1 Reply by Skepton

(248 replies, posted in Off Topic)

This is truly awful. I wish nothing more than for him to pull through and to hear him again on the podcast.

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2 Reply by Skepton

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Watched this in the theaters last Saturday, and I have been trying to make up my mind this whole week about what I actually feel about it. It is one part excellent spy action with some very competently directed action scenes, and one part overly convoluted (but not very exciting) spy thriller with some comic book elements mashed in.

The action scenes are generally, like I mentioned, very good. They (the writers/directors) have gone the route of the "Fast and the Furious"-series with some very grounded set-pieces shot without adding to much digital flair. Some unwelcome shaky cam exists throughout but it is by no means the basis for the look and feel of the actions scenes. Some very cool and well handled stunts and action moments throughout. Neither Captain America nor the Winter Soldier have powers beyond that of the physical realm (although they push it frequently ), which makes this the least flashy and gimmicky of the recent comic book movies. The logic and momentum of all the action throughout I think is a sign of it being in good hands, and gives all the scenes enough extra oomph to impress.

It is not shot like "The Raid", with long and wide shots of extremely well choreographed action, but a fight scene in a cramped elevator with 10+ guys including the Captain was still very good and quite easily decoded without to many cuts and narrow angles. There are also some nice stunts and acrobatics shot on location that makes you feel like everything cool happening isn't just added in post, but meticulously planned and shot "in camera".

The plot will not be discussed, since I have very little interest reciting something so absurd. It is what keeps this movie from being great.

The acting is fairly standard. Given that the material tries to go deeper with both Captain America and Black Widow, it show the shallow depth of Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans. Scarlett has been given increasingly more diverse and interesting roles in the last few years ( with under the skin coming out soon and Lucy starting to get some airtime ) and gets to dig a bit deeper into the past of Black Widow, but the results are a few sad faced monologues and some competently handled combat. Chris Evans on the other hand, is given some interesting material to work with, with his adjustment to the modern world and the morally grey society we live in. Does he pull it of? No way! He totally lacks any sort of emotional delivery throughout, and made me realize how perfect he would have been playing Robocop.

All in all it was a very good ride, and thanks to the very varied and well directed action sequences , I would recommend this to people who would appreciate a good action flick.

7/10

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3 Reply by Skepton

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

The Man From Earth (2007)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/

This is such a weird movie. It is basically a novel, read by 8 actors in a house, and produced like a TV Movie. But it is one of my favorite sci-fi movies. It is massively engrossing, interesting and if you buy it, packs a bit of a punch.

John, who is leaving town, is pressured into having a goodbye party with some of his colleagues from the university. These colleagues are professors and teachers of various sciences, and John sees this as a great setup for a hypothetical question to discuss during the meeting. What if a man from the Upper Paleolithic had survived until the present day? Although, the question might not be so hypothetical.

The most interesting part of this whole movie is of course the story and the interplay between the characters. Without the story, this movie has nothing, and I think this is what makes the movie work so well. The low level of the production and the only decent acting absolutely disarms you, leaving you and your imagination to help articulate the concepts and the story that is played out during the discussion between the characters, just like a book does. After (you and) the colleagues of John recover from the initial unease of his (un)hypothetical question, the story build as they start to try and dissect and disprove this absurd proposition but end up buying more and more of it. It's just great!

8/10

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4 Reply by Skepton

(364 replies, posted in Episodes)

If you would like cleanse from all the blockbusters. The movie "The Man From Earth" would be really interesting to dissect, especially since it's the complete opposite of modern sci-fi movies, and basically a moviebook (a movie audiobook). Its fucking good too.

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5 Reply by Skepton

(121 replies, posted in Episodes)

I think the differences between the first and second Star Trek movie mirror some of the same issues that I have with the second Transformers compared to the first. The first Transformers is cocky and stupid but manages to carry me through the movie without to many questions and contain certain scenes and set pieces that are satisfying and well made. The second ones (Into Darkness & Revenge of the Fallen) are more confusing, less satisfying and overall a lot worse to experience.

Specifically, the opening sequence in Into Darkness is a god damn mess.
They (Spock and Kirk) are on a planet they are not allowed to be on, doing something they should not be doing, while also arguing with each other like it was someone other than themselves that are responsible for the situation they are in.

All of the arguing results in both defying each other in ways which goes against the person they where at the end of the first film (Kirk goes from learning to be a leader, to acting like a kindergarten teacher around crazy kids. Spock goes from having learnt how to express his feelings and having earned a friend, to yelling at that friend and sacrificing his own life for a mission he does not agree with). All of this for putting a bomb in a volcano and saving some aliens lives. Something that could very easily have been done from outside the planets atmosphere.

The movie could just have started with Kirk being relieved of his duties as captain while arguing about how the mission was handled. We don't need to, or want to see it.

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6 Reply by Skepton

(20 replies, posted in Pitches, Fixes, and Rewrites)

As a first-time poster I would first like to take this a bit off topic by posting a fantastic male cover of the 'let it go' song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kohD5z5mE0E

I would agree with the original poster that there could have been some changes to enhance some parts, and the changes proposed would sure add a bit more internal and external consistency to the plot and the characters.

I found most of the songs to be far to superficial and like the original poster pointed out about 'let it go', sometimes entirely inconsequential. Only the 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman?'-song has actual impact and serves to compress the narrative while connecting you to the main character.

But I do also appreciate the subverted expectations and avoiding some of the obvious tropes, although I almost feel the last one was (intentionally) a little too much on the nose

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