William and Maryanne are moving. New home, new town, new stuff... lots of packing to do. That's partly why our reviews have been slightly sporadic for the last couple months.
We apologize for that (all of us), and Maryanne and I at least have both promised to each other that we'll start getting reviews up at least within a few days of seeing a movie or dining out, and we're prodding everyone else into getting things to us as well. Although we aren't doing much dining out lately (unless you count Dairy Queen) as we're packing, cleaning, recycling, and hauling stuff around a lot lately. Many of the friends are helping, and few of them are currently in a financial crunch.
There are a few movies coming up that some or all of us are looking forward to though. Here's the list:
Cowboys and Aliens - July 29
Conan - August 19 (not sure I'll like that one)
Sherlock Holmes & Mission Impossible - December 16
The Avengers - May 2012
Men In Black III - May 2012
Spiderman - July 2012 (this is supposed to be a reboot of the whole movie series)
The Dark Knight (Batman) - July 2012
Superman - December 2012 (another attempt to reboot the franchise)
The Hobbit, Part 1 - sometime in 2013
There may well be some other movies coming up that I'm not aware of yet, and that's fine. This is my list, not a collaboration or anything (though Conan still gives me second thoughts after seeing previews recently) and this is stuff I'd like to see.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Ehh.
That's about all I can say on this one.
Definitely more action, but the overall entertainment value is still a bit low. Lots of good chuckles throughout the movie, and couple minor plot twists caught my attention, but overall I see it as another failure to live up to expectations. I very much wanted to like and enjoy this movie as I like the Transformers franchise and all, but this again just felt like an average-effort film like the first one was.
The long and the short:
The Autobots get pissed off when they discover that they're USA friends haven't been sharing everything they know, namely that an Autobot ship was discovered crashed on the moon, and that's why we went to the moon... Not to beat the Russians, but to beat the Russians to the crashed alien ship.
Turns out that ship carried one of the Autobots greatest inventors/scientists (familiar voice on this guy too for you Star Trek fans out there) who was transporting a weapon, the greatest and best hope that Autobots had of winning the war.
Turns out to be not true. This weapon was being handed over to the Decepticons. Apparently a deal was struck, and the idea was that this so-called weapon (it's not) would be used to enslave all the humans on Earth, and put them to work at rebuilding Cybertron.
Well now that Autobots have to destroy the devices instead of try to recover them in order to save humanity again (which they do).
New characters are introduced on both sides of the fence, only for us to see some of them get killed off later on.
No real change to the underlying plot (good vs. evil on the giant-robot-scale), and in my mind at least they failed to actually move the overall story along. The first hour was more than boring but not by much, and they spent way, WAY too much time on the Sam kid again. I'm here to see giant alien robots do crap, not some whiny college grad complain about not being able to get a good job.
I'd almost rate this as not worth seeing, but I already hear rumors of a fourth movie, and I'll bet (at least I hope) that the fourth will build on the third and actually produce a story worth seeing.
I was not overjoyed with this movie, and my friends weren't all that impressed either as I recall. I'd advise waiting on a rental with this one. Really. Seriously. Unless you have kids that wanna see it, then of course you're at the whim of your kids.
That's about all I can say on this one.
Definitely more action, but the overall entertainment value is still a bit low. Lots of good chuckles throughout the movie, and couple minor plot twists caught my attention, but overall I see it as another failure to live up to expectations. I very much wanted to like and enjoy this movie as I like the Transformers franchise and all, but this again just felt like an average-effort film like the first one was.
The long and the short:
The Autobots get pissed off when they discover that they're USA friends haven't been sharing everything they know, namely that an Autobot ship was discovered crashed on the moon, and that's why we went to the moon... Not to beat the Russians, but to beat the Russians to the crashed alien ship.
Turns out that ship carried one of the Autobots greatest inventors/scientists (familiar voice on this guy too for you Star Trek fans out there) who was transporting a weapon, the greatest and best hope that Autobots had of winning the war.
Turns out to be not true. This weapon was being handed over to the Decepticons. Apparently a deal was struck, and the idea was that this so-called weapon (it's not) would be used to enslave all the humans on Earth, and put them to work at rebuilding Cybertron.
Well now that Autobots have to destroy the devices instead of try to recover them in order to save humanity again (which they do).
New characters are introduced on both sides of the fence, only for us to see some of them get killed off later on.
No real change to the underlying plot (good vs. evil on the giant-robot-scale), and in my mind at least they failed to actually move the overall story along. The first hour was more than boring but not by much, and they spent way, WAY too much time on the Sam kid again. I'm here to see giant alien robots do crap, not some whiny college grad complain about not being able to get a good job.
I'd almost rate this as not worth seeing, but I already hear rumors of a fourth movie, and I'll bet (at least I hope) that the fourth will build on the third and actually produce a story worth seeing.
I was not overjoyed with this movie, and my friends weren't all that impressed either as I recall. I'd advise waiting on a rental with this one. Really. Seriously. Unless you have kids that wanna see it, then of course you're at the whim of your kids.
Captain America: The First Avenger
OK, this wasn't bad, but it was very SLOOOWWW for most of the movie. If you don't know any of the history of Captain America (I know some) then the first hour of the movie is for you. Pay attention; people show up and things happen for a reason, and you'll see them again later in the film.
There were a couple funny spots that got a few chuckles from the crowd, sections of it though were almost annoying. The long montages detracted from the film for me, but they do get the point across that time is passing and things are happening and stuff. I did also note a few discrepancies within the film itself. There are times when Cap's shield deflects stuff and he doesn't even look like he felt it, and then later he's deflecting the same kind of big stuff and getting tossed around by it. Kinda seems to be a contradiction in there.
We do see how Steve Rogers ended up getting into the Army, and how he was selected for the Super Soldier program (and they spend a lot of time making all that happen). And then they spend a lot of time (and another long montage) about how Cap isn't happy with his assigned role as spokesman and entertainer. Then you actually get some action, and see something of what he can do. Then you get to see him go after the Red Skull (bad guy). Then go after him again (in another long montage), and then have a not-quite-epic-and-somewhat-boring boss battle at almost the end, where Cap than makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Make sure you stay through ALL the credits. You'll also need to see this so that the Avengers movie that comes out next year will make some sense (along with Thor, the Incredible Hulk, and perhaps both Iron Man movies).
There were a couple funny spots that got a few chuckles from the crowd, sections of it though were almost annoying. The long montages detracted from the film for me, but they do get the point across that time is passing and things are happening and stuff. I did also note a few discrepancies within the film itself. There are times when Cap's shield deflects stuff and he doesn't even look like he felt it, and then later he's deflecting the same kind of big stuff and getting tossed around by it. Kinda seems to be a contradiction in there.
We do see how Steve Rogers ended up getting into the Army, and how he was selected for the Super Soldier program (and they spend a lot of time making all that happen). And then they spend a lot of time (and another long montage) about how Cap isn't happy with his assigned role as spokesman and entertainer. Then you actually get some action, and see something of what he can do. Then you get to see him go after the Red Skull (bad guy). Then go after him again (in another long montage), and then have a not-quite-epic-and-somewhat-boring boss battle at almost the end, where Cap than makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Make sure you stay through ALL the credits. You'll also need to see this so that the Avengers movie that comes out next year will make some sense (along with Thor, the Incredible Hulk, and perhaps both Iron Man movies).
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2
I'm keeping this brief.
Lots of people rave about how great this was, fitting end to the series, etc. etc.
I'm not raving. In fact, I thought it was all a bit anti-climatic honestly. You know Voldemort is gonna lose, that's a given (Harry and friends always triumph in the end). Based on previews alone, you can see that the school is gonna get messed up, big fight and all that. I was looking forward to all that and thought it would happen based on how solemn and uneventful Part 1 was.
Well, they did have a big fight, and it was utterly predictable. There were a couple minor but interesting twists here and there, and if you weren't paying attention you'd miss them. Also a few chuckles, the (brief) return of a couple familiar faces and the like.
But really, the climax of the film was predictable at every step of the way and was far too short (and in my opinion too simple) to be a fitting end to the film series. I mean, seriously, your supposed to be beating up and defeating THE wizard of the century! Shouldn't the fight reflect that?
Still it was entertaining, and if your a die-hard HP fan then see it on the big screen while you still have time. For those interested in seeing how everything turns out but not interested enough to shell out about $20 per person to see it (ticket, food, etc.) then I'd wait for a Redbox rental or something.
I wasn't impressed with the film but I was entertained enough to not be unhappy that I spent all that money to see it in the expensive theater in our area (at least I was comfortable while watching it).
I know that Maryanne, Dean, Juliet, Mike and a few others will probably disagree with me on most of these points, but hey I'm the one writing the review, right? :) Really though, it was a pretty decent movie, I just wish they'd have done more with it since it is the final chapter and all.
Lots of people rave about how great this was, fitting end to the series, etc. etc.
I'm not raving. In fact, I thought it was all a bit anti-climatic honestly. You know Voldemort is gonna lose, that's a given (Harry and friends always triumph in the end). Based on previews alone, you can see that the school is gonna get messed up, big fight and all that. I was looking forward to all that and thought it would happen based on how solemn and uneventful Part 1 was.
Well, they did have a big fight, and it was utterly predictable. There were a couple minor but interesting twists here and there, and if you weren't paying attention you'd miss them. Also a few chuckles, the (brief) return of a couple familiar faces and the like.
But really, the climax of the film was predictable at every step of the way and was far too short (and in my opinion too simple) to be a fitting end to the film series. I mean, seriously, your supposed to be beating up and defeating THE wizard of the century! Shouldn't the fight reflect that?
Still it was entertaining, and if your a die-hard HP fan then see it on the big screen while you still have time. For those interested in seeing how everything turns out but not interested enough to shell out about $20 per person to see it (ticket, food, etc.) then I'd wait for a Redbox rental or something.
I wasn't impressed with the film but I was entertained enough to not be unhappy that I spent all that money to see it in the expensive theater in our area (at least I was comfortable while watching it).
I know that Maryanne, Dean, Juliet, Mike and a few others will probably disagree with me on most of these points, but hey I'm the one writing the review, right? :) Really though, it was a pretty decent movie, I just wish they'd have done more with it since it is the final chapter and all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
