Yup...it has been over a year since I posted anything...well folks I want to tell you a serious comeback is in the works! I will be doing some slight modifications to the sight...first off changing the name...as much as I like the name, The Silver Screen Soliloquy sounds a bit elitist, and let's face it, a bitch to type out. I have a few names I am kicking around, though I am open to ideas. Also...with my newly completely set up home podcast studio, I will also soon be adding an audio element to the site. This in addition to creating a Facebook page that will link to this, hopefully we'll get this all hammered out. More to come, thanks!
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Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Friday, August 16, 2013
Kick-Ass 2
With the country still in the grips of a super hero craze, it's only natural that Kick-Ass, an underground comic about real people attempting to emulate the superheroes they idolize, gets its sequel to.
Kick Ass-2 picks up 2 years after its predecessor. Dave, after all but hanging up the Kick-Ass mask, feels the urge for action, and reconnects with Mindy (aka Hit Girl) who is failing at balancing life as a High School freshman and a martial arts crime fighter. Also in the aftermath of the first movie, Chris D'Amico (Formerly Red Mist) takes vengeance in his hands and begins assembling a group bound for chaos and destruction.
As a side note to this review...As with the first Kick-Ass movie, the trailers are extremely misleading in my opinion. The trailers are very geared towards the comedic aspect of the film. While the film certainly has it funny moments, this movie is much closer to a dramatic action movie.
The writing and feel of the movie was similar to Kick-Ass, which is important to the continuity of the series. One thing that wasn't there, was the innocence from the first movie. While the argument could be made that the first movie exposed these characters to the real world consequences of being a hero, I missed the wide-eyed optimism from the first movie. Another thing that I was not crazy about, though this stayed true to the comic book, was the name that Chris D'Amico chose as his villainous mantle. 'The Motherfucker' to me just does not seem to embody the dark side of this character, though it is a spot on representation of the 'spoiled brat didn't get his way' aspect of the character.
The actors did a pretty good job of maintaining their characters in this movie. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz have obviously grown with their characters, and did bring a more adult feel to the movie. Jim Carey did a great job as Colonel Stars & Stripes, and put his very unique twist on the character that makes me like him as an actor. I think some of the superfluous characters are harder to get around, though the entire point of the movie was to take the personal experience of the one individual who stood up and expand it to a community that he inspired.
The appearance of the movie was the most jarring for me. Added to this movie was word bubbles, scene change descriptions, and even animated character facades, something completely in the other direction of the first movie, and I didn't really appreciate it. It brought an almost infantile aspect to a movie that is anything but childish. Also I am not a fan of the style of graphic generated bloodshed that has lately become very hip, just because it doesn't look even close to real (better than the kool-aid blood of the 70's and 80's, but still takes me out of the movie.). Also there are a couple scenes where the violence is just too overdone, even for a movie with a 15 year old ninja.
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Kick Ass-2 picks up 2 years after its predecessor. Dave, after all but hanging up the Kick-Ass mask, feels the urge for action, and reconnects with Mindy (aka Hit Girl) who is failing at balancing life as a High School freshman and a martial arts crime fighter. Also in the aftermath of the first movie, Chris D'Amico (Formerly Red Mist) takes vengeance in his hands and begins assembling a group bound for chaos and destruction.As a side note to this review...As with the first Kick-Ass movie, the trailers are extremely misleading in my opinion. The trailers are very geared towards the comedic aspect of the film. While the film certainly has it funny moments, this movie is much closer to a dramatic action movie.
The writing and feel of the movie was similar to Kick-Ass, which is important to the continuity of the series. One thing that wasn't there, was the innocence from the first movie. While the argument could be made that the first movie exposed these characters to the real world consequences of being a hero, I missed the wide-eyed optimism from the first movie. Another thing that I was not crazy about, though this stayed true to the comic book, was the name that Chris D'Amico chose as his villainous mantle. 'The Motherfucker' to me just does not seem to embody the dark side of this character, though it is a spot on representation of the 'spoiled brat didn't get his way' aspect of the character.
The actors did a pretty good job of maintaining their characters in this movie. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz have obviously grown with their characters, and did bring a more adult feel to the movie. Jim Carey did a great job as Colonel Stars & Stripes, and put his very unique twist on the character that makes me like him as an actor. I think some of the superfluous characters are harder to get around, though the entire point of the movie was to take the personal experience of the one individual who stood up and expand it to a community that he inspired.
The appearance of the movie was the most jarring for me. Added to this movie was word bubbles, scene change descriptions, and even animated character facades, something completely in the other direction of the first movie, and I didn't really appreciate it. It brought an almost infantile aspect to a movie that is anything but childish. Also I am not a fan of the style of graphic generated bloodshed that has lately become very hip, just because it doesn't look even close to real (better than the kool-aid blood of the 70's and 80's, but still takes me out of the movie.). Also there are a couple scenes where the violence is just too overdone, even for a movie with a 15 year old ninja.
Final Judgement:
While it was obviously made in the spirit of the first movie, the addition of comic book-like graphics, the overpowering number of characters that are introduced, some overkill on violent scenes, and a certain loss of character from our hero makes the movie inferior to its predecessor, but still a pretty good watch, especially for fans of the first movie.
Score:★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Elysium
If you had five days left to live, how would you spend it?
Elysium follows ex-con Max de Costa, a production line worker who is given a death sentence after being exposed to high amount of radiation. While he lives on Earth, which has become a slum since the wealthy had retreated to the space station 'Elysium', he is unable to cure his sickness, but is given the chance to break into the futuristic utopia.
Elysium follows ex-con Max de Costa, a production line worker who is given a death sentence after being exposed to high amount of radiation. While he lives on Earth, which has become a slum since the wealthy had retreated to the space station 'Elysium', he is unable to cure his sickness, but is given the chance to break into the futuristic utopia.
The writing, like Blomkamp's last masterpiece, District 9, is wonderfully fresh. This is the kind of future I really crave to see in a Sci-Fi movie. The older generation of Sci-Fi felt too sterile and clean, it's nice to see spaceships in the same movie as a grill made out of an oil drum. Incorporating social issues that we face now in this futuristic dystopian world obviously comes naturally to Blomkamp. While District 9 tackled racism and immigration, Elysium looks at class warfare and health care.
The acting in this movie was fantastic. Matt Damon, as he almost always does, has an amazing performance in this movie. I was a little thrown off by the quasi-french accent Jodie Foster had throughout the movie, but that is a minor detail. The gold star of the day however, goes to Sharlto Copley. I loved this guy as Wikus in District 9, his breakout performance,; and his portrayal of Murdock in the A-Team movie was flawless, but this role was going to be a test as his first villainous role, and like a champ, he knocked it out of the park. I truly believe that Copley is probably one of the most underused actors out there compared to the quality of the performance he gives.
The cinematics is beautiful in this movie. The scenes that cut from the slums of Mexico to the paradise of Elysium are really amazing, going from the dusty, dead, and overcrowded to the pristine opulence is definitely a smart artistic choice to have. My only nitpick that I can find here is that Kruger's ship looks very reminiscent of the alien technology from District 9. I can understand how this happened, as Blomkamp is most likely the one who created the 3D model (his previous job was doing artistic 3D models that decorated the covers and pages of the magazine 'Popular Science'), but I would have liked to see something just slightly different.
Final Judgement:
Too often these days, do we hear the words 'Must See' attached to a movie. I would classify very few movies as a movie that someone "must watch". That being said, Elysium is one of those movies. To be honest this was the movie I was waiting for all summer to see. A perfect blend of creativity, beauty, and raw emotion. Frankly I was worried this movie wouldn't live up to the high expectations I was putting on it, but it blew them away. This is not only worth the ticket price, it may be worth a second ticket just to soak it in again.
Score:★★★★★★★★★★
Score:★★★★★★★★★★
We're the Millers
Get 2 tons of pot from Mexico to Denver...easy, right?
Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston headline this comedy where a middle aged drug dealer is forced to carry an unspecified amount of marijuana across the boarder, and to give him the guise of an innocent family, recruits his neighbor; a stripper, the boy accross the hall, and a homeless runaway girl.
The writing was decent in this movie, jokes were spaced nicely, they seemed pretty fresh. The overall plot isn't particularly new, reminiscent of a couple other movies, but still unused enough to feel like a movie we haven't seen a million times.
The acting, like any comedy, is where the movie shines the most. Sudeikis, as always, is brilliant at his delivery and definitely is the talant that sells this movie. Aniston delivers a mostly adequate performance, but does have moments that will make you laugh. The two kids in the movie, Emma Roberts, but especially Will Poulter also deliver pretty solid performances.
With most comedies, many of the visual aspects of the movie take a back seat to focus on characters more than explore for artistic shots, one disappointing aspect about this though, is that for the dialogue being so strong selling that the character's all call Denver home, it would have been nice to see the Denver skyline. It was pretty easy to tell this was not shot in Denver at all, as a resident of the mile high city.
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Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston headline this comedy where a middle aged drug dealer is forced to carry an unspecified amount of marijuana across the boarder, and to give him the guise of an innocent family, recruits his neighbor; a stripper, the boy accross the hall, and a homeless runaway girl.The writing was decent in this movie, jokes were spaced nicely, they seemed pretty fresh. The overall plot isn't particularly new, reminiscent of a couple other movies, but still unused enough to feel like a movie we haven't seen a million times.
The acting, like any comedy, is where the movie shines the most. Sudeikis, as always, is brilliant at his delivery and definitely is the talant that sells this movie. Aniston delivers a mostly adequate performance, but does have moments that will make you laugh. The two kids in the movie, Emma Roberts, but especially Will Poulter also deliver pretty solid performances.
With most comedies, many of the visual aspects of the movie take a back seat to focus on characters more than explore for artistic shots, one disappointing aspect about this though, is that for the dialogue being so strong selling that the character's all call Denver home, it would have been nice to see the Denver skyline. It was pretty easy to tell this was not shot in Denver at all, as a resident of the mile high city.
Final Judgement:
It's a decent movie, but this is the type of comedy that before you buy a ticket, you are more than likely already aware if you will like it from seeing the previews. Nothing was revolutionary in the field of comedy here, but it certainly is better than a lot of other comedic movies out there. If unsure, this would still be a solid movie in your netflix queue.
Score:★★★★★★☆☆☆☆