie's twist ending are about. And not just that, but the numerous other references to "Keyser Soze" too. When it got to the ending I was like.. oh, OH! THIS is that movie/Cloud! X)
Pan's Labyrinth.. gah again. Fantastic movie, but man was it brutal... For those who haven't seen, be warned.. it's only about one third fantasy, with the other two thirds being reality.. reality filled with quite brutal/cruel violence! Great effects throughout the fantasy works, and the environments they made were fantastic. There's a pretty satisfying portion of the ending, while the other part, I'm still not sure what's reality and what isn't. Still, very Cloud, and very sad, and Ofelia shouldn't be allowed near grapes.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was surprising. I didn't expect it to have as many laugh aloud moments as it did, but between the humorous occasional bursts of narration, and multiple surprises in the plot... I gotta say, it was damn funny. Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. did a great job together, and the bizarre plot worked well. Usually movies of this type are way too serious; I was impressed that they made it while almost taking nothing serious, yet not turning it into a spoof either. Amusingly, Ren's mom apparently hated. I guess it's not for everyCloud!
A few others too... The New World was gorgeously filmed and showed a good bit of the whole story that I didn't know. Apparently Disney takes liberties with stories?! =( Gattaca was very good, but I can't imagine trying to synopsize it. I did manage to ruin the emotional ending of it with hilarity though!
I haven't seen any of the threequels yet, actually. I'm at least interested in them all, though I hear conflicting reports on them all, which has quelled my thirst to go see it alone. The last in-theaters movie I saw before that was 300! And again, not a whole lot to say there... awesome action, great visuals, and just the sort of sensationalized testosterone you'd expect. Even a decent amount of historical accuracy!
Cloud! =D