Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is the newest film form director Guy Ritchie and actor Robert Downey Jr., based loosely on the popular British series of detective novels. This movie shy's away from the erudite view of Holmes but rather focuses more on the action and adventure portion of the Holmes stories. The movie plays out just like any classic detective story, with a series of events and clues leading to a climatic conclusion where Sherlock pieces together all of the clues and figures out the mystery.

This film is interesting for me by considering it an antithesis to Avatar. While Avatar was based expressly on special effects and many times neglected the story or character development, this movie is based almost exclusively on story and character development as well as mostly real effects, not computer generated effects. In many ways I actually enjoyed this film slightly more than Avatar because of the sheer fun I had while watching it as well as the brilliance of the story writing. Plus, Sherlock Holmes is shot in 2D, so you don't have to wear those unwieldy glasses to watch it.

One of the most interesting parts of this movie is character development between Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion Dr. Watson. Both Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are able to create wonderful characters that we can both laugh at and feel sympathy for. Sherlock Holmes is a multi-faceted eccentric character who's constant smart-aleck cracks and antics balance out his sheer brilliance, bringing a certain vitality to what could have been a dull character. Dr. Watson rises above mere sidekick status and becomes a man torn between his commitment to his girlfriend and his thirst for adventure. These two characters are created so well that we can relate to them and they become as real to the viewer as any other person they may run into on the street.

My favorite parts of this movie are seeing Holmes work out the crime. He works with such a mad fast-paced determination that the scenes were he is sitting thinking are almost as exciting as the action scenes that he is in. By the time we get to the end of the film and Holmes has figured out exactly what is happening, the viewer feels as though he has been with Holmes the whole time and has worked out the mystery the same way, and even though we haven't got the slightest clue what is really going on, we can be confident that Holmes has already figured it all out.

This movie is set up for an obvious sequel, and I am extremely excited to see what happens. Ritchie has been able to craft a future franchise and one that will keep many movie goers interested. Hopefully he handles the franchise well, because I for one will follow this iteration of Sherlock Holmes wherever he goes. If you don't see this movie, you are missing out.

Avatar

Avatar is the highly anticipated film from director James Cameron, the same guy who directed Titanic. Before this movie even was released pundits were saying that it would revolutionize film making forever. Evidently James Cameron waited 15 years for the technology to catch up with his movie idea, and final got the chance over the past few years. Cameron certainly has gained quite a few new computer toys, and this film is a technical masterpiece, with breathtaking 3D special effects that are absolutely stunning.
Cameron's new system involves a combination of standard computer effects and a new program for motion capture that allows not only photo realistic CGI characters but a motion capture effect of facial expression that is rendered in IMAX 3D. To those non-tech heads, this means that Cameron was able to see the rendering of his characters in real-time as they shot, instead of adding the digital effects post-production (think Lord of The Rings). While that may not seem like much of a difference, it allows for a lot more flexibility in plotting the scenes and directing. Instead of looking at a green screen while shooting, Cameron could look at the world of Pandora.
And what a world Pandora is. I honestly have never seen anything quite like the rendering of Pandora in my history of film viewing. The alien world is completely bio-luminescent at night, and everything is in gigantic proportions. Every scene and animal is absolutely amazing and really gives the movie a mystic feels. Not to mention, its in 3D. I have never seen such a dazzling array of colors and shapes, and honestly neither have you. Don't even try to argue, you haven't seen anything like Pandora before. Also, the 3D is at its best in this movie. You actually feel engulfed by the scene. Its hard to explain but the forest scenes almost seem to enfold you and make the movie that much better. I'll not describe every single amazing part of the set design, you'll just have to see it for yourself.
One thing I really enjoyed was that James Cameron is an old school director. By this I mean that the movie is highly traditional. There is an exposition were we learn about the plot, the setting, and the characters. Cameron spares the action until the very end, and unlike other movies, actually has a CLIMAX. Also, Cameron doesn't use the crazy, frantic editing of current movies, but instead makes his battles flow.. They actually have direction and you can definitely see who is winning and who isn't. Plus Cameron invented some seriously awesome pieces of military machinery that fling lead throughout the air and blow things up in very big spectacular ways. Cameron is an amazing action director, and instead of just chucking a whole lot of explosions and characters into a final battle he actually scripts them. By the time the viewers gets to the final battle, they know all about how Pandora is laid out, they know the characters, and they know what is at stake. Plus, they can actually see what is going on, instead of almost every other movie where the hectic editing makes you feel like your on the inside of the blender. Every other director needs to take a page from Cameron's page and make fluid, coherent action like the action in Avatar.
Yet of course, this movie isn't perfect. The story tends to be extremely general, and the characters somewhat cardboard. One thing that bothered me was the lack of practical live action effects, everything is computer generated. The part of this movie that bothered me the most though was the alien culture, which was very awkward for me to hear about, and also tended to add some cheesiness into the movie. But, these faults aren't really that bad, and are very easily overlooked.
So, in conclusion, you need to see this movie. Love it or not, this movie is the accumulation of all the changes that movies have seen over the past 10 years. Avatar is the movie event of the year, and maybe even the decade. And I mean event, Avatar is more than just a movie, it is a grand combination of all the special effect magic of movies. It transcends the standard Hollywood movie mold and actually entertains and, most importantly of all, feels the viewer with the wonder and awe of a mysterious planet named Pandora.

2012

Many movie goers may be thinking right now, "New Moon has come out, but I don't want to watch sparkly vampires, I want to see something else." Particularly I assume it is the men saying this more or less. Well, never fear 2012 is an exciting enough movie to see, and their is no sparkly vampires.

2012 is Roland Emmerich's latest film, and proves that once again, he sure knows how to blow up the world. This time, however he decided that he doesn't really need a reason to make things go boom. He doesn't need aliens (Independence Day), or global warming (The Day After Tomorrow). He can just blame some flashy particle physics that are explained for a microsecond and then proceed to devastate life as we know it. That been said, this is the most wholesale destruction yet to explode into movie theatres. The special effects in 2012 were honestly some of the coolest special effects that I have seen for a long time. Gigantic buildings collide, canyons form, volcanoes explode, airplanes fly through fiery debris, and huge Russian transport airplanes fly like little fighter jets. It all combines into one tantamount scene after another, these scenes being so epically proportioned that you almost forget that Emmerich forgot two little things. Story and interesting characters. 2012 has a little bit of story, but nothing truly thought provoking. The characters are the exact same way, being very 1-dimensional and never really changing. What I mean by this is that the wimpy guy at the beginning is still wimpy at the end, and the fat, self serving Russian is still fat and only slightly less self serving at the end. Personally, I wish that the characters were a little better, because I had a hard time feeling a lot of sympathy for them. But at least they allowed us to see some awesome special effects.

But I assume that if you are going to see 2012 you already are relatively aware that you aren't going to be entertained by a sharp and witty story. You are seeing the movie to see things explode and get demolished. Never fear, 2012 is packed with all the special effect wizardry and mayhem you will need for a few weeks, maybe months. In conclusion, see 2012 in the theaters if you have any desire to see, but be aware that if you are looking for an elegant and witty movie, go see something else.

The Fourth Kind

The Fourth Kind is the perfect example of a movie that doesn't know where it's going. Caught somewhere between a sci-fi thriller, a fake documentary and horror movie, The Fourth Kind suffers from a case of being painfully predictable and painfully weird. Filmed under the premise that you are going to see "real" footage of these events, the director seems to use this as an excuse to throw in tons of scenes of people freaking out and doing odd things, like speaking a dead language in an evil devil voice. Honestly, half of the movie and all of the excitement comes from people having a case of the crazies and freaking out all over the place. However, with a little bit of research I have found that this footage is actually fake! Let me repeat that FAKE! So with that in mind, I really can't take this film very seriously and the predictableness and strangeness become just too much. The movie tends to be entertaining enough, but the main problem emerges when the director tries to make the extraordinary events he is trying to portray seem ordinary. This makes the movie seem rather boring at some times and like I said, extremely predictable. Their was no really shocking twists in the movie, all these extreme situations emerge but they are always exactly what you expected, and if you've seen the previews, you've seen almost all of the shocking scenes. The Fourth Kind offers compelling yet fake "evidence", but if you aren't in the right mood for it or believe in alien abductions then this movie isn't for you. Also, if you are like me and very skeptical or not very gulliable, you may find the movie somewhat laughable. Final consensus, if you buy a ticket for this movie, you are buying into a marketing ploy for a moderately creepy and at times quite entertaining, but altogether forgettable movie.

Upcoming Movies: November-December

Well I've kinda missed the mark on covering all of the fall releases, seeing as how October is pretty much over and September is far past.. But I will cover some of the movies I look forward to in the last two months of the year, and tell you what to be excited about and what to be concerned about.

*A CHRISTMAS CAROL- Why you should be excited- Mainly because this comes from the same guy who made The Polar Express a few years back. Disney's assembled a pretty good cast, starring Jim Carrey, and of course, put it in 3D! It's going to be the first big Christmas movie of the year. Why you should be concerned- For those scrutinious eyes, you may have noticed that the CGI in The Polar Express was quite odd and a little weird. If they are using the same program, the CGI flaws should be noted even more with the 3D effects.

*2012- Why you should be excited- Director Roland Emmerich is quite good at blowing up the world. After Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow he's looking for total annihilation, and if the previews are any indicator of the movie as a whole, its going to be exciting and look way good! Why you should be concerned- Emmerich's last movie was the dreadful 10,000 BC. Hopefully, he recuperates from this disaster and doesn't make another clunker like that.

* New Moon (Not one I look forward too)- Why you should be excited - If you are most girls from 14 and up, this is like manna from heaven. New Moon has a bigger budget and new director so may not be as terrible as the first. At any rate, it will most definitely be one of the biggest movies of the year. Why you should be concerned- If you are reading this and is a guy, be ready, the storm is coming!

* Avatar- Why you should be excited - This is the most expensive movie ever made, using cutting edge CGI and an interesting science fiction plot. If you've seen the previews, you know it has big battles, sweeping landscapes, and aliens which are always all good. Of course, this is the movie I am most excited for, and you should be too! Why you should be concerned- Anytime something is so hyped up for so long, it raises a few red flags, hopefully this movie is all its cracked up to be.

* Sherlock Holmes- Why you should be excited- Robert Downey Jr. plays good old Sherlock in this movie and promises to give another performance like Iron Man. The movie looks interesting and exciting, a good wrap up for the year. Why you should be concerned- For Holmes fans, this movie is not based on any existing story.

And so thats whats coming up!

Surrogates

Oh September movies! September is usually kind of a let down in terms of movies. You get the movies that didn't make the cut for the summer action blockbuster, but that aren't thoughtful or big budget enough for the late winter. Horror movies come out in October, and cute Christmas films come out in November and December. So you are left with summer wannabees that aren't usually the cream of the crop.
In all respects Surrogates wasn't that bad of a movie. The premise alone is intriguing enough, and me and my friends have come up with so many scenario's in relation to having a Surrogate robot body. However, this intriguing premise is in many ways squandered by a seemingly inept director who would rather throw in somewhat meaningless car chases and war scenes rather than focus on the strange possibilities of the world he has created. That was my main problem with Surrogates, I felt as though there was so much that could be done with the premise of the movie, and it was in a way wasted.
Surrogates doesn't have any huge problems, but it has just enough little ones to become a little tiring and at times nearly completely illogical. Also, at times it can be confusing as people switch in and out of their Surrogate bodies often times leaving more questions than anything. However, I really feel as though I need to give the writers credit, there were SO many places that the movie could have gone terribly wrong and slipped from the somewhat flawed sci-fi adventure that it is into the completely ridiculous (think The Knowing). In many cases it comes across as being very akin to I, Robot, going so far as to even use some of the same actors that were in that movie. I was wondering if it was based off of a novel by Isaac Asimov (its not). However, even though the movie is flawed, it still keeps us rather entertained.
So final verdict, if you're dying to see a movie, Surrogates may be just right for you. It's entertaining, if forgettable, but in many cases offers intriguing food-for-thought. Oh, that this movie had a better director and writer and wasn't released in September; than it might have been a revolutionary and satiric film on the dependency of humans on technology, rather it is doomed to slip into relative obscurity as an OK movie, just a level below anything truly spectacular.

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

As the Harry Potter franchise of movies winds near its eventual close, we would hope that the movies will get more and more exciting nearer to the end. After being pretty disappointed by the previous entry Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix I was very pleased to have this Harry Potter movie be very well done. This newest release is exceptionally directed and well scripted, combining the better elements of the previous movies. One of the most refreshing aspects of this movie is that the fun little minor points of the J.K Rowlings fantasy world is included. By this I mean it was nice to see Quidditch again, some of the awkward flirting, and some very well done humor. To me it seemed as though the action and serious parts were equally balanced by light-hearted humor, making the movie quite fun to watch. Besides this, once the action started and the mysteries began to unfold, the movie gained a serious tone making certain that it was a serious, yet fun movie.
Casting for this movie was as exceptional as all of the previous movies, each character turning out completely as I had imagined them reading the book. Also, the special effects were top notch, adding to the magic of the Hogwarts world.
And so there you have it. The new Harry Potter movie is funny when it needs to be, and serious were it needs to be; a refreshing and more importantly clean adventure movie for the whole family not lacking on action of thrills. Although fans of the book may be put off by the numerous changes to the story, I found this movie a very good adaptation of an excellent book, and a worthy addition to the Harry Potter franchise.

Transformers 2

Today I saw the long awaited sequel of Transformers. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen clearly shows director Micheal Bay's drive to make bigger and more exciting movies. Transformers 2 is absolutely jammed full of fighting and action from the beginning of the movie all the way through its two and a half hour run time. In fact, during times, Transformers 2 feels like getting slammed in the head with 2X4 repeatedly. Things are constantly exploding, robots are constantly crashing, and humans are constantly dying. Sometimes it just felt like the movie needed to take a breath, collect its thoughts and refocus itself. This may be one of the major faults of this movie. The action lacks stream lining inherit in movies such as Star Trek. Imagine making a smoothie and then splattering it on the wall. This is the action in Transformers 2. Its just always there, blasting away for no apparent reason and with out much direction. At points this is not necessarily a bad thing, for what Transformers 2 lacks in direction, it makes up for in fighting. The action itself is great to watch, with huge battles occurring showing off the beautifully rendered robots and cut scenes of military hardware. This action is great to watch, but just occurs to much.
One huge bad thing about this movie is the language and sexual innuendos. Just like Micheal Bay cut lose on the action, he cut lose on the language. If you want to bring your kids to this one, just be ready to be bombarded by some things you didn't wish for them to hear.
Overall, Micheal Bay does what he does best, making stuff blow up in front of your face for the duration of the movie. Transformers 2 is good for what it is, covering up all the faults with extreme action scenes. Personally, I wish that Transformers 2 had the direction and focus from Star Trek. I didn't walk away from the threater amazed and thinking about the movie I just saw, rather I just let my brain get unrattled. I may be giving Transformers 2 a hard time, its a good movie, just not the best, and not as good as the original. So adults and teenagers, go see it, Transformers 2 will deliver the action and thrills, just remember that some content may not be appropriate for younger viewers.
(Note: Star Trek is so far my favorite movie this year)

Night at the Museum 2

Night at the Museum 2 is the sequel to the acclaimed comedy movie released a few years ago. The basic premise of the original movie hasn't changed at all, except for the fact that the setting has changed to the Smithsonian.
I thought that this was a pretty good, very much like its predecessor. Obviously, the directors didn't have too many original ideas other than to make the scope of the whole film larger and more outrageous. This isn't a bad thing since the proven formula works, making this movie as enjoyable as the last.
If there was any thing wrong with this movie, it is that perhaps the scope is TOO big. Most of the truly funny characters don't get much play time per se in the film. I would have liked to see a little more George S. Custer, some more Octavius and Jedediah, and definitely more of the Air and Space Museum. But this is the only truly bad part of the film, the director wants to cram too much into too short a film. Personally I can't wait to see deleted scenes, just to see what did get cut.
What ends up being extremely enjoyable in this movie is the character interaction between Ben Stiller's character Larry and Amelia Earhart played by a wonderful Amy Adams (you know, princess Giselle from Enchanted). This budding "romance" adds a nice touch to the film even though obviously the audience knows it will never work out, cause, well Amelia Earhart is made of wax, and well, Stiller isn't.
Overall, I thought this was a good movie, on par with that of the first one. Don't expect anything particularly ground breaking from the first movie, but expect similar adventure/comedy. While the wonderful cast (which includes at least three actors from The Office) doesn't get much room to shine, this is a great family fair for the end of the school year.

Star Trek

When you here Star Trek fans, what do you think of? A bunch of socially inept individuals wearing Spock ears and doing that weird finger splitting thing? Well go see this movie and then you can break the mold and become a Star Trek fan. At least I became a fan after seeing the reboot of this classic franchise. I have never really watched any other Star Trek movie besides this one, so I'm talking about it from a completely outsiders point of view. This new film is fun, exciting, and worth every dollar of the overpriced movie ticket.
One thing that I love about this movie is how accessible it is. As mentioned early, I am not well versed in Star Trek canon, yet I was not completely lost. Also, it wasn't a totally nerdy movie, breaking the misconceptions that Star Trek is only for hardcore sci-fi fans. Rather, I found this movie akin to the blockbuster action films of last year, being entertaining and exciting.
The movie is well done, combining all sorts of space action with interesting characters. There in lies a major selling point for this movie. From Jim Kirk, Spock and Uhara, to "Bones" McCoy, Chekov, and Scotty; each character was fun and interesting, each adding a certain dynamic to the story line that made the whole movie that much more enjoyable. The actors that portrayed each character was spot-on, making the dialogue and actions between them natural and fun.
Like I have said, this is a Star Trek movie for the mass audience, and I extremely enjoyed it. Intense when it needed to be, but also funny without being cheesy, Star Trek is the first "must-see" movie of the year that is actually worth the hype. So bottom line, get to the movie theatres, Star Trek is the best movie of the year and an excellent start to a promising summer movie season.