How much did I love this movie?! Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, Firefly) is amazing! I am not much of an Iron Man fan, but he was so funny in The Avengers (2012). He had some great one liners! The humor in The Avengers is wonderful! At one point, I was thinking to myself, "I have never enjoyed Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes, The Soloist, Wonder Boys) so much, he is so funny". That is when it hit me! It's Joss Whedon humor! He had to have written the screenplay! Sure enough, the end credits rolled and, story Zak Penn (X2, Elektra, Last Action Hero) and Joss Whedon, screenplay Joss Whedon. I knew it! His style is wonderful! I knew he directed The Avengers but somehow I missed that he wrote the screenplay as well.
There have been some doubts about cramming this many big names into one movie. How can each superhero possibly be highlighted properly and each star get there time to shine? Well somehow Joss pulls it off! The combination really worked and it was wonderful. Thor and Iron Man are great. They have this wonderful fight scene. Scarlett Johansson (The Island, The Prestige, Lost in Translation, The Perfect Score) was wonderful as Black Widow. I really liked her and her character. Jeremy Renner (The Town, The Hurt Locker, Thor) as Hawkeye was superb. His bow was so cool. He had a very small part in Thor (2011) but it was one of my favorite parts. "Do you want me to take him down or would you rather send in more guys for him to beat up?"
The Incredible Hulk was so cool in this one. I have seen the previous Hulk movies. I watched Hulk (2003). It was .... OK? I guess? I really liked The Incredible Hulk (2008) with Edward Norton (Fight Club, The Illusionist, The Score). That was just a great movie and Edward Norton is simply amazing so.... well you know. Mark Ruffalo (Rumor Has It...., Just Like Heaven, Shutter Island) plays Bruce Banner in The Avengers. I don't want to down play his performance at all. He does a great job. However, that being said this movie has the best Hulk ever! He has such character and the best facial expressions. The Hulk has some of the best scenes in the movie. He is actually very funny and has great comedic timing. If I had to pick my favorite Hulk scene it would be a tie. It is hilarious when he punches Thor for absolutely no reason at all and his "fight" with Loki. Hulk is just cool.
I really can't say enough about how much fun this movie is. It is a great action flick with very cool fight scenes. The end battle was amazing! It is also full of Whedonisms, his style and sense of humor come through so clearly. It is just brilliant. By the way did I mention how much I enjoyed the director and his style? Beautifully shot.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Matrix
Can writers be one-hit wonders the way musicians can be? If so the Wachowski brothers (V for Vendetta, Speed Racer, Bound) would be one-hit wonders. I don't mean that in a negative way or anything. After all I still haven't seen V for Vendetta (2005). Maybe that one is pretty awesome as well. I do know that The Matrix (1999) is quite possibly one of the coolest movies I have ever seen. Whether you like the movie or not you have to admit the impact it has had on movies and on pop culture. Can it be called, revolutionary? I even make reference to The Matrix in my post about In Time (2011)
I will never forget going to see The Matrix is the theaters for the very first time. Five minutes into it you knew you were watching something new. When you see Trinity, portrayed by Carrie-Anne Moss (Memento, Chocolat, Distrubia) hovering, right before she kicks the guy.........WOW! I was blown away. How many times have we seen that scene repeated or mimicked in other media now? And, we can't forget Keanu Reeves (The Lake House, A Walk in the Clouds, Much Ado About Nothing, Constantine) famous dodging bullets scene. That was just beautiful and has also been redone over and over. And we can't forget when Neo learns what Morpheus meant by, "when you are ready, you won't need to." Morpheus is just an amazing character portrayed by Laurence Fishburne (Contagion, 21, Akeelah and the Bee, Mystic River), who himself is pretty amazing. Because of Morpheus we will forever be asking, would you have taken the red pill or the blue pill? After all if "you take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes".
The Wachowski brothers truly created a wonderful thing with The Matrix. The story line is so good. I have seen the entire trilogy. I have this thing about trilogies though. The middle one is always my least favorite. It just is. The last one was pretty good, but all I need is the original. I am perfectly happy just watching that one and don't really worry about the other two. They are good and they do continue the story it's just that I like the first one the best. After all it is the one that taught me this very important life lesson. "Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead....only try to realize the truth. There is no spoon."
I will never forget going to see The Matrix is the theaters for the very first time. Five minutes into it you knew you were watching something new. When you see Trinity, portrayed by Carrie-Anne Moss (Memento, Chocolat, Distrubia) hovering, right before she kicks the guy.........WOW! I was blown away. How many times have we seen that scene repeated or mimicked in other media now? And, we can't forget Keanu Reeves (The Lake House, A Walk in the Clouds, Much Ado About Nothing, Constantine) famous dodging bullets scene. That was just beautiful and has also been redone over and over. And we can't forget when Neo learns what Morpheus meant by, "when you are ready, you won't need to." Morpheus is just an amazing character portrayed by Laurence Fishburne (Contagion, 21, Akeelah and the Bee, Mystic River), who himself is pretty amazing. Because of Morpheus we will forever be asking, would you have taken the red pill or the blue pill? After all if "you take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes".
The Wachowski brothers truly created a wonderful thing with The Matrix. The story line is so good. I have seen the entire trilogy. I have this thing about trilogies though. The middle one is always my least favorite. It just is. The last one was pretty good, but all I need is the original. I am perfectly happy just watching that one and don't really worry about the other two. They are good and they do continue the story it's just that I like the first one the best. After all it is the one that taught me this very important life lesson. "Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead....only try to realize the truth. There is no spoon."
Monday, May 7, 2012
The Muppets
One evening I was in line at Redbox and overheard a conversation between an eight year old girl and her older sister. They were trying to pick a movie. The older sister, who was maybe eleven, was suggesting The Muppets (2011). To which the little sister replied, "No! I saw that it is soooo booooring". Is that true? Are the Muppets boring? Everyone I have talked to about The Muppets newest movie has said the same thing. "It is so slow", "how boring".
This question is a major focal point of the script. Chris Cooper (American Beauty, The Bourne Identity, Adaptation, The Patriot) whom I just love, is the "bad guy". He was amazing in Remember Me (2010) as a tough New York City police officer. But then to see him as an evil oil tycoon in The Muppets? That was great! He even sings a little song and has some pretty funny lines. Such as "maniacal laugh ..... maniacal laugh ...."
Kermit needs to get the gang back together and raise money to save the Muppets studio and name. They decide to do a telethon and proceed to pitch the idea to studios. Nobody wants to touch it. They all say, no way. The last lady they talk to explains to them that they are all washed up. They aren't popular any more and they don't fit in with what is popular. To which Kermit replies "I think kids are better and smarter then this junk". Are they? Have we overstimulated them to the point that the Muppets are boring? No CGI, no flying creatures, no space ships or aliens and it isn't worth our time?
I have always loved the Muppets and this movie stayed very true to the original Muppet show. Including some awesome celebrity cameos! I liked this movie for the nostalgia of it. The songs where silly and fun. It has a wonderful message and you can laugh at the bad guy because he isn't as scary and menacing as most are now a days. That being said. Will your kids enjoy it? I don't know. Do they see the humor in that kind of comedy or does it go over their heads and just bore them? My girls haven't watched it yet so I can't tell you what they thought of it. I do wonder though?
This question is a major focal point of the script. Chris Cooper (American Beauty, The Bourne Identity, Adaptation, The Patriot) whom I just love, is the "bad guy". He was amazing in Remember Me (2010) as a tough New York City police officer. But then to see him as an evil oil tycoon in The Muppets? That was great! He even sings a little song and has some pretty funny lines. Such as "maniacal laugh ..... maniacal laugh ...."
Kermit needs to get the gang back together and raise money to save the Muppets studio and name. They decide to do a telethon and proceed to pitch the idea to studios. Nobody wants to touch it. They all say, no way. The last lady they talk to explains to them that they are all washed up. They aren't popular any more and they don't fit in with what is popular. To which Kermit replies "I think kids are better and smarter then this junk". Are they? Have we overstimulated them to the point that the Muppets are boring? No CGI, no flying creatures, no space ships or aliens and it isn't worth our time?
I have always loved the Muppets and this movie stayed very true to the original Muppet show. Including some awesome celebrity cameos! I liked this movie for the nostalgia of it. The songs where silly and fun. It has a wonderful message and you can laugh at the bad guy because he isn't as scary and menacing as most are now a days. That being said. Will your kids enjoy it? I don't know. Do they see the humor in that kind of comedy or does it go over their heads and just bore them? My girls haven't watched it yet so I can't tell you what they thought of it. I do wonder though?
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