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The rarely updated blog of Joel Dixon
Viewing blogs tagged Movies
Monday, January 03, 2005
The Incredibles
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 03/01/2005 02:32:00I always spend a lot of money on movies in December, and this year was no different. I just came back from The Incredibles, the latest from Pixar Animation Studios - and their first to get a PG rating.
As the rating implied - this film was a little more mature than other Pixar movies. As it was mainly an action film, the extra violence assisted the story, and it was all very smoothly done considering it's an animated feature. While watching the gadgets and skills of the superheroes throughout the movie - the word "Cool" entered my mind on more than one occasion.
Voice acting was brilliant - Samuel L. Jackson was great as the suave Frozone, Holly Hunter's Southern accent made Mrs. Incredible's character likeable and an exceptional bad-guy performance was provided by Jason Lee.
I must say I was a little disappointed that this film wasn't as funny as the earlier Pixar stuff. I guess that would make sense as it was more of an Action film than a Family Film / Comedy. I also felt that it moved a little slowly through the first half - perhaps it took me a little time to get into it.
All in all I give it a 3.5 out of 5, a definite recommendation for kiddies.
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: Movies
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Saw
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 30/12/2004 11:06:00Updated by Joel Dixon at 11/08/2008 20:26:41
My girlfriend and I went to see Saw on the weekend - and I was quite impressed. The writers are two Melbourne boys - James Wan, also the Director and Leigh Whannell who also plays the part of Adam. Apparently they wrote the film so that James would have something to direct, and Leigh would have something to act in. I must say though - I wasn't entirely convinced by Leigh's acting abilities towards the beginning of the film.
I'm don't really enjoy scary movies just for the sake of being scary - but psychological thrillers that make me think are very enjoyable. Saw tells the story of two people trapped in a bathroom by a serial killer known as "Jigsaw". I won't give away any of the story - but the ending "twist" is one of the best, and least unexpected, that I've seen for a quite a while.
I found the fact that the story is being told from the potential victims perspective rather than a detective is refreshing, and makes you wonder what you would do in a similar situation. The story also tells of some of the Jigsaw's previous victims, which were all very interesting, and could have done with more emphasis.
The film ended extremely well in my opinion - which is why I'm a little worried about the sequel they've planned - Saw: Hacksaw. Apparently James and Leigh will still be involved - so I hope it does well.
Overall - I'd give it 4 stars out of 5.
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: Movies
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Ocean's Twelve
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 18/12/2004 19:48:00As the title suggests - I went to see Ocean's Twelve last night - and I must say I was quite disappointed. I actually didn't see the remake of Ocean's Eleven when it came out at the cinemas, I thought it had made money based on its' star power. Turns out I should have seen the first one at the movies - and left this one to DVD.
IMO, the best part of the first movie was the carefully organised and well thought out heist. The sequel replaced this with a slow moving story with eighteen "surprise" plot twists. The script wasn't written as the Ocean's Eleven sequel and it shows - as there were too many players for the story. And when the director decides to do an oddly anged zoom in on each of the characters - it got old after about 3.
A welcomed addition is Vincent Cassel as an arrogant French master thief, and the soundtrack is really quite good. I was laughing through some of it - but I was mostly waiting for it to hurry up.
Overall - 2.5 stars out of 5.
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: Movies
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Team America: World Police
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 09/12/2004 11:09:00I saw my first movie in about 6 months last night - Team America: World Police. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame, this movie is essentially The Thunderbirds meets The Sum of All Fears, with all of the humor of a South Park episode.
I had heard a little bit about the movie beforehand, but most of it had been negative so I wasn't expecting too much. I really only went along to see some friends from High School. I must say though, I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw - I couldn't stop laughing. Anyone who feels that South Park is a little too rude probably won't like this movie - but I find that adding ridiculously over the top vulgarities can assist spoof movies such as this. An example is the film's romantic scene - probably the funniest sex scene I've ever witnessed. Apparently they kept adding to this scene until the movie reached the R rating they were hoping for.
While the main plot of the film appears to be taking a dig at George Dub-ya's War on Terror, the rest of the film's political messages appear balanced. Just as they do in South Park, Parker and Stone manage to make fun of both sides of the argument - and ensure everyone looks like a dick. The plot is similar to a lot of action movies (the world is in trouble, a team try to save it) - but the main draw is the laughs.
Another pleasant surprise from the movie was the musical numbers. As they did with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, the movie was littered with songs - and I didn't mind listening to them. Normally I hate movies where the main characters sing (especially Bollywood films) - but when they're actually singing something that I find amusing it's fine.
While I probably won't buy this on DVD (it's value to me was better as a shock film - probably won't work as well in subsequent views) - I'd give it a 4 out of 5.
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: Movies
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