tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70549525032365757392024-03-12T23:43:25.293-07:00Break Down That Film ReviewsBreaking it down by nitpicking flicks!Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.comBlogger713125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-45970279901153955522023-07-08T13:02:00.001-07:002023-07-08T13:02:25.689-07:00Instant Family (2018) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Every generation of humans has their set of families. Maybe
not every family member has a line but most tend to. There are couples though
who can’t decide what they want to do for starting a family. Having a family
isn’t easy nor can things always turn out as expected, good or bad. As long as
everyone has good intentions things should turn out okay. Having a family also
doesn’t require going the natural way; adopting, surrogate and fostering children
are a few options too. Well, this film explores one of those alternatives most
people probably wouldn’t consider. Fostering is more like a trial period as
opposed adopting right off the bat. It’s all based on one’s comfortability
level too. It really depends on what everyone makes of it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The story follows Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose
Byrne), a childless couple who are looking for a little more meaning in their
life. What they don’t realize is what will fill that void just yet. After
speaking with some friends they decide perhaps fostering is the way to go. The
kids they decide to foster are Lizzy (Isabela Merced), Juan (Gustavo Escobar)
and Lita (Julianna Garniz). Written by John Morris (Hot Tub Time Machine
(2010), Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011), We’re the Millers (2013) and Daddy’s Home
(2015)) and Sean Anders as well as directed several of the same pictures, this
film is very much a feel good story that not only highlights the struggles of
being a parent but also the rewards too. The narrative is actually quite
realistic in its approach.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">That is except for one part where Pete and Ellie are first
learning about fostering children. Upon coming to the orphanage where they
would be paired up, the people they meet and the sessions they attend seem
unsupportive. Lead by Karen (Octavia Spencer) and Sharon (Tig Notaro), the two
give some tips along the way in the couple’s development as well as the
children. It’s understandable that many people are not ready for what they are
about to agree too, but some of its treated like it was obvious. So was it
intentional for the protagonists not to be told of some of their challenges
they’ll face? It seems kind of wrong to do that. Overall though the story
teaches important lessons about becoming a family and learning to be
understanding of one and another as hard as it can be sometimes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Characters are likable and have charm in this movie. While
Mark Wahlberg is known for playing his characters fairly the same throughout
his movies, the role he has here feels very much like what he could be as a real
father. Also since he has starred in comedies, it’s no surprise he’s here. Rose
Byrne as Ellie also has experience in comedic films although she is probably
best known from Insidious (2010) and its films. Margo Martindale appears as
Grandma Sandy (Pete’s mom) who has some funny lines to say too. Martindale also
had roles starting in The Rocketeer (1991) and more recently in Cocaine Bear
(2023). As for the foster children, Isabela Merced as Lizzy is convincing in
her role considering prior to this her biggest break was Michael Bay’s
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017). She would a year later play Dora and the
Lost City of Gold (2019).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Gustavo Escobar and Julianna Garniz are both very new to
acting so there isn’t much to say on them yet other than their performances
here were good too. The cinematography was handled by Brett Pawlak and looks
good for what’s shot. Pawlak’s only entry at the time worth noting was Max
Steel (2016). Lastly for the film score, Michael Andrews was the composer for
the music. Originally starting out with Donnie Darko (2001), then Bridesmaids
(2011) and Daddy’s Home (2015), the film score sounds very contemporary and is
easy listening on the ears and should be so for most audiences. While the album
is only thirty-six minutes long, it is a good listening experience. And
although there is no memorable theme for the film, there are designated motifs
for some of the characters.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Even though there’s one area in the narrative that
doesn’t quite make sense, as an experience the movie is wholesomely
entertaining. The music, camerawork and characters all mix well together for a
film with more heart than some may expect.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Points Earned --> 8:10</b></span></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-28249221520741656012023-06-24T12:11:00.001-07:002023-06-24T12:11:09.620-07:00Creed II (2018) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky franchise has isn’t a film series
with all major successes but it still remains one of the most well regarded in
the film industry. Rocky IV (1985) was the most exaggerated of the entries
going global with its story with some underlining political tones. However it
was the one that people seem to remember best also because it killed off one of
its core characters Apollo Creed. In a wise decision, Stallone resurrected the
name through what is now the Creed franchise with Michael B. Jordan as the lead
play Apollo’s sun. Well, not it’s come full circle with Apollo’s son addressing
some unfinished loose ends with his family history. Which in all honesty is
something probably many have been wanting to see. Everyone love’s a comeback
story – sometimes even for the villain.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Directed by Steve Caple Jr. in his first high profile
theatrical release, the story continues with Adonis Creed’s (Michael B. Jordan)
success as well as his now fiancé Bianca (Tessa Thompson). However, after
learning of that Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph
Lundgren), is seeking to fight take the title, Adonis feels he has no choice
but to defend his family’s honor. Written by Sylvester Stallone once more along
with Juel Taylor in his first high profile feature as well did a nice job
opening up old wounds and closing them back up again. Having to come to grips
with past trauma and family issues is not an issue thing to deal with for anyone.
It requires understanding and patience with touchy topics such as this. And
being that it’s not only Adonis’ issue but also, Ivan and Rocky’s – it’s just a
big love triangle of pain.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The narrative really puts the characters in a hard spot </span><st1:state style="font-family: arial;" w:st="on">ind</st1:state><span style="font-family: arial;">ividually. Rocky has
to understand he has to accept his mistake from when Apollo was killed back in
Rocky IV (1985). Ivan has to come grips with his shame of losing his match in
his homeland to Rocky in that same film. Meanwhile </span><st1:city style="font-family: arial;" w:st="on">Ado</st1:city><span style="font-family: arial;">nis has to figure out for himself, is it
worth fighting a match that goes back to some family fued or should he go
forward with tackling it with possibly ending up like his old man. Each
character arc involves its own issues but all revolve around the theme of
redemption. The supporting characters also cope with these topics too like
Adonis’ mom Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad) or Rocky’s son Robert (Milo
Ventimigilia) and grandson Logan (Robbie Johns).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the production, the quality of the film was well put
together. The fight scenes are well choreographed and look very intense when
watching it play out. The fact that a human being can take such punishment is
nuts no matter how many rounds one watches in whatever film. The more softer or
tense scenes that were shot are also well done. Seeing Rocky and Ivan meet face
to face one more time but as old and tired men still looking to fight is again,
cool to see. The only character who isn’t provided much is Florian Munteanu as
Ivan’s son. To some extent a viewer can understand because he was literally
trained to just go after Adonis. More could have been done though to round out
his character as there is a small segment involving family but context would’ve
been helpful.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">There’s also special appearances from other various people
like Max Kellerman as himself and Brigitte Nielsen as Ludmilla, Ivan Drago’s
wife from Rocky IV (1985). For cinematography, the camerawork was handled by
Kramer Morgenthau who was worked on other productions like Thor: The Dark World
(2014) and Terminator Genisys (2015). For what is shown, Morgenthau is more
than capable getting the shot needed to entertain the audience. Lastly for
music, the film score was once again composed by Ludwig Gorannson. And as like
before, Gorannson keeps the same franchise theme for Adonis Creed and even
brings back the old theme for Ivan Drago. The score itself is a good listening
experience and still brings good feelings when listening to it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Looking at this entry to the line of stories before
it, this is very much an equal to its first. The story is still very character
driven except for the minor and obvious callouts. The music, camerawork and
action are also as entertaining as before.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Points Earned --> 7:10</b></span></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-41133677648892199352023-03-25T06:14:00.005-07:002023-03-25T06:14:14.979-07:00Cocaine Bear (2023) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Like everything in the world, there is a yin to a yang. A
good for a bad and a plus for a minus. Even some of most tranquil places can be
quite dangerous. Sea or land. Of course, things could always get crazier if
something man made or a substance of foreign origin enters the picture too.
Apparently in 1985 a situation occurred which kind of describes this premise
although not as outlandish as this film that the story was lifted from. But
forget the whole foreign substance bit; big or small feral animals in general
can be deadly if left unchecked. The bigger the animal though, the more damage.
It’s not like the 1980s had less drugs than decades prior but it goes to show
you just how potent these materials are.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The real story the film takes inspiration from is actually
rather quick in resolving itself as opposed to this film. Nevertheless, it
makes one wonder if it’s possible. After trying to evade getting caught with
several duffle bags of cocaine, the escapee lands in the wooded area of a national
park only to end up getting killed. Meanwhile a wild bear finds the bags of
drugs and decides to dive in not knowing what side effects may come about. At
the same time, two kids Dee (Brooklynn Prince) and Henry (Christian Convery)
decide to skip school and wander off into the same park. Also they don’t tell
Dee Dee’s mom Sari (Keri Russell) either. In parallel, the boss Syd (Ray
Liotta) wants his drugs and sends his son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) and Daveed
(O’Shea Jackson Jr.) to retrieve it while detective Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jr.)
tries to track them down.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The plot itself is a convergence of character threads all
happening to cross paths on this uniquely bizarre journey no one would expect.
Writing the screenplay was Jimmy Warden, who previously wrote for The
Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020) the sequel to The Babysitter (2017). Naturally,
since that was a horror thriller themed film that this would follow a similar
path. Considering the story, it’s based on, not being able to control live
animals can be scary. And although fantasy horror can be nightmarish, the
closer to reality the horror is, usually it is even more scary. That’s one
thing Warden definitely doesn’t shy away from. Animal attacks can be very nasty
if not stopped. The violence can be over the top at times but other times it is
can be hard to watch for some viewers because of the realistic nature of the
deaths.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The characters used in the film though are a mixed bag which
is the films weakest point. All the actors perform believably but only some
actually have charm. Liotta, Jackson Jr. and Ehrenreich seem to have the most
chemistry together and funniest moments. Whitlock Jr. is a close runner up
along with Ranger Liz (Margo Martindale). However, the kids and mom are not
interesting. It also doesn’t help that they’re fouled mouthed kids. It just
feels wrong watching youngsters dropping curse words so casually. It’s
understood that throughout the decades some kids have poor upbringings but it
doesn’t make the children likeable or funny. Directing this feature was
Elizabeth Banks, known for also directing Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) and Charlie’s
Angels (2019). She also acted in Spider-Man (2002), The Hunger Games (2012),
and The Lego Movie (2014).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The camerawork to the film was well put together. Due to the
setting taking place mostly outside, the scenes involve lots of heavily wooded
areas covered in trees and dense shrubbery. Heading this was John Guleserian
who also shot for About Time (2013) and more recently Candyman (2021). The only
aspect that is obviously CGI is the bear itself. There’s just no good way of
hiding it. However, there was that movie Grizzly (1976) where an actual bear
was filmed. So it’s not like it wasn’t an option. Lastly the film score was
composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, who is a rather appropriate choice. Accounting
for the fact that this film took place in the 1980s where Mothersbaugh got his
fame, it makes sense. Much of the score consists of synthetic beats and tunes
that give it a different sound while incorporating more organic orchestra when
needed. Mothersbaugh has proven his skill with other scores to films like The
Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), Herbie Fully Loaded (2005), Hotel
Transylvania (2012) and The Lego Movie (2014).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In terms of incidents it’s not so farfetched like
something the sci-fi channel would produce and it has better production value.
The bear is obviously fake and the main characters are a bit unappealing. However,
there is some fun to be had in the carnage, musical score, cinematography and
the supporting characters.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 6:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-20052205575257691012023-03-08T19:33:00.009-08:002023-03-08T19:33:57.264-08:00Totally Spies! The Film (2009) Review:<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Animation has two big market hubs; which are the United
States and Japan. The sheer volume of animated projects that have come out are
numerous and have been dubbed all around the world. On the other hand, they are
not the only regions to produce animation. They just happen to produce the most
popular properties to be distributed. For children’s animation there was moment
in the early 2000s where French productions had made a splash and that was with
the Totally Spies! TV show. Taking a modern spin on what seems like Charlies’
Angels, James Bond and making the main characters high school students became
quite successful over in North America. The show would have five seasons until
a film was greenlit for the franchise. That’s pretty good considering </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The plot to the feature film is an origin story to how
everyday high schoolers Clover (Andrea Baker), Sam (Jennifer Hale) and Alex (Katie
Griffin) end up joining WOOHP (World Organization of Human Protection) under
the coercion of boss Jerry (Adrian Truss). Apparently he’s had his eyes on the
ladies for some time making sure they were made of spy material. Once brought
on board they are to figure out what is happening to various well known people
being snatched up and disappearing. Before that their last known appearance was
getting a trendy hairstyle once worn by Fabu (Joris Jarsky), a famous model. At
the same time, the three high schoolers have to manage their normal lives after
moving to Beverley Hills High and being bullied by Mandy. It seems like a lot
for these heroines to take on, but for those following the show, everyone will
know they’ll handle it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Written by Michelle and Robert Lamoreaux who worked on the
TV show, it’s no surprise that the movie more or less feels like an extended
episode or three-part pilot episode put together in one. In terms of story,
it’s really doesn’t break away from the standard structure that has been used
in the show. This is good, but perhaps the one thing the writers missed out on
was actually giving the three main characters a little more internal struggle
at the beginning. Essentially how these three meet are joining forces by
happenstance. And it was by luck that all three females ended up getting along
really well and were able to make each other’s quirks fit the strengths of
their team efforts. It’s true that sometimes people just click instantly but
the film establishes this very quickly almost to the point where it feels
rushed. It would have been interesting to see if they initially needed to get
used to each other’s personalities before developing the dynamic fans know them
for.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Direction was headed by Pascal Jardin in his first
theatrical credit although he did direct episodes of Redwall. Co-directing was Seok-hoon
Lee which this seems to be their first English film too. Much of their credits
are in the Korean market. In terms of acting the voice cast continue to give
the same kind of enthusiastic performances they give in the show. Andrea Baker,
Katie Griffin and Jennifer Hale all have great chemistry with each other and
their line deliveries along with Adrian Truss. Their characters have been well
established at this point since the show but even for those just being
introduced, should enjoy the characters’ charms too. Truss has voiced
characters in Rolie Polie Olie, Griffin has played voices in the Totaldrama
series, and Hale has had many roles in video games like Mass Effect.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For visuals the animation looked like it had a better budget
than its TV counterpart. There’s more detail to the backgrounds and characters
which makes them look sharper. It would seem the production took place either
fully or partly in Korea with the co-director and Eddie Mehong as the animation
supervisor and Wang Yup Kim serving as the animation co-director. Lastly the
musical score was composed by Maxime Barzel and Paul-Étienne Côté as their
first theatrical credit. For what is heard, the music sounds okay but very
stock. There is actually an album release but this time, it’s an EU exclusive.
Like all of Pokemon’s Japan albums. It seems to work for the scenes put on
screen but there isn’t anything really unique about it. The TV show theme
doesn’t even pop up anywhere in the run time which is rather disappointing. Oh
well.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">As an origin story to the three spy girls, it is a fun
introduction to the well-known TV show. The actors all remain consistent, the
animation looks good along with the action and comedy. Just don’t expect any
real strong initial development between the main cast or any compelling music.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earnned --> 7:10</span></b></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-36809372124590030102023-02-25T07:27:00.006-08:002023-02-25T07:27:55.961-08:00Don Juan DeMarco (1994) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Romanticism is a genre of many stories. Some of which are
just fairy tales and are by no means close to real. There are others which
happen to be based on true events or happen to be exactly the story itself. Of
course then there are others where the story is so muddled in its history, it
becomes more of a myth; blurring the lines between what is truth and what isn’t.
The legend of Don Juan seems to be one of those stories in that undetermined
area. Complimenting that is this film which sort of does the same thing in its
narrative. And who could best fit that role, none other than rising star at the
time Johnny Depp. After coming off several successes in the early 1990s like
Edward Scissorhands (1990), Arizona Dream (1993) and Benny & Joon (1993),
it’s really no surprise he was awarded the character of focus here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Written and directed by Jeremy Leven who would later pen the
screenplay to Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook (2004), the story is about a
mysterious man who goes by the name of Don Juan DeMarco (Johnny Depp) who
legitimately goes around wooing and sleeping with any woman that falls for him.
He dresses with clothes that represent the mid 1800s, he speaks with a Spanish accent
and yet it is current day. After making love to the last woman he feels he can,
he prepares to take his own life, only to be talked out of it by Dr. Jack
Mickler (Marlon Brando). Being pressured by his boss Dr. Paul Showalter (Bob
Dishy) to put the man in the psycho ward, Mickler asks that he try to see what
can do to prove the eccentric man is not indeed crazy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For most of the time, it involves Depp’s character
explaining to Dr. Mickler his story and how he came to be. How he originally
only had one love Doña Julia (Talisa Soto) who of which her father forbade him
from seeing. To later discovering he had a talent for swooning women very
easily but wanted only one woman and her name was Doña Ana (Géraldine Pailhas).
Despite much of the narration being between the two, the characters’ charms rub
off on others. As Dr. Mickler spends time with Don Juan, he begins treating his
wife Marilyn (Faye Dunaway) differently. It’s interesting to see how that plays
out among others, which lends to some of the light comedic aspects to the
movie. Perhaps the one thing that doesn’t feel completely concrete is the story
being told to the audience.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s funny because essentially, the movie is treating the
plot as a mystery just like the myth of the original Don Juan. At the same
time, provide some closure. It’s not really clear if this movie does that. The
film also contains a number of other actors fans would recognize like Rachel
Ticotin from Total Recall (1990), Talisa Soto from (Mortal Kombat), Richard C.
Sarafian from Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), Carmen Argenziano from Unlawful Entry
(1992), Tom Lister Jr. from Universal Soldier (1992) and even the late popular
Latin singer Selena has a cameo appearance. All of which each cast member gives
a welcome performance that is just as credible as the next. It’s truly amazing
just how many faces appear in this particular feature that viewers can pick out
among the crowd.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Cinematography shot by Ralf D. Bode was okay, but not
anything worth noting. It was standard for the film but did not come across as
different or really inventive. This is probably perhaps due to the film itself
not being an energetic production, requiring crazy camera skills. Surprisingly
though, Bode isn’t some nobody. He also shot for Saturday Night Fever (1977). As
for music, the film score was composed by Michael Kamen. For the rough 40
minutes of the available album, Kamen uses a recurring motif for the story
which is now best known in Bryan Adams “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman”. It’s
interesting because some viewers may not know that this is where the song
originated from. Not that it was something Adams just made up on his own and
the film ended up using it because it matched.</span></p>
<span style="font-family: arial;">Even though the story itself remains sort of
mysterious like the character of focus and the cinematography is just standard,
the story is still fun to watch play out. The characters are likable, there’s a
slew of other actors and the music is enjoyable to listen to.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 7:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-4017738837551046542023-02-25T07:27:00.001-08:002023-02-25T07:27:10.309-08:00Selena (1997) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">There are times in this world where life happens fast.
Mostly these moments occur with people who are in the entertainment business.
They may start off slow and feel unrecognized, but usually their popularity
rockets out of the sky with so much acceleration, it not only surprises the
fans but also the person of focus as well. This happens especially when it is a
hidden gem of talent. For the case of Abraham Quintanilla, he would not realize
this until much later when he creates a family of his own. Of his family, the
surprise star that would rise from his effort would be his daughter Selena. A
woman who would go on to become a wildly popular singer in much of the Latino
community and later in the United States.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The film here is about Selena and how the dream of her
father ended up being channeled into her. Written and directed by Gregory Nava
who also wrote and directed My Family (1995) and would later write in Frida
(2002), heads this production. Originally, Selena’s father Abraham (Edward James
Olmos) was a musician himself and wanted to become famous. During the time he
grew up though where most immigrants were not as marketable as the mainstream,
he struggled. Years later he would have a family of his own and try to restart
his passion of music through his family. Only to discover his daughter Selena
(Jennifer Lopez) had quite the vocal chords. Because of this he pushed her more
and more to the front for exposure. And before anyone realized, she was not
only getting many people’s attention but it was all for the reasons Abraham had
wanted.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">What Nava accomplished in his script is important for any
viewer while watching this film. Not only does the screenplay highlight why
Selena became such a powerhouse in her genre of music, but also the struggles
she and her family endured among both American and Latin communities. Despite
them sharing each background, they were scrutinized equally. If anything, this
helps put into perspective how immigrants feel when faced against adversity
from either side they belong to. It can be eye opening and for those needing a
reminder, it is just as factual. The narrative also covers how the family
dynamic changed over time as Selena became more and more popular. For example,
the roles different people took on. Or how Selena found love among one of her
band mates Chris Perez (Jon Seda) and the risks that she took in order to be
with him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course one cannot also enjoy this film without
acknowledging the fact that this movie is what brought Jennifer Lopez to the
forefront. Prior to this she had roles in movies like Money Train (1995) and
Jack (1996). There’s also appearances from Jackie Guerra, Constance Marie and
Jacob Vargas all playing the parts of Selena’s family. There’s also Lupe
Ontiveros playing one of background members of the traveling group. Any other
actor featured within the running time along with everyone else performs well
and it feels believable. As much as people may rag on Jennifer Lopez for not
being an actress completely and is more known for her singing career, she can
do both. Possibly the most convincing in their performance was Edward James
Olmos as the father, since Selena’s success stemmed from him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For cinematography, Edward Lachman handled the camera for
this production. The sets used through the film are to best show the spots at
which Selena performed and how they impacted her career. Lachman has credits
going all the way back to the 1970s and has remained with a lot of music
related films like The Lords of Flatbush (1974), New Order’s Confusion music
video and Madonna Into the Groove music video. For the music, the film mixes a
lot of the songs Selena had sung to along with having its own score composed by
David Grusin. No doubt fans will enjoy Selena’s music whether they’re familiar
with either her English or Spanish songs. As for Grusin, the score uses piano
in much of its tracks which are quite gentle to the touch. Grusin has also
composed for Tootsie (1982), The Goonies (1985) and Tequila Sunrise (1988). The
music works well along with Selena’s songs.</span></p>
<span style="font-family: arial;">This biopic is a respectable representation of Selena
as a singer and a person, especially since her family was made sure the story
stayed true to their daughter. The acting is good, the story brings to light
thoughts that some may not be aware of and the music entertains for any viewer.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 10:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-85297114307427690782022-11-13T06:39:00.006-08:002022-11-13T06:39:44.271-08:00Safe Haven (2013) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Relationships between people are always a constant
experience of development and attention to detail. It requires two people to
make the relationship happen and actively work at maintaining the strong bond.
Unfortunately, not all relationships end well. Whether it is due to a lack
effort from both or one side, simple ignorance to what’s causing friction or
worse, destructive behavior. Most however do find their partner that will do
what they can to be the best version of themselves, for themselves and their
partner. No couple should take each other for granted but make the most of
their time together as time is not exact in life. One never knows what could
happen in the coming future. This is one of the main points made in this film
adapted from a Nicholas Sparks novel.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Written by Dana Stevens (City of Angels (1998) and later
Fatherhood (2021)), and Gage Lansky in their only credit, took Sparks’ novel
and made into a watchable romance film with some typical clichés. The story is
about Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widower with two kids Lexi (Mimi Kirkland) and
Josh (Noah Lomax) who are living life as best they can. Things are going as
normal when a random woman Katie (Julianne Hough) enters the frame. Things
start picking up as Katie begins involving herself with Alex’s family. However,
Katie isn’t disclosing much about her past. Meanwhile, detective Tierney (David
Lyons) is trying to get a hold of Katie. The film was directed by Lasse
Hallström, who in his early days directed a lot of ABBA music videos. But he
also directed another Nicholas Sparks film called Dear John (2010).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Overall the writing suffices in its narrative. Over time
audiences will begin to understand exactly what it is that Katie is trying to
keep from resurfacing but like most things, it comes back to bite them. As for
Alex, it’s understandable what someone like him would be going through to an
extent. Being a one parent family is not easy even though there will always
been existing units. However, the story doesn’t go much into what could help
Alex grow. Katie arbitrarily does this for plot reasons. Both main characters
and the children characters are likeable in their own way but much of what has
been seen in other romance films is repeated here too. It’s cliché but not
unwatchable thanks to the acting. One thing that doesn’t make sense though is
the conflict of interest a certain character is a part of.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">When this is revealed it begs the question how the situation
even happened the way it did. The other aspect to the film that may come across
cliché or perhaps even in the wrong genre is the injection of some
spiritualistic themes. Some may even take it as faith based which typically
does not resonate with many viewers. If viewers can let these callouts slide,
then it may be more entertaining for some than others. Aside from this movie,
Julianne Hough is probably best known from Footloose (2011) and Rock of Ages
(2012). She still acts but it doesn’t seem as prominently. Josh Duhamel is best
known from Michael Bay’s Transformers (2007) series. David Lyons is a more of a
TV actor. Mimi Kirkland would later play Rachel in the Walking Dead series and
Noah Lomax had a role in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">There’s even appearances from Red West playing Alex’s uncle
and Cobie Smulders, playing Katie’s new neighbor. Smulders is also known for
playing Agent Maria Hill from Marvel’s movie lineup. The cinematography was
decently shot. Handled by Terry Stacey, the shots taking in the sandy coast of
the Carolina’s is a nice view. Really not much of any one scene has CGI in it
so there’s not much to mention there. Stacey also worked on Dear John (2010).
Lastly, composing the score was Deborah Lurie. Throughout the film score, Lurie
creates a theme for Alex and Katie, incorporating southern instruments with
piano mixed in. There is an album available as well which is nice. Lurie also
composed for 9 (2009), Dear John (2010) and Footloose (2011). Lots of overlap.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is by no means a standout film of excellence.
There is one big plot hole in the story and in can feel a bit generic. But the
actors have good chemistry and the overall message is an important takeaway
along with good camerawork and music.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned -->6:10</span></b></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-16574005053592975482022-11-07T17:14:00.003-08:002022-11-07T17:14:24.938-08:00Innocent Steps (2005) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Unless one truly is a well-rounded person or likes all kinds
of film genres, some may not be aware that movies involving dance is actually a
thing. Although if anyone has seen a musical, play or live performance one
could easily realize this. There are however stories that revolve around dance
but do not involve the actors or characters breaking out into song either. No
matter what though, dance is an undeclared love language in some cultures
because it truly can bring people together. Now to those even more unfamiliar
to the international market, dance can obviously cross over into other
countries. South Korea is no different. For every Step Up (2006), there will be
other movies that are in the same genre. Of course the film would have its own cultural
twist on it though.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The story is about Na Young-sae (Keon-hyeong Park), a
renowned dancer and teacher who almost made it to the finals if he wasn’t
sabotaged by his opponent Jung Hyun-soo (Chang Yun) at the last moment. This
ended up leaving Young-sae with a bum leg and out of commission. Trying to
help, his manager Ma Sang-doo (Park Won-Sang) finds Jang Chae-rin (Moon
Geun-young) a Korean raised in China. However, it turns out she does not know
how to dance and it’s up to Young-sae to teach her for them to both make the
rematch against his rival. Written by Gye-ok and Young-hoon Park, the narrative
is a wholesome one about redemption and learning from failure with the support
from others. Gye-ok Park has had experience working in Korean film before and
Young-hoon Park who also directed this feature has also worked in other films
with stars like Lee Byung-hun.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Overall the writing is decent. It contains a blend of
romance, drama and even small amounts of comedic moments from the main cast and
even side characters. Moon Geun-young who rose to fame after My Little Bride
(2004) a year before still has her youthful characteristics here. Her character
is more mature though and displays those moments accurately. Keon-hyeong Park
shows how troubled his character is after his fall from grace and then being
paired up with someone with less experience than him. Together both show
likeable chemistry and have their tender moments. Park Won-Sang as Young-sae’s
manager performs fine. The character itself though is a bit abusive. One would
almost think the same for Chang Yun as Jung Hyun-soo although it is never
shown. Yun as Hyun-soo plays quite a confident character and will stop at
nothing to succeed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The part of the writing that is less clear are some of the
questionable decisions various side characters make. Perhaps this goes back to
Korean culture during the 2000s? Not sure but some of it is weird in the sense
that it would be seen as uncalled for. That or the fact that after some
individuals’ action to another, the two still remain friendly. It’s a little
bizarre considering how out of hand some situations become. Since this is a
film involving dance, this component can’t be left out. The choreography for
the dancing sequences are well executed and performed by the actors. When it
comes to nailing down moves and rhythm, one must imagine how much practice that
takes to get it right. Pretty much nothing to point out as a flaw there.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For cinematography, the camerawork was handled by Jong-yun
Kim. For what the film shows, the scenes are well lit and capture the right
actions to be seen. What’s interesting is seeing how Young-sae began in his
apartment, only to see how Chae-rin brings his world to life in several ways.
One aspect maybe that could’ve been done better was the CGI which is minimally
used to begin with. As for the music in the film, Man-sik Choi composed the
score which there does seem to be an album available. For whatever’s heard, the
score does bring out the right emotions for the scenes filmed. Much of the
instruments heard among the tracks are performed on piano The one song though
that seems to be popular is “1000 Years” by Kang Eunsu, which was the main song
for the two main characters. It is memorable in its own way.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The simple digital elements to the feature along with
some out of touch character decisions are just small flaws within this dance
romance film. The actors are likeable, the music is easy listening and the
dancing is mesmerizing.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 7:10</span></b></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-17103879685762317132022-10-21T18:32:00.004-07:002022-10-21T18:32:57.746-07:00TaeGukgi (2004) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">War time dramas are typically not easy topics to cover,
especially for those who have family members involved or people who were
directly apart of the setting. Looking back on it through the lens of today
works, but only to an extent. To many in the United States, the Korean War was
something not really spoken of. It was never seen as a victory really nor was
it seen as a total loss. For South Korea though it remains one of the most
pivotal moments in its history. With that noted, long since then films have
been made about this moment in time. Some documentaries, while other
dramatizations of characters within that time period. To clarify there’s
nothing wrong with making stories that are in this kind of setting, but it does
feel off when the story isn’t based on any actual event.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The plot to this film is about two brothers, Jin-tae Lee
(Jang Dong-Gun) and Jin-seok Lee (Won Bin) who are as close as brothers can
get. They are living their lives until North Korea invades the South. Now
things are changing and the military has drafted Jin-seok. Fearing he will lose
his brother to the carnage of war Jin-tae follows suit and joins as well to
protect his brother at all costs and send him back home to the family with
Mother Lee (Yeong-ran Lee) and Young-shin Kim (Eun-ju Lee). However, as time
progresses, the war begins to affect the two brothers differently. The script
was written by Sang-don Kim, Han Ji-hoon and Je-kyu Kang. Kang directed the
picture too. According to many, this film is highly regarded and thought to be
one of the best films that take place during the Korean war.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">As mentioned before though, dramatization around the setting
is fine provided it makes sense to the history. Here though, there doesn’t seem
to be any “true story” based on the events that take place in this narrative.
Sure, the Korean War happened no questions asked. But there doesn’t seem to be
record of a soldier under the name Jin-tae Lee who made his way through the
ranks. If the soldier was that brave and memorable, it would have been all the
more interesting that the film was based on a “true story” or “true events”.
However, the writers seemed to have crafted this story on their own. Credit to
them for making such a captivating story surrounding actual events. But it still
is weird that the actual characters didn’t exist, at least so it seems.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Aside from the historical inaccuracies the story about the
characters is worth the watch anyway. It is because of the brothers’ change in
perspective on war that helps give the audience new takeaways from such moments
in life without having to experience it like soldiers in the army have
thankfully. It should also give many viewers an appreciation for their fellow
infantryman who put their lives on the line from then and now. As much as films
love to indulge in glorifying war and the people involved, it really is
something no one should ever have to experience. And yet, humans are flawed
enough where it’ll happen anyway. There are several moments where viewers will
get emotional or tear up due to just the sad nature of the inevitable dread
that comes with war and its consequences.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The visuals were well on point with the film. Hong Kyung-pyo
was credited as the cinematographer. The film throughout has large of enough
shots to show the audience the scope of the war and the toll it takes on the
characters. Kyung-pyo is able to show the realism of war as well, it is not
pretty. Kyung-pyo would also shoot for Parasite (2019). The only part that
doesn’t work are the close up fight scenes which involve shaky camera. It’s
understood that the idea is to disorient the viewer because that’s essentially
how the scene would feel in first person, but it does get annoying at times.
Lastly the film score composed by Dong-jun Lee was impressive. Containing full
orchestra along with a male choir really helps give the film a heroic feel. The
soundtrack also exists and is a great listen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are many positives to this film. It’s
production, components and cast all make the viewing experience worth the watch.
It has all the characteristics of a good war film. The only downside is that
the character story doesn’t seem to be based on anything historically other
than the war setting.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Points Earned --> 7:10</b></span></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-87813703386961228182022-10-21T18:06:00.000-07:002022-10-21T18:06:12.303-07:00My Little Bride (2004) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Among the big movie studios known around the world,
Hollywood and Bollywood are probably the most out there. Japan is mostly known
for their anime films, and anyone else is pretty much beneath that. However, in
the recent decade, Korea entertainment has become more of a mainstream
offshoot. K-pop was a big aspect but now their films have begun making an
impact as well. An example of this was Parasite (2019). Looking back though on
some older films from this country, perhaps there might be a reason why it took
a while. While arranged marriages are not unheard of, they are very much not
the usual western way of conducting things. Unless it is one’s religion,
believes in the concept and the other side is also in on it, then that’s fine.
But forcing something between two who do not feel a connection is where it gets
questionable.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The premise to this story is about two families where the
grandfathers agreed their children, which ended up being grandchildren, would
wed before they passed away. The catch is, Park Sang-min (Rae-won Kim) is an
adult while his bride Seo Bo-eun (Moon Geun-young) is only fifteen. According
to the movie, as long as both families agree, it is legal. Forget that part and
the whole being forced idea. The idea of a minor being married to an adult is
definitely a no-no in most of modern society. It’s just not done or proposed,
let alone thought of. Perhaps the writing is accurate either to the time of the
film or for Korean culture in general, but the concept is likely why this hasn’t
had any kind of resurgence in popularity. Directing this feature is Ho-joon Kim
in their first theatrical film credit. The writer is Sun-il Yu in their only
writing credit. Wondering if that’s again because of the premise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite the idea for the film, the writing does address the
whole idea in itself. This is good because it’s by no means glorifying the
situation in any way. Bo-eun and Sang-min are both childhood friends but never
saw each other as a couple. Again rightfully so due to the age difference, but
in order to fulfill an aging family members request, they do so reluctantly. Of
course this is where various scenarios and hijinx ensue where events are made
fun of, misinterpreted or hijacked. One example of this is that Sang-min is
assigned as the new art teacher in Bo-eun’s school. Meanwhile, one of the
faculty develops a crush on him that wasn’t wanted named Ms. Kim (Sun-yeong
Ahn). All these moments are cheesy and can produce a chuckle but they don’t
cause hysterical laughter. However, this does not mean the story execution
doesn’t have its moments.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The actors and their chemistry works to the advantage of the
viewing experience. Both Moon Geun-young and Rae-won Kim give their own
personalities and flaws to the characters that make them unique. Sang-man may
be older but he still acts juvenile at times but does his best to be supportive
as possible. Meanwhile Bo-eun very much is a young school girl trying to fit in
and find her place. She also has the attitude when its needed at times, along
with a very expressive face of disgust. As time progresses though, viewers will
see these characters change and discover things about themselves they didn’t
realize. Rae-won Kim has continued to act in movies since as well as Moon
Geun-young. Although for those unfamiliar with Korean films, this may not mean
as much.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The technical aspects to the film are fine. Since this is
not some big budget action film that’s highly reliant on digital and practical
effects, there’s not as much to find unrealistic. The camerawork was handled by
Jeong-min Seo who worked on films going all the way back to 1959. Quite a
history there; in fact, this movie was their second to last to be credited.
From what is shown the shots are fine and have a standard display to them that
is competent looking. The film score was interesting to hear, composed by Sun-shik
and Man-Sik Choi. Together they produce music that does hit its mark when
needed and other places stands out for incorporating not only the usual
orchestra but also singular instruments. Even whistles which are normally not
done or recommended. Yet for this film, it adds to the charm and
lightheartedness that is the story. There’s even a soundtrack available.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The idea may make viewers initially cringe at the
thought but after watching, it is a respectable effort. The comedy bits are not
as strong as they could be, but the more sentimental moments are poignant
enough thanks to the actors and their chemistry. Cinematography is handled well
and the music supports the experience with its different sound.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Points Earned --> 6:10</b></span></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-86935776800905911792022-09-04T08:28:00.006-07:002022-09-04T08:28:40.796-07:00The Lucky One (2012) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Nicholas Sparks is an author who most romantics would see as
the person behind the inspiration of several films that were released between
the early 2000s and mid 2010s. If there was a popular love story that was
remembered the most during a certain year, it was likely based on a Nicholas
Sparks novel. The one movie that people would likely remember the most is The
Notebook (2004). A recurring theme that Sparks tends to throw into his stories
are about fate and how what seems like coincidence turns into something deeper.
This is sort of a neutral way of approaching love stories where the film crew
doesn’t want to involve anything with religious undertones. In reality though, there’s
a belief somewhere among the characters even if it is not explicitly mentioned.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Directed by Scott Hicks, the same person who helmed No
Reservations (2007) and with a screenplay adaptation from Will Fetters. The
story is about marine Logan Thibolt (Zac Efron) who finished his last tour in
middle east. His new goal is to find the woman in the picture he found on the
battlefield who kept him safe all those moments while in combat. The woman in
the picture is Beth Green (Taylor Schilling), a wife who lost her brother in
the same war Logan was in. Her separated ex-husband Keith (Jay R. Ferguson)
wants custody over their child Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart) and makes family life
difficult. Meanwhile, Beth is supported by her mother Ellie (Blythe Danner) who
helps with the family business. Once Logan arrives though is when things get
complicated and this is kind of expected. Since it is a love story, there’s
always going to be someone who thinks the pairing of two people shouldn’t
happen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are a number of positives though. The performances
from all actors are done with nothing sounding questionable. The main
characters are likeable and can be relatable for their circumstances. Even some
of the supporting characters get development which isn’t something that gets
focused on very often. There were plenty of areas where the story had a near
miss and fell into predictable territory but it actually had some moments that
were unexpected. The premise though really doesn’t make it sound completely
original though. It just comes across too cliché for the main plot until it
finally digs its heels into the group some. The other issue is part of the lead
belonging to Logan. He’s mostly displayed as a guy with no flaws. Yes, because
he’s from the marines he has his moments war flashbacks which can be
problematic.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, from all other perspectives he’s given a squeaky
clean image. A lead can be likeable and still have major flaws. This was also
several films into Efron’s career after Disney’s High School Musical franchise
ended. So of course, he’s shedding the young boy image. Taylor Schilling had
some movies before this but would get just a much attention the same year as
this movie as Argo (2012) came out too. Blythe Danner who was a seasoned
actress at this point had many roles prior as well as, like being in
Futureworld (1976). Riley Thomas Stewart as Ben had experience too prior to the
film, showing up in various TV shows. Jay R. Ferguson as Beth’s husband fits
the character he was cast for almost too perfectly. Having a square jawline and
the southern drawl makes it almost too easy to see where his role is in the
film.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For camerawork, the director of photography was Alar Kivilo.
Since much of the setting takes place in the south, plenty of wide open
farmland is captured along with occasional swamps and internal house shots.
Everything seems set up competently and that even includes the brief scenes in
middle east. Kivilo also worked on Hart’s War (2002) and The Blind Side (2009).
As for the film score, Mark Isham was the composer to this production.
Unfortunately, it seems there wasn’t an official album release for this work
but there should be. Even though this is not a franchise, Isham created a main
theme for the story which appears throughout the film using piano. These kinds
of traits are important as it gives the experience more of an identity the
audience can remember it for. There only seems to be a soundtrack which
features the songs used within the film.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The setup to the story feels generic as it sounds all too
coincidental. To audiences’ surprise though the execution is not as predictable
as one might think. The acting is well done, as it the music, camerawork and
even the development of supporting characters.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned -->7:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-65034852301878551912022-08-12T12:25:00.006-07:002022-08-12T12:25:55.115-07:00Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us (2018) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s probably safe to say with the long history of the
Pokémon franchise, none of the returning or diehard fans should be expecting
newcomers. The TV series has many seasons and to boot, many movies in between.
Any convert would have to start from the very beginning and work their way
through all of that just to reach this point. On the other hand, if that is the
drive, then fans should be happy that another film in the list of entries
remains to have standout qualities for its viewing experience. Know that there
are still some aspects that still make it the typical entry for this franchise,
but it’s not as average as some of the other previous films. At this point it
seems like the films are no longer sticking to the TV show timeline which is okay
since the movies never seemed to play into the TV show anyway.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">This entry drops the audience into Ash Ketchum’s world with
no indication of time or place, other than around the same time as the shows
latest season. Along with him are several other characters that end up weaving
their way into the story line which in time cross paths with Ash. Unbelievably,
the writer director duo attached to this project is not Kunihiko Yuyama or
Hideki Sonoda. This time, it’s Tetsuo Yajima directing and Eiji Umehara writing
the screenplay. Umehara has other credits to their name but nothing Pokémon
related. However, Yajima does go all the way back to season one, so it’s nice
to know the director has experience with the franchise. The key part of the
story and direction that make this film another strong entry is the focus of
the plot.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Unlike other films which revolved around a legendary Pokémon
and how capturing, controlling or destroying them would disturb the balance of
nature or something like that. This time it focuses more on the human
characters and the development of their arcs. Since this story has nothing to
do with the show now, Team Rocket, Ash and Pikachu are the only main cast to
return. Risa (Haven Paschall) is a new trainer who has yet to discover how important
the connection is between Pokémon and trainer. Toren (Eddy Lee) is a timid
researcher who hopes to be able to speak for himself one day for his love of
Pokémon. Harriet (Kathryn Cahill) is an elderly citizen who hasn’t learned how
to love Pokémon again. Callahan (Billy Bob Thompson) is a lying uncle to his
niece Kellie (Laurie Hymes) who doesn’t know he lies. Then there’s Mayor Oliver
(Marc Thompson) and his daughter Margo (Erica Schroeder) who’s hiding a secret
from him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The secret is a legendary Pokémon that no one else knows
about. This is one of the couple pitfalls to the movie. No matter what, it
seems like no movie can stay clear of directly being about a legendary Pokémon.
The good thing is again, the main focus is on the human characters and their
development. Of course even with some of these characters are tropes that
viewers could anticipate what’ll happen part way through the story because how
obvious it is. The voice acting is also obvious but in a good way. None of the
performances heard within the viewing experience sounded wrong, off or read
poorly. Much of the cast are voice actors who have taken part in the franchise
many times before. Additionally, it would be noticeable if they didn’t sound
invested in the project.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Visually speaking, the animation is another great part of
the viewing experience. The colors and character expressions are as vibrant as
ever. There’s also fairly good CGI work thrown in as well. What this has to do
with cinematography again though goes unknown. This time handled by Kenji
Takahashi and Ryou Kujirai. As for film scores, Shinji Miyazaki returns once
more as the composer to the project. Also again there is no domestic release
for the album but it does contain an hour of tracks to listen to. At this point
it would be more of a surprise if it was released domestically only. However,
that won’t happen considering the country of origin of the franchise. The music
sounds good as usual and has its moments memorable tunes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Showing that films related to the franchise can be
entertaining, the viewing experience this time focuses on the human characters.
As usual it includes the annoying character familiarities and legendary
Pokémon, but also completely new characters, great animation, and consistently
pleasant music.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 7:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-26854947263404360502022-07-17T19:53:00.006-07:002022-07-17T19:53:34.787-07:00The Vow (2012) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">If there’s something that usually inexperienced partners in
a relationship cannot retain, it’s keeping promises. Admittedly promises are
not always the easiest to commit to if a partner overextends themselves or doesn’t
realize how critical it is to the health of the relationship. If both
understand what they’re signing up for then there’s a chance of success. However,
what if only one remembers that commitment? This is what this movie is loosely
based on coming from Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. Despite the couples’ religion
being left out of the final film, the financial performance was still quite
well received. To some, the premise to this story feels like it’s coming from novelist
Nicholas Sparks, but surprisingly, he had no involvement with this production.
Even with that fact, people who liked those films should also have an easy time
enjoying this movie too.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The origin coming from Stuart Sender, with the screenplay
written by Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein, (He's Just Not That Into You (2009)),
Jason Katims (The Pallbearer (1996)) and directed by Michael Sucsy in his first
theatrical film headed this production. The story is about a couple Leo
(Channing Tatum) and Paige (Rachel McAdams) who end up in a near fatal car
accident that leaves Paige with almost complete memory loss after recovering.
This leads her to not remembering that she was married to Leo and where their
life was at the time the accident occurred. Meanwhile, Paige’s parents Rita
(Jessica Lange) and Bill (Sam Neil) want her to return home so she can start
over. Similarly, Leo wants Paige to return home with him so he can get
literally get his wife life back.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For a premise, it doesn’t sound like something recently done
before, although it has likely been in a film prior. The concept is unique and
can attract many couples’ interests since it is a love story of sorts. Of
course though, the film execution is where it falters in various places. One
issue being unrealistic scenes; like when Paige and Leo meet up for the first
time. There could likely be crazier or coincidental stories by nature but the
way it happens feels like no one would ever consider such an incident occurring.
Either because it would be too creepy or just that very few people are ever
that infatuated upon initially meeting each other. The other part of the script
that isn’t really well put together are the supporting characters. Much of them
just come off as the cliché character most viewers know where they stand and
their role in the story is.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Even though these weak points in the film are bit obvious in
nature, there are other parts of the script that are elaborated on to support
the audience. For example, it is explained why Paige can remember parts of her
life before the accident but not after. That’s important because if missed by
the audience, it won’t make sense later on the film. The acting can’t be
discredited. Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams are both great leads and have
the chemistry to carry the story. Both of their characters are also quite
likable considering they are the protagonists viewers want to see win in the
end. Other performances also work coming from veteran actors like Jessica Lange
and Sam Neil, both of who have participated in films for several decades. There
are also appearances from Jessica McNamee, Wendy Crewson, Lucas Bryant and Scott
Speedman playing an ex of Paige.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The cinematography by Rogier Stoffers was a commendable attribute
to the viewing experience. Stoffers was also credit in his work for John Q.
(2002), School of Rock (2003) and Disturbia (2007). For what’s depicted,
Stoffers shots are well lit and share with the audience the important parts of
the scenes that need to be shown. For the film score, the music was created by
Rachel Portman and Michael Brook, both who are not as well-known as other composers
but do have several credits to their names like Home Fries (1998), Beauty and
the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), Dolphin Tale 2 (2014) and The
Fighter (2010). The tracks heard throughout the film invoke the right emotions
in the right scenes. Much of the cues revolve around small guitar strokes or
piano keys to invoke that warm intimate romance feeling.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hallmark channel tropes may feel a bit forced in this
story but it is still a decent effort coming from the whole crew. Acting, music
and cinematography are all done well. It’s a nice little romantic film
reminding viewers how important promises are during rough times.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 7:10</span></b></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-50095868632180388992022-06-11T12:22:00.004-07:002022-06-11T12:22:57.388-07:00Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You (2017) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">There really hasn’t been much variation to the slew of Pokémon
films released since the first few trilogies. After some time, narrations
become familiar and repetitive. This leads to the law diminishing returns and
lack luster praise from fans who crave a fresh new change. Believe it or not
fans did get that, first in the twentieth season of the anime. The biggest
noticeable difference was the animation style. While the anime’s look has
changed over the years, much of it remained similar to how it began. Now though
the designs were childlike and even more expressive than before. However, that
wasn’t the case for the next film to roll out. For one, the year of this film’s
release also marked the twentieth anniversary of the anime’s beginning. Rightfully so, it seems the film crew behind
this production made sure to make this entry stand out from the recent films
that came out.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">What really shakes up the way this entry plays out is that
it no longer follows the current anime and is instead a retelling of the first
several episodes of season one. To some this may seem a bit blasphemous, but
what helps is seeing this as an alternate continuity, not as a part of the
original anime. Directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and written by Shôji Yonemura,
viewers are introduced to Ash just starting his journey with Pikachu with the classic
setup. Once he and Pikachu become best of friends they witness the Legendary
Ho-Oh and catch a feather from the mythical creature. Along his travels he
meets other trainers Sorrel (David Oliver Nelson) and Verity (Suzy Myers
Jackson), learning and growing together about Ho-Oh and the stories surrounding
it. The story itself actually focuses on why Ash receives the feather from Ho-Oh
and the significance behind it. It’s a moment that has never been touched on in
the anime other than being mentioned from time to time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is definitely thought out in a better way than Pokémon the
Movie 2000 (1999) with the whole chosen one storyline feeling forced or random.
What also makes this entry better than several before it are the numerous
references shown in the film. Some of these nods are to parts of the season one
anime, while others are spread out among later eras that aired in the past. It’s
almost like someone was watching very carefully at each film from before and
took note of what resonated most with fans. There they then insisted those
elements would be included in various aspects of the movie. Shôji Yonemura is
no newcomer to the franchise as they’ve been involved since very early on in
the anime. The only thing in the writing that will show viewers not everything
has changed, is one usual trope this franchise is notorious for. There are
emotional moments that come up, but they are short lived.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The voice acting though is still as good as its been. While
people wanted Veronica Taylor to reprise her role as Ash, many have become accustomed
to Sarah Natochenny as Ash too and since this film takes place in an alternate
timeline, it’s better Taylor did not come back. It would give fans false hope
of further returns despite how much Taylor will always be the original Ash.
David Oliver Nelson is good as Sorrel even though this remains to be their only
voice acting credit. Suzy Myers Jackson though has worked with the anime before
and works as Verity too. There’s also appearances from Billy Bob Thompson
playing Cross, a selfish trainer and Mike Pollock as Bonji, a researcher who’s
spent his life learning as much as he can from Ho-Oh. Of course there’s also
the Team Rocket crew who are not as involved again like before, but do provide
some comedy relief as expected at this point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Visually as mentioned before the twentieth season of the
anime experienced a change in character design. For this feature though the
animation is closer to that of the seasons before it due to it being related to
the anime’s twentieth anniversary. Cinematography is still a mystery with Aya
Aoshima being credited for the work. As for music though, composing the score
was Shinji Miyazaki with Ed Goldfarb attached for some reason even though an
album release exists only in Japan. The music appears to be the most diverse
sounding in its selection of orchestrations. There are number of different tracks
that match the scenes depicted and are quite distinct in their sound. As an overall
listening experience, the album is just over an hour long which is nice to see
how much music there is to this entry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Though it has not risen passed even the best in the franchise’s
archive of films, it is one of the best in a long time. It may have the usual
pitfall here and there, but the story focuses on an event that’s been given
little attention throughout the entire anime run. References to other moments
within the anime are fun recognizing too. Animation, music and voice acting are
as credible as usual.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 7:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-87773920585525407892022-05-29T17:04:00.003-07:002022-05-29T17:04:16.363-07:00Ricochet (1991) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">When the name Russell Mulcahy is brought up for movies, fans
will remember him for two well-known properties. The one fans will most fondly
remember is Mulcahy’s first entry in movies, that being Highlander (1986). The
other widely recognized character that Mulcahy made a movie on was in The
Shadow (1994). Of course in between those was Mulcahy’s biggest blunder which
was Highlander II: The Quickening (1991). That same year though Mulcahy also directed
this movie featuring a different up and coming star. A young Denzel Washington
was making his way through movies leaving a generally memorable impression on
the characters he took on. At the time, the last big film that Washington got
people’s attention in was Glory (1989). He wasn’t a lead, but his supporting
role still played a very big part to the story.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The plot here is about Nick Styles (Denzel Washington), a
cop who sky rockets to a high promotion after foiling the plans of Earl Talbot
Blake (John Lithgow). Upon this moment, Blake makes it his mission to ruin the
life Styles built for himself after he breaks out of prison. When he does, Styles
is already the district attorney and has a wife Alice (Victoria Dillard) and
kids. The original story was written by Menno Meyjes from The Color Purple (1985),
Empire of the Sun (1987), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Fred
Dekker of House (1985) and Night of the Creeps (1986) fame. The screenplay was
then adapted by Steven E. de Souza who wrote for Commando (1985), The Running
Man (1987) and Die Hard (1988). Together, these individuals produce a very
mindless action thriller. There is entertainment value to be had, it’s just not
a story that is game changer in the genre.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">A lot of what makes this viewing experience a fluff show are
a few things. One thing is that there are moments that are meant to be lighthearted.
The dialog just makes it sound like it’s trying to be a buddy cop movie. Even
though Styles’ partner Larry (Kevin Pollak) isn’t the funniest if the laughter
is relying on him alone. Some of the lines Blake says are also typical
villain-esque, like “you’re fired”. There’s also the issue with proof blindly
being disregarded by people that any sane person could have figured out. It’s
like when there’s an obvious change to something that’s clear as day and yet no
one can see that change. It looks stupid that anyone could fall for such an
obvious callout. Then there’s just the unrealistic events that happen in
various spots. Two guys sabre fight in the middle of jail mess hall. Okay…who
gave the inmates the approval to do that? It’s things that take place such as
this that question how much in the real world would this happen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Apparently there is some valid connections to it though.
Actress Mary Ellen Trainor plays a new reporter by the name of Gail Wallens.
She also played that same character in Diehard (1988),…so a Diehard expanded
universe? Strange; guess de Souza was kind of thinking for the long term? Aside
from these flaws there are still good parts to the feature. All the actors
provide what they can. Denzel Washington is still that likeable protagonist
very few if anyone would want to see harmed. John Lithgow as Blake is a decent
villain. He certainly can make his presence known and definitely shows no mercy
for whoever he has in his sites. Lithgow would later play Lord Farquaad in
Shrek (2001). There are appearances from other actors like Ice-T, Lindsay
Wagner, John Amos, John Cothran, Lydell M. Cheshier, Sherman Howard also known
as Bub from the original Day of the Dead (1985) and even Jessie Ventura.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The action and violence on scene is not abundant but when it’s
there, the viewer won’t miss it. Some of it is actually pretty gruesome which
is why it clashes with the comedy bits. It’s not a dark comedy. The camerawork fits
well with in the picture though. Shot by Peter Levy who worked on A Nightmare
on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) and Predator 2 (1990), the shots are
correctly taken with no real issues. For the film score, Alan Silvestri took
the job of composing the music. While the album for it contains only a third of
the entire run time, the tracks work to the films credit. Several of the cues
have similar sounds to that of prior works like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).
There are lots of horn blasts and timpani rumbles. Not the strongest
composition but still a fun listen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Premise wise the story is fine, but the details within
it, tone of certain scenes and hyper violent action makes this more of a fluff
piece. Maybe consider it Diehard (1988)-lite since it’s in the same universe?
It has good acting, action, camerawork and music.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 6:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-78234276477604815222022-05-24T17:59:00.001-07:002022-05-24T17:59:02.605-07:00Pokémon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (2016) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Pokémon is a franchise that continues to fascinate despite
how repetitive the formulas have become for several films. Roughly after the
first two trilogies, the writing was already starting to waiver on originality
but it was the likable main characters, voice acting and music that kept it mostly
tolerable. Now, with way over ten films the level of quality has remained at
average. For the devoted casual viewer, it’s serviceable. To a diehard and
unfamiliar viewer, it is likely to not impress from either side. Reason for
this are the narratives not doing anything different or taking risks. Each
story execution had roughly the same setups and outcomes, almost to the exact
moment with minor variations. The last generation of black and white was not
impressive from a storytelling perspective and the recent XY generation wasn’t
improving much either. Surprisingly, this entry just managed to squeeze by.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and adapted in English by James
Carter Cathcart, the story is about Ash and company being drawn into the Azoth
Kingdom, a steam punk esque mechanical city, only by happen stance. A legendary
Pokémon named Volcanion (Mike Pollock) is trying to save a mechanical Pokémon
named Magearna being taken by Prince Raleigh (Laurie Hymes). Alongside the
prince is Alva (Billy Bob Thompson) who feels he can help bring the Kingdom to
its rightful glory. Meanwhile Princess Kimia (Riley Joseph) feels her brother
is mistaken. Direction is once again headed by Kunihiko Yuyama and that can
also be said for the execution of the story. Let’s see, do we have a legendary Pokémon
involved? Yes. Does the Pokémon speak English through telepathy? Yes. Are the
antagonists attempting to do what past villains wanted to do with a special Pokémon?
Yes. Why can’t anything different be done with the setup?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For once at least the main characters are dragged into a
conflict as opposed to just walking into one, but that’s not a big change.
Voice acting in general from the cast is fine. This is a standard that has been
met consistently though for every entry, thankfully. The few additions like
Laurie Hymes and Riley Joseph are both fine, despite Joseph having very few
credits. Billy Bob Thompson as Alva works. He has what sounds like the right
voice for the role. And for Mike Pollock who’s been with the franchise before
is by far the more intriguing actor in the film. Even though the use of
Telepathic Pokémon is just obnoxious now, Pollock’s role as Volcanion is not
some cutesy eyed puff ball. Volcanion is like an old crotchety man who has no
time for fun with a gruff deep voice. That’s a much better attention grabber
than the others before it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was even more eyebrow raising to see that Team Rocket’s
Jessie, James and Meowth were way more involved in this story, which hasn’t
happened in quite a long time too. And of course because this entry is in the
XY generation, mega evolution is prevalent but so is this new form called a
“mega wave”. Also known as a mega evolving hack. Sure, all these minor changes
are appreciated and it can keep the interest of the viewer. However, this is
still not enough for this story to break the all too familiar rut it’s dug
itself into. The plotline is very much the same from previous film entries and
the reason why the antagonist is doing their evil deeds is the same as other
villains before them. Because Pokémon contain a power far greater if used a
certain way that unleashes life altering changes to the norms currently held by
everyday normal people and Pokémon alike.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Again, visually there are no issues. The animation continues
to work in the films favor. For those who love steam punk related themes,
viewers should get a kick out of all the mechanical parts and gears flying
around the kingdom of Azoth. Cinematography by Aya Aoshima is an unexplained
and undetermined credit to the picture but okay sure. As for music the film
score was again composed by Shinji Miyazaki and Ed Goldfarb respectively per
their country of origin even though only one score exists. So weird. The music
to this entry was also unique and different this time with what sounded like
incorporated Harpsicord or calliope giving the setting a more medieval feel
surrounding the mechanical kingdom. Too bad all the pluses are not enough to
make it far better than it could have been.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">At this rate, an entry with even small updates seems
to be a nice change. That still doesn’t make it great though. While it
continues to suffer from the same recycled storytelling and villains, the voice
acting, animation and music make it okay to watch. Once.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 6:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-42955414632462930992022-05-19T15:56:00.005-07:002022-05-19T15:56:59.691-07:00Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Many consider of all Batman iterations to be depicted on
television that Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s version is the definitive one. The
animated series which ran for three successful seasons, had a memorable film
score, was quite mature for a kids’ cartoon and even had two special features;
one theatrically released and the other released on home-video. But that wasn’t
the end of the character’s universe. Superman the animated series was also
running in parallel which further expanded the realm of the two characters’
worlds. So why stop there? Thus came Batman Beyond, now seen more as a favorite
of a select set of fans than a complete success. However, it did reprise the
role of the original Batman as a supporting role, which had much of the same
traits as the original series. It’s also no surprise this series got a special
feature too.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The plot to the story is exactly what the title suggests.
After several years being gone, Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) learns that his
infamous most difficult enemy, the Joker (Mark Hamill) has returned to Gotham.
Except now Wayne is too old to subdue his nemesis and it’s up to Terry McGinnis
(Will Friedle) as his new protégé to defeat him once and for all. Written by
Paul Dini, the script is well written with reflective character development
between Wayne, his past, people he’s worked with and whom he works with now.
It’s also a learning experience for McGinnis as he discovers more about himself
and the kind of Batman he is versus his predecessor. And being that Dini had
written for the original and new series, it makes sense he would continue the
story. The direction was head by Curt Geda who has more experience as a
storyboard artist but has also directed episodes for the same set of TV shows.
Again, it makes sense he would be involved.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The only fault in the screenplay is the reason for Joker’s
return. An explanation is given which is great because most of the time,
reasons aren’t provided. However, once the reason is given it seems the
audience must suspend their disbelief in order for it to make sense. It just
seems so tacked on as the full justification for the character’s resurgence. That’s
really it though when it comes to narrative execution. The voice acting was
always on point with the show and maintains that consistency here in this
special. Will Friedle who get his start in Boy Meets World and would also voice
Ron Stoppable in Disney’s Kim Possible makes a great Terry McGinnis. The
attitude is all there and dialog is witty, especially when conversing with Kevin
Conroy’s elder surly Bruce Wayne. Rounding out the circle is when Mark Hamill
enters the picture laughing the entire way as Joker. This is just another
reason why fans feel this animated version of the character remains the best
one out there.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Playing as supporting characters is Law & Order’s Angie
Harmon as Barbara Gordon, Dean Stockwell as an older Tim Drake (Batman’s 2</span><sup style="font-family: arial;">nd</sup><span style="font-family: arial;">
Robin), Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, Tara Strong and lastly Frank Welker. From
a listing like that, it would be hard to see these credible voice actors not
giving it their all in a feature like this with such iconic characters
involved. The action sequences are entertaining too. Whether it be explosions
or one on one physical combat, the scenes capture the energy and weight behind the
movements being depicted on screen. Overseeing production was Shôjirô Nishimi
as animation director and its likely safe to say this was a critical component
as the colors and movements of the scenes are great to view.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking of which the animation in general is well done.
Koji Takeuchi served as the animation producer from TMS Entertainment which has
handled other productions like Sherlock Hound and even Marvel’s Spider-Man: The
Animated Series. Someone definitely needs to explain the purpose of four
different cinematographers though for an animated film. It makes no sense, let
alone one. Lastly the film score composed by Kristopher Carter was a great
effort. Resembling much of the brash guitar based score from the TV show, this
film score mixes much of that into its cues along some more organic
orchestrations inbetween for more serious or somber moments. It’s not as
striking as the original TV shows film score but it is a fun listen either way.
Well worth the experience.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Even though the reason for Joker’s return feels a
little last minute and cinematography goes unexplained, there’s not much wrong
with this. It’s another solid animated Batman entry with good voice acting,
music, animation and story in the Batman list of sagas.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned -->7:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-14252272133257892942022-05-19T15:48:00.005-07:002022-05-19T15:48:24.558-07:00Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (2015) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Rarely has Pokémon ventured into territory that is either
unfamiliar or done anything super different in their formula for film entries.
This base template was adequate for a while and had some variations to it along
the way. Now though with more than ten films in, it has begun to feel very much
the same and unoriginal. Having multiple entries lined up to be released after
every season doesn’t seem to help with its freshness. Perhaps releasing a film
after every region Ash and friends visit would have been a more reasonable
approach. That way there would be more time in between films to develop a
better story and make it worthwhile for the fans. Cranking out a film that is
basically a copy of the last really does nobody a service. This one still falls
in the same trap with some very small differences.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">This entry finds Ash and company on their way to another
random city, this being inspired from the look of Dubai. There they randomly
encounter a new Pokémon by the name of Hoopa (Lori Phillips). Believe it or
not, this Pokémon not only knows English but speaks it this time too, wow! Of
course it still has the small big eyed cutesy look to it. Hoopa belongs to
Baraz (Daniel J. Edwards) and Meray (Emily Woo Zeller) and are looking to
restore Hoopa’s power by giving its unbound power back (Ryan William Downey).
Currently Hoopa exists in its confined state due to lack of maturity and
understanding. Surprisingly this entry is not handled by that usual duo always
being mentioned. Yes, it is still directed by Kunihiko Yuyama but the script
was written by Atsuhiro Tomioka in their first Pokémon movie credit. Maybe
Hideki Sonoda finally took a needed break from doing that last several entries.
Unfortunately, Tomioka only adds some new things to this entry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The pluses to this film are the usual categories pointed out
for several films before this one. Voice acting works just fine for this
project. The main cast of actors all voice their characters like they should
and emote properly when the scene calls for it. Even for the supporting
characters, Daniel J. Edwards and Emily Woo Zeller have experience working on
other animes. Of all the voices Ryan William Downey who plays the unbound
version of Hoopa is pretty cool sounding, even though he has lesser credits to
this name. Lori Phillips is also fine as the confined version of Hoopa although
the Pokémon is very much a copy of Zorua; laughing and smirking thinking it’s
clever. Actually it’s annoying, can’t something more unique be made with these
focal point Pokémon’s personalities?! The character arc for Hoopa is okay to be
clear, that at least isn’t the usual super power Pokémon in need of saving.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">This doesn’t mean the rest of the writing works though. The
continuity to this narrative doesn’t make sense. The reason why the title says
“Clash of Ages” is due to it involving the many legendary Pokémon on screen.
However, some of the legendaries called into question are ones that either
should appear and don’t, ones that shouldn’t appear but do, and ones that look
nothing like they’ve been depicted before. It’s very confusing because this is
obviously supposed to take place as the latest point in time in Ash’s journey.
Yet with these discrepancies, it’s very difficult to understand why things are
the way they are. Then again, being that Ash and friends have done some time
traveling in various stories, maybe that’s what’s causing these changes? It’s
really not clear and doesn’t make sense why these loose ends can’t be tied up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Visually though the animation is still very good looking.
The 3D CGI images against the digital 2D animation blends well together with
nothing that looks like an eyesore. Cinematography was handled by Tatsumi
Yukiwaki who seems to be taking over this role for Hisao Shirai. Of course, the
clarity of the role goes unknown. Music on the other hand was another
interesting listening experience provided once again by Shinji Miyazaki even
though Ed Goldfarb is credited for some reason. Because the location of the
story takes place in the area closely resembling the middle east, Miyazaki
incorporates a lot of instruments and cues that match the setting and it gives
the scenes a much more engaging feel. And as expected there is a Japanese album
release but that is all. As we all have come to know and expect.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The franchise is still languishing in the average
viewing experience realm. Aside from some minor changes in screenwriter, change
in musical sound, standard animation and credible voice acting it is still a
regular ho-hum entry. The main Pokémon still isn’t that interesting and
continuity is baffling to say the least.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 5:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-53539783135649032762022-05-03T17:35:00.002-07:002022-05-03T17:35:05.615-07:00Dawn of the Dead (2004) Review:<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Usually sequels are planned to be released in an ordered
process. The standard lead time is between two to three years. Sometimes there
are delays which can push it out. Then there are also the rushed ones where a
film is pumped out in a little longer than a year’s length. To do that is nuts
but it’s proven to be done before. For George A. Romero, it seems he truly went
at his own pace when it came to making his movies. Even though Romero had
worked on other films in between the “dead” entries, the intervals at which
each film came out was almost consecutively ten years apart. That’s a long
time. Weirdly enough, it seems the remakes of his films are following the same
path despite him not even being involved. While Night of the Living Dead (1990)
was an amicable update to the original, it did have some issues. Almost fifteen
years later, came this sequel. It’s about the same but for some different
reasons.<br /><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The setup to the story is the same as the original involving
a bunch of strangers taking refuge in an abandoned shopping mall after the
world is turned upside down with undead corpses attacking the living. This was directed by newcomer at the time Zack
Snyder, who is now best known for several comic book related films. Before this
Snyder was directing music videos, similar to Michael Bay’s startup before
turning action director. The screenplay was written by James Gunn, the same
person who is also best known for his array of comic book films too. Before
this though, there was hesitation for him writing for this production. Reason
being, that his biggest credit at the time was penning the script for the
live-action Scooby-Doo (2002) film. And of course, most know pretty well how
that movie did with viewers and fans alike.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>The cast of actors to play these everyday people are Ana
(Sarah Polley) a nurse, Kenneth (Ving Rhames) a cop, Michael (Jake Weber) a TV
salesman, Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and Luda (Inna Korobkina) and CJ (Michael Kelly)
a security guard to the mall along with his rookie Terry (Kevin Zegers).
Together these main characters spend most of their time together in the mall.
There they learn about their histories as well as how to cope with what’s
around them and support each other. This script includes way more characters in
general than that of the original but it works out okay. Gunn even has a couple
twists in the story that can play to the opposite to what viewers may expect
for certain characters. Sarah Polley is a good lead and being that her
character’s a nurse, growing accustomed to the horrors around her seemed easier
to handle. The same could be said for Ving Rhames as the cop.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>Jake Weber although plays what seems like a wimpy character
quickly toughens up. And of all thespians, the actor who has the best lines and
best character arc goes to Michael Kelly. Clearly it looked like he had the
most fun. However, this does not totally omit any typical character tropes seen
in other horror films. Two good examples of this are Mekhi Phifer’s role and Ty
Burrell as some snobby rich guy. Guess one can’t avoid all the pitfalls. Yet
casting director Joseph Middleton was able to nab Ken Foree, Tom Savini and
Scott H. Reiniger from the original film for cameos. Very nice. Still there is
one other thing that’s a bit odd that likely was not mentioned in any other
zombie film which was raised here. Apparently dogs can run circles around
zombies and not be seen as food? That’s something new…why’s that? Unanswered
question. Additionally, the zombies in this film are far more aggressive as
opposed to all others featured before. They run now.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Visually, as Snyder fans would come to know and love, the
film is very good looking. The special effects look mostly practical which is
good because even for 2004, CGI didn’t always look real. Behind the camera was
Matthew F. Leonetti, a cinematographer with quite a history behind him. Before
this he had worked on Raise the Titanic (1980), Poltergeist (1982), Hard to
Kill (1990) and Rush Hour 2 (2001). Finally, the film score was composed by
Tyler Bates. For this project Bates had the chance to make something of the
franchise being that none of the films ever had a signature identity. He didn’t
do that though, but managed to still create themes that worked for the scenes.
Before this, Bates’ most notable credit was to another remake by name of Get
Carter (2000), another film from the 70s.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>For a remake, it entertains surprisingly well even
though there are still some regular clichés the genre will come across. These
small flaws are made up for through the actors’ performances, the music,
special effects and camerawork.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Points Earned --> 7:10</b></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-74902471180075401862022-05-03T17:33:00.001-07:002022-05-03T17:33:29.130-07:00Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Pokémon anime never lets up on what seems to work
despite that plan not really working. For the last several entries, the films
revolving around Ash and company has been average at best and sometimes falling
beneath that. Only occasionally has the story been slightly above average, but
that’s going back to around a decade ago of films. Unfortunately, it’s also
getting more difficult to go on about the differences in storytelling
especially when the changes feel so minimal. One would think that with a series
running for so long that there could be some variety to the films but it looks
like the franchise may truly be out of new ideas. This entry really feels no
different from that of the past several films. The biggest change are the main
protagonists…but that’s been expected now. Then again so are other aspects.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The story is about a new Pokémon named Diancie (Caitlin
Glass) who can create diamonds but not well. She is the princess of her kingdom
that is dying and needs to replace the current diamond which acts as their
power source. To do this, she must find the legendary Pokémon Xerneas (Mary
O’Brady) to help make this ability stronger. On her travels she runs into Ash
and friends where they decide to follow her. However, Team Rocket and a few
other bandits are out looking to capture Diancie as well. Shocker. On top of
that, there’s Yveltal, the dark version of Xerneas who is rumored to be nearby.
Anything else needs to be thrown in there? Of course, who’s handling this
project? None other than the Yuyama Sonoda duo. Geez, these two must really
feel confident that these stories are still solid.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let’s tackle something that does work, the main characters.
In the black and white seasons, Ash, Iris and Cilan’s chemistry were okay but
probably rank lowest so far. For the new X & Y seasons, Ash is now joined
by Serena (Haven Paschall), Clemont (Mike Liscio) and his little sister Bonnie
(Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld). These characters are already proving themselves to be
more interesting than the last bunch. Clemont with his ill-fated
self-destructive contraptions, Serena with her secret crush on Ash and Bonnie
for always trying to match a girl with Clemont; the reversal of Brock’s
situation. They all have their quirks but are fun and goofy in their own way.
The team rocket gang are still fun although they are no longer as serious as
they were a couple seasons ago. Despite that, they do get more screen time here
than the last few films.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, that’s kind of the extent of the engaging
characters. The voice acting is fine by all cast members but the characters
still don’t amount to much. Caitlin Glass plays a great princess but the role
of her character isn’t new. Further making things a usual go to are the
telepathic abilities and legendary Pokémon. It is understandable to a point
that new seasons require new legendaries to keep things going…but the
legendaries aren’t anything to be impressed over. Xerneas is just another “life
giving”, “wish granting”, insert the god-like term here Pokémon. As for
telepathy, it seems like more and more Pokémon are able to speak English with
the main characters. Can it least vary some? The other thieves looking to
capture Diancie aren’t memorable either, even though Marc Thompson is one of
the voice actors.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Unfortunately, more could have been done to develop a portion
of these characters. The amount of individuals in this story is just more than
it needs to be. Animation though is still good for the quality of the
franchise. No complaints there. Cinematography was taken care of again by
Tatsumi Yukiwaki and now also Aya Aoshima. No reason given as to why it’s
needed. For music, surprisingly the US dub had its own score composed by Ed
Goldfarb instead of Shinji Miyazaki even though he scored for the Japanese dub.
The weird thing is that it doesn’t look like there was a US album released on
this…so the point of rescoring was for…what? What can be said though is that
the music sounds a lot livelier and has interesting cues throughout. In some
ways it sounds like something of another genre, but it works.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The general components to this entry work like viewers
expect. The animation is good, the voice acting and main characters are their
usual selves and the music is decent. However, those same familiarities find
themselves showing up in the same bland villains, boring legendary Pokémon and
generic storytelling.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 5:10</span></b></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-30983964642008915392022-04-19T19:06:00.006-07:002022-04-19T19:06:51.303-07:00Love at First Hiccup (2009) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Growing up and maturing into an adult can bring on a multitude
of feelings. Hormones are raging and everything is changing at a faster rate
than normal as this process happens. Of course most adolescence experience this
as they go through the education system; learning from their parents, friends
and their own senses. One particular actor that many could relate to during
this period of time was Devon Werkheiser from Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified
School Survival Guide. Young adults were proud to be a part of and go through
the motions with Werkheiser’s star making show. After the show ended,
Werkheiser still had that image of playing a school kid. Here this film plays
more into some adult themes which is good, except for how its executed. That’s
probably the biggest issue with this production.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Directed by Barbara Rothenborg in their first theatrical
film and co-writing with Foren Frellesen, this is actually the remake of a
Danish movie of the same name from a decade before. Based on a novel from Dennis
Jürgensen, the Danish version actually has several sequels. The story is about
a geeky freshman Victor (Devon Werkheiser) having an unrealistic crush on a
taken senior in his high school Anya (Scout Taylor-Compton). Anya is with a
pompous jock named Peter (Ken Luckey) and is friends with Marisa (Tania
Verafield). Victor’s only got his unhelpful buddies Ernie (Nicholas Braun) and
Nick (Sean Marquette). Meanwhile, Victor and Anya’s little brothers Zack
(Daniel Polo) and Brian (Adam J. Bernstein) play pranks on both their siblings
because family stereotypes. Victor’s problem is that he doesn’t have the
confidence to talk to Anya, and when he does, he gets hiccups.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">At the same time, Anya hopes to lose her virginity to
someone she finds truly special. At the moment she’s not sure if Peter’s the
one. The biggest red flag in this story is Anya’s character arc. Not sure what
the legal age of consent is for the people of Denmark but in the US, a senior
in high school, who should be 18, looking to fornicate with anyone younger than
them is a no. Why couldn’t Victor and his friends also be geeky seniors in high
school? That would be one less counter against this film. The story itself is
also fairly cliché. What teen drama hasn’t depicted a down on their luck rejected
protagonist that somehow pulls all kinds of stops to get the attention of their
ever so out of reach love of their life? There isn’t really much to go into how
things occur because a familiar viewer of this genre could guess how most
scenes that are set up will go.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s unfortunate because there are some interesting actors
attached to this project. And because this is a comedy, there is going to be
dialog that’s supposed to be funny but not much of it is. Most of it just
strange in how it’s executed or just completely nonsensical when thinking about
how it makes any logical sense. The characters of Zack and Brian are the worst
little brothers and are actually quite crass. Also their moms and dads are even
worse as parents. Perhaps the conversations between Victor and Anya’s friends
respectively are more in line with what viewers would expect from those
particular characters. But the others just seem a little too out there. Despite
all this though the cast of actors perform the best they can given the
material. Being that Devon Werkheiser came from Ned’s he naturally fit the
bill.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Scout Taylor-Compton at the time just got off playing in Rob
Zombie’s remake of Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009). There’s also
appearances from James Eckhouse, Ann Cusack, Octavia Spencer and even Ray Wise,
who by far is the most entertaining even if he shows up only once and a while.
The cinematography was adequately shot for the production. Handled by Steven
Bernstein who also worked on The Waterboy (1998), Monster (2003) and White
Chicks (2004), the shots filmed fit the right scene even though it won’t blow
anyone’s mind. Lastly the music by Raney Shockne worked for the film too. By no
means should any viewer think that a score would be available because it
wouldn’t seeing that it’s no blockbuster production. Overall though the cues
work with the scenes even if they aren’t memorable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The actors all do what they can, the music is
appropriate for the style of the film as well as the camerawork. Unfortunately,
the writing is not strong enough though. The premise is an awkward setup
dealing with differing legal ages, the dialog feels a bit out of place and the
story itself has been done many times before.</span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 5:10</span></b></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-10140278566058605052022-04-05T17:43:00.004-07:002022-04-05T17:43:39.642-07:00Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened (2013) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Not sure exactly what bug bit Nintendo’s Pokémon studio but
their string of features during the Unova region just hasn’t hit the mark in
entertainment. As mentioned in the previous entry, it seems like things are
just on auto-pilot. The stories tend to feel repetitive despite trying to
appeal to their current fan base while expanding on the foundation when the
anime began. There’s even been callbacks to certain things but it just hasn’t
been enough to feel like anything new is really being done. Unfortunately, this
entry is very much the same again with only slight variations in different
places. It’s possible the production crew thought this story would get more
viewers’ attention because it involves a familiar face other than Ash, but that
would be the only familiarity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once again handled by the Yuyama and Sonoda duo, this film
finds Ash, Cilan and Iris headed to another city looking a lot like central
park of New York City. Inside the park is a sanctuary where Pokémon of several
regions live together. Meanwhile far away a group of 300-million-year-old
telepathic Pokémon called Genesect are searching for their home. Thinking the
area Ash and company are in reminds them of it, they begin attacking everyone
so they can claim it for themselves. At the same time, Mewtwo who can relate to
Genesect’s feelings gets involved in the situation too. Really it’s not that
good of a story for several reasons. For one, it’s just not engaging. Genesect
was apparently resurrected by scientists and no longer trusts humans. See how
Mewtwo understands? But even after all that Mewtwo has from its previous
experience, it too doesn’t trust or like humans. So no one’s learned anything
then.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let’s also not forget Mewtwo began the whole concept of
telepathic English speaking Pokémon (other than Meowth). Genesect is just
another copy of those usual things to be expected. Aside from finding their
home as its repeatedly mentioned, there isn’t much else to really get behind
for these new Pokémon. Making things even worse is how botched Mewtwo is as a
character. Upon meeting Ash again, Mewtwo recalls nothing of what it went
through with Ash from the first movie or when it crossed paths with Ash after
that. Unless this is a new Mewtwo, which makes no sense. Where’s the continuity?
So much for Ash promising they wouldn’t forget what they experienced together
several movies back. Making things even more confusing is whether this is
actually the same Mewtwo from before. Reason being the voice is totally
different and Mewtwo can now transform into another form. When did this come
about?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">There really are more questions now than from before. Miriam
Pultro who now voices Mewtwo is okay in her delivery, but because the original
performance was different it is very jarring. This also seems to be Pultro’s
only voice acting credit to date. The same could be said for Samia Mounts who
voices the Genesect who befriends Ash and company. However, voicing the lead
Genesect is Scott Rayow who does have experience doing anime dubs before and
even in Pokémon. Then there’s Eric who is Ash and friend’s tour guide through
the park voiced by Jake Paque. The character is useless as he tries to fix the
tech being destroyed by the fighting Pokémon. Somehow he’s the only one working
among all other park employees. It’s almost pointless to have this character.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Voice acting in general is fine though as usual. Even Team
Rocket gets lines this time, which is cool. Animation was also an equally good
looking component. Featuring bright colors and fluid movements there isn’t much
that needs correcting either. Cinematography was credited to Tatsumi Yukiwaki
in their first Pokémon project although, like everyone before them, no idea
what it’s used for. Finally, the music composed by Shinji Miyazaki believe it
or not felt a little more noticeable this time. The tracks heard in this
feature feel a little more heartfelt despite the connections not fully being
there. But like always there was no domestic release so the album is again
unattainable locally. One day, maybe one day they’ll get a rerelease. That’s
all there is to it though.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Regular components like the animation and voice acting
are kept the same. Music even picks up some but the story in general is still
bland. Continuity is also very confusing with the changes made to Mewtwo.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 5:10</span></b></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-55647484897073046612022-03-27T10:20:00.002-07:002022-03-27T10:20:28.241-07:00Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero (1998) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Warner Bros. DC animated series of Batman and Superman are
known for being a part of the best adaptations of said characters. Very few
people who are fans of the characters would have a negative opinion of these
renditions because of their quality storytelling and production. This is also
the reason why the theatrical film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) was
created as well. It was just that popular and well regarded. So with that, it’s
no surprise another production would be made. Maybe not as high in scale but
still very good. There was one major drawback though and that was its release
date. This was all thanks due to the poor performance of Batman & Robin
(1997). Which it’s likely true many also are aligned with their feelings on
that production too.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Directed by Boyd Kirkland, and co-writing with Randy Rogel
who both worked on Batman: The Animated Series, the story is mainly about Mr.
Freeze (Michael Ansara). The chilly villain that is more tragic than just insane.
The film is an important link between the first two seasons and the later
rendition of the show. Without this, what happens to Mr. Freeze doesn’t make
much sense. After sinking under the ocean with his wife Nora, Freeze lives a
life of solitude before being disturbed once again by outside forces. Almost
losing his love again, Freeze captures the financially desperate Dr. Greg
Belson (George Dzundza) to perform the needed organ transplant. Being that Nora
is a rare blood type, the two do some back alley digging and find Barbara
Gordon (Mary Kay Bergman) as the perfect match for the job.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">What this film puts on display is truly the last amount of
humanity that Mr. Freeze ever had. He’s just one of those villains that really
doesn’t hurt for the sake of chaos. He causes chaos, but out of his desires
that are of course to most, seen as selfish but he sees out of love. There will
always be that moment where the viewer will say to themselves “If only he had
done…he wouldn’t have to do what he’s doing now”. Again, not seeing this
feature creates a gaping hole in the next story to focus on Mr. Freeze in the
TV show. Unfortunately, for someone who wants to watch things in which they
were released will cause this issue</span><span style="font-family: arial;">It was probably the right move to not to release this
feature alongside the financial blunder that Batman & Robin (1997) ended up
being, but still.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It also doesn’t help that the later series had differing
designs for all the major characters. It’s truly not the biggest problem
considering the story arc does not change but it is jarring either way. The
feature itself still maintains the original series design and look, no
complaints, just observation. Although there is one added addition and that is
the use of CGI in various shots. Some of which is okay, while others are a bit
rough. That’s not to say the rest of the animation doesn’t hold up. It’s also
very difficult to tell (except for the CGI) that the budget wasn’t the same as
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993). All the scenes animated and colored look
great and provide a lot of visual entertainment for the audience. The action
sequences also help a lot in that too.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The same could be said for the voice acting which has always
been top notch in quality. Because the focus is more on Mr. Freeze, Michael
Ansara really had time to shine and in his final acting role. Additionally, George
Dzundza had voiced Scarface in other episodes of show. As for Mary Kay Bergman,
she sadly passed away a year after but voiced several other characters in shows
like South Park and The Little Mermaid. Finally, the music had the right idea
too. Surprisingly not composed by Shirley Walker, the score to this picture was
handled by Michael McCuistion. However, the reason why the music still works is
that he too supported the TV show. While Batman’s theme isn’t really heard, it
all sounds like its cut from the same cloth. Additionally, there are other
themes related to Freeze’s wife Nora. With almost an hour of music, it is
definitely something to have with the collection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some will be scratching their heads when seeing the
animation revert to old designs and filling in missing story elements if going
by release date, but that shouldn’t be a big deal. The CGI can be iffy at times
but the story is still good, as is the acting, music and animation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Points Earned --> 7:10</b></span></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-77497223975263267582022-03-05T16:29:00.001-08:002022-03-05T16:29:07.201-08:00Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice (2012) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Pokémon franchise has made quite a habit of using their
film entries to introduce new legendary Pokémon to their seemingly unlimited
roster. One thing though that would be nice is to try something different in
structure. Sometimes very slight alterations were made which helped, but very
much the overall execution was the same as before. It really could be that the
director and writer pair Kunihiko Yuyama and Hideki Sonoda are running out of
ideas, or this is what truly satisfies the fan base. For a franchise to go on
like this however, there should be something to keep feeling new and nostalgic
about it, once time passes on. The earlier films might retain more of that
feeling for varying reasons. As for the latest films to come out after the new
production company took over, the entries just haven’t been as unique.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The plot for this film does actually take another approach
as what is being asked here. It’s not enough, but credit should be given where
a request is fulfilled. The story is about Keldeo (Vic Mignogna), a Pokémon
looking to become a sword of justice, which is a group of other noble Pokémon
that consist of Cobalion (Tyler Bunch), Virizion (Emlyn Morinelli) and Terrakion
(David Manis). All of whom are telepathic, can create a sword-like horn of
light out of their head and fight for those in need. In order to become a sword
of justice, Keldeo is to train and battle Kyurem (Marc Thompson), the strongest
dragon in the world who contains the power of Zekram and Reshram. Oh and it’s
also telepathic. Really this is Keldeo’s movie and character story. Ash and his
friends are in this movie too, but are definitely not the focus. Team Rocket
just has cameos this time!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">So the change in focus is different, that’s fine but the
amount given is a little drastic. It almost feels like Ash and friends don’t
even really need to be involved. Can’t there be a balance? It can’t be all Ash
or nothing. As seen in the film though, there really is no development among
the recurring characters. So what’s their purpose other than to move things
along? One thing that’s definitely been overdone is the whole telepathic Pokémon
aspect. Thankfully, Keldeo is also nowhere near the same design as others like
Victini, Mew or Celebi, but the design feels closer to that of My Little Pony.
That’s not an insult, it’s more of how the design fits in with other
characters. Even more strange is that Keldeo shoots geysers from the bottom of his
hooves. That just doesn’t look very useful other than for jet propulsion.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Voice acting can’t be knocked here. All the voice actors in
their recurring roles do just fine now that they’ve established themselves
well. Even the voice actors who voice the swords of justice and Kyurem match
what is on screen in energy. It’s just weird seeing a bunch of telepathic Pokémon
talking to each other with no humans involved. Vic Mignogna is known for
voicing Broly in Dragonball Z. Marc Thompson voiced Duke Devlin in Yu-Gi-Oh.
Tyler Bunch has also worked as a muppet performer. Emlyn Morinelli has played miscellaneous
characters in some Pokémon episodes, while David Manis hasn’t done much voice
acting at all let alone Pokémon. The right cast members are here to get the job
done, it’s just the quality of the script that is lacking unfortunately.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Visually the animation is also competently handled. There
aren’t any noticeable spots that looked unfinished or needing touchups. Cinematography
which is again this time taken care of by Shinsuke Ikeda is unclear for what
reason. There are some scenes that look like realistic photo backgrounds were
used…perhaps that’s what the cinematography was needed for? Finally, the film
score by Shinji Miyazaki is stock at this point. There really isn’t a whole lot
to his music right now as it feels like very much the same from entries before.
The only good thing is that the runtime on this entry is the shortest of all so
far, which makes the viewing experience somewhat painless. Too bad, because
that’s not how a film should be seen as.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Right now it seems like the franchise is on autopilot
with its entries. The production continues to be good whether it be the voice
acting or animation. But the music and variety in how the story is executed has
been one too many of the same kind presented before. The difference here is, it’s
about a Pokémon’s journey, not Ash and his friends.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Points Earned --> 4:10</span></b></p>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054952503236575739.post-45788777305923614062022-02-26T15:33:00.005-08:002022-02-26T15:33:41.394-08:00Duel (1971) Review:<p><span style="font-family: arial;">To even the most uninvolved moviegoers, the name Steven
Spielberg is not something easily forgotten. Crowned as the inventor of summer
blockbusters with films like Jaws (1975), many consider this guy one of the
greats with hit after hit after hit coming out early on in his career. Although
now he takes up more of a producer credit in most productions, he occasionally
still lends his directing abilities to projects he wants to helm. Before he was
really on the map though, he did direct some lesser known features and of them
was this made for TV movie. Believe it or not though the studio threw extra
money at Spielberg just to have more added to the story. As a result, this bare
bones budget film still pulls some pretty hard punches at the viewer with an
interesting setup.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The film, directed by Spielberg and written by Richard
Matheson is about a regular guy by the name of David Mann (Dennis Weaver) who’s
taking a business trip out west. While out on the road passing by numerous
vehicles, he ends up behind a fuel truck. A very well worn, grungy, smoke
billowing fuel truck. Ok, not much to really consider here. As he begins to
pass, he receives an annoyed response. Thinking nothing much of the exchange,
little does David Mann know that the driver behind the truck has just had one
too many drivers go by. And what Mann thinks of as just another one-off
occurrence, will end up being an encounter he won’t so easily avoid.
Considering the time this movie was released, it still can strike an impression
with viewers today. Any reasonable person understands that people act
differently on the road in their own vehicles.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes though, it’s never known what the other person not
in the same car or truck is thinking. Some individuals just snap and go off the
deep end. This is essentially the entire conflict of the film but what makes
this thriller significant is just how realistic this situation could be. To a
person in Mann’s position, it’s not only scary but could be completely
horrific. In some ways the film almost feels like a horror film only because
the driver of the truck is barely visible. If those specific shots were not
shown, it would almost feel like the truck itself was alive and yet it still
comes across that way of having a personality of its own. This is partly why
the tension created in the movie is fairly effective. The other part is the
psychological aspect. Sometimes audiences will here Weaver playing the inner
voice of Mann, thinking of what to do next.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s because of this and the driver being so elusive that
can make a viewer bite their nails like crazy. The parts viewers may not
totally get behind is the lack of main characters. There are other supporting
characters that show up, but none are important enough for the story to hang on
to. Not to mention, the personality of David Mann is not the most charming.
Sure, people could sympathize with the character and his problem, but as for
the character in general not so much. David Mann comes across very much like a
book worm or someone who doesn’t have much of a backbone. On top of that are
some choices made, by either Mann or the antagonistic truck driver. Of course,
without these decisions maybe there’d be no movie? But some of what the
characters do is just illogical when it comes to safety and consequences of the
actions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The cinematography was a great component to the viewing
experience. Shot by Jack A. Marta as the director of photography, there a
number of shots emphasizing the dangerous speeds that are reached between the
two dueling vehicles. Marta also does an excellent job concealing the truck
driver as well as highlighting the menacing front of the truck itself. Marta
would also shoot for the original Walking Tall (1973). Finally, the score by
Billy Goldenberg was an interesting listening experience. Known for his music
on the Columbo series, Goldenberg composed music that would rightfully get an
album release much later after the film’s release. The score is a mix of mostly
strings and harps, with the occasional piano going in and out. While there’s no
real main theme, the score makes sure the viewer hears the uncertainty and
erratic nature of the plot.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For a TV turned theatrical production, this simple
almost no cast film is still able to create a high strung thriller based on an
identifiable matter most people could bump into. While the main character isn’t
the most affable and some really nonsense choices are made, the music,
camerawork and acting all make this a story no one would want to deal with.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Points Earned --> 7:10</b></span></div>Nick the Nitpick Film Critichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098672453187562972noreply@blogger.com0