Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Blazing Saddles

This is an absolute crime that it took me almost 3 years to get to this movie. I friggin' love this movie!

If someone asked me what's your favorite western, my answer in all seriousness would be Blazing Saddles. I love it that much. This is easily of the funniest and downright out there types of movies I've ever seen and I appreciate everything it has done for comedy and humor for the decades since it first hit theaters in 1974. So our story follows a pretty involved story about a young man named Bart who is picked to be the new sherrif of a little town threatened to be torn down for the railroad by an evil assistant governor and the various hijinks to be followed in order to save the town. Basic story when summarized, far from it when you watch the whole thing. I do really believe this is Mel Brooks' finest work, I really love Young Frankenstein but Blazing Saddles is the best out of his work. It pulls every joke from sheer slapstick to play on words, to just background jokes, it runs the full gambit and it works so damn well! Bart played by Cleavon Little is believe it or not, the standard for how I want to be. He's intelligent, friendly, has a good sense of humor, and is all around a pretty flawless dude when you analyze him and he really makes this movie for me. But Bart is nothing without Jim, The Waco Kid played by good ol' Gene Wilder in one of his more subdued roles but honestly I think it works. Him and Bart are more the straight men to the comedy though they do partake in it a bit. Jim is a laidback guy, with a great and I'd almost want to say true backstory of a broken old gunslinger that gets back on track when Bart employs his help and friendship. Christ, I kinda wanna watch the movie again after I finish this review and when can I say that about most movies? If that doesn't clue you in on how great this movie is and it's sense of humor, I have no idea what will. It's an amazing movie that stays true to the time period it is set in and the look and feel of western movies while still being fresh and new, flat out exploits the absurdity and stupidity of racism, and tells a fun and highly entertaining story with characters you can't forget about. Who can forget Lily von Schtupp, I ask you? Madeline Kahn didn't get an Oscar nomination for nothing people! God I miss her. I've always watched her movies pretty much all my life, and she never ceases to make me smile. I really could not praise the movie more if I tried, so I'm telling you to go see it immediately even if you have watched it. But we got one more tomorrow, a parody of my favorite movie of all time. See you then!

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

The Producers

That's gotta be the best musical I've ever seen. But not for the reasons you think.

The Producers is...an odd film. One of Mel Brooks' earliest comedy films, before he really hit his stride with other movies we will look at this week, focusing on the subsequent parody and genius breakdown of everybody's favorite topic. Nazism. Hooray! But Mel knew how to do it and do it well. A washed out musical producer teams up with a fragile and immasculated accountant who gives a rather confusing and yet logical idea of how a musical that bombs big time can garner more money than a hit. You have to watch the scene to try and comprehend the full scope of the idea, because I could barely make heads or tails of it. Which leads to them finding the most flawless musical bomb in human history, "Springtime For Hitler", and thus production begins. It has been awhile since I've seen this movie, the last time I saw it I was in high school and I enjoyed the humor and parody, but I think I enjoyed it even more now. Zero Mostel is a brilliant, slimy, swindling man in this movie and my God is it beautiful. He is enjoying every last minute of it and plays this to perfection. And then we have Gene Wilder. Oh Gene, I miss you. He never ceased to make me laugh, and delivers one of his most neurotic, crazed, and frantically energized performances and I just have to say, thank you Mel. Thank you so much for bringing Gene into your productions, he really made these movies beyond great for me. And surprisingly this movie holds one of the most inspirational and triumphant moments in cinema, and it barely lasts for maybe 2 minutes but it really lifted me up! And now for the parody, now I totally get Mel's standpoint on it, and I know fully well I am nowhere near intelligent enough to discuss parody on such a touchy subject matter. And honestly I'm surprised recently people had to enforce the idea that nazis are bad, that blew my mind that such a statement had to be enforced and repeated, it's kinda depressing we live in a world where people still don't exactly mind following an ideology that caused the deaths of over 6 million people. Laughter at nazis cannot bring justice to the people that died, but it can tarnish their image and strength and bring them down, and truthfully I can't argue that. It's not American History X where the movie almost romanticizes being a neo-nazi or Life Is Beautiful where it is an utter and complete slap in the face of every single last one of those people that were in a concentration camp, it parodies the nazi party in a musical. Could you take anybody who is a nazi seriously after that? It tarnishes and rips and burns their reputation and stance in history through a ridiculous opening number. Comedy is controversial, comedy is a global way of breaking down barriers and addressing problems, all comedy stems from misery. Mel Brooks could make fun of nazis but nobody else really can, why? Well it takes someone far smarter and well read than me to explain it, so go see Lindsay Ellis once again, this woman seriously has taught me more than any film school could. Her video essay on The Producers is not only worth your time, but explains everything that I simply cannot. But I'm not here to discuss comedy and nazis, I'm here to tell you if it is a good movie and it really is. The comedy, while not the endless punches of Blazing Saddles, or the well paced and clever jokes of Young Frankenstein, is still funny especially with Gene Wilder on screen, and the story while odd is still engaging and entertaining, it's a really good movie. But tomorrow we look at quite possibly my favorite Mel Brooks' movie, Blazing Saddles!

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Chicken Run

Even after all this time, this is a really good movie!



I was kinda dreading going back and seeing this again, it was a movie I watched a bit when I was younger so I thought it would not stand the test of time. And honestly, it's just as good as I remembered it. I feel I appreciate the movie more now than I did back then, because I've seen more movies and my views have changed significantly since then. The story might be familiar to you, a young chicken named Ginger is fed up with living in cages and wants to escape her terrible chicken farm in order to live a better life. She creates scheme after scheme to escape but most don't work until a rooster named Rocky lands in their chicken farm and says he'll help them escape. It's The Great Escape. Apart from select few elements, it's The Great Escape minus the nazis and the multitude of death. And you know what? I really like The Great Escape! So this movie works regardless of whether you have seen that movie or not, it always kept my interest, I really liked all the characters, and I wanted to see which escape plan was the one that worked. They did The Great Escape plan fairly early on, so the ending is not what you think and I applaud that it's not just a family friendly rehash of the movie. They have fun with the idea of hens trying to escape a chicken farm, and it is very funny. Ginger is a great lead, you understand her struggle and her dreams for a peaceful life, she's an endearing character that has her limits but wants nothing but the best for everybody. Rocky played by Mel Gibson is a cocky, womanizer of an american and it clashes well with the british sensibility of the other hens. But my absolute favorite character is Ginger's best friend Babs, holy sweet sugar and sprinkles she absolutely slays me. I have no idea why, but she made me laugh and smile so much, I just love her character to tiny little pieces. In fact all the side characters are very good, and the villains are fun too. We got Miranda Richardson as the head of the chicken farm, and I couldn't tell that was her! I'm a fan of her work, and she is a hilarious woman, so seeing her as this bitter, mean spirited, and just horrible lady really took me back, you don't see her in roles like this. Even in Blackadder II, when she is Queen Elizabeth she's a bit off her rocker but still very cheerful and funny despite that she would have you executed if you so much as even slightly bored her, but I don't know it was just a shock to know it was her. Regardless, it's a really good movie. No joke, people pushed for this movie so hard at the Academy Awards that they had to create Best Animated Feature! Chicken Run did that! Not Beauty & The Beast or Fantasia, but Chicken Run. In 2001! It took them about 80 years to create a Best Animated Feature category and all thanks to this movie. So if anything, it should be remembered for that, but give it a watch you'll have fun with it. Well that's it for this week, kinda went on a tangent, but you have to expect things like this for almost 3 damn years and still going so I will not apologize for that. You know me, I rant and rave, give good movies recognition and barely touch bad movies (though I do fear a month of nothing but bad movies), occasionally give lists but I enjoy it and I hope others do as well. Not sure what to do next week, gonna have to sit and think for a bit on that one. Until then!

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

The Pirates: Band Of Misfits

Yet another Aardman movie I never saw, and I bring good news!

The Pirates is a fun movie and I very much enjoyed it. Hell I can even say it was better than Pirates 3, 4, and 5 by a long shot! The story follows the marvellous misadventures of (not Flapjack) a group of pirates headed by Hugh Grant as their Pirate Captain. Yes, his name is Pirate Captain. In fact his whole crew has no names, merely descriptive names like, Albino Pirate, Surprisingly Curvacious Pirate, and The Pirate With A Scarf. Genius. Their adventure let's them cross paths with Queen Victoria, and even Charles Darwin, all while our dear Pirate Captain tries to win the most prized thing on the seven seas, the Pirate Of The Year award! This is the movie I needed to see, a fun, charming, and very well done movie that was well worth 90 minutes of my life. Christ I almost kinda wish Pirates Of The Carribean did something like this. Animation is so smooth and well done, and since it's claymation once again it just proves how they got this down under lock and key. The characters are fun, but with special regards to Pirate Captain cause you really do want him to win. He's a great captain, loved by his crew, very loyal and dedicated to the pirate's life, he's my favorite character. His crew is funny and different, along with Charles Darwin throwing his hat into working alongside them is a sight to behold. So hang on a minute. This is a movie where a crew of pirates teams up with Charles Darwin, in order to stop a scheme conducted by Queen Victoria. Huh. Cool! I mean with a premise like that, you know you are going to have a blast with this movie, and I really did. It's a very entertaining movie, that is different from most of your usual pirate shenanigans, with the same dry and humorous wit found in most british movies, it was nice to cleanse the pallete and see something familiar but fresh. And honestly how can any movie be bad that has Brian Blessed being as flippin' awesome and glorious as always? This I can fully recommend if you got a day in to yourself, you're looking for something different, and the pirate's life is for you.

So how about one more since we're on a roll? One I have watched since I was very young and was actually my introduction to Aardman's library of works. Will I remember it as fondly as I once did? Well it's too late to chicken out now...

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Early Man

Dang Aardman, I hate to say this about you but you made such a forgettable movie.


Early Man had my attention, I really love the Wallace & Gromit shorts Aardman Studios did so when I saw they got a new movie coming out, I was happy to see them again. But...they made it a sports movie. Ugh. Why?? If you want to make a boring, forgettable, and all around useless movie you make a sports movie. If you have seen one sports movie you have seen them all. You ready for this plot? It's gonna blow your mind. So our story begins in the Paleozoic Era, where a tribe of cavemen are living their avergae everyday life until they are invaded from bronze clad warlords that push them out of their home into the desolate wasteland. A young man named Dug is whisked away to their kingdom where he discovers an odd game they play, football (or to you Americans out there, soccer) and he makes a deal with the leader of the warlords saying if he wins the game of football against his best team, his tribe returns to their land and if they lose, do you even care at this point? So begins every underdog sports movie ever made. Now granted I did not see this coming. Everything from the poster, to the plot synopsis, to the friggin' trailer treated this movie as another oddball adventure from the people who brought you Wallace & Gromit, with the same british humor, well done claymation style, and just a sense of fun in this movie. But no. Boring ass sports movie with dashes of funny british humor. Characters are very simple, I do love the fact they got Tom Hiddleston to play the villain as this snobbish french guy, and Eddie Redmayne is still a likeable, kind, and good hearted protagonist but everyone else falls flat. I really cannot for the life of me recommend this movie. Hell, I feel like I need to go back and watch their other movies, because they have made some decent stuff guys I swear. Do not let this movie ruin your view of a very good production company. Early Man can be skipped and you will not miss a thing. I am never reviewing another sports movie until either Cool Runnings hits my list, or Creed II comes out. Sports movies are boring. They don't contribute anything, I'm not saying the lives of people who play sports are worthless, or the stories of famous sports affiliated people can't make compelling cinema, but how in the holy name of the sultan of swat can you make sports movies when there is nothing there to make it interesting? And don't start that whole, "Well you loved The Sandlot so shut your face nerd!" because The Sandlot is not a sports movie. That is probably why I like it so much because it is not a sports movie, it is a summer movie. Go back and watch it, then watch all the Rocky movies, and you have seen the best and only sports movies you have ever seen. Tune in tomorrow for another Aardman movie, and hopefully I like it better than this one. It has pirates in it! Wait...my track record with pirates sucks. Fu-

Friday, February 16, 2018

Black Panther

Good way to end the week wouldn't you say?

Black Panther is a very good movie, it's not my new favorite Marvel movie for that honor is still held by Doctor Strange but it is in my top 3 which is hilarious because all the Marvel movies I've seen could probably be counted on two hands. But regardless I enjoyed the movie quite a lot. It did do everything I wanted it to, telling a story about a man who is both a king, a hero, and a warrior. Chadwick Boseman is excellent and could really carry the film on just him alone but the supporting cast is just as good, with Lupita Nyong'o and Martin Freeman being two of my favorites. The story is very admirable, telling the story of how the Black Panther, T'Challa was crowned king of Wakanda and must protect his people from outside and even inside forces. In fact there was much to be admired, I loved the style and culture that was heavily present in Wakanda and felt fully accesible, there was nothing that I could not find intrigue and enjoyment in. The action is very well done and never once did the thought occur that is was choreographed, they did it that well! Tremendous love must go to the art direction and choice of colors, this is a gorgeous film at times, filled with so much to see and appreciate. Now I have no problems saying I am a dumb white boy, I am uncultured but always try to learn and see new things, and I was greatly impressed by just the look and feel of such a technological society that never has shuned away from it's history. T'Challa and his kingdom is noble and of resounding character, he's just trying to be the best king he can and I'll be damned if I said I would not follow him into battle. In fact...he's the best king I have seen on film. Sorry Aragorn, but you need to do more than swing a sword and make speeches to be king. Actually now that I think about it there were a lot of Lord Of The Rings moments, beyond seeing Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman in a room together. It's a really great film and most importantly it made me want to read the source material, to read the comics, and I mean like from first appearance to now. Same thing for Doctor Strange, it made me interested to read and learn about these characters so obviously Marvel is doing a great job with these two lesser known but still important characters that have been around for decades. And hell, they got one more movie I want to see this year and I am very excited to see one of my favorite Marvel villains get his own movie. But that will come in time. For now though, I will look forward to seeing you next week.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Bridget Jones's Diary

This is the movie I needed to see today.


Bridget Jones's Diary is a very good, funny, just plain wonderful movie about an average 30-something year old woman searching for love and trying to do things better in her life. Already this movie has got me. That is a ridiculously simple plot but life has great charm in simplicity! And that's the word for the movie, charm. This is a charming movie. Bridget Jones is a clumsy, off putting, but very truthful and sympathetic character. She's trying to do better by her own standards and trying to find love, and honestly and truthfully doesn't everyone do that? At some point in your life if not frequently in your life you have tried to a.) make yourself better or b.) tried to find love. It's what humans do. So already the film is wearing it's heart on it's sleeve so it made it very enjoyable to watch, and then you add all the other elements. This film is hilarious! The humor is very british and a bit crass but I'd be lying if I said I didn't laugh quite a bit. The romance isn't half bad either, we got Bridget's boss played by Hugh Grant and oh my God he is so Hugh Grant in this. I love him. And then we got....actually what is he? Her friend she made years ago? Her blind date set up by her parents? I have no idea, he's played by Colin Firth and man do Hugh and Colin love to be in movies together. First Love Actually, now this. And the romance is cliched but the rest of the movie is enjoyable in it's odd, awkward, no bullcrap style so I don't even really mind that much. Now all the characters are highly enjoyable but Bridget's dad played by Jim Broadbent is perfection. I love him to tiny little itty bitty pieces. He's like, the one perfect character, he's not a jerk, he's not looking for romance, he's just kinda living his life. There is a wonderful love and care he shows for his daughter, he never panders to her or treats her different, he's just being the best dad he can be and loves his wife and daughter. I aspire to be like Bridget's dad in my future years, I mean best dad ever. Bridget's dad is awesome! Just all the element's worked, it's such a good movie and though I haven't seen the other two movies I'm not totally against seeing them in the future. My mom loves this movie and she was nice enough to sit and watch it with me, so at the very least I can thank her for that. And of course I wish you not only the happiest of Valentine's Days, but the best and most loved for years to come. And I look forward to seeing all of you this Friday for another movie.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Leap!

Well I've been wanting to see this movie for quite awhile, so how was it?



While Leap is not the most original movie, it is still a harmless, fun, and very decent family movie. It follows two orphans escaping their orphanage and travelling to Paris, where one named Victor dreams of becoming a great inventor, and Felicia who is determined to be a ballet dancer. What follows is a mish-mash of funny originality, and almost painfully retreaded cliches. I know I can say the best part of the movie is easily the relationship between Felicia and Victor, they bicker and take shots at each other like a married couple but you still can feel they are great friends and it's done very well. But sadly most of the other characters save one, are boring and predictable. We have a humble cleaner who teaches Felicia basically Karate Kid style and shock of all shocks she used to be a dancer too before an accident damaged her leg, I'm honestly surprised they didn't pull a particular twist with her character and her connection to Felicia but thankfully all that was not here! We have a stuck up, bitchy snob who I swear is the Evil Stepmother from Cinderella's sister, and her hell spawn of a daughter. Honestly there's several scenes where I was waiting for Felicia to just lay 5 fingers across her face but sadly to no avail. Now the only character who has even a touch of an arc is the dance instructor, he's a stick in the mud, very strict and mean but gradually commends Felicia's efforts and wants her to win. That's great, that is a good character arc, more of that please! The music, I hate it. You know my qualms I had with The Peanuts Movie and it's soundtrack? Quantify that immensely, it sucks. The best song is Swan Lake, but it's Swan Lake, the song is beautiful and will forever remind me of Bela Lugosi, I love it to death. But that's the one song I liked. The animation style is quite good though it does look like early Dreamworks animation but it's decent, the voice acting is.....beyond bizzare. As far as I know this film was originally released in France, it's A Monster In Paris situation. They took a french film, and brought it here in the States with a complete redo of the voice work, hell it almost does a Studio Ghibli with bringing in popular actors. But with one exception. There are moments when the lip syncing is way, way off. It is so damn odd! There are moments when the lip movements and voice match perfectly yet with other moments the voice comes nowhere close to syncing. Like almost Final Fantasy X-2 levels of off-ness. It created this severe disconnect for me. And the fact that the movie is so friggin' predictable. I don't want to bash the movie but there were way, way too many times where I was like, "Okay that's like Karate Kid. Oh that's like Chicken Run. Oh that's like every single godforsaken sports movie since time immemorial." and it draaaags. Oh sweet baby Jesus does it drag! Move on! Come on! Move!!! We know how this goes, snap to!! Ugh. I mean the parts that are good, do it really good but there is so much you got to sift through. You know the message of this movie by watching the trailer, it's so cookie cutter basic. It hurts cause I saw the trailer and thought, hey that looks like a fun good movie, and it mostly fell flat for me. I can't really and truly say I can recommend it, cause there are so many better movies that do this better. I genuinely hate to say this but Leap has fallen flat on it's face.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Under The Red Hood

Good job Brandon, you made an awesome movie man!

I gotta admit, I have heard constant good things about this movie and now that I have finally seen it, it didn't disappoint. It's an adaptation of the comic by the same name which I have to say I didn't read but if the book is anything like the movie it's awesome! So this takes place 5 years after the famous Death In The Family story where Jason Todd the second Robin is murdered by the Joker, and the mysterious Red Hood hits the scene in Gotham causing the Dark Knight to hunt him down and face the demons of the past. Now this is a great story, but it doesn't take the world's greatest detective to figure out who the Red Hood is. If you've played Arkham Knight you know who he is, if you have basic knowledge of the Batman comics you know who he is, you don't even need to pick up his own comic to know who he is, but the mystery is not the focal point. It's more about Bruce confronting the Red Hood and coming to terms with Jason's death. Tim Drake isn't Robin yet, but Dick is seen as Nightwing so you get a good past vs. present Robin standoff on who is your favorite, I stand by Dick Grayson anyday of the week but God dang it that ending tore into me. Jesus Christ movie, you want to end on a more just downright bummer ending? But there's a lot more to enjoy beyond the story. The animation is some of the best if not the best I have seen in any animated Batman movie, Bruce Greenwood is back as Bats which I do believe this was his first outing with the cape and cowl, Jensen Ackles is in my opinion perfect casting for Red Hood I mean this guy is a total wiseass and I love every minute of it, but oh sweet merciful Christmas John DiMaggio is perfect. Like...his Joker gives old Jack a run for his money he's that great. I have never laughed so often and deeply as I have with John DiMaggio's Joker. After this, John can do no wrong in my eyes, though I think it will ruin future viewings of Adventure Time more so than Futurama did. But screw it, this was a really good movie. I loved the inner conflict, the action was spot on like always, I would say I would buy this particular Batman movie but it is well worth a rental if you get the chance. So that ends this bat-tastic week, we got more movies next week so I will see all you then!

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero

You know what, this was better than when I watched it as a kid!



Subzero was a direct to video movie released in 1998, and was a personal favorite of mine. I saw this before I saw any episodes of Batman The Animated Series with Mr. Freeze and even before Mask Of The Phantasm if memory serves correctly, and I really loved it as a kid and I daresay I love it even more now knowing the character of Victor Fries and where his story goes in this universe. The story while basic is a very, very good story dealing with Mr. Freeze capturing Barbara Gordon in an organ transplant to save his wife, with Batman and Robin hot on his trail. It may not sound that special but the greatness lies in the details and technicals. Now you may be thinking, "Oh it's a direct to video movie, this is gonna suck. Every direct to video movie nowadays is definition of bottom of the barrel." but I can safely tell you this is far from the truth. The quality is same throughout from jumping to The Animated Series to this and even beyond to The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond, all the alumni that worked on the show worked on this movie, all the writers, directors, voice actors so it doesn't feel out of place. Animation is great, but I don't need to tell you that cause you already know. But! This movie combines hand drawn animation with 3D animation, the backgrounds and sometimes entire scenes are computer generated. Now granted they did that in Mask Of The Phantasm but it was used only for the opening titles, this uses it throughout but...they genuinely make it work. When I was a kid I had no idea they did that, it all looked hand drawn and while it is more noticeable now, it does not hurt the movie. Just, everything is so good! Characters are beyond stand out here! And now, comes the part where I gush to you the people, of the glory of Batman and The Animated Series, but as my reviewers always say, if you gotta do it...do it all out. Oh my God, Mr. Freeze. Now remember, this was my introduction to the character, I never saw Heart Of Ice so I never knew his backstory. And yet, this movie made me really like him, his suit is amazing, his ice gun is cool (Don't think about that too much or you might hurt me.), I understood why he was doing what he did and now so many years later, Mr. Freeze is easily in my top 5 Batman rogues gallery ever. Michael Ansara is beyond brilliant, and I miss him dearly. The relationship between Dick and Barbara I felt had much more impact on me now than it did when I was young, there is a genuine love for one another and there's one brief scene with the two of them alone and it is wonderful, I especially also loved the fact they made Dick older, like college student older cause it pays off when you see him as Nightwing so good job guys. Batman, it's Kevin Conroy so I give him 10/10. 10/10. 100/100! Best Batman. BEST BATMAN. Moving on. For a movie that is barely over an hour, it clocks in at an hour and 6 minutes, it is not rushed. The movie knows when to take it's time, and when to kick it into high paced action and the action is really good. I was surprised how much I loved this movie, I always enjoyed watching it when I was younger but now I feel I have fully appreciated it. The art, the story, the characters, just all the elements between them are too good. It's too good. I could go on for...a while, let's just say that, about the character interactions and the importance of the story and the lasting effects it has on the Diniverse that encompasses all the Batman animated shows, Justice League, Batman Beyond, all that. And this was really the last hurrah for the classic Animated Series before The New Batman Adventures premiered with a new art style, new characters, and crossovered with Superman The Animated Series. See, even back then about 20 years ago DC had crossover TV shows. The ending is very bittersweet, and seeing the evolution of Mr. Freeze's character down the road makes it almost heart breaking. No scratch that, it's friggin' heart wrenching! Granted, it is for your Batman fans in life, kids can enjoy it but I think older teenagers can appreciate it. And we got one more, shock of all shocks one I have never seen (Dun dun duuh!) so I am looking forward to that. Have always heard good things about it, gonna finally see it tomorrow, I am on cloud 9, goodnight everybody!

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Gotham By Gaslight

You know Warner Bros. Animation, I don't think you understand what an R rating is. Both this and The Killing Joke could have been PG-13 and you wouldn't have to cut a damn thing. Is it the stigma of it being animation so in order to hammer your point home that it is heavy stuff you gotta make it an R rated movie so people take it seriously? Christ.


Yeah, Gotham By Gaslight is rated R which blew my mind when I picked it up at Redbox, I almost thought I got the wrong movie but nope. Now granted when you are dealing with a subject matter like Jack The Ripper, you're gonna get a body count and you're gonna get blood but an R rated film that does not make. Okay, slow down, go back, let's start basics. Gotham By Gaslight is an adaptation of the popular Elseworlds series DC has been making since the late 80s, taking classic superheroes and giving them unique spins. Like, what if Superman didn't land in Kansas but in the USSR and fought for communist values? Well this is a what if of Batman taking place in the late 1800s and one of his earliest cases is catching Jack The Ripper, based off the very first Elseworlds book. Now I do have to say, the book is okay, in fact I liked the movie better than the book. It's a very loose adaptation adding tons of new elements and centering the story on Jack whereas the book had 2 cases. So the story I genuinely liked, it's a very good mystery and to see a well known superhero in this time frame is a neat thing to see. I've always admired the Gotham By Gaslight suit, though I have never been a steampunk fan which it takes inspiration from. So the story and characters are really darn good, with one quiet scene between Bruce and Selina that really stole the whole movie for me, it was really good! I only had one major problem with the movie that I don't think was how it ended in the book, my memory is fuzzy and I should go back and read it one day, but I can't divulge what really pissed me off cause it spoils the mystery. But we will move to the technicals now! Animation is really great, the colors are dark and murky, and I must praise the unabashed unapologetic potrayal of late 19th century culture. Like they got their research down man, life sucked back then and it sucked even harder for women. Voice acting across the board is great, specifically Bruce Greenwood but you know what's weird? Bruce is a better Batman than he is...well, Bruce. But all in all, it's a decent movie, I enjoyed it more than the fraking Killing Joke that's for damn sure. Doesn't deserve the R rating even in the slightest, perfect for a rental, and if you know anything about me we can't leave this alone now. I don't got any other movies for the week, so let's watch some more animated Batman movies! Tune in tomorrow, same time same channel!

Thursday, February 1, 2018

In Retrospect: Blade Runner 2049

This is a great movie, I'm very excited to see it with several Academy Award nominations!








I'm telling you man, it all fits together when you understand better the original Blade Runner. Blade Runner 2049 is a extremely well done sequel, visuals are almost too good to be true, with outstanding use of color and it further imprints the fact that not only is this a parallel Earth where history went a tiny bit different, but that the technology jump in 30 years time makes logical sense. The film is gorgeous to look at, and it proves the fact that film is a visual medium. That is the point of movies, to show artistic and grand scale visuals while telling a story. This is a prime example if I ever saw one, but not just in environment. Harrison Ford returns, albeit briefly in this film and quite possibly the two best scenes is where he hardly speaks. You can tell everything he is feeling through just facial expressions, he is that good an actor, his body language says what words cannot for his character. Speaking of which, all the characters are fantastic and wonderful. By far my favorite characters besides Decker is Joi, and Ana for one simple reason: although their characters are extremely isolated from the world they show great humanity. Joi is such a loving, wonderful person and to know the story of Ana and how it all ends....I couldn't dare ask for anything better. Joe is a really dang good protagonist, and while I'm at it he makes this almost 3 hour movie very engaging. I never lost interest once, the story and world is just so engaging to the point where it doesn't feel like almost 3 hours. And really, I only had two issues, one of which I got over relatively quick. First, is Joi. Now there is nothing wrong with her character, but more the tech of her. Since she's a hologram she can't interact with physical matter. Except when she can. It's so bizarre, I can't figure out why she can touch and feel one minute then be a hologram once again. But I love her character so much I can look past it. What I can't look past is this whole revolution subplot that's really missing the whole "Chosen One" aspect to make it completely stupid, it doesn't go anywhere after that scene so why is it in the movie? I would rather have that introduction scene they had to Sapper which they used in that weird variety of preludes to build up to this movie. Remember that? They had all these directors do scenes both live action and animated to build up to this movie. Throw that scene in, it gave a lot of character and respect and sympathy to his character, I loved it. But no, we get a flaccid at best revolution subplot that dies as quickly as it began. Yet even through all that, the appeal this film holds for me cannot be fully explained, cause well film is something greater and better than words, it's a gorgeous movie, with great characters, and a compelling mystery. What more could anyone ask? You know what, screw it I'm watching it again! I'll see you guys next week. Great movie, see it, buy it, love it. I'm going in!