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I don't recall whether I've ever linked to this before, but it's awesome so it's probably worth linking to again: fake trailer for TV show "The Aurors". I would totally watch this. NOBODY STANDS A CHANCE AGAINST THE WIZARD COPS! You know who I think would be a fabulous wizard law enforcement agent? Enver Gjokaj. Just saying. He'd be this Muggle-born wiseass who knows the streets.
AfterElton's Top 50 Favourite Gay Films. I'm tracking down a bunch of the ones I haven't seen.
Darren, stop working so hard. Also, LOL at the artwork.
Four movies in two days:
3/6/11: Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Okay, I have to admit, I spent like half an hour waiting for Anna Friel and Danny McBride to show up and then realised that was Land of the Lost - which, to be fair, this film is marginally better than (bades on the approximately 15 minutes of it I once saw), even if they do both involve badly-done 3D journeys into nonexistent places with bad CG dinosaurs. This has pseudo-father/son bonding, which I always love. I will say this for Brendan Fraser, as much as he's horribly phoning in these kiddie movie performances, he seem to really care about and have a natural affinity with kids (and let's face it, these are still better than his horrible romantic comedies). The girl is 100% pointless in this story - they try to make her kick-ass but mostly fail - and the movie is really slow in parts.
Most disappointing, though, is how bad it looks. It's like the filmmakers are incompetent. Watching it on a small TV in 2D, the horrible 3D attention-grabbing moments of reaching out to the camera are seriously, painfully obvious, but aside from that, with all the opportunity they have, the movie just isn't pretty. You can see every second filmed on a set and every second filled with bad CG.
A lot of people are complaining about Josh Hutcherson being cast in Hunger Games. To be fair, I haven't read Hunger Games, but if you're ragging on him for his acting, watch him in Bridge to Terebithia. All I'm saying.
2 out of 5
4/6/11: X-Men: First Class
Okay, I have to get a couple of quibbles out of the way first. Some of the foreshadowing was painful, and the prosthetics weren't as good as I felt they should be. I laughed out loud at some of the effects, particularly things like trying to read Emma Frost's mind.
So, the good stuff!
First Class is, rather wonderfully, mostly a love story between Professor X and Magneto (which is part of the reason I was so excited to see it). James McAvoy does a lovely young Charles Xavier - you can see where his later maturity, wisdom and kindness comes from, but he's now young and flawed and flirty. Even better, though, is Fassbender's Erik Lenssher. Holy crap. I am now in love with Magneto. He's just so angry and sad and driven. And, okay, I know this is sort of breaking out of anything resembling a movie review, but THEIR LOVE IS JUST SO EPIC, OKAY? IT JUST IS. The scene on the beach is pure angsty magic. I love that trope of former best friends who become enemies, I LOVE it, and this one is perfect. The chemistry between McAvoy and Fassbender is palpable.
The rest of the cast was generally enjoyable. The Wolverine cameo was beyond pointless, but it got a laugh. The period detail was actually pretty lovely. I did feel like the movie was somewhat sexist in that the girls are pretty much all bad guys or boring, and don't get to kick ass nearly as much as the boys. Jennifer Lawrence got the most to do as Mystique, but it was mostly juggling men
Great music and lovely direction from Matthew Vaughn, who made it feel a bit like a Bond film - a nice change for the X-Men franchise. Overall, much fun.
3.5 out of 5
The Tempest
I am somewhat of a Julie Taymor fan. I say this having watched two of her movies and enjoyed them - particularly the gorgeous Across the Universe. However, having seen The Tempest, I think she may be one of those creative types that need people around to reign them in a bit when they go over the top. This movie felt kind of like a disjointed experiment - there were some great elements, but they added up to a messy film.
Switching gender to make Prospero into Prospera was a stroke of real genius. For one thing, it allowed Helen Mirren to play the role, in which she was, of course, utterly and completely brilliant. For another, it gives the whole thing a real feminist twist - Prospera had everything taken from her because she was a woman, and lend all her actions - as a mother, a leader and a "witch" - a lot more weight.
The location was also inspired. The volcanic regions of Hawaii make for a stark and beautiful island setting for Prospera and her daughter to be marooned. The colours were lovely. The costumes and makeup were also gorgeous - the prosthetics on Hounsou were better than what was in X-Men, to be honest.
I enjoyed Ben Whishaw and Djimon Hounsou, but felt as though David Strathairn and Chris Cooper weren't given much to do with interesting characters. Russell Brand fit surprisingly well in Taymor's world, but the two young people were a bit off.
The two things that really threw the movie off course were the music - usually a strong point for Taymor, but in this case it detracted terribly, interrupting the narrative flow - and the special effects, which were utterly pointless. You need to get into the flow of Shakespeare's dialogue to understand what's meant, and sometimes that was overshadowed here. So, not bad, could have been better.
2.5 out of 5
Christopher and His Kind
Tracked this down for the obvious reasons - gay movie with Matt Smith, yes please. He's easily my favourite doctor, and he has this magical quality that also channels well into his character in this - Christopher Isherwood, writer of the book on which Cabaret was based. After watching this, I really want to see Cabaret (which I feel should be on the gay movie list I linked before, really). It features lovely performances, most especially from Smith and Imogen Poots as the woman on whom Sally Bowles was based. It's an interesting look into that underground culture in Berlin during the rise of the Nazis - and if that sounds familiar, it's because Cabaret did it first and better. You can understand why, but it really does feel like a rehash of what we learned in Cabaret. It's only Isherwood himself who really makes the difference - he's selfish, but conversely seems to really want to take care of the people around him. Smith is magnetic in the role. Also, if you're watching for the gay - 100% worth it, Smith goes at it with gusto. Those scenes run the gamut from steamy and sexy to sweet and loving.
ETA: Double your fabulousness.
3 out of 5
Green Queen
AfterElton's Top 50 Favourite Gay Films. I'm tracking down a bunch of the ones I haven't seen.
Darren, stop working so hard. Also, LOL at the artwork.
Four movies in two days:
3/6/11: Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Okay, I have to admit, I spent like half an hour waiting for Anna Friel and Danny McBride to show up and then realised that was Land of the Lost - which, to be fair, this film is marginally better than (bades on the approximately 15 minutes of it I once saw), even if they do both involve badly-done 3D journeys into nonexistent places with bad CG dinosaurs. This has pseudo-father/son bonding, which I always love. I will say this for Brendan Fraser, as much as he's horribly phoning in these kiddie movie performances, he seem to really care about and have a natural affinity with kids (and let's face it, these are still better than his horrible romantic comedies). The girl is 100% pointless in this story - they try to make her kick-ass but mostly fail - and the movie is really slow in parts.
Most disappointing, though, is how bad it looks. It's like the filmmakers are incompetent. Watching it on a small TV in 2D, the horrible 3D attention-grabbing moments of reaching out to the camera are seriously, painfully obvious, but aside from that, with all the opportunity they have, the movie just isn't pretty. You can see every second filmed on a set and every second filled with bad CG.
A lot of people are complaining about Josh Hutcherson being cast in Hunger Games. To be fair, I haven't read Hunger Games, but if you're ragging on him for his acting, watch him in Bridge to Terebithia. All I'm saying.
2 out of 5
4/6/11: X-Men: First Class
Okay, I have to get a couple of quibbles out of the way first. Some of the foreshadowing was painful, and the prosthetics weren't as good as I felt they should be. I laughed out loud at some of the effects, particularly things like trying to read Emma Frost's mind.
So, the good stuff!
First Class is, rather wonderfully, mostly a love story between Professor X and Magneto (which is part of the reason I was so excited to see it). James McAvoy does a lovely young Charles Xavier - you can see where his later maturity, wisdom and kindness comes from, but he's now young and flawed and flirty. Even better, though, is Fassbender's Erik Lenssher. Holy crap. I am now in love with Magneto. He's just so angry and sad and driven. And, okay, I know this is sort of breaking out of anything resembling a movie review, but THEIR LOVE IS JUST SO EPIC, OKAY? IT JUST IS. The scene on the beach is pure angsty magic. I love that trope of former best friends who become enemies, I LOVE it, and this one is perfect. The chemistry between McAvoy and Fassbender is palpable.
The rest of the cast was generally enjoyable. The Wolverine cameo was beyond pointless, but it got a laugh. The period detail was actually pretty lovely. I did feel like the movie was somewhat sexist in that the girls are pretty much all bad guys or boring, and don't get to kick ass nearly as much as the boys. Jennifer Lawrence got the most to do as Mystique, but it was mostly juggling men
Great music and lovely direction from Matthew Vaughn, who made it feel a bit like a Bond film - a nice change for the X-Men franchise. Overall, much fun.
3.5 out of 5
The Tempest
I am somewhat of a Julie Taymor fan. I say this having watched two of her movies and enjoyed them - particularly the gorgeous Across the Universe. However, having seen The Tempest, I think she may be one of those creative types that need people around to reign them in a bit when they go over the top. This movie felt kind of like a disjointed experiment - there were some great elements, but they added up to a messy film.
Switching gender to make Prospero into Prospera was a stroke of real genius. For one thing, it allowed Helen Mirren to play the role, in which she was, of course, utterly and completely brilliant. For another, it gives the whole thing a real feminist twist - Prospera had everything taken from her because she was a woman, and lend all her actions - as a mother, a leader and a "witch" - a lot more weight.
The location was also inspired. The volcanic regions of Hawaii make for a stark and beautiful island setting for Prospera and her daughter to be marooned. The colours were lovely. The costumes and makeup were also gorgeous - the prosthetics on Hounsou were better than what was in X-Men, to be honest.
I enjoyed Ben Whishaw and Djimon Hounsou, but felt as though David Strathairn and Chris Cooper weren't given much to do with interesting characters. Russell Brand fit surprisingly well in Taymor's world, but the two young people were a bit off.
The two things that really threw the movie off course were the music - usually a strong point for Taymor, but in this case it detracted terribly, interrupting the narrative flow - and the special effects, which were utterly pointless. You need to get into the flow of Shakespeare's dialogue to understand what's meant, and sometimes that was overshadowed here. So, not bad, could have been better.
2.5 out of 5
Christopher and His Kind
Tracked this down for the obvious reasons - gay movie with Matt Smith, yes please. He's easily my favourite doctor, and he has this magical quality that also channels well into his character in this - Christopher Isherwood, writer of the book on which Cabaret was based. After watching this, I really want to see Cabaret (which I feel should be on the gay movie list I linked before, really). It features lovely performances, most especially from Smith and Imogen Poots as the woman on whom Sally Bowles was based. It's an interesting look into that underground culture in Berlin during the rise of the Nazis - and if that sounds familiar, it's because Cabaret did it first and better. You can understand why, but it really does feel like a rehash of what we learned in Cabaret. It's only Isherwood himself who really makes the difference - he's selfish, but conversely seems to really want to take care of the people around him. Smith is magnetic in the role. Also, if you're watching for the gay - 100% worth it, Smith goes at it with gusto. Those scenes run the gamut from steamy and sexy to sweet and loving.
ETA: Double your fabulousness.
3 out of 5
Green Queen
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Also, I really need to see Christopher and His Kind. Do you know where I can track it down?
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