Displaying Review 11 - 15 of 24 in total

• Earth, V2.0 — for Titan A.E.
  Written by Freudianspud on 19.02.2010

  The story of Titan A.E. is not what you would call very original, except for one twist: instead of saving the earth from aliens, it has already been destroyed.

  At the beginning of the 31st century, the human race is on the verge of a revolutionary discovery. In fact, they have already built it and named it Titan. This is enough reason for the Drej, an electric blue alien race, to take out earth in order to prevent further evolution of mankind.
  Fortunately, a large group of humans escape safely to live the next fifteen years as refugees in space colonies or working lousy jobs. One of them is Cale Tucker (Matt Damon, The Bourne Identity), who's father helpt build the Titan, and who happens to hold the only map to find said machine.
  He gets picked up by captain Jospeh Korso (Bill Pullman, Independence Day) and his crew in order to find the Titan with said map and give the human race a new home. Unfortunately, the Drej have also located Cale, which signals the start for a National Treasure In Space kind of treasure hunt, only with less clues and more outer space, which only gets more complicated when it turns out that the captain and his first mate Preed (Nathan Lane, voice of Lion King's Timon) have made a deal with the Drej to deliver them the Titan.
  When this is found out, Cale and the pilot Akima (Drew Barrymore, Charlie's Angels) get left behind on one of the space colonies, from which they naturally escape in order to prevent the captain or the Drej to capture the Titan.

  Aside from the 'Earth is already gone' story, the big picture is pretty straight forward. There's a map, a treasure, a bad guy and a double cross. So it's not the story that got the high rating. What did the trick is the visual aspect of the film.

  The animation of the characters is incredibly fluent. Admittedly, at times a bit too fluent, but nevertheless it's something I haven't seen a lot in non-Disney animation.
  Then there's the Drej, an electric blue alien race that seems to be made of, well, electricity, which looks pretty damned awesome. The fact that they're CGI doesn't interfere with the story or the other characters at all. In fact, their bright blue appearance is a perfect contrast against the overall orangey feel of the rest of the film.
  But what really takes the cake are the surroundings. They are majestic, to say the least. The clouds which hide the Drej Mothership, the "Hall of Pillars" through which Cale flies the Valkyrie, the ice crystals surrounding the Titan, it all looks spectacular. Who would've thought space was more than just black and burning balls of gas?

  In my eyes, Titan A.E. (Stands for 'After Earth') is one of those underrated animations that have really changed the face of the genre. Maybe it's because of the shoddy story, or maybe it's because the leads were Matt Damon and Drew Barrymore, but I get the feeling that Titan A.E. has kind of been shunned aside as if people were afraid to admit that it was made.
  Despite of what others may believe, the film lives up to it's name. It is truly a Titan amongst the animation genre.

• Leave it to the NPCs — for The Wild
  Written by Freudianspud on 26.02.2010

  Ever since Toy Story I've been keeping an eye on computer-animated film. With every new one, the boundaries are pushed further and further. Of course, none of the animation studios hold a candle to what Pixar has achieved on a visual front, but it's fun to see new studios putting out movies I enjoy. A great example to me personally was Weinstein Company's "Hoodwinked". Even though the animation was pretty basic, the story itself was utterly entertaining and the characters were pretty damned original.
  Exodus Film Group did an excellent job with their "Igor", and I even liked Columbia Pictures's "Monster House".
  Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way. C.O.R.E. Feature Animation's "The Wild" is one of those that didn't make it in my book.

  The story is a contraction of Madagascar and the Lion King. A young lion cub Ryan (Greg Cipes, mostly a voice actor, did the voice for Beast Boy in Teen Titans amongst other things) doesn't have a proper roar, which makes him the laughing stock for the rest of the N.Y. Zoo, save for his father Samson (Kiefer Sutherland, 24's Jack Bauer) and his father's friends.
  Thanks to his father's stories, Ryan believes that he would be able to learn how to roar if he were out in the wild, and after an argument with his father he hides away in a big green container that has been known to take animals to the wild, which of course happens, even though that wasn't the plan.
  This results in a wild goose chase in which Samson and his entourage (Consisting of a squirrel, a giraffe, a koala and a snake) try to keep up with Ryan in order to save him from 'the wild' and all it's dangers.

  The Wild is a text-book example showing that big names don't make the dialogue any better. Even though the characters are voiced by such names as Jim Belushi, Patrick Warburton (Who, in my opinion, has the best voice ever), Eddie Izzard and even William Shatner, the story itself is shoddy at best. The dialogue is continuously forced and the jokes are so cliché it hurts.
  In fact, the only laughs I had were because of the extras that appear sporadically and way too short. There's the Scottish flamingos, New York alligators, an Indian pigeon, and some German beetles, but they all appear for about two minutes, only to be forgotten again. Sure, the dialogue isn't all that in these cases as well, but those characters are a whole lot funnier than the leads, who are stereotypes in every way of the word.
  Samson the lion is the overly concerned father who wants nothing more than for his son to become a man and will stop at nothing to protect him. His right hand Benny (Belushi) is the standard self-assured talkin'-big kind of guy. Then there's Nigel the Koala (Izzard) who takes the role of cocky big-shot celebrity who's easily corrupted, we have Bridget the giraffe; the ever so independent woman of the group, and finally there's Larry, the retarded snake (Richard Kind, Spin City's Paul Lassiter), who apparently can't say anything useful unless it's critical to the plot.

  There is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel though, saving The Wild from a lower rating, which is the animation itself. The animals actually look pretty good, and as far as animated beasts go, they're pretty convincing. Sure, they sometimes move as if they're running through a tub of invisible jell-o, but the character design is top notch. So there is that.

  In the end, if you like to keep an eye on animation like I do, you could take the time to check it out, since it does look decent. And the extras are pretty damned funny. But if you're looking for a nice story about lions, you're better of watching the Lion King.

• Gangster Clowns in New York — for Big Money Hustla$
  Written by Freudianspud on 05.03.2010

  The Insane Clown Posse has pretty much always been a controversial band. Either you like them, or you hate everything that has to do with them. I belong to the former group.
  If you belong to the latter, you probably haven't seen Big Money Hustlas. Chances are, you hadn't even heard of it before this review. And you probably won't like it, either.

  That being said, Big Money Hustlas is the story of crime lord Big Baby Sweets (Violent J, Insane Clown Posse), who holds New York City firmly in his grasp, supported by his dimwitted henchmen Big Stank (Jamie Madrox, Twiztid) and Lil' Poot (Monoxide Child, Twiztid), and his bodyguard Hack Benjamin (Violent J's brother Jumpsteady).
  Desperate to stop Sweet's crimewave, the Chief of Police (John G. Brennan, voice of Mort Goldman in Family Guy) calls to Sugar Bear (Shaggy 2 Dope, Insane Clown Posse), a jive detective from San Francisco with his own soundtrack. Together with the last uncorrupted cop left, Harry Cox (Harland Williams, Employee of the Month), Sugar Bear sets out to end Sweet's reign of terror.

  Now, this is where the liking or hating of said Psychopathic Records artists comes in play. For the sake of the argument, I'm assuming that you do like them.
  The acting in this film is horrible. After all, they're hip hop artists, not actors. Also, the fourth wall is broken down on several occasions. That doesn't mean it's not entertaining. Violent J's part as the money grubbing Big Baby Sweets is hilarious, and seeing Shaggy play the ultimate '70s detective type will have you groaning and laughing at the same time. Add to that the large selection of extras like Big Stank and Lil' Poot, and you have yourself a gangsterflick gone terribly wrong in the best way possible.

  Putting aside the fact that this is ICP, there is a lot of subtle comedy, both in the script and visually, mixed in with the over-abundance of violence and slapstick humour. A large part of the credit goes to the SFX throughout the film. As mentioned, Sugar Bear has his own soundtrack, which in this case means that a little hornsection plays a couple of notes every time someone mentions his name. One of the best moments is when Sugar Bear pulls back the hammer on his revolver and you hear the sound of a shotgun being cocked.
  Another thing is the soundtrack. Those who are familiar with the starring artists will probably recognize a lot of songs in the background, which will add a lot to the film itself. For instance, the scene where a young lady gets assaulted by ninjas (Oh yeah, there's ninjas as well) has the instrumental version of the song 'Bitches' playing in the background, known for the 'Girl you know I love you, but now you gotta die' chorus.

  It's hard to be objective on this film, since either you love it or you don't, and I obviously love it. I'll say this much though: if you can stand to look at the painted faces of J and Shaggy and you like good, albeit over the top, comedy, then you'll probably like this movie.
  If you hate everything Psychopathic, then I guess you shouldn't even be reading this.

• Bitches, beats and bodykits — for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
  Written by Freudianspud on 07.03.2010

  While there's no doubt about the fact that most of those who like the Fast & Furious series are guys in college who call each other 'bro' while they pound their fists and play Halo, mixed with a bunch of car-enthusiasts going 'Man, no way you can make a car do that!', there is still the small group that likes the F&F series because it's just plain old brainless entertainment. Of course, I belong to that small group.
  I remember seeing the trailer to the first F&F film and going 'Wow, they actually managed to find something that makes Limp Bizkit sound kinda awesome.' After the awesome that was F&F1, came F&F2, which was significantly less awesome, and F&F:TD, which was a step in the right direction.

  The story is pretty basic, as is to be expected. A rougue youngster, Sean Boswell (Lucas Black, The X Files (the film)) is banned from racing and sent to his dad in Tokyo to rehabilitate. Or something. While his father (Brian Goodman, mostly used as an extra) forbids Sean to even come near a car, his son does exactly the opposite on his first day at school where he meets his soon to be partner in crime, Twinkie (Bow Wow, of hip hop fame), who happens to be into the local racing scene with his own (very awesome) Hulk-themed car.
  At this local racing scene, Sean immediately gets into the face of the local racing scene legend, a man known as D.K. (Stands for Drift King, played by Brian Tee, Starship Troopers 2: Fuck Yes). D.K. obviously doesn't warm up to Sean's violent American ways, and gets really pissed of when said American also tries to make a move on his girlfriend, Neela (Nathalie Kelly, pretty much only did Tokyo Drift so far).
  When D.K. defeats Sean in a killer drifting race (Presumably while Sean is going 'What in tarnation is all this darned hogwash about!'), D.K.'s mob-buddy Han (Sung Kang, Ninja Assassin) takes Sean in and teaches him the ropes of drifting while also employing him as his own little errand boy.
  Eventually, tension builds, Sean learns to drift and everything is settled in one giant kick-ass race between Sean and D.K. Also, the Yakuza gets involved at some point.

  It's easy to say that the acting skills of the lead actors aren't all that awesome. The dialogues is pretty basic and the characters themselves are pretty predictable. But let's be honest: it's to be expected in a film like this.
  A lot of credit goes to the rides, of course. The cars look flashy and awesome, and the racing sequences are superb. It's what F&F is all about, so why wouldn't they be? Add to that a decent soundtrack, and you've got yourself exactly what I was gunning for at the beginning of this review: plain old brainless entertainment.
  Whether it's because of the cars, the racing, or every other trick the makers throw at you to distract you from the flaws in the dialogue (the story itself kind of makes sense, if you ignore the fact that a Yakuza problem is settled by a downhill race.), Tokyo Drift works. It may not win any Oscars, and it probably won't be in a lot of 'Best Films of...' lists, but it's there and it does what it's supposed to do: entertain. It also doesn't hurt that there's plenty of eye candy either.

• Doctor becomes patient — for Garden State
  Written by Freudianspud on 13.03.2010

  No, the title to this review is not some silly pun. I am above that. Well, I'm not, but still, it is not a pun. In fact, it refers to the lead actor in Garden State, Zach Braff, who is of course mostly known for his role as Dr. John 'J.D.' Dorian in the brilliant series 'Scrubs'.
  In 'Garden State' however, Braff plays a washed up actor who is being medicated by his psychiatrist father. Hence the 'Doctor becomes patient'. You see, it wasn't a pun after all!

  'Garden State' tells the tale of Andrew 'Large' Largeman (Braff), a young actor from New Jersey who left his home town several years prior to the events in the film, to try and make his fortune in Hollywood. However, after playing one part as a retarded quarterback, Large finds himself busting tables to earn a living. Eventually, he receives a phonecall from his father telling him his mother has died.
  When Large returns home after nine years to attend the funeral, he finds that his father Gideon (Ian Holm, The Lord of the Rings) is still the same old shut-in psychiatrist he has always been, and who is also the main reason for Large's ennui, because his father has been feeding him prescription pills ever since he was a young boy.
  After meeting up with several of his old, and somewhat odd friends, Large makes the decision to get a second opinion from another psychiatrist, because he has noticed that not taking his medication actually makes him feels better. Whilst waiting for his appointment with said psychiatrist, Large meets Sam (Natalie Portman, Star Wars), a girl about his age, who seems to have an extremely positive outlook on the world. He offers her a ride home and finds out that she's in fact a chronic liar, but luckily this doesn't change anything about anything and they continue to meet up pretty much all the time.

  I can honestly say that Garden State is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Braff, who also happens to be the writer and director, plays his part with a subtlety that is incredible. His transformation from the numbed down actor to the average-guy-living-his-life-the-way-he-wants-to he eventually becomes after he lays off the medication, and after he meets Sam, is played out brilliantly and comes off as realistic as it gets.
  The same goes for Portman's role as Sam, a part that stands in perfect contrast with the introvert Largeman. Her efforts to actually make something work between the two characters by trying not to lie as much is incredibly touching, to say the least.
  I also feel that a special mention should be made of Large's friend Mark (Peter Sarsgaard, Jarhead), who plays a classic stoner part. Mark leads Large and Sam on a seemingly useless treasure-hunt throughout the film, which eventually ends in one of the most touching moments the movie has to offer.

  Another honourable notation goes to the soundtrack, which was hand-picked by Braff himself. The music suits the script perfectly, with artists such as The Shins, Coldplay, Iron & Wine and Simon & Garfunkel. The scene in which Sam hands Large her headphones and plays him The Shins's 'New Slang' is one I will never forget, and that song has since made it's way into my personal top ten of all times. (If you were wondering, 'Fairytale Of New York' by the Pogues is the number one in that list.)

  Even though 'Garden State' was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival, and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards, it never enjoyed the publicity that major blockbusters get. Instead, it mostly relied on Braff's personal weblog and the enthusiasm of the dedicated fan-base. A fan-base that was willing to drive hours and miles to see the film on the silver screen.

  Even if you choose to ignore the aforementioned dedication, nomination and awardation (Yeah, I just made that word up), the film is an incredibly well-written story about people like you and me, and even though it starts out fairly depressing, it is one of the best feel good films I ever had the pleasure of seeing. 'Garden State' is one of the few films I have actually forced upon my friends because I felt they had to see it.

  Not a single one of those friends disagreed with me.