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Reviews
Swamp Thing: The Shipment (1990)
***Major Spoiler
I cannot believe they wrote Jim Kipp out of the story like this. I was sure it would be wrapped up in the following episode, but no, sadly, it wasn't. I'm still watching the series because I can't resist, don't get me wrong, but I found the series very enjoyable with a child protagonist, sort of aiding Swamp Thing. But I also always did enjoy those types of films as a child too... You know where the 11 year old foils all the bad guys. Sure, it's absurd, but great entertainment. I was sad to see Jim Kipp go. Long live Jim Kipp! Maybe someday he will escape his fate as a South American slave child. :( Truly horrible (and hilarious at the same time that the writers wrote him out in this fashion.)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
Blatant Propaganda
This film is propaganda. Pure and simple. It is a slap in the face of Americans and all people of the world who know the official 9/11 story is not the truth and all this movie does is try to slip it past you and shove it down your throat all over again.
Then, but not surprisingly, using guilt as a motivator for its audience to believe everything that it is saying. I'm telling you, this film is propaganda and has everything to do with the times we are living in. The government is pulling out the big guns on us now, people. Be prepared.
Do not hesitate for a moment to go see this movie. It is propaganda in every sense of the word, made and intended to toy with your emotions, your human emotions, to gain sympathy and support for a con job that was 9/11.
And if you didn't believe it before, this is definitive proof they are still trying to brainwash the American people and the rest of the world into thinking what they said happened, really was what happened.
Desperate, desperate attempt. I hope some of you out there are AWAKE.
Peace be with you.
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Don't be fooled by the high rating and the animation!
I was so excited to see a new Winnie the Pooh movie with the original- style animation that I pulled out some of my VHS tapes that were recorded from the TV when I was a kid. Winnie the Pooh is definitely one of my favorite cartoons of all time and I love every character equally for each's individual traits.
That being said, I began watching this movie and was very hopeful and excited at the beginning. Like I said, I knew I would see some good animation, but the beginning started out as a pan of real-life Christopher Robin's room, of all the toys and stuffed animals of the characters. Wow. I was really excited that they were going to follow the original Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh so closely. We then got the zoom into the book Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. Yes! The book opens and we get the map. Yes! Except it's updated with the new animation. Everything is OK so far.
Then, we start into the story. I mean as SOON as the narrator began reading the story, he began interacting with Pooh within the book. Yes, I know this is something from the original and I love this. However, the fact the narrator was already talking to Pooh this early on, I felt like it was forced and they were only doing it because they could, like "Look what we can do," "These are all the wonderful little tributes to the old Pooh you're going to see in this story." It was just pretentious and I didn't like it.
Yes, I know some will argue, "But you're an adult, this is a kid's movie." No. The great thing about Winnie the Pooh is that the characters are so wonderful, lovable, and sweet and the 100-Acre-Wood is such a fantastic, delightful imaginative place that it can be loved by children and adults alike. That makes a great children's story... one that never gets old as you do.
So, I continued to watch, with hope that things would get better than this. The animation is OK, by the way. They did stay really close to the original and for that, I am grateful. I'm glad they didn't CGI the crap out of it. However, there are moments where it just isn't "right." For example, Christopher Robin has an "updated" wardrobe, which really didn't need any updating. And the way they drew his eyes... Well, let's just say that he doesn't look like "the average boy" anymore. You'll have to just see for yourself... (muffled laughter)
By about 15 minutes into it, you realize they aren't going to stick to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh format, like was represented at the beginning. That format gave you 2 separate stories and they were generally about "nothing," such as The Blustery Day and The Honey Tree. It was just for fun. You didn't have a real mission and you didn't have to learn anything on the way. Once I was presented with the storyline, which at first started out with Pooh needing honey and Eeyore needing a new tail, I was immediately bored. I thought "There is no way they are going to carry this out for an hour, ugh." I was so bored already. I don't really know what happened between then and about 30 minutes in where the story became about Christopher Robin being kidnapped? It was just bad and boring. This is sure to put any child to sleep.
There are also far too many musical numbers and they are very repetitive like an SNL skit, almost like it's supposed to be funny, but you really feel forced into it. The songs are bad and not to typical "Pooh spirit" of just happy-go-lucky.
Last, the voice acting. It's almost as if they didn't even try here. Did they actually look for voice actors who sounded like the originals? I mean, don't get me wrong, there are moments in which the voices sound better than others, but most notably Owl is way off from the original.
I also want to say that all the characters run around together for the entire duration of the film. In the original, they all had their separate lives. By the way, Gopher is missing and I love Gopher. I loved how in the original, Rabbit was usually tending to his garden, Owl was up in his tree house, Gopher was underground, Pooh had his house, Piglet his, Tigger seemed to roam around, and there's Kanga and Roo.
Some of you may think I am comparing this one too rigidly against the originals. That may be true, however, that is how this film presented itself: to be as close to the original as possible. So, that is how I am judging it.
Bottom line: I was very excited about this one and really wanted to like it, but just can't. I am very disappointed, but nothing will ever be as great as the originals. However, this one could have still tried much, much harder... or maybe not tried as much? Either way, 4/10.
Super 8 (2011)
NOT LIKE E.T.!! I never review, but had to clear this up!
This movie was a breath of fresh air. I saw all the comparisons to E.T. before viewing this film and being 25, E.T. was one of my favorite movies as a kid, but I was honestly desperately hoping they could do an alien film with kids without trying to pull needless tears out of me. I just didn't want that type of emotional ride.
That being said, let me say this movie is NOTHING like E.T. We all know E.T. is about children who *befriend* an alien and he parts at the end and we're all just devastated. That is not the case here at all. The only remote similarity to E.T. this movie holds is the "style" in which it is shot, but if we are judging by "style," we can also say at some points this movie is comparable to The Goonies. The hairstyles, clothing, cars, etc have a very 80s feel to them, but the year is very ambiguous. It could be taking place in present day, it could be in 1982, it could be anytime.
If you are a sci-fi fan, you will absolutely love this movie. If you are nostalgic for "the way movies used to be made," you will LOVE this movie. As soon as the credits begin to roll, I was already ready to watch the movie again because I just couldn't get enough. Although, they could have carried the story a little further, it really wasn't necessary. So, if you choose not to read any further, just know this movie is definitely the best film that has came out this year and totally worth all the hype. Thank you for reading.
***STOP HERE, MAY SPOIL***
My only difficulty during the movie was Elle Fanning's character and the one boy's creepy crush on her that goes undiscussed for quite a while. Her character is sort of clueless and really seems to have no place other than to be the one girl and to take part in the film the kids are making. I found myself, at times, kind of wishing she was not there. Her dad is depicted as a a-hole and we are not supposed to like him, but I found myself agreeing with him *just* because the boy had not really stated his purpose and was kinda "hanging around" just waiting on her to profess her undying love for him. However! I must say there's eventually a conversation and it was not really addressed how I thought it would be, but they were able to relate to one another in a way we were not aware of until the scene takes place. This redeems their relationship a little and makes it much easier to understand and to watch. Whew!
***DEFINITE SPOILERS*** Towards the end, I was pleasantly surprised to find the boy was willing to confront the alien face-to-face when I was *just* thinking, "Man, he should totally take on the alien himself instead of all of them running like idiots" and as soon as I thought it should happen, it did. The lesson was completely gratifying. The boy confronts his fear and verbalizes to the malevolent alien that "Bad things happen, but that doesn't mean you can't LIVE," which we know wasn't *just* about the alien situation currently taking place. We learn about "letting go" and acceptance. I was shocked they even thought to do this. It could have easily taken the direction of a war movie with the kids having some kind of insight into the situation, but this, oh, it was so much better. The movie knew what it wanted to be and completely stayed true to it the entire time.
Game of Thrones (2011)
I think I know why some are conflicted...
I came across this show today while browsing the internet for general fantasy films. During this search, I came across the books this series is based on, then I saw the reference to this show, which I immediately watched. I had no prior knowledge of this show, hadn't seen commercials, nothing. There was no "hype" for me.
But as a fantasy genre fan, I absolutely love this show so far. I haven't read the books so I don't know how close the adaptation follows the original story.
I have read lots of reviews and many rave just as I am, but I also read some negative reviews. Mostly, I was wanting to know how other people felt about all the incest in the show. I noticed that this is not mentioned by anyone! People are talking about the "sex and violence," but don't really say what it is that probably bothers them. Like to even acknowledge the incest, may make one suspect to liking it or something? Anyway, there is incest in this show and lots of it. Maybe the people that read the books are numb to that or something, but it is in abundance. I'm really shocked that people are pretending to not notice this because I'm sure, since it's a major part of the story, that the incest is what is making this show such a huge hit. It's a bit controversial, hence some calling it more "adult." I would agree, but one could be more specific. The violence is nothing you've never seen before, but it's good. There is some female nudity that is just unnecessary sometimes as if they are doing it just because they can. That's probably the only thing that may be a little irritating, but it's certainly not so 'chocked full of sex that it's unwatchable' or even comparable to porn.
I think this is why reading reviews can be sometimes confusing or complicating because things are not clarified or not too specific. To further add, I think those that were distracted by the sex enough to not like the show, may have blushed/were offended during one of the abundant incest scenes. As for the people that loved it, the incest is a vital part of the story and I wish people would be more comfortable with pointing that out for the rest of us.
Good show.
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
A slap in the face
This film is the most offensive thing I have ever seen. As someone else said, the tone is "aggressive." The writing feels very hostile and hateful or like someone's diluted sexual fantasy barely strung together scene after scene after scene...
Why was the sperm donor all of a sudden just so willing meet someone else's children? Why did the sperm bank call him to tell him they have a privacy policy, but we were just wanting to know if you'd be interested in meeting somebody? Uh, isn't that the first thing you expect when you jerk it in a cup? That your semen won't be looking you up 15 years down the road? Horrible plot. No lessons learned.
I give it a 1/10 just to bring the score down.
This film is incredibly overrated.
Californication (2007)
COMPLETE RIPOFF of writer Charles Bukowski!
Anyone who sincerely loves this show for what it is should definitely read anything written by Charles Bukowski. He writes himself into his own stories as "Henry" aka "Hank." The name is not the only similarity between this author and what the show Californication is portraying. Hank (the original Charles Bukowski version) is also an alcoholic womanizer who never finds complete satisfaction with any woman he is with, which of course makes for realism and good comedy. For more info on how this is a rip-off or info on the REAL HANK, simply Google "Charles Bukowski Californication" or see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bukowski
F**K the so-called "writers" and creators of this show. It is a complete disgrace to an incredible writer and person who died in his own art/disease.
I HIGHLY recommend Bukowski's 1978 novel entitled Women.