Wall-E

With out doubt, this is the most adorable, cute movie I have seen in a very long time. If someone told you that the movie was about two robots running around on an adventure, but that they didn’t even really speak, except for each others names. You might not think there could be much to it. But Pixar has managed to infuse so much expression and emotion into that little box shaped robot.

For the first 10-15 minutes I was reminded of how much Wall-E reminded me of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. Lots of similarities between them with the same kind of head/eye encasings, and the triangle shaped treads. And while Johnny did have an impressive array of expressions, the fact that Wall-E was CGI opened up the possibilities even further.

The back story is actually pretty bleak and depressing. Taking place in a future where people have had to leave the Earth because it was completely covered in garbage, and not just the surface, the planet itself is incased in satellite trash. It really isn’t hard to pick up on the messages that they are trying to get across. With scenes of sky scraper tall piles of trash, and thousands of billboards for a super corporation Buy N Large. Complete with a billboard on the moon for “new shopping center coming soon”, right next to the Apollo Lander. When we finally get to see the humans of the movie, it’s very unsettling. Everyone is so fat and lazy that they use hover chairs to get around, and don’t actually interact with one another, but use little holographic displays to talk to each other, even if they are right next to each other, complete with robots waiting on their every need.

My favorite part of the story is how it’s simply about this little robot and how he affects everyone without really trying, he’s just trying to find this other robot that he has a crush on. The little things he does have a huge impact on everyone around him. Simple things like waving to someone. He also has a great sense of innocent interest in things. Being a trash gathering/compacting robot, he finds all sorts of odd knickknacks and trinkets that he keeps because they interest him, things like Rubix Cubes and sporks.

Really there are a few plot holes in the movie. But they are very minor, and never really are a bother. The only thing I was left wanting was to know what his name means. I’m sure it might’ve said somewhere, and I just didn’t catch it.

Teeth

I don’t really know where to start with this movie. Once you hear the concept you don’t really know what to expect. It sounds like a mix between a bad horror and porn, or something that Troma would make. But once you actually watch it, you realize it really isn’t either one of those. You’d also imagine it to be filled with many cheesy moments, and horrible actors, again you’d be wrong.

The film makers have managed to somehow fit several messages into the movie, with out it really feeling like it’s trying to have a message. At the core it feels like it’s about abstinence, right from the very first scene. But it does a good job of both putting it in a good light, and showing the negative effects that can be caused by it. By the end of the movie it kind of changes its message and is a combination of sexism and being sexually careful, but does so with a smart transition, while making sense with the story.
The story is pretty much a very twisted take on adolescence and growing up and experiencing changes with your body. Discovering new things that seem out of place and wrong, only in this film, they are very much out of place and wrong. And while the story does have a good progression, it doesn’t really go anywhere. The ending is kind of abrupt, and it doesn’t really explain much. But it does leave it open for a sequel, which I would watch.

I was surprised to recognize several of the actors, and even more surprised that it was filled with actual good acting. Jess Weixler does a great job of making you empathize with her through out the film. And you can really see how her character progresses and grows. Some of the other cast, while doing a good job, are pretty typical roles for them.

The Fall

Being a very visually stimulated person I tend to really lean towards movies with a very unique look about them. One of my all time favorite visual movies is The Cell. I certainly don’t watch that one for the story, though the story really isn’t half bad. But the visuals in that movie just blow so many other movies out of the water. So naturally I was ecstatic when I heard that Tarsem Singh, the director of The Cell, had a new movie out. And after a little bit of research into this mysterious figure, I discovered that he has also been responsible for some of my favorite music videos as well. Though, I was honestly surprised to see that The Fall is only his second movie.

The visuals and cinematography of The Fall is absolutely beautiful. There is no doubting that. While some of them have the same style as they did in The Cell, they aren’t nearly as dark in nature. Most of them are very minimal and desolate this time. Much of the scenery is deserts or abandoned cities. The costumes are gorgeous, with each of the 6 main characters of the story having a very unique style and look.

Unfortunately, to me, it seems that the visuals in The Fall don’t really compare to The Cell. While they are still stunning on their own, they seemed to lack a lot of the depth and grandeur of The Cell. This might come simply to personal taste though. The make-up in The Cell is a lot more detailed as well. I really don’t recall any detailed make-up in The Fall apart from one character, which wasn’t even that elaborate. There are defiantly a few stand-out scenes that gave me goose bumps though.

The story is very much a fairy tale. It is all being told by a nice, but down on his luck injured man to a very curious little girl. The little girl is absolutely adorable, and quit a good actress too. It was interesting to see how stuff going on in the real world, different people the girl interacted with, would affect the story world. Very much a “I had a dream, and you were there, and you and you!” feeling.

The Strangers

This movie really creeped me out. The masks, the ninja like abilities of the strangers, the music, and the fact that I had to go home to an empty dark apartment after watching it. I can admit I jumped once, luckily though I didn’t spray the soda that I was drinking at the moment, for that would’ve been embarrassing.

All the things in this worked so well to make it creepy. The masks they were, while up close and in the light were pretty much all happy nice masks. But in the dark and from the distance they seemed to take on a new shade of scary. The doll-faced girl looked very much like a ghost from a distance, large dark eyes, small mouth, no real way to making out features other then the contrast of the eyes and mouth. But the ‘dad’ figures mask was the creepiest. What can only be described as a burlap sack with a smiley face painted on.

The music for this is was what really set me on edge. Through out the movie they keep playing with a small record player in the house, all the songs they play are very happy and pleasant sounding, but the lyrics seemed to match what was going on with what was happening on the screen. They even used the fact that it was a record, and made it skip all the time to intensify the moment.

The thing I was most curious about was their marketing for this movie. Saying it was based on actual events. And after a little research it seems that it wasn’t really based of one event, but several. There was an event from the writer/directors childhood that made him start this script. And it seems that a lot of the motivations and actions of these strangers were taken from several of the Manson murders. Even one of the games that they used to play on people, where they’d sneak into peoples houses and rearrange items, what they called “creepy crawling”. But the story is mostly taken from murders that happened at a resort in Keddie, CA, where three people were found tied up, stubbed and beaten with a hammer.

My only complaint is somewhat with the story. While I do like that it never explains the motivations of these strangers other then “they were home”. It doesn’t really explain much about the back story of the couple central to the story. Its obvious they had some sort of falling out, but it never truly says what happened, even things like the director making a point of getting a shot of the boyfriends bloodied knuckles, but never saying how they got that way. But, honestly, I completely forgot all about that once the masked ones show up. Was only when thinking back to the story afterwards did I remember these facts.

The Onion Movie

I’ve been a fan of The Onion papers for as far back as I can remember. I was greatly excited when I learned that they’d made the jump to the youtube generation with The Onion News Network. Now they’ve even taken a step further and made a movie.

Most of the movie is basically more Onion News Network bits, some of which have even been online already. They did throw in a bit of a story about a corporation taking over the Network, complete with intrusive mascots during the news.

While the whole thing is as funny as expected it would be, it does kind drag on. The bits with the actual story don’t happen that often, so at times it feels like you just paid to watch something you can see for free on youtube. But by the end all the skits and stories come back full circle with the story, and that’s when the funny gets real funny.

The Incredible Hulk

While I am a big fan of comics, I can’t say that I’ve ever really read much Hulk. I know the basics of his whole story and happenings, but not very detailed. But I am a fan of smash’em up movies.

A couple years ago Ang Lee did the first big screen Hulk movie. But Ang Lee isn’t really the kind of director you want for something like this. While it had very good action it was bogged down with too much heavy story, not something associated with the Hulk. So it is kind of suprising that they green lighted another Hulk movie after that one bombed. This time around they got Louis Leterrier, who did The Transporter 2. Not only is a fun action director, he’s a big fan of the original television series for The Hulk, which you can see in many of the nods to the series throughout the movie. This seems to be the thing that Marvel has got right this year with their comic movies, actually getting fans of the comics to do the movies justice.

The special effects in this are much better then the last one as well. When I first saw the trailer I have to admit they didn’t look that good to me. But the more I saw of them, the more detailed I realized they were. They actually use Edward Norton and Tim Roth’s faces for their CGI counterparts. As well as using motion capture to get their movements to match the live action actors. This all made the fight scenes and action much more interesting and realistic.

The story is simple, but good. It’s not trying to be real in-depth or heavy, it has what it needs to move it along and get where it’s going. It even leaves stuff open for a sequel for the nerds that can catch what is happening during the movie.

Just like Iron Man, there are lots of easter eggs for fans of the comics. I personally only saw a few, but others have said its chock full of them. It doesn’t have a secret ending after the credits like Iron Man did, but it looks like there was going to be one, but they put it before the credits instead. And with where these endings between the two movies are going is pretty exciting for the comic nerds out there.

I really didn’t have many problems with the movie. The one thing that bugged me during the climax is all the pedestrians. There are two large monsters fighting on this street, are you really going to run back and forth on that same street? How about you get off that street and run another direction. With the amount of smash and destruction there is bound to be monstrous amounts of casualties, but they never really mention it. Especially when the army is trying to stop the hulk, the amount of firepower they are bringing into a University Campus is just asking for tones of friendly fire.

The Orphanage

Good: Creepy, so very creepy. Even the opening scene of the movie sets your nerves at alert. Everything from the setting, sounds and lighting all add to this intensified creep factor. It did its job of making me uneasy after watching it, walking around an empty dark apartment.

The whole movie has the feel of other movies like The Shining, House on Haunted Hill, The Others, Poltergeist, and a few others. The movie really is much more of a psychological thriller then it is about creepy kids in masks.

The setting is absolutely beautiful. The large house that is the Orphanage is gorgeous, inside and out. I’m not great with house style names, but to me it looked very Victorian. It is surrounded by a deep and rich forest. The house is up on a hill over a spectacular beach/cove. And overlooking all of it is a lighthouse. All three of these are a character in the story as much as the actors. And each of them is very picturesque.

Bad: The Marketing for this was way off. Guillermo del Toro did not direct this, he only helped bring it to America, but everyone seems to think that it’s his movie. They like to do this with movies, just like they did with Hostel. Quentin Tarantino didn’t make that movie, he berly had anything to do with it, it was directed by Eli Roth.

The footage they show in the commercials is also very misleading. They make it look like its all about a creepy kid in a very creepy mask terrorizing this poor lady. While yes the kid is a key figure in the story, he only shows him in a few scenes. The movie is about this mother being haunted, not tormented by a masked child.

There are moments when it does feel kind of slow. While it may bug some people, it worked for me. Made it much more tense and added a sense of despair.