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March 6 at 12:01 AM (tonight) I am going to be one with my fellow early goer Watchmen brethren. I have been really psyched about this for few years when I heard that they were working on the film. I purchased the graphic novel several years ago, but I never finished the book. Sadly Its sitting in a box collecting cobwebs. I have general knowledge of what the movie is about, but sometimes I think its a good thing not to be a biased overjoyed or disgruntled fan. I have stayed far far away from articles and trailers so when I post my entry later tomorrow it will be from a fresh perspective. Stay tuned…
Early this morning I saw the 191 minute film Watchmen.
Its a graphic novel: Graphic Novel Culture is a lot like Hip Hop Culture. They are both written for a specific cynical mind set. The characters are dynamic, surreal and boastful. Most importantly both use wildly shocking imagery and red button language to convey a message or a story. In both cases the art form is misunderstood by the popular mass and moralists who are not able to siphon out relevant components of the story that the in crowd culture is comfortable in doing.
The violence level: is somewhere between the Dark Knight and Sin City. The physical fighting abilities are typical Hollywood choreography a little on the rigid side for my taste unlike the fluid blurring sequences done in the Bourne series. The bone cracking effects and the styled slow motion depth movements like the film “300″ are excellent. For fan boys who appreciate the “don’t hold back” nature of comic books, this will satisfy your appetite.
The pacing: It moves at a smart pace between two main subject plots mixed with multiple character developments and a handful of sub plots. There are a bunch of gaps, but you have to use your imagination and intelligence in filling them in. It does a good job in tying everything all together.
The storyline: Its cynical, its hostile, its not a feel good Superhero film. It has an edge of queasiness that touches on some taboo topics that may make some feel uncomfortable, I’m definitely not one of those people. One of the good things about comic books and graphic novels is that they bring the cynical elements of everyday life into view without seeming over protective.
Visually: As a video editor and artist, I was very appreciative of the details and striking visuals from the film. Its fun and daring though its nothing specifically new about its artistic nature, it does captive your attention.
Whats a Superhero: When we think of Hollywood Superhero films like Batman, Superman or Spiderman we see the conflicted hero and how they enact a fair brand of justice. Well some of the Superhero’s from Watchmen are nothing like that and in some cases they appear to be anti Superhero’s. Which is what made me think, what is the real definition of a Superhero vs the Hollywood media branded version. I think its fair to say that these Superhero’s brand of violence and justice are rooted in the real world indecency and selective morality.
- Bendrix
Today Feb 14th Blippers from all over the world have been bliping non stop (similar to a non stop broadcast), asking listeners to donate. The effort is in aid for the Children of Gaza. The money pledged will be going to help the kids of the Gaza strip. If you want to help and want more information please visit http://blipathon.com.
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The Batman comic books are a monumental staple in the world of sci-fi and fiction, the two Batman animated TV series were brilliant, and the Batman Begins film was a true masterpiece. The Batman TV show staring Adam West was entertaining to some degree, but when I watch it now I cringe. Outside of that every Batman movie that I have seen over the years has fallen short of delivering what it promises. With the exception of maybe the Joker’s character (staring Jack Nickelson) in the very first Batman every single character has been a a bit of a bore.
In The Dark Knight the dialog is not as intelligent and the story is way over the top to be believable, even in this fantasy breaking-the-rules reality. The action sequences and the gadgets were blah but there are a few interesting concepts used in the film that make for interesting conversation afterwards. The movie is called The Dark Knight but what we see is a once strong Batman character (Christian Bale) having to dummy down his role. Maggie Gyllenhaals character was totally useless, Michal Kane and Morgan Freeman are both always fun to watch. I must admit, I really enjoyed some of the dark sentiments and personality moments by the Joker (Heath Ledger). He surprised me because he played an excellent Joker but I feel he was truly held back by the PG-13 rating. He could have easily been a more memorable and menacing cad. I feel that all the characters are solid but were all flawed by the poor script writing.
One of the biggest let downs in the film are the fight sequences. They seem to have reverted back to the robotic choreography Hollywood fight scenes. It was like “hey I’m going to telegraph my punch now… now you duck”. I hate the way Batman blocks punches, the way he attacks, he just looks like an untrained novice. This is Batman he is tactical, agile and a master combatant. I thought it was perfect before how they used camera shakyness and trickery to disorient the viewer. I am fond of the incoherent blurring sequences from the last Batman and from the Borne series. Not that its only about the fight … but in a way it is … and its about showing this human with heightened super abilities.
I know I really shouldn’t compare them, but this is the same director and the same characters. This movie pales in every way imaginable to Batman Begins. But I hold all directors, writers and their production crews to a high standard. I expect top notch professional storytelling and execution because they have millions of dollars, they got $15 USD from me and employed hundreds of people to put this together. I demand more of them and it should be better or as good as the last film. I mean it wasn’t the worst film of the summer and it certainly was entertaining to a point, but its the possibilities of what could have been is what saddens me.
There was a real hope with Batman Begins, but just like with every Hollywood blockbuster the big wigs always find a way to screw things up. People will go see a film if the story is solid, especially if its a franchise movie or with super cool effects. But somehow storytelling is not one of Hollywoods vested interests because they continue to feed the public mediocre incomplete works. At any rate enough of my ranting, because the crowds that enjoyed movies like Wanted and Hancok will probably dig this movie. People will definitely go see it and it will get lots of buzz and recommendations. This Batman movie is a cut above the competition at the moment but its the same bland entertainment value. If you are a Bat fan like me and enjoy a good story you probably will be disappointed.
- Bendrix
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Since 1995 Pixar has dazzled us with groundbreaking award winning animation. But its not just the animation that captivates us, these films have a soul. Ratatouille follows in the Pixar tradition by delivering impressive atmosphere layered under a tabooed yet endearing story.
Lets face it, American animation films are overwhelmingly bland and mind numbingly half-assed. Here’s the typical plot: several big name actors do voice over work, for several key characters from the film. There’s lots of obnoxious potty humor and tons of cliche references from mainstream entertainment. What’s worse is that the movie trailers show just about every comedic punch-line and action sequence from the movie, leaving nothing to the imagination.
Which brings me back to Ratatouille, I saw a 30 second trailer about a year ago. I was scratching my head thinking… Another kid movie about a talking animal? A RAT at that! How distasteful can that be? Pixar has this strange formula that only seems to work for them. A year before a film is released they present a seemingly unfinished concept trailer. It would appear to be counter productive, but somehow it works! The original trailers for Toy Story (I & II), The Incredibles, Cars, Monster’s Inc., and Finding Nemo all used this tactic and each time I wrote them off as failures even before the project was complete. As it got closer to Ratatouille’s release , I saw a clip of the same rat telling the same story about his desire to be a chef. This time I was intrigued, because they really had refined the concept. This trailer was intelligent and it captured the true essence of an exquisite cliffhanger narrative.
When the movie came out, I was totally feeling optimistic about it, so a group of us went to catch an evening showing, which was packed with parents and their kids. Oh boy! {rolls eyes} Not only was the movie smart, it was absolutely hilarious, even more surprising was that the kids sat there silent and engrossed.
I was enchanted. Ratatouille captured the atmosphere and vibe of Paris. I mean it truly is a spectacle not to be missed on the big screen. The animators obviously payed special attention to the keen details that are generally overlooked by most animation studios today. The film also touched on subjects like trust, family obligation and following your dreams.
Hey! Its still Hollywood, but somehow it manages to deliver the story in such a way that even puts traditional “real people” films to task. For most of the movie you suspend the disbelief of a rodent preparing food. Its a masterful rewiring of our prejudices… maneuvering an embracing sentiment towards our accepting rodents in the kitchen. I must warn you that there are a few unsettling scenes that transport you back to reality.
I give this movie 4 3/4 stars out of 5, for the sheer fact that the film is based in France yet all the rats and the main character Alfredo Linguini spoke good ol’ American English. That was the only real weakness of the movie and to be honest its not really a distraction, its just me being nit-picky. The characters: Remy (the little chef) and Alfredo Linquini (the garbage boy) have a wonderful chemistry as chef and marionette puppet. Gusteau (the deceased master chef) is a jovial ghostly head that pops up in Remy’s mind from time to time as the voice of reason and his inspiration. The exchanges between Remy and Gusteau provides much of the comedy relief throughout the film. Colette Tatou (the tough female chef) seemingly a hardcore feminist, plays mentor and good friend to the inept garbage boy. I really dug her character she was tough man and had a spiky yet alluring spirit. Anton Ego (the harsh food critic) was an striking depiction of snobbery to the highest order; I mean you really want to hate this guy. I’m not going to spoil it, but I’ll just say that he is featured in one of the most memorable scenes in all movie history, towards the end.
Almost all Hollywood films both animated and traditional, taste like Burger King or Mc Donald’s; but, Pixar films taste more like Iron Chef gourmet meals. Ratatouille doesn’t spoon feed you, it makes you think, it entertains you, and doesn’t talk down to any generation or group. It represents the essence of a ‘true’ family movie experience because the parents can actually feel stimulated and their kids can become enriched by this dynamic moving story that interweaves artful storytelling at its best.
- Bendrix
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If you wish to skip the adventures leading up to my review, I suggest jumping to the bottom of the page. 
Thursday 7:00PM I’m geeked up and ready to trek over to the IMAX Theater in Manhattan on 68th and Broadway. I walked to the store got my “yum yums” and proceeded to walk up the block … I thought “ooh damn I just missed the bus.” I don’t want to wait 25 minutes for the next cross town bus… “its a beautiful day let me just walk.”
7:45PM Midway through Central Park Its dark, “all of these hills, valleys and discontinuous paths are confusing me, where the heck am I.” Its taking me 30 minutes longer than I expected. “DAGNABBIT!!!” I thought “i forgot my allergy medication,” as I’m sneezeN, wheezeN and gaspN the entire way. Oh did I mention the weight of my mono-pod and camera equipment inside… I was set to podcast the pre and post movie goer responses… I have been planning this for about 3 months now.
8:30PM I arrive at the theater great no lines no people downstairs … I go get my fandango ticket out of the machine… I go upstairs … “WOW the line is already forming and its about 30 to 40 people deep… not bad not bad” I just get a spot.
8:45PM I assembled my video camera and went to various people in line and asked them questions like “what their expectations were for the film” and “what time they got there” I got about 8 people on camera. then go to the front of the line… two cuties are sitting in front. I ask them how long they were there …”since 7PM.” Asked them if they wouldn’t mind going on camera saying that … they declined.
9:00PM The manager of the Theater comes out and says “Please leave the building… No cameras in the building.” I said “I’ll just put it away…” He says “NO Please leave the building…” I’m like “but I paid for this ticket 2 weeks ago I won’t have time to go home and drop the camera off and come back and I’m here early in line…” Basically I had to take my camera somewhere other than the theater because he said that they could not hold it and could not be held responsible for it. I went to pack my camera up and left… lets just say I worked something out and came back upstairs to get back in line.
9:20PM One of the group of guys in the front of the line that I was interviewing, invited me to cut the line and hang out with them. I thought it beat the alternative of having to go to the back of the line, which was now 100+ people deep. They were cool kats we had jokes and fun and I was hangN tough with them like we were old time buddies
10:00PM They let us in the theater to sit down. The group I was with was able to secure about 15 seats in the back row, the best seats in the house. All but 2 seats were taken in our row. People kept coming around asking if they were taken and my guys were just shooing them away.
10:30PM Because the IMAX theater is so huge the movie attendant makes an announcement via megaphone… “anyone in the theater holding seats needed to release them and move closer to the middle.” Some people moved but my boys continued to hold their seats. Some {{Knuckle-Head}} actually forced his way into one of the seats and insisted he was entitled to the seat. The guys who made me part of their crew were like “YO my boyz are getting popcorn…” after much grumbling the {{Knuckle-Head}} got up and left.
By 11:00PM It was a crazy scene, some people were literally getting booed by some of the seated ticket holders, all because they pleaded and begged various people to move over JUST ONE seat when they found an unoccupied seat. I have never heard of people getting booed by a theater crowd before. Though funny the first time it got old after the 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th time(s)…
11:30PM In between all the booing and cheering at random crowd activity there was another announcement that movie attendants would be coming through the rows to identify IMAX ticket holders… they said “if you didn’t have an IMAX ticket you would be asked to leave.” I thought this was highly irregular. In all my movie going years I have never had anyone come to verify tickets once I occupied a seat in the theater. As they were going through the rows… “MY boyz” the same ones that held down 14 seats … just up and ran out… it was a total scandal. I couldn’t believe they got in in the first place and had the nerve to hold down all those seats LOL.
11:55PM All these people jump in the newly vacated seats and the {{Knuckle-Head}} from before comes back and practically pushed this girl out of the way and jumped in the last two seats… The girl was absolutely pissed – not because he jumped in front of her but because the {{Knuckle-Head}} avoided having someone check his ticket. This fool was orbiting the seating area from above when the attendant was coming through… and when she left and the seats opened up he took his chance to jump right in just a few seats away from me. Anyway the girl brings a movie attendant and her boyfriend back with her … the {{Knuckle-Head}} and his friend protest and get up because NEITHER of them have a ticket. The {{Knuckle-Head}} insults the girl – the boyfriend gets pissed – fight almost breaks out… The boyfriend was huge too and madd as hell and the {{Knuckle-Head}} was a scrawny kat and the friend was a lil on the slobby side. I”m not one for drama and certainly not so close to me. People are shouting … ITS ONLY A MOVIE… luckily the fight didn’t break out. By this point
12:05AM everyone is seated and watching the movie …
2:30AM I was the third person to escape the theater. It was a shame because I had planned many months ago to get the post Spidy reviews and podcast them, but by that time the whole Pre-Spidy 3 experience and all the excitement and thrill of the opening had left me quite agitated. As my allergies continued to flare up.
THE SPIDERMAN 3 REVIEW
Let me first warn the Spidy Comic Book fans and those who dug the first two movies… if you want to really enjoy the movie please lower your expectations. It’s not the greatest movie of all time like many of us expect. As far as “American Cinema” goes: in my opinion the original Matrix is the best action hero movie of all time – Spidy 2 is distant second. OH yeah… go see this at the IMAX Theater.
Not as good as Spidy 2 but on par with Spidy 1. I fault the studios for taking short cuts and trying to get as much bang for their merchandising buck. All in all I feel the actors all gave solid performances considering it was a typical Hollywood script. Warning some of the scenes are so hokey and so overtly dramatic it comes off as comedic sloppiness instead of its intended sentiment. The dynamic between Peter Parker and Mary Jane are off target from the last two films. Aunt Mae is a cross between a seasoned Catherine Hepburn and Yoda. Jay Joanna Jameson is wickedly funny as always. There are way too many high caliber bad guys for Spidy to be handling in one movie. The story feels very rushed and lacking character development in many parts.
That Said… Although rushed I will say that it is easy to follow and a few scenes had me geekN out. Without giving away too much; I will say that I absolutely dug the back-story of Sandman and how they established the character. I also really liked the evolution of Harry Osborn as the second Goblin. I personally think he was much more interesting than the first Goblin in Spidy 1. The black costume on Spidy really should have been the black costume from the comics. The execution of the costume was not as developed as it should have been… should have been a second movie. The CGI is evident in many places, but ‘WHO THE HELL CARES!!!!” Some scenes are truly monumental and memorable in their own right. Overall a fun and entertaining piece, some of the action is just mouthwatering, for that alone its worth a viewing. I am going to take another trip to the IMAX to see it again.
- Bendrix
Diary | bendrix | 
March 5, 2009 7:24 pm | 
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