Year 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Ultimate Edition (DVD)

Posted on by

While Mike Newell did in theory retain much of the mood and dread set by Alfonso Cuaron who injected his own individual flavor in to “Prisoner of Azkaban,” the fourth installment of the film series entitled “The Goblet of Fire” is no more entertaining than the aforementioned title. It’s even worse than the third one primarily because this series progresses more and more in to formulaic dribble and less in to adventurous and original fantasy doldrums that could stimulate the audience.

Director Newell’s installment is absolutely gorgeous to watch, but in the realm of story and characterization it brings very little to the table. Even with Ralph Fienne’s magnificent portrayal of the monstrous Lord Voldemort among the finale. The story this time delves in to Harry Potter’s dark side, and his capability to submerge himself to the dark side and become a pawn for Voldemort in the end.

Continue reading →

Year 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Ultimate Edition (DVD)

Posted on by

For folks currently switching over to Blu-Ray this Christmas, there is also the option for traditional DVD releases, and this year available for all of the Potter fans is the Year 3 Ultimate Edition of Alfonso Cuaron’s “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” one of the few very entertaining installments of the Harry Potter series that has a truly dark and grim tone to it appealing toward adults and children alike.

This is one of the few films of the series that convinces me Harry Potter is not just for six year olds with a library card, and Cuaron lends a distinction that makes his version of the book much more bleak and atmospheric with a horror film sensibility and grit he brought over from “Children of Men.” Granted, I’m not a fan of the Harry Potter franchise in spite of my trying in the early days of the first book. I can still fondly recall reading the first book and midway through the text, I had to put it down and try to stay awake.

Continue reading →

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Posted on by

Extra-The-kids-are-alrigh-0It’s very rare in pop culture today, where you can watch a film that is a drama and comedy, composed primarily out of performances with expressions and idiosyncrasies rather than endless diatribes and emotional outbursts drowning us in dialogue. With “The Kids are All Right,” the reactions and undertones of sadness are there within every single character. And it’s most important to ignore what they’re saying, and pay close attention to what they aren’t saying. Lisa Cholodenko’s dramedy about the modern family, and the plight of the odd structure of said family is a sad and typically miserable film about worshipping the wrong people, and reaching for a goal that is unobtainable. Every individual in this piece are looking for something to fulfill their lives, and sadly they will have the most difficult time looking for it.

Continue reading →

Disney’s A Christmas Carol (2009)

Posted on by

a_christmas_carol_2009

It’s rather disheartening how a film that is filled with such a visual epic scope can in the end feel so cold and lifeless. Even with the title now being “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” with Charles Dickens (you know, the author of the actual story?) craftily omitted from the publicity campaign. Robert Zemeckis’ insistence on delivering some of the more stone cold animated films, that continue to attempt to convince us that it’s so much more than a simple demo reel continues with “A Christmas Carol.” It’s yet another spin on Charles Dickens tales of Christmas and redemption through the lens of motion capture computer animation. And much like the method of motion capture, it tries to be about as humanistic and moving as possible, but never can capture the subtle quirks and nuances of the human face and their emotions.

Continue reading →

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Posted on by

santa-claus-conquers

“That’s what you’re all becoming… Martianmallows.”

So the Martians of this piece have no idea what television is, despite watching it often. They have no idea what dolls are. They have no comprehension of the idea of tender loving care, but they’re fans of hamburgers and chocolate cake in pill form? How does that work? I have a feeling even with the notorious “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” being touted to children in its original release, the kids in the audience sat through about twenty minutes, and thought this experience would be much better with some acid at hand. It’s not so much that “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” is a bad movie, it’s that it’s so terribly put together and written that it ends up watching as a slow and painful death that you can’t help to look at with sheer disbelief.

Continue reading →

Black Christmas (1974)

Posted on by

black-christmas-1974-still

We never did find out who Billy was, did we? Was he a disgruntled ex-boyfriend? A humiliated crush? Or perhaps just a lunatic who drifted into the sorority house one night before Christmas? It’s always more frightening to be left with questions, isn’t it? Why do killers always have to have a motive or connection to the characters? Do real murderers always make sense? From the first frame director Bob Clark leads us through a labyrinth of absolute red herrings advising us to pay attention, notice the clues, and really focus in on where he’s going with “Black Christmas.” For years I heard many people trying to figure out who Billy is and what his intent was toward this group of young women in their sorority house one Christmas. How is able to get in and out without notice? How is he able to sneak back and forth in this house without being seen?

Continue reading →

Family Guy Presents: It's a Trap! (2010)

Posted on by

WeHaveABadFeelingAboutThisPFifty five seconds in, I’m not kidding, fifty five seconds in, “Family Guy” manages to meet my expectations in the sense of laziness concerning the writers. Does this show still have writers? Are they just floating around in big pools compiling scripts on cocktail napkins now? Do they even care anymore? Within the first minute, “It’s A Trap!” squeezes in a joke about the nineties, before the Griffins experience another blackout. Just like “Blue Harvest.” Except with the aforementioned special, there was some set-up. Here the family groans at the black out and Stewie asks “We’re doing Jedi now, aren’t we?” to which Peter groans and declares “Let’s just get through this.” So… what’s the joke here? Were the writers obligated to finish off the trilogy? Are they making it heard to their fan base that they don’t even want to do this final installment? Are they echoing our thoughts on yet another “Star Wars” satire? Does the fan base even care that the writers aren’t even trying anymore?

Continue reading →