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

It’s safe to say that this was probably the most influential movie that was never made. If you are a film fan and remotely interested in filmmaking history then this documentary by Frank Pavich will be right on your alley. It’s about Alejandro Jodorowsky (also called Jodo and now in his 80s) and his attempt to film his version of Frank Herbert’s “Dune” in 1975. I admit I have never seen his movies (like El Topo or The Holy Mountain) or any other of his art projects. From what I knew he is known for his very unique style and abstract imagery in film.

This documentary knows very well that there are more Scifi and Dune fans out there than hardcore movie fans that know the name Jodorowsky. So the trip starts with an introduction to who Jodorowsky is and what he’s mostly known for. It explains his unique approach to art and movie making very well and introduces the viewer to the character that is Jodorowsky. I would say he’s ‘the living passion’. As soon as we see him and hear him, we learn that this man is full of emotion, drive and… passion. Especially of course when it’s about his work.

He says he never read Frank Herbert’s classic and all he knows about it was told to him by friends who loved the book. Immediately a vision began to take shape in Jodorowsky’s head. His friend Michel Seydoux, who previously worked as Producer on projects with Jodorowsky, gave Jodo free hand on what to do next. Jodorowsky just said “Dune!” and Seydoux said “Sure, why not!” and both embarked on the journey to realize the vision.

When you hear Jodorowsky talk about how they started pre-production with writing the screenplay, doing concept art and creating a shot for shot storyboard, you don’t have a choice than just to think that this movie was meant to be. Especially when Jodo is talking about how he met all the people who were involved in the pre-production process or planned to get involved with filming this monster project. It really all sounds like destiny wanted this movie to happen. There are storys about Mick Jagger, Pink Floyd and even Salvador Dali! It’s crazy hearing all this but in context of Jodo’s vision it all makes sense for some strange reason.

Jodo managed to bring together a group of people that were able to artistically bring their absolute best for the project. People like Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud, Chris Foss and H.R. Giger managed to change the look of how Scifi had to be shown in movies. Their talent defines Scifi even today. And it all started with Jodorowsky trying to realize his vision of Frank Herbert’s Dune. At the time in the early to mid 70s they shared a very special common idea. They wanted to show something completely new. They wanted to break barriers when it came to design, feel and the technical execution of visual effects. All that, of course, comes for a price.

A too high price for the studios. Jodorowsky and his team had a finished and fleshed out idea that they brought from one studio to another. They had this amazing book that contained a scene for scene storyboard, the full script, several pages of concept art and all that on really high quality paper. A true treasure. And still, all of the studios said “thanks for the effort but no”. And it was either because the ideas in the script were to far out there and weird or they wouldn’t simply finance it because the visuals necessary for this movie demanded a really huge budget. No one wanted to risk it. And from my point of view, I couldn’t blame them. Jodo’s vision was weird, brutal and visually strange. Yet… fascinating on so many levels. So ultimately the project failed because no one wanted to finance it. Jodo admits that it was a very hard time for him. His heart was broken.

So the rights for Dune then went to Dino De Lautentis who then produced the David Lynch version of Dune. Jodorowsky’s first thought was very positive. If someone was able to create a similar movie, close to Jodo’s ideas, it was David Lynch. When the movie came out in 1984 Jodo refused to see it. I would have probably reacted the same. Later then he saw it. A funny reaction by Jodo in the documentary because he smiled and was happy because Lynch’s movie was a failure on almost every level. Not just to him but also in the box office, to the critics and fans. And again… it’s a human reaction and I would have probably reacted the same. I personally enjoy Lynch’s Dune and think it definitely has its place. It’s sturcture is completely nuts but it contains enough ideas and weird concepts to stay fresh and interesting.

At the end of this documentary you can come to only one single conclusion. And that would be that Jodorowsky’s Dune is probably the best thing that ‘could have’ happened. By that I mean the fact that this movie was never fully made. Keeping in mind that something like Star Wars most likely never would have happened if Jodorowsky’s Dune were made. And they cover that fact in the documentary. But it also made movies like Alien, Blade Runner and so many other scifi classics possible. I mean, Giger’s design of the Alien alone is a timeless thing, that will look creepy, strange and frightening even to people that aren’t even born yet. And the atmospheric dystopia feel and look of Blade Runner wouldn’t have been possible without Moebius. So we may have lost one crazy Scifi version of Dune but won so many more Scifi movies that contain the ideas of Jodorowsky’s Dune and kinda sorta immortalize his project in a very special way.

Check out this documentary if you’re either a Movie fan, Scifi fan or simply interested in Art. It’s be worth your while!

8.0/10

Jodorowsky’s Dune on IMDb

Well, the first thing that comes up is the movie ‘Groundhogs Day’ with Bill Murray from 1993. Even though it’s not fair to compare the two movies. They may share the same idea… but the movies itself couldn’t be more different. Still… this comparison comes up all the time.

Edge of Tomorrow (EoT) shares the same idea but it’s far from being a comedy. Instead it’s a Science Fiction war movie. In its depiction a very ‘reduced to the essence/basics’ movie. It’s not playing around and follows a straight line. It doesn’t sidetrack and keeps its main characters in focus and therefor comes across like a very very efficiently produced movie. And while all that sounds very bleak and uninteresting… it’s, on the contrary, exactly that efficient moviemaking what makes this movie work.

We follow Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), a military officer and sort of a public relations spokesman from the military for the media. He is the typical guy that tries to ‘sell’ the war to civilians to make them join the fight. In short… he’s the typical advertising guy that’s most likely an asshole. And he is an asshole. Cruise does a formidable job in selling that asshole image with his very unique smartassy charming smile. Now what ‘war’ is there? Well, it’s the typical “aliens (called Mimics) invaded Earth and Mankind wants to send them home again” scenario. Now Major Cage is invited to visit General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) just to get the order that the next day, when the largest offensive ever is scheduled to reclaim Europe, Major Cage will also be there, on the front line, to do media coverage about how the attack is going on. This is a great scene between Cruise and Gleeson. Major Cage, even with his rank as an officer, never fought a single battle in his whole career. He immediately understands that this ‘frontline report’ mission will be very dangerous. Too dangerous for him. Cage is trying to find a way out of his misery and manages it to really seriously anger the General. So much that he’s losing his rank and gets demoted to the rank of Private. Then he finds himself waking up on the military rally grounds that previously was the Heathrow Airport in London. This place looks great and really delivers pictures that kind of look and feel like what you see in documentaries from the day before D-Day in WW2.

There we meet Master Sergeant Farell (Bill Paxton) who is giving Cage hell, brings him to his new platoon and has no mercy, telling him he’ll probably won’t survive the next day. Soon enough the forces are readying for the action and prepare themselves for the invasion. Cage has no clue about anything is pretty much a playball of the circumstances. The invasion is codenamed ‘Downfall’ and the battle itself is kind of an homage to ‘Operation Overlord’, the landing of the Allied forces on the beaches of France in 1944. Except this time the enemy is prepared and everything possible goes, against all predictions, horribly wrong and the enemy anticipated the attack. We see how Cage is stumbling through the battlefield, barely able to make sense of the situation. Soon enough his team is wiped out and the last chance to redeem himself is to blow himself up and take one of the aliens with him. Now that certain Mimic he took out was a special one. Cage suddenly wakes up the day before the invasion and has to live through it all again.

After a couple of repeats he understands what’s happening and understands that he can turn the tide in this war. He also understands that he can’t do it alone. So Cage is trying to make friends with Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt). She’s the hero of a previous battle and known for her relentless will to kill the enemy. She’s kind of a symbol for hope. Cage of course tried to make his officers understand what is going on with him but naturally no one believes him when he tells them about that strange time-loop effect. But Rita does. We learn that the same thing happened to her in that famous battle at Verdun. Even though she lost her ‘reset’ ability both of them try to find a way to end this war.

So much for an intro to the storyline. Now there is some great acting in this movie. When Cage is entering the first day of the battle he is completely broken. Sweaty, shaking… completely useless. He is basically a joke to all his squad members. And they all do joke about him. Not the best motivation and you can see plain fear in the eyes of Cage. Well done job by Tom Cruise there. He eventually, after a couple of repeats/loops, learns how to handle the situation. Slowly but surely we get the Cruise we know from the Mission Impossible movies for example. It’s a nice transition. But still, Cage is making mistakes and the movie has some very original (and very often funny) ways to show and explain these. In an earlier loop he’s hit by a truck which comes out of nowhere and was just plain funny. You’re a robot if you’re not laughing at that scene. Bill Paxton also works great as Cage’s officer in the Heathrow camp. He’s giving him crap from left and right and seems to have a lot of fun playing that character. Emily Blunt is also very believable in her part as the heroine. Even if she’s very vulnerable, she still stays above all these other soldiers around her. She has a certain ‘grace’ on the battlefield. The way she moves and deals with the enemy just looks really good.

On a technical aspect there’s also not much to critique. The script is solid and even manages it to flesh out background characters enough that you kinda care for them too. Sometimes a little far fetched but still good and efficient in its pacing. The camera work is ok, but has a little too much shaky cam syndrome going on in the battle scenes. On a visual level the movie comes along really bleak. This may turn off some people but for me it added to the visual realism. Then there are the Exo-Suits. Now a lot of fans were not happy when they didn’t manage to make these for the 1998 Starship Troopers movie. Since in the novel the soldiers had such Exoskeleton Suits to fight the Bugs. I guess they had to strip that part due to budget limitations and VFX not being where techniques are nowadays. The aliens often reminded me of the drones in the Matrix movies. Which probably isn’t a fair comparison since the aliens here are organic. It’s mostly their movement style. When they get a closeup and don’t move too much, they actually look quite scary. I have to applaud the fact that (when you get a clean look at them) these creatures finally do look like aliens and not humanoid or like something that could be off Earth.

You can see a lot of influences from all kinds of Scifi literature and movies packed into EoT. From Starship Troopers to The Forever War. Some parts of the film even have a World War 1 flair. But that may be caused by the look they chose for the invasion scenes. In some twisted universe EoT could have even been a sequel to that World Invasion/Battle: LA movie. Thinking about it… it would have been perfect. Battle: LA had a really nice first 30 minutes but became a horrible movie very soon after that.

While watching a review of this movie on Thecinemasnob.com, it was noted that this is best videogame movie ever made. And while the movie is not based on a videogame it completely makes sense. The whole mechanic of the movie works like a videogame. Cage basically is the playable character and everytime the (let’s say just for fun) director makes a mistake… Cage has to start the level again! It’s a funny analysis and it could totally make sense! In ye olden days, with the jump’n’run games for example, you really needed some very good timing and planning on how you move through the levels. The same thing happens in the movie. That’s a funny detail worth to mention.

Only the ending felt a tiny bit too much by the book. But that’s merely a taste thing I’d say. Otherwise a very solid and good movie. I like Tom Cruise’s Scifi choices so far. I can’t remember a bad movie with him that’s set in the Scifi genre. It’s also good to see an original movie and not a remake, sequel or prequel making a lot of money and being successful these days.

7.9/10

Edge Of Tomorrow on IMDb

I had some high hopes for this one. What really made me curious about this new one were the casting choices and how the characters would work out. When it comes to the old Godzilla movies then I’m by far no expert. I know they’re around since the mid 1950s and saw tons of different iterations of the same story over and over again. The very first Godzilla movie from 1954 was kind of a Japanese comment on the discovery of nuclear energy and bomb testing and had some serious undertones. Later iterations of the so-called ‘Kaiju’ (which basically translates as ‘strange creature’) movies ended up very kid friendly and very goofy in the 60s. Then it got a little more serious again. Let’s just say that Godzilla itself has quite a history. And from my personal experience, watching this latest iteration, this ‘king of all monsters’ still worked great!

The first 15 minutes of the movie we have our all beloved Bryan Cranston trying to figure out some strange anomalies on some instrument readings from the nuclear power plant he’s working for. Something strange is going on and he has no idea what’s the source of the readings. Cranston plays Joe Brody. He and his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) and son Ford live in Japan, really close to the power plant, which is portrayed as this really massive complex you actually want to avoid going too close to. This one particular morning, the strange readings go off the chart and result in an earthquake. In an effort to secure the power plant Sandra dies, right in front of Joe’s eyes. A pretty heartbreaking moment. Cranston does a phenomenal job with showing the pain he’s going through in these moments. His decision to sacrifice his wife and colleagues helps to avoid a bigger catastrophe but Joe wants to know what exactly happend and caused the earthquake that forced him to kill his beloved wife. 15 years later we have Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who joined the military, coming home from his latest tour of duty. Just when he wanted to have some peace with his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olson) and kid, the telephone rings with a message that his father got arrested in Japan. Joe, now obsessed with finding out what happened 15 years ago gets released from prison after Ford bailed him out of there. Both have very different ideas on how to get on with life but Joe manages to get his son along to take a trip to the ruins of the power plant. Ford’s reason to help his father is mainly to put an end to all of it by showing his father that there was nothing special going on 15 years ago… that it was an accident. Slowly but surely both understand that there is indeed something going on and Joe now wins the trust he needs from his son. And that’s all I want to say here. Let’s just point out that things start to happen and things start to get spectacular.

If you take all the old Godzilla movies into account then you notice that all of them have a slow buildup. You will not get your big time monster fight in the first half hour (or even full hour). The fight is reserved for the third act in the end. Yes there are skirmish fights here and there… but the big one always in the end. And that’s something this new movie does perfect! It surely takes like 20 to 30 minutes before we can actually see a monster. And it’s a great first appearance and the first moments of ‘epic’.

What this movie does perfectly is to (for the most part) show the monsters from the perspective of a human. That gives these enormous creatures so much weight and results in some dreadful and believeable images. A lot of “holy crap, how would I try to get out of there?” moments. Especially when we’re with Ford when he’s trying to get home and later trying to do his job. There is one scene on Hawaii when Ford is on a train, trying to catch a plane for San Francisco, when one of the monsters appears in the city. At first all electricity is off and the whole city dark. Kind of the atmosphere you have when a thunderstorm is coming. Very quiet, before it goes off. Military jets and helicopters zipping around. We’re still with Ford in that train and you start to think that something off and weird is going on. Then lights come on again and suddenly this giant creature appears. There are a lot of these moments in this movie, where a short buildup is going on, that introduces the monster to the environment. It’s so well done and creates a very immersive mood.

As mentioned before I was curious because of the casting choices. Unfortunately the movie doesn’t go too deep into the characters and doesn’t allow a lot of character development. Only Bryan Cranston really managed to portrait a 3 dimensional character with was given to him. Aaron Johnson is a phenomenal actor who surely does a fine job here, but his character in the movie could be seen as a placeholder for every other generic monster movie hero. Still, he’s doing a good job, given the material he got. Then we have Elizabeth Olson who got herself some credit with some of her recent acting choices. She’s doing a nice job as well and gives her part at least a tad bit of depth. The true hero of this movie is Godzilla and the monsters. Which brings me to the VFX and monsters.

I really like this new take on Godzilla. I think it’s a natural progression from the original (man in a costume) design. Of course in this one the monsters are all CG. There are some really epic scenes in this movie. And no, I’m not explicitly talking about the big fight scenes. There are scenes that make the monsters almost appear human. They seem to have emotions and most importantly they have a motivation! It’s not a desaster-porn movie where all the destruction is just there for the sake of the most possible KABOOM! These creatures have a reason to fight. The CG work, from my point of view, is pretty much flawless. The detail and motivation of the monsters gives all the destruction much more weight. I can’t even imagine how much work went into the creation of the VFX scenes. It’s damn good work.

Talking about the qualities of the monsters and how they appear to have ‘character’ goes back to director Gareth Edwards’ first big movie ‘Monsters’. In ‘Monsters’ we have the question who the real monsters are. Maybe it’s us humans. The monsters in Edwards’ first movie did not really appear to be dangerous. They were just ‘there’ and we humans just don’t want them to be ‘there’ (as usual). Then there is this fascinating ending of Monsters where there are these two 20m or 30m high creatures that seem to make love and share emotions. The same qualities and undertones we have in this Godzilla movie. It seems to go a step further too. There are scenes with a subtle undertone of mutual understanding between humans and the monsters. It is fascinating and very well executed. Gareth Edwards was the perfect guy for this movie. He seems to understand the subtle details that need to go into movies like this. Action isn’t everything! It needs a little more.

Did I mention the sound design? The sound landscape in this movie is very deep! There is a scene on a train bridge in a forest that doesn’t play any dramatic music at all. It’s just the sound and noises from the monster. The movie definitely understood when to cut the music and leave space for sound effects. I already got that impression from the trailers and was so happy that it translated into the movie. The musical score in the film works well but for me the clear heroes are the sound design folks. Especially in theater! When Godzilla roars it almost felt like the seats were shaking. And there is this one scene where he roars and… keeps on roaring for longer then you would normally think for a scene like that. And it totally paid off! It gave Godzilla character and a certain kind of ‘force of nature’ feel. Almost as if he wanted to say “The wait is over! I’m here now and I’ll kick some ass!”. It worked great!

The movie got positive reviews with some sprinkles of negative. While I’m open to every opinion, I don’t understand some of the complaints from the negative reviews though. One thing you have to understand is that we’re not talking about ‘Pacific Rim’ here. Pacific Rim is a fun movie in itself and while it’s about big monsters too, it’s also a pure popcorn movie to have fun with. For the most part it’s monster bashing without investing time into developing the monsters. They’re just there to get beaten and killed in the most cool way possible. In Godzilla you don’t get the eyecandy until the story demands it and explained it. In some way you have to earn yourself the eyecandy (how it’s suposed to be goddamnit!) and enjoy it even more when it happens. I’m really glad we still have this big blockbuster movie that manages to follow a buildup and not throw all the good stuff out within the first 15 minutes of the film! It gives me hope that there still are talented people out there who understand how a good movie should be structured!

Even some of the positive reviews said that it could have had more fighting between the monsters and I say NO… it was just the right amount of fighting and destruction. If you want senseless eyecandy and destruction go watch Man Of Steel or Transformers.

Alright, I think I got it all out. I really damn enjoyed this movie. Go watch it. For this one I would even suggest a 3d screening.

8/10

Godzilla on IMDb

From reviews I knew that ‘The Conjuring’ was a step back from all these ‘found footage’ movies and torture porns (Saw, Hostel) we got over the last couple of years. Yes, we are talking about a horror film. And for me all the Paranormal Activities, Hostels and Saws are not exactly horror films. They are a mixture of all kinds of things without too many classical elements. The Conjuring is a welcome step back to a more traditional setup.

The movie does have a very usual storyline but it’s nothing to complain about, since it’s mainly the seriousness of the characters that make this movie work. It’s about a family that tries to find a new start in life and decides to move into a house. Of course this house has a strange and violent past. Soon after moving into the house they experience some weird events. The only way to resolve the situation is to seek help from professionals. And they find help in a couple that is specialized in exorcism and dealing with supernatural things. After taking a look at the house again everyone agrees that something needs to be done. The house, almost a character of its own, doesn’t like that and starts to ramp up the attacks.

The movie is loosely based on true events. Which is hard to believe. We all know how Hollywood works. Nonethelese I really enjoyed this movie a lot. While watching I recognized elements from classics like The Exorcist or Poltergeist. And I guess it’s those classic elements that made The Conjuring the box office and critical success it was. It’s back to the roots and not the ‘in your face’ thing we get most of the time today. The horror element isn’t gore or jump scares… the movie is more about what you can not see instead of the “BAM! here it is”. There are a couple of scenes where they really nicely mess with your head. Some great “is there something in the corner or isn’t?!” moments.

The casting is very good too. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson play the couple that tries to clean the house. Both of them create a very dense atmosphere and mood with how serious they portrait their characters. Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston play the house owners and do a great job as well. I really enjoyed how both of them had no idea how to react to what’s going on in the house. Ever since Band Of Brothers and Office Space I have a soft spot for Ron Livingston and I’m glad he got the part in this movie. He’s a very versatile actor and got a chance to show it here. All around solid acting from all of them. The kid actors as well. No complaints there too.

If you’re interested in a modern horror film that works on the foundations of classics like The Exorcist and Poltergeist… this will be your thing! Check it out. A fantastic movie!

7.8/10

The Conjuring on IMDb

First of all I have to state that I went into this film without any expectations whatsoever. Except maybe the fact that I really wanted the style of the first 300 movie. I was certain that this new movie would not completely be able to hold up with the first one. That rarely happened in movie history. So how much of the first 300 movie was in this new one?

This movie basically tells the same story we already had in 300. This time though we are following the Greeks and not specifically the Spartans. It’s basically that: some really sexy guys have to hold a certain area from a really sexy lady who is leading a part of the Persian invasion. While the first movie is very condensed on Leonidas, his 300 and the area around the Hot Gates, we now get a look at the bigger picture and everything that’s going on around the happenings in the first movie. The movie is at least trying to give a bigger picture. That would make it more a ‘side-quel’ instead of a ‘sequel’.

Here we are following Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton), a Greek army leader, who is pretty much the main guy in the movie. He is also the guy who may be the reason why all this war is raging, because he killed the father of Xerxes in a battle earlier in history. Which then started a chain of events that made Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) the crazy ‘God-King’ of Persia we all know from the first movie. Then we have Artemisia (Eva Green). She’s our lead villain in this movie and is originally from Greece. She had a very troubled and disturbing past, which lead her to Persia, when she was saved bysomeone we know from the first movie and this now famous “THIS IS SPARTA” scene. He decides to adopt her, train and teach her to fight and be a relentless leader. When Xerxes decides to conquer the world, Artemisia leads a significant part of his army to Greece. In the first 300 movie we have a couple of scenes that give a glimpse of how sea battles would look like. In this new movie we basically get one big sea battle. The opposing forces give each other hell until the final battle between Themistokles and Artemisia.

The battle scenes are what elevates this movie a tiny bit above the ‘average’ mark… and Eva Green. She must have really enjoyed playing that over the top, badass, crazy villain character of Artemisia. At one point she even opposes Xerxes and says open to his face what she’s thinking about him. She is also the character with the most depth in the movie. We get quite some backstory to her. And that story completely justifies how she became what she is in the movie. And Eva Green does that in a fantastic way. If (beside the battle scenes) anything saves the movie, then it’s her performance. She’s great in this one.

On the opposite of Eva Green we have Sullivan Stapleton as Themistokles. He falls a little flat and by far doesn’t have the charisma of a Gerard Butler who played Leonidas. There are a couple of heroic speech scenes that just don’t really hit the spark and worked for me. But hey, Leonidas had a red cape, Themistokles has a blue one… so the leader in the next movie is destined to have a green cape! He and Eva Green though had some great chemistry when they both shared the screen. They played well off another (and I don’t reduce that to a really nice sex scene between the two). They had some good lines to fire at each other.

What I found positive was the really hard violence in this movie. They completely follow the path of the first movie and even upped the loss of tons of blood in this one. It’s even too much blood for my taste. Sometimes you’re thinking how no one in these battle scenes even slightly slips on all the liters of blood that should be spilled on the ground they fight on. It’s a little ridiculous. It can be said though that it served the 3d very good. All this slow motion blood flying around was kinda fun to watch.

Between the first 300 movie and today there were quite a lot of movies that tried to copy the look and visual style. I had a feeling that this movie would be a weak copy as well. But no! They managed to get exactly the visual feel and look from the first 300 movie. That’s of course the main reason to watch this movie. Since a lot of the movie’s battles happen on open sea, it’s also a different battlefield and allows for more creative visuals and fights. Even though the 3d worked really nice, there was one detail that kinda bugged me in certain scenes. A lot of flying particles! May it be dust or whatever. The 3d effect was great but it distracted a lot from the actual focus point of the scenes. These particles were mostly used in quiet scenes and I ask myself why. Did they think these scenes were too dull and they needed something to keep the eye busy? I don’t know. Otherwise… no big problems with the 3d.

Forget historic details when you go into this movie. From what I know it’s all over the place with it’s facts and everything. Who cares?! I, for my part, got exactly what I wanted from this movie. And that wasn’t much, except a bloody visual feast for the eye.

7.3/10

300 – Rise Of An Empire on IMDb

I recently watched ‘Greenberg’ from 2010. Another one of these Ben Stiller movies that doesn’t fall into his more known/popular comedy realm. It’s not what I expected but it wasn’t bad either. It was a solid character study with some solid acting by Mr. Stiller. Why I’m pointing that out? Well, simple… I just want more of the serious Ben Stiller. He’s someone who can really pull it off. He’s probably one of the better versatile actors we have today. So when I saw the trailers for ‘Mitty’ I was all for it. It looked great. Promised a story with heart. Promised some good acting. And it’s directed by Ben Stiller himself. The question was not if I’ll see this movie… the question was if I’ll see it on the big screen or wait for Bluray. I’m glad I did go for the big screen and went to the theater.

Ben Stiller plays Walter Mitty. He works at LIFE magazine, which is just making the transition from print magazine to online magazine. Naturally a lot of lose their jobs when this happens so they plan to make their last print issue a masterpiece. What does a good magazine need? A good cover of course. Due to his job Walter plays a big part in getting that cover done. For 16 years his job is taking care of the photo negative archive (you remember? analog photography?), when a new set of photos by very prominent photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) arrives. The message that comes along with it says that negative 25 is the one that should be taken for the last issue’s cover. But that particular negative is missing. In the meanwhile we learn that Walter didn’t really have a very exciting life. Never experienced things that we would normally say represent ‘living life!’. Walter has a crush on a woman who just started working for LIFE magazine and eversince he saw her he wanted to ask her out. Of course he’s a very shy guy and fails to make the right steps. When he is starting to get in trouble, because of the missing photo negative, things fall in place and he gets a chance to talk to Cheryl (Kristen Wiig). She offers him help asking around in the office if someone noticed anything. Walter is developing the negatives he does have and both try to read the pictures and try to find out where these might have been shot to track down Sean O’Connell. A photographer not known to be easily contacted due to constantly being on the road and working with analog equipment to completely focus on the job. Walter and Cheryl manage to get a clue from one of the photos. Walter decides to find Sean since Walter really needs negative 25. The hope is that Sean can either give him the negative or at least let him know where it is.

Beside the happenings evolving around Walter we have this background plot about a huge magazine that makes this weird transition from print to digital. Along with it all the bad things for the workers there. Throughout the movie we also have a message of old versus new. The movie is not trying to hammer down an opinion on the viewer but it’s kind of trying to explain how the old stuff can still be good. First of all the whole thing about photo negatives. Only true hardcore photographers are still working with film. I know a few of them and I can totally relate to their reason why they are still on film. It’s a very special look and feel that digital will never ever have. We get told that some things need time and patience to get good results. In our digitized environment nowadays you can get so many things so fast that we sometimes need a reminder… to sit back and enjoy the ‘moment’ for once. Then there is the magazine undergoing the transition from print to digital. Which might be a necessary step for the magazine to survive, but still leaves so many hard working people behind, losing their jobs. I liked this background theme. But thinking about it… it could also be the main theme of the film. That’s up for debate though. I guess everyone can find an own main theme in this movie, depending on what story element you can relate to.

This movie is a journey. It goes a lot of places and if you allow/let the movie take you by the hand you will have quite a fun ride with it. There I am really happy I decided to go see it in the theater. There are some really awesome nature/landscape shots, along with some spectacular lighting, in this movie. Yes, the movie has a some back and forth scenery jumps but I had no problem with it at all. Even though I must admit that it did hurt the storytelling a little bit. On the other hand I don’t have a suggestion on how to make it better. It all works just fine. The movie isn’t all serious as well. There are a lot of funny moments in it. But not stupid funny like in so many Ben Stiller comedy movies. Here we have a lot of heart in them and they serve a purpose. It’s not just funny just to be funny.

The film didn’t receive very good reviews and splits most opinions 50/50. There are the folks who really enjoyed it, are able to relate to the characters and what the movie wants to say. People who don’t like it for the most part seem to have a problem with how the movie tries to get its message accross. They argue that the movie beats the audience over the head with a message hammer by placing all these obvious hints at what it’s all about. And yes there are these obvious moments and I totally recognized them. But I never thought it was just done to make sure the audience really gets what the is movie about. The movie wants to be a message so why should it hide its intentions?

Is it a movie I’ll rewatch any time soon? Probably not. But still, I think it’s a film that you should see at least once. It got something to say and some really beautiful moments.

So YES! Go see it. Support this wonderful movie.

8/10

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty on IMDb

I didn’t know what to expect when I went to see the first part almost exactly one year ago. I guess I was hoping for that Middle-Earth flair that the first trilogy had. When the movie ended I was pretty underwhelmed by what I saw. It surely was Middle-Earth… but not the way I hoped it to be. I blame the HFR (48 frames per second) projection technique Peter Jackson forces on these movies. It really gave me a headache. The 3d was fine though. In hindsight the first movie also had its lenghts and didn’t feel very consistent as a whole. For me it was a weak start for a trilogy and my hopes for the movies to come weren’t high from that point on.

Due to my lowered expectations I did not go to see the second film with any high hopes. My sole reason to see it was basically to give Peter Jackson a second chance. And judging from what I saw in the second movie, he mostly managed to get back on track. There were still parts that feld weird and a little out of place.

The second movie basically starts where the first one ended. Our group of Dwarfs, a Hobbit and Gandalf is continueing the journey towards the mountain. Wherein the former capital of the Dwarfs lies, which is now occupied by the dragon Smaug. The group is still hunted by some Orcs who relentlessly try to catch them. Gandalf has to leave the group to check on some facts and other things that trouble his mind. In more than one scene we get the impression that he knows what evil is plotting and brooding in the darker corners of Middle-Earth. And there we have a similarity to ‘The Two Towers’. There he’s leaving the group as well. In this movie there are a couple of things/similarities happening that reminded me on the first trilogy.

The first bigger setpiece is an enchanted forest where the group gets lost in. This sequence was a lot of fun and for once the HFR and 3d combination managed to play out its strength. The forest is populated by effing huge spiders that, of course, try to get our heroes to eat them. Bilbo is using the Ring to disguise himself and take out the spiders one after another. The Ring also enables him to hear the spiders speak. Which I found a nice touch to it all. I didn’t expect the Ring to have that power. A nice surprise. The scene itself is just amazingly well shot and the crystal clear VFX along with the ugly disgusting giant spiders just looked great. That was the Peter Jackson I want! Of course our heroes manage to get out of the forest alive… rescued by Elves.

Legolas shows up and with him a group of Elven soldiers who drive the remaining spiders away. There we also get the first appearance by Tauriel. Since Elves and Dwarfs aren’t exactly friends, our group isn’t exactly rescued. ‘Captured’ may be the better word. Only Bilbo manages to stay hidden with help of the Ring. Returned to the Elven city our heroes are thrown into prison. Which they managed to escape with help of Bilbo. Now one of the Dwarfs is fond of Tauriel and the two come a little closer. Then we learn that Legolas has a thing for Tauriel as well. Unfortunately the father of Legolas, ruler of the Elven city, doesn’t want him to start anything with Tauriel. I presume her blood isn’t majestic enough or something. Legolas doesn’t care. He likes her and in some scenes we can see his inner conflict in his eyes. So yes, ultimately there is a love triangle going on. Is it necessary? I don’t know. For some reason it’s a nice new perspective I think.

After a, sometimes really very much over the top, escape scene our group is free and mobile again. On their way to the mountain they have to cross a huge lake and meet Bard, a guy with a ship big enough ship. Together they land in the wonderful town of Esgaroth. As filthy and dirty as this town looks in the movie… the detail and the whole look of it is just great work. The lighting they used for it, with its blue and orange color palette, looked just great. Dwarfs aren’t exactly welcome in this city as well and hide in the home of Bard. In the meanwhile the Orcs are still following them and so do Legolas and Tauriel.

After some action in Esgaroth, part of the group leaves to go for the mountain. One of the Dwarfs got hit by an poisoned Orc arrow and has to stay behind. Tauriel arrives just in time to do some magic and save him. Of course it’s Dwarf that bonded with her earlier. A few miles away our group finally enters the mountain, after a failed attempt to open the door. That was a weird moment in the scene. The Dwarfs go through all this crazy stuff and when their one attempt to open the magic door fails they just go “F it… we tried and failed, too bad. I’m going now”. Only Bilbo solves the riddle and the journey continues. Now it’s Bilbo’s big moment. The reason why he came along. He has to go into the mountain and find a certain magic stone. Too bad there’s a dragon too.

Much like the first Hobbit movie this one felt like a rollercoaster ride. Story part, action part, story part, action part and so on. For some reason it felt much more consistent though. I don’t know if it was because I knew what to expect, but the HFR didn’t hurt as bad as it did in the first movie. Even though there were plenty of hectic scenes. What I noticed though was that within these fast scenes we had less rapid fire cuts. It all felt more fluidly executed which benefited the HFR. The 3d for the most part was done very well. Especially the earlier mentioned spider scene. And most importantly when Smaug enters the movie. That’s how to use 3d!

Now does it mean I’m getting old when I say that I enjoyed the quiet moments best? The actions setpieces and their execution was well done but the quiet story parts were the ones that brought back a little flair of Middle-Earth. Especially the part when Bilbo is playing hide and seek with Smaug. There you can see where the money went. That dragon looks absolutely fantastic.

When it comes to characters then I must admit that I don’t like Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and somehow really like Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly). Bilbo (Martin Freeman) does a hell of a job saving Thorin’s and his gang’s ass from spiders, Elves and Orcs… and Thorin is still not fond of him. Even after Bilbo entered the mountain Thorin doesn’t have a single bit of confidence into Bilbo. Sorry… Thorin is an A’hole! Now the other Dwarfs get a bit more screentime in this movie and are more likable. Especially Kili (Aidan Turner) who’s kind of falling for Tauriel. Which, I’m sorry to say that, is kind of cute. Tauriel has some nice screentime as well and delivers. While all the other Elves, including Legolas, have their reservations against Drwafs… she has an open mind and looks at things her own way. She has her quiet moments where some good acting is going on. And the action moments show some bad ass fighting. She’s cute and pretty damn lethal to her enemies. Gandalf (Ian McKellen) follows his own plot in this movie after parting from the group early on. Well, what’s to say about Gandalf… it’s Gandalf, you know? We also have a guest appearance from Radagast (Sylvester McCoy) again. I like him show up for a couple of scenes. He has a nice grumpy feel and look to him… as well as birds nesting under his hat. The acting overall was solid but closing in on cheesy.It maintained its level right beneath it. But that’s maybe a taste thing.

Overall I have a feeling that people who liked the first Hobbit movie don’t like the second and vice versa. And also please don’t get me wrong. I still don’t like the HFR technique. While it may have worked 15-20% of the time in the first film… it probably worked 30-40% of the time in this second one. Which is still by far not enough to justify the use of it. There were still plenty of scenes that looked so goofy and fake that it completely took my out of the movie experience.

This movie is as epic as a fantasy movie can get. It got its flaws, and most of them are very visible in the HFR version, but overall it felt like Middle-Earth again. Even though they could have easily trimmed out 20 minutes of this cut. There is some padding here and there.

Go see it in 3d! HFR is not necessary.

A 7.9/10 for me. (HFR & 3D Version)

The Hobbit – The Desolation Of Smaug on IMDb

Since we are now in Phase Two of Marvel’s big storyline plans, we left all the origin stories of all the main characters behind us and can now concentrate on their developments. From all the hero introduction movies Thor always felt a little flat in comparison to Ironman or Captain America. The first Thor movie was saved by its nice choice of actors and a nice chemistry between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Oh yes… and the introduction of Loki (Tom Hiddleston)! I love that guy. He was my reason to go and spend money to see Thor – The Dark Kingdom on the big screen. Was it worth it?

Time has passed since the events of The Avengers. Asgard is having problems maintaining the kingdom and keeping it stable. Thor and his friends are on mission to restore order. In the mean time Loki is back in Asgard as well. But imprisoned and not having a too nice time. We get a lot of exposition scenes explaining some history and events that happened to Odin’s father. A huge war fought over some strange substance called the ‘Aether’. Now Odin’s father Bor fought a huge war against the Dark Elves and their leader Malekith, who is after the Aether. He who posses it is able to gain a power that could destroy… I don’t know… I guess galaxies. Bor wins the battle, drives Malekith and his horde away and hides the Aether. Thousands of years later it’s found again. Now I understand that you have to follow certain routes to drive your storytelling and what they did in the film to me felt good and bad at the same time. It works how they explain it in context of the story. But I, at the same time, thought that they made it way too easy. Coincidence plays a far too big role. But hey… for movies like this one you kinda have to suspend disbelief. So I had to force myself to shutdown my brain. Long story short, Jane Foster finds the Aether and the weird thing that the Aether is… it melds with Jane. Thor finds out that something is wrong and returns to Earth. He’s still in love with Jane but for the last two years he never came back. So it’s a nice reunion moment. In the meantime Malekith plans his attack on Asgard after Thor brought Jane there to keep her safe and to find out how to remove the Aether from her. That’s the middle part of the movie, where we see all the Asgard stuff we didn’t get (but wanted) from the first film. Soon enough comes the attack from Malekith and we get the action into the movie as well. Yes, Loki is there to play his role too.

This movie takes all the good elements of the first movie and expands on them. That is, for the most part, very well done. Then we have Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) who kind of is a fan darling for some reason. She is a nice character and a good comic relief but they overdid her in this movie from my point of view. There were a couple of moments where I thought “naw, that joke wasn’t needed right there”. Other parts they expanded and did really well were, like mentioned before, the Asgard bits. We got to see much more of the city, this world and how it’s structured. That, along with the design elements, was something that held my interest up throughout the movie. The fight scenes were overall well done too. Shakycam was an issue but it was still tolerable. I never lost sight of what’s going on or who punched or beat who at what moment in the scene.

The costume design is still a little goofy and after two films I still don’t know what to think of it. On a certain level it does work and then there are moments where your brain refuses to shutdown and you see some of the costumes for what they are. Shiny, flashy, rainbow colored kind of kids… costumes. It’s weird. Yes, I know… Asgard is supposed to be that almighty shiny god land but I’m a fan of worn out gritty looks. So yes, the costumes in the movie kind of work and kind of don’t work at the same time. It’s strange. The other design elements looks cool and I enjoyed the look of the worlds they created for the film. As usual pretty good VFX work. There are these one or two slow motion scenes where Natalie Portman melds with the Aether, is in a kind of dream state and floating in the air… these shots were just beautiful to look at.

Overall the film does a great job. The acting is good and the chemistry works. Sometimes the comedic elements take a little overhand but overall it’s also the comedy that makes the movie very entertaining. The 3d, compared to the first one, was much better and some of the battle scenes took nice advantage of the effect. Did I mention that I love Loki?

7.6/10

Thor – The Dark Kingdom on IMDb

I had Chronicle on my radar for a while now. Heard a lot good things, especially about one of the actors in it. Now I finally came around watching it. The movie certainly does what it’s supposed to do. It’s entertaining and much better than expected.

Over the past couple of years we had a lot of superhero movies from Spiderman to Ironman and Batman. We also had a lot of ‘found footage’ movies like Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity. While the superhero movies overall do a nice job, the quality of the ‘found footage’ ones is quite debatable. Most of the time it’s real crap. Cloverfield does it right though. And so does Chronicle. Even if you could argue about the fact if Chronicle really is a found footage movie. It certainly is, from a technical point of view, treated like one.

The story is about three highschool kids, Andrew (Dane DeHaan), Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan) who meet on a party. While taking a break and fresh air they discover a hole with tunnel not far away. That tunnel leads to a strange piece of rock. Its appearance is definitely nothing from our world so it’s probably something alien. It’s not further explained and there actually is no need for an explanation. Sure enough something weird happens. Soon enough they discover that suddenly they have sort of telekinetic powers.

The movie most of the time follows Andrew. His home situation is pretty sadand frustrating. His father is lost cause and drinker while his mother is sick and barely living anymore. Andrew is also the character that has an arc in this movie. He starts out as a shy teenager and lone wolf. Through the happenings he finally gets some closer friends who really seem to care. Things happen at home and this new found friendship gets problematic. Andrew’s father really treats him like a piece of dirt, screams at him and makes him down whenever possible. It’s only natural that Andrew gets angry and his whole situation drives him mad. And, to be honest, I felt really sad for the character. Mostly because the movie is pretty realistic in showing how these things happen in certain family situations.

While all kinds of personal things going on, our three friends also discover that their powers are growing stronger. Andrew recognizes that and takes advantage of it. A couple of things happen and when Andrew is trying to find a way to help his sick mother, things get out of control.

Dane Dehaan plays his part phenomenal. From the first minute on you believe his character Andrew. He really nails that teenager feeling of not being one of the cool guys. Andrew is always trying to stay in the background and still gets picked on all the time. Dane Dehaan manages it to give the frustration and pain a real face. He also succeeds in portraying the arc Andrew is going through. Especially in his final scene, which I found very powerful, he’s almost embracing his pain and begging for salvation. Great work by this young actor there.

Despite a couple of plot holes here and there it all works. It’s easy to forgive since some decisions complement the overall plot and its developments. While other ‘found footage’ movies often come up with really stupid solutions to the ‘found footage’ problematic, Chronicle made it right. They found good ways to explain why there are cameras around and how it’s possible. Sometimes you’re wondering though why they insisted on it. I think the movie would have worked either way. The ‘found footage’ fact doesn’t play a big role but also does not hurt the movie. The production costs of 12mio dollars are relatively low but the VFX worked good enough. Nonetheless you can see what VFX parts had more work invested into them than others. But that’s forgivable from my point of view. The overall story of these three kids is more important.

Yes it’s definitely one of the best found footage movies around. I still think it wasn’t a necessary feature but either way it worked fine. The characters are fun and the story really captivating. After seeing it I thought, “yeah… that’s probably a realistic take on the ‘what if I had superpowers’ theme”. It really is a good movie and it stands out. Watch it if you have a chance!

7.6/10

Chronicle on IMDb

For this one I avoided spoilers as much as possible. I saw the trailers and that’s it. I looked at the critic’s scores for the movie and was very pumped to see this film. The first time I heard about it was probably two years ago. I’m a huge fan of Alfonso Cuarón’s “Children Of Men” and checked him for new projects. “Gravity” was the name of his new project. After reading a little, it was clear that it’s set in space. I found that pretty much awesome since I’m definitely a space fan. Now after a long time waiting, the movie is finally out and I went seeing it.

I don’t know why but I had no big expectations going into this film. I just wanted some great images and a somewhat interesting story to go along with. What I got was a load lot more than I expected. This movie makes you really appreciate the work astronauts do out there! They do a hell of a job! And astronauts is what this movie is about. We start with Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) and a third astronaut. All three of them are in space to repair the Hubble Telescope. Stone is a space first timer while Kowalski is the veteran in the crew and on his last mission. Kowalski is having fun with his jetpack while the repairs go along well, when suddenly a message comes in, that a russian satellite got destroyed. Now the debris of said russian satellite starts to spread and initiates a chain reaction of more and more satellites getting destroyed. With the debris field getting larger and larger our astronaut friends become a target too. They cannot manage to pack things in time and get hit by the field of scrap metal satellite parts. The shuttle gets destroyed, along with its crew, and Stone is spinning away from the crashsite and into the depths of space. She gets rescued by Kowalski and both figure out a plan to get back to earth. First stop… the ISS.

In this day and age it’s very hard to stumble uppon a commercially successful movie that is not only successful but also does everything right that a movie should do right. This is a movie made for the big screen. I don’t think this movie will work as well on a usual home flatscreen as it did on the big theater screen. We also don’t see a lot of cuts. No doubts about that there are cuts… but they are hidden. So that most of the movie looks as if it’s done in a single take. That creates an impressive feeling of being there with the characters of the movie. Especially the opening scene goes almost 20 minutes without a single cut! That’s how you capture your audience! That’s how you suck them into your world! That’s how you establish your world and the atmosphere!

Sandra Bullock is amazing! For me she was just always there and I appreciated her work and skills. But I never saw her really amaze me. She certainly did in this movie. Yeah, Clooney is in it, but he doesn’t play a too big part. Although I must admit that the scenes he had, he did perfectly fine. It’s Sandra Bullock’s work that carries the movie though. She’s the one we root for and she’s the one we want to have a happy ending. From my point of view her character goes through three stages in this movie. In the first one she’s the newbie in space. She doesn’t have much control about what she’s doing. She is fearful and has a hard time keeping everything under control. She is pretty much what all the audience would be in space. Almost helpless. Especially when everything around you goes to hell. Then we come to the second act of the film and we see her character figuring out the problems and fighting to get back home. We also learn some details about the characters past. A past that has some very bitter moments. In the third act we can see her as a reborn being. Someone who grew stronger through the events overcome. Someone who will never ever give up again. I read that Angelina Jolie was first choice for the part and dear lord in heaven I’m glad it became Sandra Bullock! She did an amazing job and certainly deserves an Oscar nomination for that performance! Jolie surely is a fine actress in certain roles. But for this one you needed someone who is also very natural and down to earth. Sandra Bullock was perfect.

If there is one little downside to this movie then it would be the symbolism that is hidden in the images every now and then. But that’s really actually not a complaint and much more a remark. In some parts it feels as if they used a visual sledgehammer and said “get it? get it?”. I did get it. It’s all about Ryan Stone being born again. Leaving all past bad things behind and try to make the best of what’s there now. The last scene with the water and her crawling on the beach is literally a symbol of birth. Or in an earlier scene where she’s floating in a fetus like position, which I guess marks the start of her transformation of seeing and living things differently. Things like this were a little too obvious but in no way hurt the movie at all. It gives the movie a deeper meaning and that’s not a bad thing.

I really hope this movie will make a lot of money. And it fortunately kinda looks like it does. Like I mentioned earlier, this movie lives and breathes with the exceptionally well camera work, done throughout the movie. Everything slow, fluid and almost no cuts. Certainly a very big challenge for the VFX crews working on this movie. A really crazy attention to detail going on in this movie. Especially the simulation of a zero g environment must have been amazingly hard. But they managed to pull it off. It looks and feels realistic in every single frame of this film. Well placed action sequences balance the movie with the quiet parts that bring us closer to the main character and her problems. There we should also have our technical Oscar nominations for camera and VFX. I seriously cannot see a single part to nitpick when it comes to the belivablity of this movie. A benchmak that no other space film will get close to any time soon.

Ultimately… what else to say than GO WATCH THIS MOVIE ON A AS BIG AS POSSIBLE SCREEN! Oh yeah, the 3d in this movie really was good!

Go see it!

8.8/10

Gravity on IMDb