TIGAER-DESIGN.COM_.v5 – Digital Art by Christian Hecker

This movie got some very good reviews but i still went into this movie without any expectations or any info about the story. Well it’s a Pixar movie so i guessed it would have the signature of a nice non violent story. The trailer i watched didn’t catch me at all and did not move my lazy bum into the theatre. It was out of sheer interest because of all the positive responses and a very high IMDB rating. Now yesterday i have seen it and man… it’s another masterpiece i guess. So far Wall-E was my favourite and it still is. But UP is very very close to it. Maybe the most mature Pixar movie beside Wall-E. Story wise i must admit that they did chose some very risky twists. But they managed to structure it very well throughout the entire movie. The story of our main character’s past and how it’s following him through the whole movie and how it leads the whole movie… it just works out very nice. There were 2-3 scenes where i almost shed a tear! It’s true. I could relate so much to the old man and his worries and his ambitions. The love story in the beginning is so full of heart and yeah… ‘love’. Just lovely and beautiful. All the characters were nicely written and, of course, designed. Only the bad guys were a little bit flat i think. But served the story well enough.

Like the bad character elements the movie made the impression of being technically a little bit flat though. You don’t see a lot of characters in the movie. Not much variation for the eye i would say. The stuff that you see is full of detail though. Amazing work again. Once again i noticed that they only really modelled out what was important for the scene. They didn’t waste time on things that you actually don’t look at or background stuff. I wished for a little bit more visible detail. Nonetheless it keeps the picture nicely readable and well structured. I’m a bit back and forth when i read what i wrote there. I cannot exactly nail what it is. It just felt that there could have been more detail in the spots you normally don’t look at. But yeah… overall solid work. =)

The movie lives from its lovely characters and the interactions between them and their environment. It’s fun to watch. =)

My rating for it is 8.9/10. Well deserved. =)

And i’m still waiting for Pixar to make a serious movie for the older audience. They’re masters of family movies! I wonder how a serious project would work out.

UP on IMDb

I’m sure most of you people don’t know this movie from 2003. I would say it’s a tragic romance movie that plays in a not so distant future. Plot mainly is that people who are not genetically compatible are not allowed to go into a relationship. Consequences for those who reject that rule.

“In a not-too-distant future after a climate catastrophe city security zones have been declared, controlled by the Sphinx Corporation. The privileged part of the humans lives within these protected areas, all others in hostile, desert locations outside. Cloning and genetic manipulation are usual. The whole story of a man is now on electronic passports. Who has no passport, must obtain one illegally to get another identity and be able to enter the cities. William, an insurance agent of Seattle, comes to Shanghai for a “leak” in the passport printing of the Sphinx Corporation uncover. He has an empathy virus, which lets him recognize other people’s thoughts. William soon identifies the culprit, Maria, but he covers up for her because he feels an strange attraction for her. When he again meets Maria coincidentally, William invites her for dinner and spends the night with her. Then he flies back to his family in America. But William feels that he fell in love with Maria, and decides to see her again. In Shanghai, he learns that Maria’s memory has forcibly be removed and his child was aborted. Finally, William finds out that Maria is a clone of his mother, and therefore their relationship infringes “Code 46″. But the two do not want to give up their love and trying to escape from the surveillance society.” (Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345061/synopsis )

Now i personally had this movie on my radar for quite a while. I’m a fan of this type of sci-fi setting. Even if the sci-fi elements are pretty subtle. But they are there and set a very specific tone. The lighting, as well as the camera work, defines that futuristic world as well. Now currently the movie has an IMDB rating of 6.3 which i can’t understand at all. The leading actors, Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton, play their acts so well that you can read their struggling feelings in the eyes and faces. Still they cannot resist each other and start that complicated journey and relationship. In this world that makes their love impossible. I feel sympathy for both of the characters that try to live in that world. Try to hold on every little bit of love that’s left. Beside the stuff they are already used to in their life for a long time. Samantha Mortons character is played with so much heart that it’s easy to spontaneously fall in love with her in that movie. She kind of represents the ‘life’ in that world – the truth. While Tim Robbins’ character kind of represents the tree and its roots that try to reach the water and life.

Michael Winterbottom directed a nice and solid movie here that gives a possible, from my point of view very possible, outlook on how it all could look in the future. It’s realistic and i am not sure if i would love it to live in that world. Nonetheless i find it interesting and appealing. It’s a quiet movie you have to take yourself some time for. No big action… but some nice emotions. Something for the heart and brain!

It’s definitely a movie worth risking a look at. For me it was worth it writing this review.

A good and solid 7.3/10 for me.

Code 46 on IMDb

I have a few dozen movies that i would say make it into my all time best list. Now i recently watched Unforgiven again and man… it reminded me why it’s right there on top of my list. Probably the top10. I’m sure a lot of you people have seen it and i don’t know what’s your opinion. But for me it’s some amazing work.

The film is directed by Clint Eastwood. Who is also playing the main character of the movie. This character is so well played that, even after seeing the movie for so many times, it still captures me. That pretty much goes for all the leading actors in that movie. Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman… so captivating. Especially Gene Hackman who’s playing the ultimate badass. And you know he’s giving some good work since you really learn to hate his character in the movie.

Story wise it’s about a bounty on the heads of two cowboys who took a wrong turn in a brothel in a small town. One of the guys goes crazy and does some bad things to one of the women there. Gene Hackman’s character refuses to punish the cowboys. So the ladies take it into their own hands. The news spread fast. Easy money for everyone who’ll finish the two guys. Now a young kid knocks on Clint Eastwoods characters door and asks if he would be interested. At first he refuses but then he’s thinking that the money could come in handy. He catches up with the young guy and together they pick up Morgan Freemans character. Who is a friend of old and different times. Where he and Eastwoods character did some questionable things too. They regret these things and find it difficult to go back on tour again. Nonetheless they go and try to collect the bounty. Not knowing how much it will cost.

It’s amazing how you can pretty much read in their faces how they think about what they’re doing. The inner conflict of the heart that tells them to not do it. But the brain keeps them on their way because the money will help them so much. All the characters carry a history with them that you never see in the movie, but in the faces and actions of the characters. The movie shows how some people learn their lessons in life and others don’t. That there even may be people who would never think of regreting all the questionable things they did.

It’s by far, not action movie. It got not necessarily a happy end too. It’s a quiet one that lives through the perfomances of the actors. The camera and photography works also amazingly good and captures exactly how i would imagine the time the movie plays in.

From my point of view this is a movie that everyone should have seen at least one time.

A 9.1/10 for me.

Unforgiven on IMDb

District 9 is a movie i really really waited for. Practically since i saw the shortfilm from Neill Blomkamp who also directed this big movie now.

Now i want to take this opportunity to personally thank Mr. Peter Jackson for his support of this movie. Thanks thanks thanks!

Now this movie, for me, falls into the same category like Sunshine and Cloverfield. What i always wished for monster movies… Cloverfield did it. What i always hoped for Sci-Fi… District 9 did it. With a production cost of $30.000.000 it’s also much cheaper than much much of the other useless hollywood bullshit. That’s just my oppinion. Every single cent that was invested into District 9 was worth it. The aliens looked so well integrated and realistic that you totally forget that it’s CGI. And the most important thing… you feel sympathy for them. Once that happens… you’re hooked.

Jeff Cannata from the Totally Rad Show described it like Half Life the game. Our main character basically is Gordon Freeman. And ultimately this movie is what movies made from video games should be like. But there is no game for the movie. And that’s a good thing!

When the movie starts you’re kind of wondering where it want to go with us. A few minutes in you start to understand what is happening and what the movie could be about. It’s taking a slight twist and from there on you are with the character. You almost want to help them. When it’s time for some alien weapon action you are just ‘yeah!’ and ‘give em hell!’. It’s great! It’s a movie for men! Totally! 85% of ther viewers were men when i was watching it. But it doesn’t matter actually. This movie is quite a ride. A lot of fun! And sometimes even mindblowing.

The visual effects. Well i actually don’t need to say much about it. They were pretty much flawless. I couldn’t pick out anything i could start a rant about. The lighting. Texture quality. Detail. Animation. Just plain awesome. If you’re into vfx then go check out this movie. Fantastic!

This one gets a 9.0/10 rating from me.

Go see it!

District 9 on IMDb

A lot of talk about this movie in the past few months. Tarantinos new masterpieceee!!! Well, i went to see it yesterday and must say i had a fun time. And i’m actually not the biggest Tarantino fan. Nonetheless i respect his work a lot. He left his footprint in moviemaking history.

Most of you probably know what the story of Inglourious Basterds is. Basically a jewish elite US soldier squad was sent to france to kill germans in WW2. They have completely free hand and can do whatever they want. But basically they’re ambushing germans and give them hell. That’s the main plot. But it wouldn’t be a Tarantino movie if there weren’t more plots. And there are. Without to get into too much detail, all the different plot lines come together in the end for the ultimate showdown. As usual it’s a lot of fun to watch how each plot comes together.

Me being from germany it was very surprising how many german actors found their way into the movie. You could say that every part in the movie, that was a german character, was really played by a german (or austrian) actor. Most impressive was Christoph Waltz. You all probably heard about the part he’s playing. He also won a prize in Cannes. Well deserved! When you know Tarantino movies then you know they are full of loooong dialogue scenes. Tarantino is a true master when it comes to these long scenes. And he always seems to have the right hand for the actors choice. Right when the movie begins we have such a scene. And the suspense that’s going on there is pretty much unbelievable. Mr. Waltz playing that fierce nazi badman… greaaat acting. Every scene with him was just full of suspense. You never know what he’ll be doing next… you suspect it but you can’t nail it. And when he does what you expected you are still surprised. Because the scene plays out so well. Quite good work!

I can also understand that some people don’t care much about this movie. There are a lot of scenes where actually nothing is happening. I can see why a lot of people might get bored by it all. But that’s Tarantino. You love him or hate him. Even if i must say that i’m in the middle somewhere.

From the german standpoint i’m glad to see a movie that goes for that WW2 theme and not being the usual “omg it was all so bad and i could cry all day long” approach. Especially the german media would never even think about doing a movie like that. Or anything like that. Whenever some comedian is doing a maybe too harsh joke about that WW2 time… it’s a national tragedy. Kinda. But yes… i could go on forever about that… but not now.

If you want to have a fun time check out this movie. It’s a unique approach to all the WW2 thing.

For me a 7.9/10

Inglourious Basterds on IMDb

Alright, 2 days ago i was lucky enough to get me some tickets for the 3D preview of James Camerons ‘Avatar’ in our Imax. I’ve never seen any movie in 3D before so i thought this would be the perfect chance to start. All i knew was that other 3D movies were always kind of disappointing to the viewers. Hearing reviews and stuff. That’s what Mr Cameron wants to change. He wants to visually place you in the world he and his artists created. He wants you in the middle of everything. As if you’re a part of what you’re seeing.

Now when the teaser was released yesterday there immediately were a lot of haters on a roll. And that’s kind of understandable. While the teaser definitely showed some amazing CG work… it was also definitely nothing we’ve not seen before… from a technical standpoint. Nonetheless the teaser suggests an insane amount of detail. I wasn’t blown away but nontheless immediately hooked.

Now today i had the pleasure to watch the 16mins footage presentation that also ran on comic-con. I read reports about those showings and was stoked. All these guys came out from the screening with wide open eyes… staring in disbelief. “I want to see it tooooo!!!” was what i was thinking.

Like i said i never saw a 3D movie before. So i ‘was’ a virgin there. :D The presentation starts and Mr Cameron is explaining a few things. Already in 3D. I was fascinated! My eyes had a few problems in the first few minutes though. Then we saw the first scene. Camera on the floor… following some army boots walking in a briefing hall. It was amazing! The boots were right in front of my eyes while the backround was really behaving like it was… well… just further away from where i am. It’s hard to describe actually. Then we start to get scenes where they obviously mixed real footage with cgi… and it looks and feels so real. Of course you know that these blue guys are cg… but it all blends so amazingly good. You very soon forget that you’re watching cg characters there. Then we move into the forest. That’s where it started to blow my mind. It sucks you in. Our character is having a conversation with a huuuuge creature in the forest… you almost want to reach out and touch it! The environment… the life… the atmosphere of another world has never been portraited in such a believable way. I really felt like i was there. Like i really visited that planet for a few minutes. Othere scenes were showing the characters in more detail. And that detail is fucking amazing. Motion capturing and animation got a loooooong way since the final fantasy movie.

The audience was giving applause after the screening. Last time i had that happen was after Fellowship of the Ring. That tells something i’d say.

James Cameron said “Who wants to visit another planet?” – I! ME! I definitely want to see more. And it WILL be in 3D… in december.

Regards

“Too much sugar!” is what i’m thinking right after watching Transformers 2. Without to spoil too much… this movie is basically the first movie but… more of the same formula. More jokes, more robots, more kaboom and more … well it’s a typical Michael Bay movie. Turn off your brain and enjoy the ride. Every other review on the net will tell you the movie is one hour too long… and yes it is. Somewhere along the way you even lose interest in the pretty much flawless vfx. You see the most amazing vfx work and think “hm yeah, seen that before…”. It’s amazing that they pulled this off in 2 years. But it’s too much! I left the theatre with a head that you usually have when leaving a concert. Don’t know if that’s good or me just getting old. Also… every scene with Megan Fox looked soooo daaaaamn artificial. I immediately saw her ‘new’ lips and thought… “noooo please noooot!”. She was very sexy in the first movie and now… it’s sad! Shia did his job. Nothing more to say about that. The robots are the stars in this one. They do well too. We see a few new models which are fun! We have a few more slow motion scenes in which we can see more detail. But most of the time it’s horrible shaky camera and lensflare effects and everything happens so fast you can practically understand only a small portion of what’s happening.

Oh well… it IS a fun movie… but definitely nothing for people who have higher standards.

For me a 6.1/10

Transformers 2 on IMDb

It’s a classic from 1978 and i wanted to watch this movie for years. Due to my sickness over the last few days i had some time to watch a few films on my list. Now this movie gives us a young Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep. Everyone playing their roles on highest niveau.

The story is about three young men from a small industrial town in the united states, 1970s. All three go to vietnam while one of these three gets married just before they depart into the green hell. In vietnam then they find back together just to live through hell when they get captured by the enemy. With a ton of luck they make it and find a way back to the troops. All the experienced atrocities and torture changed these men. While we know them pretty extroverted, partying… they now turn out to be very quite characters. They do not seem to be able to fully understand what happened. Christopher Walken plays it so good. While our Robert De Niro character comes home and finds that nothing there has changed, particular friends still being closeminded, he is not the party guy anymore. As soon as he finds out that one of his friends is back from vietnam too he tries to find him. The character, amazingly played by John Savage, sits in a wheelchair now. Both legs amputed and one arm deaf. While he married just before he went to vietnam he now turned himself into a veterans hospital. He can’t stand it being a burden. He’s a wreck. While our Robert De Niro character tries to bring his friend home he also finds out that their other friend is still alive and still in vietnam. While the vietnam war is lost and at its end it’s our Robert De Niro character that goes back there to find his friend and fulfill his promise to bring him home. Unfortunately things don’t turn out as expected.

Like so many war movies this one specifically shows what war can do to ordinary people. People dragged out of their normal life to fight for something that actually makes no sense. It’s a 3h long movie that takes itself the necessary time to portrait even smaller details. And that’s the point. How things you experience can twist your thinking 180 degrees. It can make you go crazy or calm you down or turn you hypersensible to certain things. Amazingly portrayed by the actors in this film. If you have some time left… check it out!

For me a 8.0/10

The Deer Hunter on IMDb

We all know the controversy about the well known books of mr. Dan Brown. It seems like you either love them or hate them. I’m a bit caught in the middle. I find it interesting how he’s able to connect various mystics of religion with modern thematics to a somehow compelling story. No i never readthe books. Of course, with the success of the books, there would be movies. The first one i thought was kind of boring to me. It was fun to watch Tom Hanks solving all these weird connections… but ultimately… it left a somehow ‘not too exciting’ taste in the back of my brain. Weird brain i have!

Now in this second movie, directed once again by Ron Howard, we follow Tom Hanks again – with a better haircut though. And what would the movie be without an as smart as sexy companion on his side, played by Ayelet Zurer. Both of them make a good team throughout the movie and, once again, it’s fun to watch that pair solving the mysteries. They even throw a few jokes at the audience.

The story basically happens ’24’ like during one day… while the vatican is voting for a new pope. Our team has to clear up various things or some important kidnapped vatican people have to die. That’s what we see throughout most of the movie. The story delivers some nice twists and you never really seem to know who’s behind it all. Even if you might think you know who it is. So you want to know what’s going on. And that is why you are watching this movie. Once you know what happened… i would say the movie becomes very uninteresting. So from my point of view there is not much left that makes the movie interesting enough to watch again.

Overall the movie is very quiet. Not the typical hollywood KABOOM movie. Which i liked. Also the soundtrack was done by Hans Zimmer again. That cannot be a bad thing. He’s one of my favourite movie musicmakers. Therefor we have a few nice musical themes in this movie.

The vfx are overall standard. That means they were good enough to look believable. The main eyecatcher, an explosion above the clouds, looked pretty cool and really beautiful. You see that they wanted to make it look special. And it looked very nice and detailed.

So overall it is an entertaining movie that will do what it has to do for 2 hours. But, like the first movie, it’s definitely not a masterpiece.

A 6.8 from me. =)

Angels & Demons on IMDb

“Forget everything you know about star trek.” You could use that phrase but i won’t. I just came home from seeing the movie on the big screen and i’m somehow happy. Happy about the way how they attacked the biggest of all problems of the huge startrek series/franchise. The extensive and superdetailed timeline. There is no way around it. It’s like a big wall that blocks every try of being creative with startrek. You have to keep in mind everything that happened, or will happen. If you dare to not keep the details in mind… every little trekkie would yell at you for not being correct! That’s a problem! A big problem!

Now the flesh and bone trekkie could say that the new startrek kind of ‘raped’ the old continuity of the whole series. But i would not go that far. As a fan i was always in the middle of startrek and starwars. I liked both series. Startrek always was a bit too slick for my taste. Starwars had the dirty, gritty look i love. Startrek has the connection to mankind as a race. While starwars doesn’t have that. So i’m writing here from a pretty neutral position.

The first hour of the movie you kind of wonder what’s actually happening. Some of our main characters get introduced and they do it in a very nice way. My biggest concerns was the role of ‘bones’. But Karl Urban kind of kicks the mood of Deforest Kelley really good. Then the story turns a bit and we begin to understand what’s actually going on. It’s pretty cleverly solved how they connected the old startrek storyline with the one in the new movie. But it also means that we have to push aside everything we knew about startrek so far. The acting, through the bench, worked pretty good. The overall cast seems to perfectly fit into their roles. It’s a remarkable thing, while having so many characters to cover, they managed to give each of them a decent part of the movie. I really really liked that. It was nice to see how every piece came together. Though sometimes you have to remind yourself that it’s a hollywood movie and nothing really realistic. So there are a few situations that may make you roll your eyes. What strikes me most is the energy this movie has. It’s looking good. It got life. It feels cool. It’s funny! Yes! There are a few very funny moments in the movie and the audience laughed more than one time during the film. Loved that.

The VFX were stunning. There’s actually nothing more i can say. It just looked great. The Vulkan city… in these mountains… beautiful. The space stuff. The fighting stuff. Really good! The one thing that kind of bothered me a bit where the quick cuts. Same with the transformers movie (and i don’t think it’ll get better in the 2nd one). Before you even understand what you just saw you get the next cut served… it’s just too fast… or am i just getting old here? Nonetheless it’s top notch fx work there. Makes me think of, once again, how i would love to be a part of something like that.

Overall that movie is quite a must see. For everyone. It really doesn’t matter if you’re a trekkie or not. It’s for everyone. It’s shiny new! It’s tasty!

Oh and by the way…

There’s this moment where Kirk gets away with the oldtimer in the beginning of the movie… when that song started to play… i was totally there. I LOVED that part. That song kind of reflects the whole movie in combination with what we knew about startrek so far. Time for something new!

Go see it!

8.2/10

Star Trek on IMDb