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Friday, July 2, 2010

Movie stuff

A couple of people have asked if I was going to see The Last Airbender. I'm not, and had been meaning to write a little something about why - it was basically going to say, "Why are they all White? Also? It looks like it's going to suck." Roger Ebert says I was right.
"The Last Airbender" is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented. The laws of chance suggest that something should have gone right. Not here.
Ouch.


In other movie news:

I reviewed The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in my movie post. Roger Ebert reviewed it much more amusingly here. Pajiba reviewed it much more vitriolically here.

Also at Pajiba, the international trailer for Let Me In, the American remake of Let the Right One In, yesterday. Not surprisingly, it does not look like it will be anywhere as good as the original. Surprisingly, at least to me, the trailer for the original one involved more quick cut "HOLYCRAPWHAT'SHAPPENINGGETEXCITEDRIGHTNOW!" than I expected.

I haven't seen a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio since that one on the boat, but I think I want to see Inception.

I do not, however, want to see that terrible looking Zac Efron movie I keep having sit through the trailer for. In fact, each time I see the trailer, I'm just that much more sure that I don't want to see it. But, I'm interested in who they think their audience is. I was not surprised to see it edvertised at Eclipse, but I first saw it ahead of The A-Team.

Not having seen a DiCaprio flick in the last decade means I haven't seen any of Scorsese's recent stuff (actually, I haven't seen a Scorsese movie since Cape Fear, which is really a shame - I keep meaning to watch Taxi Driver and The Last Temptation of Christ, but have just never gotten around to them). I'm intrigued to hear that he's directing Hugo Cabret, the film version of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which I just read (and reviewed). Intrigued, but mostly hoping that the article's mention of 3-D is a speculation that does not come true. Cinematical suggests that the fact that the book won a Caldecott Medal for Illustrations means it lends itself to 3-D, but those illustrations (which are fantastic) are most definitely in 2-D. So, unless it's going to be not only really well done 3-D, but 3-D that actually adds something to, and seems an integral part of, the movie, I'm not sure it's worthwhile, and I'm sure it's not necessary.

Finally, in the wake of Amanda Bynes' retirement announcement, I had a realization: Amanda Seyfried and Amanda Bynes are not the same person! I mean, obviously they're not, because they have different names. But, honestly, I think I'd really been thinking of them as one entity (That Amanda Whatshername, You Know, the One Who's in Those Previews for Those Movies I Don't Want to See).

2 comments:

  1. Poor M Knight Shyalaman (sp?). He hasn't made a decent movie since Signs. Someone should really stop funding his projects; he's embarassing himself.

    As for the Twilight movies, I enjoyed the books very much but find as I view the movies that I like Bella less and less. I also wish that they wouldn't make poor Peter Facinelli dye his hair and try and do an English accent. And most amusingly, I heard Robert Pattinson's American accent described as a bad Christopher Walken imitation by the folks at The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Hulu. When I saw the clip they were using as an example, I realized they were spot on.

    Let The Right One In was so fantastic, I knew it was only a matter of time before they tried to remake it for American audiences. I really wish they had left well enough alone. I'm afraid it's one of those movies that won't translate well, or someone will try and ad explosions or talking cars or something equally out of place and ridiculous.

    Finally, you definitely need to take the time to catch up on your Scorsese. The Departed (the one he got his oscar for) is better than decent and has the advantage of having Matt Damon in it, lol. I can't believe you've never seen Taxi Driver. What is wrong with you?

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  2. I hated Bella (and Edward) so much in the books that it would be hard for the movies to make her worse for me (though the mouth breathing almost did it in the first one). I wanted to her repeatedly, then shake her until she either started to make sense or passed out. The movie version of her inspires me to a little bit less violence. Not really sure why.

    I don't uderstand why they can't get the wigs and makeup figured out for these. I feel bad for Facinelli, but I feel worst for Jackson Rathbone (Jasper). His wig is always HORRIBLE!

    Wait, is Facinelli supposed to be doing an accent? I hadn't even noticed. That's really sad. And Pattinson's accent sounds to me like it alternates between Bad James Dean and - I think you're right - Bad Christopher Walken (I hadn't thought of him, but that is apt).

    M. Knight didn't even make it all the way through Signs without embarrassing himself. I really enjoyed the movie until maybe 3/4 of the way through, but thought the end was terrible. I disliked it so much, in fact, that I haven't wanted to watch any of his films since. The fact that they've all gotten panned just reinforces my lack of interest. I suspect now that his movies get greenlit by someone he thinks is a friend, but who really has some sort of vendetta against him and figures the best way to ruin him is to let him ruin himself.

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