Gundam Wing will always and forever be my favorite anime series of all time. I own every episode (in digital format) and I own the movie. It's the greatest story in anime history. What makes it so great is the balance. There is a great balance between plot and action. Even when the action is happening, the plot is always the main reason for it. The Gundam pilots even are amazing, given great backstory, tragic pasts, tragic scenes, and all around great exposition. You really start to feel for them. Heero Yuy, the main character, even though he's so unfeeling, you get a feel that he has so much inner turmoil. The opposite of him is in the show as well. Pilot Quatre Rebaba Winner, a Gundam Pilot with his feelings always out at the forefront of his actions. He feels too deeply. Plus the Gundams themselves are awesome. They are called Gundams because they are made of a special metal called Gundanium that can only be forged in space.
Now that I've watched all of that series, multiple times, had time to reflect, make connections to reality, make connections to story and plot points, I've moved on to another series. The series I'm currently watching is Gundam 00. It takes place in a set year of 2307 AD. Planet Earth has all of its fossil fuels drained and must now rely on solar power, so around the world are giant pillars that extend into space and collect sunlight, turn it into energy, and I'm sure you know how solar power works. Sunlight->heat->energy. Anyway. The world is not split up into nations anymore. It is, but they form different unions of power, 3 to be exact. The Union is the united states and some other nations around it. AEU is the Advanced European Union. It's pretty much the current European Union. Human Reform League is the rest of the world.
These three powers have a treaty imposing regulations based on military power and whatnot. Basically they all disobey the treaty and start building armies of mobile suits. Giant fighting robots. (making gundam sound so much cooler).
The difference between the Gundam pilots of this series (now known as meisters...) and from Wing is that there are only 4, and these guys are less interesting. Setsuna F Seiei is pilot of the Gundam Exia, which in all honesty is completely kick ass. It has a giant blade at all times, beam sabers, gets more blades...it's awesome. There's also Gundams Dynames, Virtue, and Kyrios. The only reason these are known as Gundams is that they have Gundam printed on them, and they are powered by GN drives (I don't know what they are really).
The problem, like I mentioned before, is that I just don't care about these pilots. They are part of an organization to stop war by means of armed intervention. Basically they go into the middle of a conflict and wipe out the weapons on both sides. What's wrong with that? Nothing, Gundam Wing basically did the same thing, toward the end; but in 00, you see the bosses and the people behind the Gundam missions. In Wing, you didn't know right away, it was all a mystery that you had to figure out after proper introduction to certain plot elements and certain characters. Here they just flop it right on your lap and say "Here ya go!"
In this series, everything happens too fast. There's not enough time to reflect on where the Gundams are, why they are there, or who they are really fighting against. It's just BAM action scene, itty bitty plot scene, BAM ACTION.
I haven't watched enough 00 to give a complete review, but from what I've seen it's just not as good as Wing.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Number 23
Let me start by saying that when I first saw this movie in theaters I really enjoyed it. I really like those types of crazy conspiracy and guy going crazy movies. I'm all about that.
And cats. I love cats.
But really, I thought this was a great movie. I started looking for 23 in my life just to see if there was actually 23 in stuff that I could be connected to. There wasn't much, I think I could only find one 23 in my life. Damn too bad.
But time went on, and it has been such a long time since I've viewed this movie. Does it hold up? Well, no. But why? It all comes down to one simple point.
Jim Carrey can't be in a serious role. He got it right in Eternal Sunshine, but in that movie he was still able to be a goofy guy. Everyone was goofy, it was an indie, they all had quirky names and jobs and problems. But here you can see him wanting to be goofy or funny. You see him trying to slip in some humor, but it's all forced. It just doesn't work. This is when he's in the real world of the movie. When he's playing Walter Sparrow.
In the scenes where he's Fingerling, in the world of the book, it comes off like...well...this.
It's like he's mocking himself in the movie.
Really. I couldn't help but be reminded of this clip when I was watching those scenes. Jim Carrey used the same voice, he had a smirk on his face, one eyebrow up, everything. The only thing he was missing was the strange haircut. He still had one, but it was a different strange haircut.
He's not the only person who was bad in this. The son was uninteresting. He just went along with the father character but I just didn't care. He just said lines. No conviction, no feeling, no good.
Virginia Madsen who I normally like is even pretty bad in this. Same problem as the son. I could see her reading lines, just waiting for her cues.
The only good performance comes from Mark Pellegrino who plays the person wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of Laura Tollins, and he's only on screen for about 4 minutes. This whole movie feels like a parody of the psychological drama. It's just all together poorly done.
This isn't the worst movie I've ever watched, that will forever be Bloody Mary (just typing those words makes my skin itch), but It certainly is in my top 5 worst.
I love near the end of the movie where Walter finally discovers the truth, then tries to possibly commit suicide by standing in front of a bus. The bus driver does nothing! Living in a city full of buses, I'm pretty sure that even a bus driver would stop if he or she were to see a person standing in their path; or at least try to veer out of the way. This bus driver just honks a couple times and doesn't even slow down.
I found myself laughing because of how bad this movie was and I can't find the original appeal it had. I don't recommend watching and if you already have seen it I don't recommend re-watching it. Altogether just not worth it.
Final rating: 2/10. Hmm, maybe this is worse than Blood Mary....nah.
And cats. I love cats.
But really, I thought this was a great movie. I started looking for 23 in my life just to see if there was actually 23 in stuff that I could be connected to. There wasn't much, I think I could only find one 23 in my life. Damn too bad.
But time went on, and it has been such a long time since I've viewed this movie. Does it hold up? Well, no. But why? It all comes down to one simple point.
Jim Carrey can't be in a serious role. He got it right in Eternal Sunshine, but in that movie he was still able to be a goofy guy. Everyone was goofy, it was an indie, they all had quirky names and jobs and problems. But here you can see him wanting to be goofy or funny. You see him trying to slip in some humor, but it's all forced. It just doesn't work. This is when he's in the real world of the movie. When he's playing Walter Sparrow.
In the scenes where he's Fingerling, in the world of the book, it comes off like...well...this.
It's like he's mocking himself in the movie.
Really. I couldn't help but be reminded of this clip when I was watching those scenes. Jim Carrey used the same voice, he had a smirk on his face, one eyebrow up, everything. The only thing he was missing was the strange haircut. He still had one, but it was a different strange haircut.
He's not the only person who was bad in this. The son was uninteresting. He just went along with the father character but I just didn't care. He just said lines. No conviction, no feeling, no good.
Virginia Madsen who I normally like is even pretty bad in this. Same problem as the son. I could see her reading lines, just waiting for her cues.
The only good performance comes from Mark Pellegrino who plays the person wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of Laura Tollins, and he's only on screen for about 4 minutes. This whole movie feels like a parody of the psychological drama. It's just all together poorly done.
This isn't the worst movie I've ever watched, that will forever be Bloody Mary (just typing those words makes my skin itch), but It certainly is in my top 5 worst.
I love near the end of the movie where Walter finally discovers the truth, then tries to possibly commit suicide by standing in front of a bus. The bus driver does nothing! Living in a city full of buses, I'm pretty sure that even a bus driver would stop if he or she were to see a person standing in their path; or at least try to veer out of the way. This bus driver just honks a couple times and doesn't even slow down.
I found myself laughing because of how bad this movie was and I can't find the original appeal it had. I don't recommend watching and if you already have seen it I don't recommend re-watching it. Altogether just not worth it.
Final rating: 2/10. Hmm, maybe this is worse than Blood Mary....nah.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Whip It
Ellen Page is a tiny tiny person. In this film, the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, she plays the timid Bliss, who ironically is not at all happy doing pageants that her mother makes her partake in. We first see her in a pageant where she thinks it's a good idea to ruin her chances of winning the pageant by doing some crazy "punk rock" hairdo. My television might be messed up but it didn't look like there was much done to it other than it was down and something was in it. Something blue. After this, in the car, we see Bliss fulfill her awkward "nerdy" teen Ellen Page persona by doing what? Wearing glasses and putting on an obscure 80's band t-shirt. The band is Stryper, a christian metal band. For what I feel is no reason, this t-shirt plays an important role in a love interest for Bliss, which doesn't really pay off. It just sort of happens.
Bliss's best friend, coworker, and classmate is Pash (strange name (not a name)) played by Alia Shawkat. Pash is the opposite of Bliss, she is loud, drinks, hooks up with random dudes, parties, and dares Bliss to do thinks she doesn't think Bliss will do, like join the team. The two have a falling out, but in true indie film fashion (I must have missed the part where the title was spelled with large block bubbled letters) they reconcile their differences at their job (where they are forced to dress like "dorks").
I'll break this film up into some categories again like I did with Bloody Mary. And here I thought I'd never have to type those words again...
Part 1: Acting
Ellen Page is good as always, because she's playing the same type of character. The outcast type of insecure, unconfident, "dorky", teenager who dreams of doing something different. It's the Michael Cera problem, if you're really good in a certain type of role, you're going to be cast as that role until you start to change physically, which neither of them have yet. Drew Barrymore is funny in her role of the stoner, which isn't hard to play, but granted she did pull double duty with directing, which is more important. Kirsten Wiig funny as always. DANIEL F**KIN STERN is always good, and anything with him in it gets an automatic +1 for knowing how to cast the screwball dad who really cares for the family. The person who steals the show (or did for me) is Andrew Wilson who plays the coach of the Hurl Scouts (cute) Razor. He is funny, quiet and pretty monotone, but for some reason I liked him the best. It just felt like everyone was having fun making this.
Part 2: Scale for Budget or Production Value
Honestly this movie looks great, and with a budget of $10M you can really see it. There wasn't a lot of fancy camerawork, there were a few crane shots but they were small and not overdone. The best camerawork I felt was when the derby teams were playing (rolling? derby-ing?) and the camera was on the track with them. It must have been choreographed well. Costuming was good as well as casting. For a relatively small budget, this film has a large and well known cast. Jimmy Fallon is a track announcer and Marcia Gay Harden plays Bliss's mother.
Part 3: Direction
Like I stated, it seemed like everyone had fun making the film, and I feel that comes from a strong understanding of how to talk to the actors from Drew Barrymore. A hardened and long-term actress herself, she understands how to get what she needs and wants out of her actors, and this being her debut in directing, it really shows that she knows what she's doing. I expect great things from her in the future, as long as she stays away from Rom-Coms and takes some risks. Nothing against Rom-Coms, I would just like to see Ms. Barrymore do something different.
So there it is, I'd recommend seeing Whip It if you haven't yet. It was fun and chuckle worthy at parts. Let's give this one 7.5/10
Bliss's best friend, coworker, and classmate is Pash (strange name (not a name)) played by Alia Shawkat. Pash is the opposite of Bliss, she is loud, drinks, hooks up with random dudes, parties, and dares Bliss to do thinks she doesn't think Bliss will do, like join the team. The two have a falling out, but in true indie film fashion (I must have missed the part where the title was spelled with large block bubbled letters) they reconcile their differences at their job (where they are forced to dress like "dorks").
I'll break this film up into some categories again like I did with Bloody Mary. And here I thought I'd never have to type those words again...
Part 1: Acting
Ellen Page is good as always, because she's playing the same type of character. The outcast type of insecure, unconfident, "dorky", teenager who dreams of doing something different. It's the Michael Cera problem, if you're really good in a certain type of role, you're going to be cast as that role until you start to change physically, which neither of them have yet. Drew Barrymore is funny in her role of the stoner, which isn't hard to play, but granted she did pull double duty with directing, which is more important. Kirsten Wiig funny as always. DANIEL F**KIN STERN is always good, and anything with him in it gets an automatic +1 for knowing how to cast the screwball dad who really cares for the family. The person who steals the show (or did for me) is Andrew Wilson who plays the coach of the Hurl Scouts (cute) Razor. He is funny, quiet and pretty monotone, but for some reason I liked him the best. It just felt like everyone was having fun making this.
Part 2: Scale for Budget or Production Value
Honestly this movie looks great, and with a budget of $10M you can really see it. There wasn't a lot of fancy camerawork, there were a few crane shots but they were small and not overdone. The best camerawork I felt was when the derby teams were playing (rolling? derby-ing?) and the camera was on the track with them. It must have been choreographed well. Costuming was good as well as casting. For a relatively small budget, this film has a large and well known cast. Jimmy Fallon is a track announcer and Marcia Gay Harden plays Bliss's mother.
Part 3: Direction
Like I stated, it seemed like everyone had fun making the film, and I feel that comes from a strong understanding of how to talk to the actors from Drew Barrymore. A hardened and long-term actress herself, she understands how to get what she needs and wants out of her actors, and this being her debut in directing, it really shows that she knows what she's doing. I expect great things from her in the future, as long as she stays away from Rom-Coms and takes some risks. Nothing against Rom-Coms, I would just like to see Ms. Barrymore do something different.
So there it is, I'd recommend seeing Whip It if you haven't yet. It was fun and chuckle worthy at parts. Let's give this one 7.5/10
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