Spooky, I had a chill of disappointment run down my spine for no apparent reason. And then I looked on here.

And now I am sad. I may not have earned it, but it was nice while it lasted.

STRINGS (2004)
*This is a fanmade trailer, btw. The official trailer sucks.

So Trey mentioned this briefly in another thread, and I decided to give it a go because puppets = awesome, and the description said "fantasy," and that's pretty much all it takes with me.

I guess if I'm to review this movie, I should to do what everybody does and gush over the visuals and how the marionettes are incorporated into the story. So much fine detail went into creating this gorgeous film, that it really deserves every bit of praise it gets on that front. The marionettes mouths don't move, but nonetheless their still faces manage to convey so much emotion. Incredible amounts of thought and energy must have gone into building the beautiful sets and with such a wide variety of locations, what you're looking at never gets boring.

The way the marionette strings are used in the story is pretty awesome as well. They aren't using marionettes to tell the story; this is a story about world of marionettes. The buildings don't have roofs and the city gate is simply a bar across the entrance to block the forward momentum of the strings; someone pulling on your strings will make you lose control of that limb; cutting the strings results in the permanent disability of that limb or death, in the case of the head string; and because they're made of wood and string, characters age by slowly deteriorating until the wood crumbles and their strings snap. There were a few little places where it seemed the creators were cheating against the established logic, mostly in the latter half of the film, but overall, I thought the world-building was brilliantly done.

Now only if the story were any good...

The plot is unoriginal and uninspired, while also being confusing as hell. I wish they'd used this world of marionettes to do an adaptation of Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet 'cause they're ripping off those stories hardcore, but fail to combine those borrowed elements into anything worthwhile. The story is utterly dour, without the slightest hint of humor. Motivations are murky as hell, and characters rarely seem to do anything for any reason other than the plot says so. The second half is where most of the story problems are found, and the last act feels rushed and poorly thought out.

In any case, although I'm glad I saw Strings, I'm not left with any desire to revisit these characters. Perhaps I might give it the Prometheus Treatment, pop the disc in, put it on mute, and just enjoy the visuals.

Not quite as good as the first one, but still enjoyable.

The plot lacked consistency and had some lengths. What I liked the most with the first movie was a big reveal at the end that ties it all together like the first one did. Overall, the story was much less interesting to me (first movie = Victorian London + black magic = hell yeah!).The movie looks good as hell, but they went a bit far with the whole bullet-time thing. It was used too much, making it less effective.

Holmes and Watson's relationship was still pretty fun, and the overall humour and tone of the movie made me chuckle more than a few times, though.

A poignant look at childhood, nostalgic and cynical at the same time. It's got Wesley Crusher and a few other familiar faces. Overall, a solid movie.

This is the End

Yeah... I really don't know why, but I expected more.

Among the few good points, the actors didn't take themselves too seriously, which is why I wanted to watch it in the first place. I liked the idea to get a bunch of actors to play as asshole-versions of themselves, and something awful happens (here, it's basically the end of the world).

But... that's pretty much it. Everything else is boring. The humor itself doesn't save the movie (who thought James Franco arguing with Danny McBride about a cum-stained porn magazine wasn't going to make me laugh?).

Also, demon with a huge cock.

No, seriously. Not worth it.

Oh yeah, also, there's Michael Cera doing coke and getting a blowjob.

Last edited by Saniss (2013-09-17 23:42:54)

Now I don't know who to believe.

Coincidentally, I'm about to start watching it.

*sigh*

This is not my week. I'm starting to think I'm missing something, especially after reading Mike's review of the movie.

I can agree with all those things you just said, but the result is - to me at least - boring. I felt like nothing really happened in this movie. There is no character development - and you might tell me I'm wrong to look for something like this in this kind of movie, but I still need it. I may just not be my kind of movies.

I'll watch it again with the FIYH commentary, and who knows? It might grow on me. I hope it does, because right now I feel like I didn't watch it with the right state of mind.

Executive Decision (1996) - 8/10

One of my favorite action/thriller movies from the 90s. I'd put if ahead of Con Air, Air Force One, Face/Off etc. A team of special forces people are needed when terrorists take over a passenger plane.
Kurt Russell, Halle Berry, and the rest of the cast do a fine job, and "even Steven Seagal is good" (which is probably the unofficial tagline at this point).
Wonderfully "realistic" I guess is the best word. There are no one-liners here and no overwritten plot twists, just a great progression of events that manage to both feel natural and raise your blood pressure. I've seen this alot of times over the years, and I still find myself utterly engrossed in the action.
It borrows some things from Die Hard, but this is the "Die Hard on a ..." movie that probably is the most successful in my opinion.
Great editing and camerawork/cinematography, and the direction is also extremely sure of the tone it wants to set. There are almost no raised voices in this film. You can sort of picture these types of films in your head, but the fact that it all takes place on a cramped airliner in flight creates alot of restrictions, but also opportunities for creative decisions.
Characters manage to get depth and dimension despite lacking manufactured quirks. The fact that they don't feel over the top makes them even more like humans, and you like them because of it.
The bad guys are not comical at all. The movie treats everything seriously and doesn't go for the obvious gimmicks of writing, but still manages to impress.
The effects are also hugely impressive overall.

Definitely see it if you haven't. Nothing really new in the mix, but it's still very tasty.

This Is The End (2013) - 6/10

I'd not sure what to say. Perfectly serviceable comedy, mainly riding on the charisma of the many talented comedic actors. I laughed a couple times, and didn't regret watching it.

Just caught "Killing me softly" on TV. While not the best movie I've seen, or even slightly close, at least Heather Graham wasn't wearing clothes for the first 30 minutes. So that was okay.

But those sex scenes really got me thinking; How do they do that? I mean, the actors are clearly naked, banging up against the wall, and I'm thinking, if it were me simulating that, there's no way I'd be able to stay limp, so how the fuck do they do those scenes? It's gotta be really embarrassing for all parties.

When you've been on set since dawn, barely had anything to eat, hardly know the person you're working with, under hot lights, with your dick in a sock, and a half-dozen people standing behind a camera shoved in your face, staring at you while you try to remain in character and give a performance, you realize the real question is how anyone manages to actually have sex in that situation.

Or so I've heard.