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Hi!
Just a quick and minor update on the situation of things. Normally, I'd be reviewing a lot more but 2 days ago I managed to get hit by a truck. No kidding either. So currently I'm in the process of realising that I managed to survive that even though the survival rate was well...really quite low, and also the necessary process of healing up a fractured right arm and twisted leg, so that's essentially caused a small delay on reviews and other blog posts. Apologies on my part. Hell the gaming site I freelance for are sorta pissed at me for delaying; but screw them, trucks!
Anyway, just thought I'd also let people who follow Cinema Voir know that I've somehow managed to invade, conquer and now own the site, becoming some kind of omnipotent blog lord that wields an iron fist. Not really, but the thought is cool.
Just before I go as well, thought I'd just recommend a movie: Amelie.
yes, yes, it's very old, but this doesn't mean you shouldn't watch it; even if you already have, watch it. Because it's one of the best films ever.
Do it! You'll fall in love with Amelie and France, just like I do every time I watch it. Greatness.
Au revoir
Denny
So prior to the imminent release of Iron Man 2 I thought I'd reflect back on the original and watch it again; you know, just to keep the hype in the blood, the iron in the man...the man and the iron..I'm not sure what I'm talking about anymore, but let's continue on anyway.
Iron Man follows the story based off the original comics and cartoons, where a genius weapons developer named Tony Stark (played out by the always cool Robert Downey Jr) is kidnapped by terrorists and forced to work on weapons for them. While being kidnapped, he is critically wounded; shrapnel from explosions pierce through his chest and should be entering his heart valves any time soon. 'Should'. With astonishing luck (which I call 'movie' luck), another scientist who was captured (a 'lesser' scientist though) builds a strange circular device and implants it into Stark's chest, and what it does is it magnetises and keeps the shrapnel from killing Stark. What a strange way to save a life.
So after the life saving and explaining on how the device works, Stark begins building away..but not towards a weapon for terrorists. He builds a suit, powered by the chest piece he now has, and manages to escape with it, but loses his new scientist friend in the process. After this, he begins developing the Iron Man suit we know and love today, and with it comes along new and powerful enemies who attempt to take that power for their own. Cue the typical rule of three process of film, and you're suddenly at the end of the film already.
But see, that's a good thing. Because you don't even realise how long the movie is, which is close to 2 hours. It's just that immersive, entertaining and funny that you barely notice. Iron Man is freaking fantastic. Downey plays the role of Stark very well and manages to keep the viewer consistently entertained by his zaney charms and witty lines. Pacing is consistent throughout the entire film; the beginning and watching the Iron Man suit come to life is awesome, and this level of awesome doesn't lower itself anywhere throughout the rest of the film.
It's just a really, really well done comic-based movie. Iron Man has aged over the past 2 years, but it's aged very well, as it's still a greatly entertaining film that's memorable, well presented and well told. To me, it's also one of the comic book adaptations that certainly sets the standard, and shows how adaptations SHOULD be made. X-men 3, you could've learnt a whole lot if your mutant powers were able to see into the future.
A great film that definitely puts some lofty expectations on the sequel's shoulders. Let's just hope it manages to exceed them, eh?
5/5
The Hurt Locker has been receiving an utterly ridiculous amount of praise since its release way back last year in the US. Having won Best Picture at the Oscars as well, one would only expect an absolutely stellar film - and this is quite surprising considering most films based on War are usually overtly patriotic and far too over the top in its gore (I don't care what you say, Saving Private Ryan wasn't that good).
So with the film finally seeing the light of day on Australian shores, albeit exceptionally late, does it really live up to its reputation as the Best Picture of 2009?
Well, arguably, yes.
And this is the funniest part about the film. There were a lot of good films released in 2009; District 9, Up, Star Trek and Coraline to name a few, so The Hurt Locker being the cream of the crop is certainly some kind of massive achievement.
To quickly set the scene, the story follows the journey of Sergeant First Class William James as he leads two other specialist soldiers, going around Iraq disabling IED's - or in English, bombs. The viewer is essentially sucked into the film and gets the closest possible experience of what it's like to have a very large bomb right next to you, and you have to disarm it.
That's really the plot in a nutshell, but it works very well. It's a simple premise but the complex emotions that are grinded throughout each scene, the intensity of each moment and the personalities of the characters are utterly fantastic in execution. James (played by Jeremy Renner) is an interesting character in that he seems to be almost infatuated with his job, which is defusing a bomb that could kill him at the slightest mistake. He certainly shows his prowess through the film - he keeps his cool regardless of situation, and when working away at a bomb he tends to have near clairvoyant levels of focus with them. He's a master at his job, and Renner presents this amazingly well as the movie plays out.
But with his mastery, even more emotions get in the way of things with many complicated and chilling scenes later on in the film, and it begs to question what goes through the head of these soldiers as they experience these things; you think you understand each character as the movie progresses, but then something happens that will completely change your opinion and outlook on them.
The Hurt Locker is a complex film. It's not for everyone either. It's a very hard film to watch and is only for the people that really enjoy something that delves into the minds of a character and plays with human emotion. It will likely be discussed in a few years on among students in film study, as each character can be studied and looked into for what they represent, feel and how they are in general. It is an extremely well presented, well paced and overall well made film that, if you enjoy it, will stimulate your brain on levels that many of the movies of 2009 will not even touch. Highly recommended film, and one of the best War movies I've seen in quite some time.
5/5
So Dreamworks seem to have picked up their game in the animation department.
Having being considered somewhat of the 'lower tier' of 3D animation when it comes to storytelling and animation quality, Dreamworks studios have had it pretty tough over the past few years. Don't get me wrong, they're still an excellent studio, but I've always felt they've been constantly overshadowed by the behemoth that is Pixar, who constantly release something better than their previous iteration, which in itself seems like an almost impossible achievement (after Wall-E, I did not expect Up to rival it). But it seems Dreamworks have picked up a few tricks on their way to developing How To Train Your Dragon, as it's quite frankly a pretty fantastic ride
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