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lonshapiro
Reviews
Super 8 (2011)
Underrated - best kid buddy film since Stand By Me
First, E.T. is a 10, and the standard for all kid driven films Second is Stand By Me, which should be a 9 in the genre. Super 8 gets an 8.
Unfortunately, the movie fell short of the gold due to a weak feel-good ending and mixing in a strange horror/suspense sub plot. Just making the movie about the kids filming their zombie movie and the usual coming of age/early romance themes, would have made this a huge winner.
A lot of people put down the movie for gaps in the plot or improbable scenarios and I get that.
With access to unbelievable amounts of content and a social media culture, all of us have been split into the dual role of fan and critic. The big question is always if a movie can captivate us at the beginning and draw us into its world. If it does, we'll suspend our disbelief and accept all kinds of inconsistencies and mistakes. If it doesn't we're angry that we spent our money on a bad film, and rip the film to pieces for its duration.
Super 8 was one of those rare movies where I was completely drawn into the world of those middle school kids. The shy 14 year old that used to be me identified with Joe. Alice's opening scene blew me and the other kids away. And then suddenly, BOOM, we get hit with a scene so unexpected, so dangerous and so suspenseful, I almost shouted out loud as if I were a first person observer. That hardly ever happens to me - I can't remember reacting the same way to any movie I've seen this year, which includes all the blockbuster films. So I was hooked into the movie, and just shrugged off or ignored all the stuff other reviewers complain about.
it's that simple, if you get transported by a movie and it keeps you in that trance it's a great movie. If it stumbles and you lose that focus, your critic side is going to find all kinds of things to complain about.
One last thing, expectations are killers. Super 8 got such mixed reviews, I never saw it in the theater. Seeing it on TV was a low risk gamble, and I was so pleasantly surprised that may have contributed to the high rating.
Skyfall (2012)
It was not the worst James Bond movie ever, but...
There are three ways I evaluate movies: expectations, entertainment value, and the critical perspective. With the big event pictures, the media campaign is in such hype-drive that it is easy to be disappointed. If I rate Skyfall based on my expectations and as a long time fan, I would give it a 1. But it had a few entertaining scenes (very few), so from that perspective it probably should get a 4. The big problem is when a movie does something incredibly bad at the very beginning or the character does something that goes against everything we know about him. When a director breaks the audience's belief system, we are no longer film fans, we become film critics, picking on every plot hole, unrealistic stunts, and tech gimmicks that 20 years behind the time. Because of the 10-15 gaping holes in the movie, the movie critic part of me gave it a 1. So the average of the three parts is a 2.
SPOILERS: The director destroyed the credibility of the movie within the first five minutes of the film. The entire mythos of MI6 and 00 training gets thrown away in order to jolt the audience with a contrived plot twist and to set the bad guy's plot into motion. The idea of a trained 00 agent not completing a task because they are emotionally distraught destroyed my suspension of reality.
Another 10 minutes in, James Bond stands by and allows a possibly innocent man get murdered. Again, it was a shocking twist, but it was so incredibly stupid, evil and out of character that my belief in James Bond's character was killed. There was nothing left to do but walk out, but I paid for my ticket and stayed tip the bitter end.
From here the film would try to pull itself up only to fall with the next contrived, clichéd, or expected moment. There was something for everyone to hate in this film.
For techies, there is a ridiculous hacking scene that was stupid it was like the screenwriter had been in a coma since 1988.
For acting aficionados, there is a creepy Bond-villain scene that goes from amateur psychoanalysis to a bizarre homo-eroticism and ends as some weird quasi-oedipal revelation.
For long-time fans, Bond doesn't find clues to unravel the mystery, so much as stumble from one potentially fatal mistake to the next. The combination of strength and quick thinking that Daniel Craig showed so well in Casino Royale is no where to be found this time out.
For casual fans, this is an okay movie, but without a doubt the worst of the Daniel Craig films.
For real Bond fans, if you can get through the first 15 minutes without throwing your remote control through the TV (I'm writing this so late, my hope is that no is in a position to buy a ticket for this bomb), maybe you'll be entertained.
The reason I decided to write a review at all is because I noticed that Skyfall had a 7.8 IMDb rating, and wanted to advise people to watch Transformers 4 instead - at least the characters are more realistic in that one.
Last Action Hero (1993)
The "Blazing Saddles" of Action Movies - Arnold's Best
Whether you laugh at him because of his bad acting, or laugh with him because he is able to make fun of his own persona, Arnold Scwarzenegger has always been one of my favorite actor/comedians. His scene in "Terminator 2" as a robot learning how to mix and match teenage slang into the appropriate insult from a young John Connor showed how funny he could be while not trying to be funny. Having said that, Arnold made a quantum leap forward in his comedic abilities with the hugely underrated "Last Action Hero".
Unfortunately, audiences in 1993 were not ready to accept Arnold Schwarzenegger spoofing himself in this wickedly funny satire on action blockbusters. The rich use of background gags, cameo appearances and in-jokes playing behind the main action in this film make it is as good a genre spoof as "Blazing Saddles," "The Naked Gun," or "Austin Powers." In addition, "Last Action Hero" contains a number of original elements that elevate it above the normal spoof (which only confused the unsuspecting and unsophisticated audience further):
1) The use of classical references twisted to fit the action film genre are hilarious - Schwarzenegger as Hamlet was one of the funniest things he has ever done.
2) The "movie within a movie" device present in "Last Action Hero" is just as powerful a juxtaposition of reality and fantasy as we see in "The Matrix," but it came out six years earlier.
3) Jack Slater's growth as a character throughout the film reveals a depth in him that far surpasses most of the "real" people introduced to us in other films. There are so many instances where we see this growth: his understanding of current vehicle specs in the third "chicken" scene (which takes place in the dangerous real world); his consistent ability to surprise the audience with out of character choices like the scene with classical music and the choice of a new action hero one liner; and his ability to learn the nature of physical pain. Especially entertaining is the background monologue at the end of the movie when he tells the chief that he is perfectly capable of hearing and that he would like to develop a more respectful relationship.
There are a number of reasons the film was panned at the time that have been referred to by other reviewers - a misleading marketing campaign that had people actually expecting an action blockbuster, the misfortune of premiering right around the time of Jurassic Park, and an anti-Arnold backlash. But the biggest problem the film faced was the inability of the audience to accept Schwarzenegger as more than an ignorant muscle man. As Arnold has proved in his rise as Governator, he is far more intelligent than most people give him credit. (Don't get me wrong, he has been a terrible governor, but when you consider that his competition is made up of lawyers, businessmen, and self-made millionaires, he has certainly held his own in game of politics.) If someone else had played the role spoofing Schwarzenegger and Mel Brooks was credited as the producer, this would have become an instant classic. However, twelve years have gone by, and people are beginning to discover how good the film really is. Which is good news for Arnold, because he will most likely need a job after the 2006 gubernatorial election, so at least there will be a built in audience for "Last Action Hero: The Sequel."