Category: Film

Avatar

Finally caught Avatar at the cinema on Friday night. Booked the tickets a few weeks ago and wasn’t expecting much but it has become the biggest grossing film of all time so it must be good, no? Also, it would be my first 3D film and seeing as the local IMAX was showing it in 3D it made sense to view it their. Firstly, was the film any good?

Well, yes it was. It was extremely predictable with no plot twist that I can remember. I won’t post any spoilers but I will say that despite knowing what was about to happen throughout the film I didn’t get bored and the time (a flabby 2hrs 40) passed pretty quickly. Performances are mostly good although the actual screen time for the real actors is pretty small. So it’s worth watching but what about the two talking points – the CG and the 3D.

The CG is excellent and to the film’s credit almost every shot probably has some CG in it and at times you won’t notice it. Of course on the planet of Pandora it’s 100% CG and some of the locations are amazing. The tree’s, water and interaction between machines and the planet are superb. The motion capture and movement of the Na’vi (aliens!) is also well done but there’s also a niggle. Your watching CG, not an actor, despite the advances in technology. It meant that sometimes the movie felt a little cold.

However the most interesting aspect was the 3D. This was my first 3D movie and at times the 3D worked really well and other times…it was absolutely rank. First issue – those glasses! At the IMAX the glasses were big and uncomfortable like the ones in the pic below.

With a half hour to go they really started to irritate me. They were big enough so that I could wear my glasses underneath but it was a pretty uncomfortable experience. Second issue was the 3D itself. In Avatar some of the scenes were truly impressive – some of the control room scenes were really well done, the flowing water and some of the early mess/ship scenes stick in my mind. What didn’t work though was I think my eyes. Well, not just mine I suspect. As things were falsely thrown into the foreground you would naturally try and focus on them which is the wrong thing to do as you then lose focus on the film. At times it got pretty awkward, especially in scenes walking through the planet where plants and undergrowth were brought into the foreground.

I also felt the colour and definition were lacking and also there was a dullness to some of the scenes. Might have been the focus issue I’ve already mentioned but some scenes just looked a bit poor. One good thing is I didn’t suffer any headaches or motion sickness but we did get a verbal warning before the film started that people may get motion sickness so it must happen quite often.

So a good film with great CG, some good 3D and overall worth catching at the IMAX just due to the size and scale that the screen offers. One thing I won’t be rushing out and doing this year though is buying a 3D TV. I don’t want to wear another pair of glasses to watch TV or play games and the experience, at the moment, doesn’t match the expense. It’s not like moving from SD to HD. I’ll think about 3D at home when the technology doesn’t rely on glasses which will be a few years away yet.

Best Left Unanswered

I love The Italian Job. Not the 2003 remake but the original filmed in the 60’s with Michael Caine. In a documentary celebrating his 70th birthday he’s revealed the ending that was filmed and then scrapped.

“I crawl up, switch on the engine and stay there for four hours until all the petrol runs out,” he said.

“The van bounces back up so we can all get out, but then the gold goes over.”

There’s more detail on the BBC site and also some info on a competition to come up with an ending next year to mark 40 years since the Italian Job was made. I’m so glad the film cut the ending as it sounds terrible. I also wish the ending had always remained a mystery – so much better to leave it to everyone’s imagination.

Watch 07

Following on from Listen 07, here are my favourite films and TV from 2007. Again, no order to the list.

Hot Fuzz Hot Fuzz

Better than Shaun of the Dead for me, this was laugh out loud comedy at its best spliced with in gag’s and nod’s to the buddy cop films that we all know and love. You have seen Spaced haven’t you?

Bourne Ultimatum Bourne Ultimatum

When the Bourne Identity came out I didn’t hold out much hope for it – how wrong I was. The final part of the trilogy has delivered a great ending, neatly wrapping up the question of who Bourne was and the people that made him who he is today.
A great end to the Bourne series…I hope. Don’t ruin it by taking it one film too far.

Heroes Heroes

My favourite American import this was a great watch from beginning to end although it had a touch of the Lost season 2’s about it in the middle. Season 2 though has been disappointing only picking up pace as it nears the end. Still worthy of watching when the BBC gets their act together and airs it later this year.
Life on Mars Life on Mars

While showing signs of running out of steam compared to series 1, Life on Mars was still a drama highlight. The series finale was a news worthy item and many speculated on what actually happened, including me. A great watch and sadly missed…although Ashes to Ashes starts in Feb on BBC. Time for an 80’s revival?

Blade Runner Blade Runner – The Final Cut

Why is a 25 year old movie in my list of great watches for 2007? Well in many ways Blade Runner still feels unsurpassed even today and the final cut (especially on Blu Ray) is a visual treat. If you have an HD player this is a must buy. While some scenes have been re-shot and some small changes made it’s the fact that they are in HD and re-scanned at a really high resolution that makes the biggest difference. A classic.

There were other highlights well worth catching. Knocked Up and Superbad were pretty funny films and Top Gear was consistently good. I don’t care if they stage all their reviews, challenges, stunts. I enjoy them. Lost also picked up the pace and was back on form. Dexter was a good watch, all the better for being a short series. 30 Rock is usually pretty funny as is Mock the Week (Frankie Boyle being the highlight for me). Finally, try and catch Friday Night Lights – very different to the film but pretty good.

I just hope stalwarts like 24 and Battlestar show a return to form once the writers strike finishes. Especially 24 – it was pants this year.

Top Sci-fi Movie

Ok, I’ll take the bait. BBC reported that readers of SFX magazine had voted Serenity as best sci-fi movie. Eh? Bloody fanboy’s. It’s good but not that good. So if it was me choosing the top ten it would be, in particular order…

  1. Blade Runner
  2. The Empire Strikes Back
  3. The Matrix
  4. Star Wars
  5. Terminator
  6. Aliens
  7. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  8. Serenity
  9. Back to the Future
  10. Starship Troopers

Anyone like to add one I’ve missed or should have considered?

How to beat DVD pirates

Offer DVDs for $1.50….that 84p according to Google. Mad?

Well in China Warner are offering The Aviator for the exact price mentioned above. So the packaging is cheap and nasty and there’s probably no extras but would anyone go to the bother of pirating a DVD if it could be bought so cheaply? Not me.

Makes you wonder how much profit they make in the UK when it can be sold so cheaply elsewhere. Maybe it’s time for everyone to pirate and boycott official DVD purchases to see what impact it has elsewhere around the globe.

The Girl in the Café

I guess you could say the film The Girl in the Café is typical Richard Curtis – doddery english guy falling for lovely woman, and a woman way out of his league. All the usual content is there but I’m a sucker for it and always like his films. This also had a political…edge isn’t the word but you know what I mean…undercurrent – that’s better. Set against the G8 summit the politics were dumbed down but the message still hit home more down to the acting of the two leads – Bill Nighy and Kelly MacDonald. Kelly MacDonald was superb and also had the best quote of the film:

dirty dirty dirty John

I could listen to her saying the word dirty all night but enough of my fantasies. Her speech to the G8 dinner was superb with the clicking fingers every 3 minutes really hitting home. The end was left open – G8 summit in Scotland and what will these 8 men do, but it should have been more. Where was the appeal to support Make Poverty History? Where was the plea to march to Edinburgh? Live 8 has always struck me as ‘disorganised’. This just added to that feeling – I hope the organisation doesn’t let it down.

Revenge of the Sith

The last of the new trilogy and hopefully the last Star Wars movies Lucas directs, Revenge of the Sith is without doubt the best of the new bunch but isn’t on a par with New hope never mind Empire. Word of warning – spoilers ahead. Considering everyone watching the film knows the outcome and who lives/dies it’s still a good film to watch mostly due to it’s darkness. There’s a beheading, wife beating (ok…strangling) and probably the scene that got most gasps at the cinema was the killing of the child jedi’s (although I couldn’t help laugh at the use of ‘younglings’ throughout the rest of the film – it just sounded so false).

The special effects are stunning although there’s maybe too much in certain scenes – the opening space battle for example requires 3 or 4 watches to catch everything that’s happening. Even then the feeling of ‘falseness’ is throughout the film as scenes are ruined by the overuse of special effects – the final battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin is a prime example. I was enjoying the fight and the lava looked amazing. Then both Jedi jump onto small robots in the middle of the lava flow – rather than enhancing the battle it made it feel more like a computer game or a battle of between graphic artists and cgi modellers in an attempt to outdo each other.

I also had a few issues with the structure and storyline, namely:

  • Anakin’s move to the dark side has been gathering pace throughout Episode II & II but when he gives into dark side it’s sudden and with ease – did not sit well with the rest of the film
  • Palpatine was so obviously the dark lord – it should have been fairly obvious to the Jedi but again this was glossed over
  • Obi-wan – why did he not kill Vader when he was so near death. Considering he had wiped out all the other Jedi’s this seemed the weakest point of the film
  • Speaking of the other Jedi’s they died very easily. Too easily. Made a joke of their position in the Star Wars universe.

    • The actors in the film did a pretty good job. Ewan McGregor was pretty good (much better than Episode I) although some of his dialogue was pretty sucky. Same can be said for Hayden Christensen. The best was undoubtedly Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine. The evil pored out from him at all times – great to watch. Christopher Lee was underused and yet again a good character in Dooku (like Darth Maul in I) was lost to easily.

    It will be interesting to watch IV, V and VI again – I’ve not seen them in years but I feel the 6 episodes will not gel well at all. R2D2 for example is like a super droid in II & III compared with the last three films – I guess he got old. I’ll be treating the Star Wars films as two separate trilogies – one a great space story, the other a good tale and a good use of new technology.

    Star Wars Revisited

    Hopefully seeing Revenge of the Sith tonight and in preparation I’ve watched Episodes 1 & 2 again.

    Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace
    Oh dear. I really struggled to sit through this film. Stilted dialogue, uninspiring acting and laughable interaction between the real and CGI actors. If we hadn’t seen episodes 4,5 and 6 I really doubt that anyone would have signed up a follow up based on this. Out of 5 I’d give it a 2. Taxation of trade routes – is that the best they could come up with? Pah!

    Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones
    I liked this film. Maybe it was after the high expectations of Episode 1 and the subsequent let down but even watching it yesterday after at least 18 months or so from the last viewing I still enjoyed it. Far better plot, more action and better use of the main characters. A geek pleasing Yoda fight, more darker tones and more impressive CGI than the first one – no Jar Jar. Dialogue still painful, especially the love scenes between Anakin and Padme. 3.5 out of 5.

    Which leaves Revenge of the Sith. Most websites are reporting that this is the best of the three and based on trailers alone this does look to be a cracking film. I still have doubts though – maybe the lack of expectation will again increase the enjoyment.

    Star Wars Revelations

    With the news that there is to be a Star Wars TV series (been watching Battlestar George?) and the immenent Episode 3 you may have missed the release of Star Wars Revelations by Panicstruck Productions. This is an independently made 45 minute production that captures all that’s good and bad about Star Wars, namely:

  • Great special effects – the CGI used in this film is impressive, most impressive
  • Good use of sound
  • Crap storyline
  • Poor dialogue
  • Questionable acting ability

    • That’s maybe a little harsh as the CGI is amazing for a free film but to ‘star’ in the film it looks like you had to be American, fat, ugly and have facial hair…and that’s just the girls. Seriously though it’s well worth a download at around 250Mb just for the CGI alone – best to grab the torrent though as most of the mirrors aren’t reliable.