Rigel (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} rigelkitty) wrote,@ 2009-06-14 14:46:00 |
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Video Reviews (6/14/09)
TV: Powerpuff Girls [Season 3] (2000-2001)
Rating: ***1/2 out of *****
Movie: Up (2009)
Review: Sadly, all good things must end. While I hope this is not the case for Pixar's independent creativity yet, a strong case can be made for it with "Up". This film is the first of a new generation after "Wall-E" exhausted the last of the napkin-sketched classics Pixar's creators conjured up over a 1994 lunch. As usual, the production values are phenomenal. There are a number of creative moments, although not quite as many gags, similar to "Ratatouille"'s record. The first ten minutes of the film lead up to such a sorrowful and depressing scene, that it hangs over the rest of this shortest of all Pixar films. That tends to handicap it as a comedy, wherein laughs are soon hushed by frequent references to the tragic opener. It also makes some of the more contrived elements seem that much more out of place. Most disappointing was the Disney-creep, where stereotype Mouse Factory elements saturate the storyline. The director apparently was inspired by Disney animators, to the point of adding in some tired cliches: the kid character comes from a broken home, one of the dogs is modeled on Pluto, the villain is named after the Universal exec who stole Disney's early characters, the climax concludes the same way that nine other Disney features do, and other small but noticeable swipes. Additionally, it was never designed to be presented in 3D, but was done as a financial and marketing afterthought to sell digital projection systems. Perhaps Pixar should direct their energy towards their new "Shorts" department, which will create more genius productions like "Partly Cloudy" which precedes the film. I'd like to say that it's another great Pixar masterpiece, but it's the first one I don't desire to own.
Rating: *** out of *****
Movie: Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Review: For a film that garners an 83% on Metacritic and a 95% on RottenTomatoes, you'd think it would live up to the hype. Written after "Army of Darkness", but only recently produced, DMTH features many of the same camera tricks, action shots, sound effects, scare tactics, and even performances that the good 'ol Evil Dead series did. Seventeen years later, it's fun to experience the cartoony, retro-Raimi film school, even if it is somewhat repetitious. But that school was built around one particular student: Bruce Campbell, who played a very tongue-in-cheek character in a very tongue-in-cheek story. The latter is present in DMTH, but Alison Lohman plays her part dead seriously, as if she just stepped out of "The Ring" or "Final Destination", and that just doesn't work. The film garners a PG-13 rating for one particularly over-the-top blood gag, but the rest of the grossness is entirely goopy ickiness, particularly a nearly OCD drumbeat of getting-gunk-in-your-mouth phobias. If executed properly, it would have a fantastic twist ending, but it's telegraphed blatantly far in advance with a switcheroo seen in many other films. If you're a Raimi fan, this is old school fun, but for the rest it's another C-grade high-school horror.
Rating: *** out of *****
TV: Powerpuff Girls [Season 3] (2000-2001)
Rating: ***1/2 out of *****
Movie: Up (2009)
Review: Sadly, all good things must end. While I hope this is not the case for Pixar's independent creativity yet, a strong case can be made for it with "Up". This film is the first of a new generation after "Wall-E" exhausted the last of the napkin-sketched classics Pixar's creators conjured up over a 1994 lunch. As usual, the production values are phenomenal. There are a number of creative moments, although not quite as many gags, similar to "Ratatouille"'s record. The first ten minutes of the film lead up to such a sorrowful and depressing scene, that it hangs over the rest of this shortest of all Pixar films. That tends to handicap it as a comedy, wherein laughs are soon hushed by frequent references to the tragic opener. It also makes some of the more contrived elements seem that much more out of place. Most disappointing was the Disney-creep, where stereotype Mouse Factory elements saturate the storyline. The director apparently was inspired by Disney animators, to the point of adding in some tired cliches: the kid character comes from a broken home, one of the dogs is modeled on Pluto, the villain is named after the Universal exec who stole Disney's early characters, the climax concludes the same way that nine other Disney features do, and other small but noticeable swipes. Additionally, it was never designed to be presented in 3D, but was done as a financial and marketing afterthought to sell digital projection systems. Perhaps Pixar should direct their energy towards their new "Shorts" department, which will create more genius productions like "Partly Cloudy" which precedes the film. I'd like to say that it's another great Pixar masterpiece, but it's the first one I don't desire to own.
Rating: *** out of *****
Movie: Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Review: For a film that garners an 83% on Metacritic and a 95% on RottenTomatoes, you'd think it would live up to the hype. Written after "Army of Darkness", but only recently produced, DMTH features many of the same camera tricks, action shots, sound effects, scare tactics, and even performances that the good 'ol Evil Dead series did. Seventeen years later, it's fun to experience the cartoony, retro-Raimi film school, even if it is somewhat repetitious. But that school was built around one particular student: Bruce Campbell, who played a very tongue-in-cheek character in a very tongue-in-cheek story. The latter is present in DMTH, but Alison Lohman plays her part dead seriously, as if she just stepped out of "The Ring" or "Final Destination", and that just doesn't work. The film garners a PG-13 rating for one particularly over-the-top blood gag, but the rest of the grossness is entirely goopy ickiness, particularly a nearly OCD drumbeat of getting-gunk-in-your-mouth phobias. If executed properly, it would have a fantastic twist ending, but it's telegraphed blatantly far in advance with a switcheroo seen in many other films. If you're a Raimi fan, this is old school fun, but for the rest it's another C-grade high-school horror.
Rating: *** out of *****
