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stargateguy1
Reviews
The Skeleton's Compass (2022)
Cute and Enjoyable Family Movie
I just ran across this movie and didn't think much of it with it looking like just another mediocre kid's movie. I didn't expect it to be what it was - a little gold nugget!
First, at the time of writing this review, I'm a student at the University of North Georgia *in Dahlonega, GA* so to discover that's where the movie was based and filmed got me really exited. I also love how the production involved the historic Dahlonega Consolidated Gold mine, a major tourist attraction here in town. I encourage any visitors to go!
Overall, I did enjoy this movie. I wouldn't say it was fantastic, but it definitely wasn't boring. It wasn't even overly predictable either. I liked the surprises that came about, and I enjoyed how the movie ended, even if it was kind of quick.
The acting was probably the weakest link of the movie, but it was still better than many of the low-budget movies I've seen.
I'd give this movie an 8/10 rating, and definitely recommend it if you're looking for a sweet family movie to enjoy over dinner or something.
Robin's Wish (2020)
Robin's Wish - Oh Capitan, My Capitan
Robin's Wish wasn't the documentary I was expecting at first glance. I was ready for something that would go back over his life of roles and characters and the people he impacted. Wow. Was I not ready for this tear-jerker. I really enjoyed learning Robin's background as a person and being taken on a ride of his life. I especially liked all the truthful information presented and explained that the public media companies often neglected to report. Hearing about how he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia really got me. I've been around people with Parkinson's, dementia, and Alzheimer's. But Lewy body dementia was new to me. I found it so inspiring that someone who had this awful disease, and wasn't aware that he had it, could continue being the best they were. Robin really had it right in his belief in life. Once you realize that there's so much more than you, you have only just begun. Dead Poet's Society, a film I was shown while in high school, was where I got to see Robin act outside of animation and I really loved that. He was such an amazing person and he never stopped caring. Hopefully some of the other actors in Hollywood would take on his example someday. You will be missed, Robin. Thank you for all the joy you brought to this world, and thank you for all the joy your characters keep bringing to it too.
The Lion King (2019)
An Amazing Remake of A Classic Original
Sorry for the long review, but I believe in an honest review analyzing lots of details and points.
It seems too many people keep thinking this movie was to be more of a carbon copy of the original. It's not. A remake omits and adds certain details to set it apart from an original work. While the General story and plot is supposed to follow the same path, it is how you get from start to finish that really makes a movie what it is. This movie is a remake of the original. With this in mind, I have a few complaints, and lots of praise.
Let's start with the praises.
My main love for this movie was the opening. The opening scene with the songs Nans' Ingonyama and The Circle of Life is a really powerful scene. It is done just like the opening of the original. It is that similarity that I like so much. It keeps the emotion and feeling of a new dawn of a new era, and the celebration of a new heir to the throne. All the animals coming together from far and wide to celebrate the birth of their king-to-be is a stunningly beautiful scene.
Another thing I liked was how this movie expanded on several scenes throughout the movie. One in particular was the time Nala ran away from the Pride Lands to find help. The original never actually shows her leaving, nor the progression of death and destruction under Scar's rule. Favreau takes some time to show Nala had to sneak past Scar and the hyenas in order to escape. In addition, he shows Sarabi was repeatedly given the opportunity to be Scar's queen.
Another praise I have for this movie is the way Rafiki finds out how Simba is still alive. Everyone knows the wind carries all kinds of things. But in addition to the wind, animals and creatures also move things around. I like how Favreau used the wind, dung beetle, and ants to get the ball of mane hair to Rafiki. It is a great example of a few steps in the circle of life.
A third praise has to do with Timon and Pumbaa. Those two characters had a great relationship in the original feature film. In my opinion, I think their relationship, in particular theirs with the other animals, was even better in this movie. We see how they are good friends with the other creatures of the forest where they live. There were a couple differences between the Timon and Pumbaa of this movie compared to the original. One was the more detailed back story on Pumbaa as a young warthog. The scene was cute, and honestly had some good humor.
One of my biggest likes for this movie was the reprisal of James Earl Jones as the voice of Mufasa. His voice, as described by Jon Favraeu in an interview, was one that "...sounds like a king who has ruled for a long time." My favourite scene of his is when Simba is reflecting on remembering who he is with Rafiki. Jones's voice in that scene really grabs at you and makes you listen.
Another thing I liked was the nod to Beauty and the Beast and Frozen. With this movie being released right before Frozen II, it didn't surprise me that there was a reference to it. After Simba tells Timon that the giant boring rock is his home, Timon says, "Well it's a bit of a fixer-upper." The Beauty and the Beast reference comes when Timone and Pumbaa distract the hyenas so Simba and Nala can join the other lionesses. Instead of doing the hula like the original film, Timone uses the opening lines of Be Our Guest for his line.
I also loved how Timon finally got his backup to The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The song in the original was loved by fans, but was often said to be fairly short. However, this time the song endured several minutes and includes some humor with Simba at the end. In addition, other animals came out and joined in to give Timon his backup. I loved it so much, I found myself singing along!
There were just a few complaints I have about this movie when compared to the original. While many of the complaints are small and relatively no big deal, a couple I feel are important to point out.
The biggest grudge I have is that Rafiki's stick makes it's appearance very near the end of the movie. In the original, his stick played an important part in getting Simba to learn from his past and move on. In the original, Rafiki whacks Simba over the head with the stick to demonstrate the past hurts. Simba doges the second attempt a moment later. In this remake, it is solely Mufasa's appearance that changes Simba.
Another thing I didn't like was the lack of emotion in the eyes of the lions. While their faces changed based on emotion and feelings, their eyes never really matched. They just looked like glass balls in sockets. The pupils never really changed size either to match the change in lighting.
A few minor complaints I have are based on comparing this movie with the original. The omission of a couple funny lines and small details is all. One is from the original where Scar keeps Zazu in a cage of bones and makes him sing some tunes. In the remake, Zazu never gets captured, and like Nala leaves the area.
There were a few other complaints I have, but I don't want to concentrate on complaining about an overall amazing movie. The cinematography is amazing and the attention to detail is very precise. The actors fulfilled their roles perfectly, and some even recorded their lines together to give a more real feeling to the conversation.
Ready Player One (2018)
An Easer Egg of Easter Eggs - A Wonderful Movie
When I originally saw this as a "pre-production" title and that it was going to be made by Spielberg, I knew I had to see it. Upon watching it, I was not disappointed. Now, as with every movie, there were some downsides. The classical hero who meets the love of his life and they become boyfriend/girlfriend is definitely one of my top groaners in movies. It is so typical and many, many movies are developed around that scenario. That being said, this movie had so much more in it than that.
We can start with the references. Not only do I like to watch movies to find their references to other works of production, but I love to see what Easter eggs get planted. With this movie being about an Easter egg planted in an ultra-VR setting, I absolutely went nuts finding references and eggs. To name a few references: Doctor Who, Star Wars, Godzilla, Zootopia, just to name a few. There are truly hundreds of references and nods to other movies hidden throughout this feature film. I know I haven't noticed or picked out all of them, but I sure do enjoy doing it.
My favorite thing about this movie was all the real-world video game truth about it. Today, you see both kids and adults playing games online for real money. Not only does this film portray a dystopian future, but I think it portrays a future that is not too far away and not too far off from reality. There is also some video game history thrown in here. Both old and new games are played and referenced throughout the movie.
The reference to the game Adventure which contained the world's first hidden feature, which coined the term "Easter egg" was a huge plus for me. As a young kid, I remember watching other people play these games or hear them talk about them. I never did play them, but I know the classics were some of the best games ever made.
Overall, I really enjoyed this film. I especially enjoyed one of the main points behind it. "Reality is what is real." This sentence I hope wakes people out of their addictive online gaming habits and brings them back to the real world. I highly recommend this movie if you enjoy references and Easter eggs. There's just so many. Again, great movie, highly recommended, and hope for another just as good someday soon!
Project Almanac (2015)
Good Action, But Science Was Off
Overall, this was a pretty good movie. The plot was a little predictable (ironic) and there were several continuity and logical errors made. The biggest was simply the time travel concept. Changing the past for one person changes the future for everyone on the planet immediately. Instead, it took a few trips for the effects to be made evident. On the flip side, a good bit of the science was good and correct. Seeing one's self in the future from the past (entropic cascade failure), you being the only one(s) to remember past events that now never happen, etc. This was all theoretically correct. But their problem with finding hydrogen? That is a simple science. Water and electricity. Considering the amount of power going into that device, some of it could easily have been siphoned off for hydrogen generation. Oh well. Also- the instances with the camera. If he went back in time to destroy the time machine, then by the rules of causality he would disappear along with the camera and time machine (the movie only did the character and time machine). Somehow, the camera stayed there for who knows how long until the tape expired. Then, it presumably kept running until the battery went dead. The fact that he was able to turn it on in the future and the "original" from that timeline suggest this line of events essentially is repeating itself over and over. Based on this prospect, it could be assumed that the entire universe/their entire reality is stuck at this point in time and never moving forward- only going back on itself multiplying the number of times this kid recorded the series of events and then going back in time again to destroy the equipment all while leaving the camera recording and waiting for the next future self to turn it on, watch it, and repeat the series of events again in an infinite loop. Wow. That was a huge rant there, but enough said about that. Anyway, good movie for the action, but it could have been better on fixing the continuity and logical mistakes.