eratee Reviews

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (2005 Video)

It's like back to school plays

[1/10 · 28 April 2007]

It might be OK for a funny youtube-video or a school play in elementary school, but throwing away (or perhaps not ever even looking into) all the books about story telling, scripting, ACTING, and movie making in this huge project is just a plain pity. Why bother to make all the effects, planning and costume-design if the main idea should be telling a story? As someone said before, comedy is very hard style in the art of film. There is funny scenes from time to time but all that is ruined by the oversizing, childish acting. If you haven't seen this movie, imagine your 12 year old neighbor kid reading lines from paper. I felt so ashamed for the people involved on the screen.

I hope the makers will take very seriously the critical comments they have received. The problem is that only the similar nerds comment praising and saluting the effort, that is patting in the back for effects, not for a good movie.

I remember seeing the first Star Wrecks on my PC long time ago. The characters were drawn by a computer-mouse I assume and only the lips were moving. The voice acting was mainly stupid but it worked back then. If a badly drawn character repeating stupid lines beats Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning's character's any time, I call that a total waste of 7 years.

No matter how cool the 3d.

Kaze, Ghost Warrior (2004)

Looks great! But lacks depth

[5/10 · 6 February 2007]

I can see where Tim was waiting to get his hands on this - and it is very inspiring stuff - this short film, it made me to start my own... But boy, it lacks depth.. the whole story doesn't fit together, every personality is a cliché and there's too much spiritual mumbojumbo in the end.

Also the lack of music (this piece would need constant background sound) and the poor talent of the artist's voice-acting is really a big down.

Otherwise its a good to see, if you are in the business..

It looks good, but be sure to look under the surface too.

The Island on Bird Street (1997)

Good young actor.

[9/10 · 26 June 2005]

I don't know if the story's true - it might be. Makes you think. At times makes you even feel that it is real - right in very front of you.

I found myself from all the hiding games. The boy's events were partly an adventure - playing hide and seek with the gestapo (panthers) all by himself with his assistant Snow (Friday). And partly a nightmare where the war grips everything away and leaves you no choice but to crawl into your hideout and cry. You really feel&fear for the kid when soldiers come to find the last of the Jews again and again and again...

I think the director made quite a decent job (at least above the average) by telling the story so visually. Not too much talking here - and it is mostly in English, which is odd. Although some scenes I would've done differently.

I didn't know the composer was Z.Preisner until read it here, but you sure will notice a meister at work. At least when the ending credits roll.

The Incredibles (2004)

Comedy? This?

[6/10 · 25 March 2005]

Warning! May contain a slight spoiler.

This is the worst big budget (3d) animation I've ever seen. Ice Age was not too good either but it was honestly not trying to throw you with lame jokes.

The best 3d-animation experience was Shrek in 2001. The day Shrek came out I was so amazed. I had been living in a thought it was just a kiddo movie but it included so much clever Terry Pratchett-alike mixing of old tales&stories + adult jokes (all the measurement of the king's 'size' etc..) that it all was like the parody of the concept of a fairy tale... It made me laugh constantly, actually even cry at one point.

The Incredibles again... It felt just like one of those movies where someone gets a good idea and stretches it two hours long.. That really can't last. Not with this amount of badly written fillings which they dare to call jokes.

Consider how they could have made so much better parody like they did in Shrek : the rescuing prince is really an Ogre, the Wolf is a 'gender-confused granny', the mirror as a TV-screen and frightened by breaking a little mirror etc. But instead they just put the father Incredible to break things like a plate or a car when he gets nervous. Or the kids fighting each other with their super skills. Everything is just damn too obvious! Including the bond-alike headquarters of the bad guy. And of course the final battle is incredibly predictable piece of the usual Monday movie.

I'm not saying that recycling things is bad but comparing to Austin Powers, this movie is clumsy by not adding any good parody to the agent-touch.

I study this stuff. 3d-animation etc, and I hope that all the comments which are summarized as 'truly incredible' (very original, I must say) come from people who are just blinded by the look. I don't think they would've liked this one as much if the same story was done traditionally or with real actors.

Both movies, this and Shrek are dealing about being different. But In my humble opinion, Incredibles does it without the Heart. If you are seeking for a film about the hard part of being a superhero, I'd suggest you to watch Spider-Man 2 and leave this movie to your kids for whom it was modeled & rendered to.

Freaky Friday (2003)

After the horrible trailer... I was surprised.

[6/10 · 13 May 2004]

I saw the trailer some time ago and it totally sucked. I don't remember was it the crappy lettering/fonts or the music used or the particularly annoying way of Hollywood to tell the viewer everything about the film in a few seconds and leave nothing to imagination.

I was sure I wasn't going to ever watch this film.

But on a flight from Spain to Finland I had to - I got nothing better to watch/read and actually it wasn't so bad as I expected.

Yet I was aware how the plot was going to evolve, this turned out to be quite a delightful movie. The viewer's compassions are on the teenage girl who comes to show her mother how to live her life.

I'll give it a 6. Because it's a Disney Revisited.

Sweet Jane (1998)

All in its (melo)drama, a great film.

[8/10 · 4 April 2004]

This is something I would've wanted to see when I was a teenager.

The extraordinary relationship between the two could've gone on forever.

The love in this film isn't the usual, but a strange mix of affection and pity. Still making a great Romeo&Julie -touch to it. Its like Holy Matrimony(1994) done much deeper.

There are flaws, of course. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been one of my favorite young actors, but I couldn't totally handle his acting in this film without drawing connections to the 3rd Rock´from the Sun. But somehow these flaws, like the old-fashioned dubbing in the end, just make the loneliness of the two greater.

Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

Really enjoyable classic

[9/10 · 11 January 2004]

This was broadcasted yesterday on the telly and I just happened to watch it by an accident. And if a movie makes me register into IMDB for over a years of use, just to get myself to vote it, you can surely think out my opinion of it. The title's maybe misleading, and I knew something about the idea already, but they couldn't have made it better.