Alice in Wonderland

First and foremost I would like to explain the lack of posting in the last month. I will be starting college in May, so getting that going has been interesting. Also my birthday was the 19^th of April and that derailed me a bit. Secondly I am not sure how much I will be able to post after college starts but I will try my best to be timely on them.

            Long overdue are my thoughts on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Tim Burton is known for his neo-gothic, imaginative art style. Burton’s resume includes well known films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Sleepy Hollow to name a few. This version of Alice is penned by Linda Woolverton. Woolverton may be known from her past works with Disney that includes Beauty and the Beast and co-writing The Lion King.

            The Film’s Cinematography is rather good, and the visuals are truly stunning. With the majority of the films landscapes being made with CGI it could have easily looked fake or even sub-par. The film is available in 3D, yet it is the horrible post conversion 3D, but that deserves its own post at a later day.  The directing is also not bad considering the story he was given to work with.

The Story is really the weak spot here. It is at times nonexistent, and the rest of the time it is boring. The story is so simplistic that it would be an insult to a child’s intelligence. Most if not all of the feel and heart of Lewis Carroll’s original story is absent. The script almost seems to be spit out of an automatic script generator on a website.

With such a lack of source to read from the acting is unsurprisingly terrible as well. The only bright spot is Helena Bonham Carter, who steals the show with her portrayal of The Red Queen. All other seem to walk through the film or worse just miss completely. One miss is that of Johnny Depp. With Depp being a proven actor it is sad to see him so off mark.

Depp’s problems start off with the script having him become the main character after he is introduced halfway through. This is Alice in Wonderland, not Mad Hatter in Wonderland. Also the character is over blown just so he will stand out. From make-up to costume, he screams “we tried too hard, look at me” Next is the voice Depp chose to use. It was constantly changing from Scottish highlander, to Sweeny Todd, to a strange mix of the two.

Sadly some actor’s parts were “Throw away” and others could have been played by a random street walker. Such are the parts of Alice and The White Queen. I feel sorry for Mia Wasikowska because she has talent but was given a second hand script to work with. Too bad this had to be her big break. The White Queen is played by Anne Hathaway. Why she even took the part is beyond me. The character could have been taken out of the story and it would still feel the same.

This movie is worth seeing if you have the money and are a fan of Burtons, but do not watch it in 3D. Save your money on the standard version if you can. Alice in Wonderland has completely stunning visuals but not much else. I recommend waiting to rent this or even wait for TV.

New Layout.

Trying a new layout may change a bit more in the up coming days.

Album Review: Zero Day

Treat time my friends. While I mostly stick to my movie and TV show guns, I am also a true music lover. I listen to a bit of every genre and love new music. After watching the documentary Nerdcore Rising, I was turned on to the nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot. I highly recommend you watch Nerdcore Rising. It is truly a great look behind the scenes of an indie band, and an even better look at the immensely nerdy world of MC Frontalot.

Being a fan for close to a year now, I was happy to hear a new album was in the works. Zero Day is set to release April 6^th, and for those who preorder it can also download it immediately at http://frontalot.com/index.php/?page=cd . With my copy soon to be in the mail and my digital download firmly on my hard drive, I am here to offer my take on Front’s newest work.

Zero Day is more solid of an album than any of Frontalot’s past work. Being a fan of rap or not, you are bound to enjoy this CD. Stand out tracks such as Jacquelyn Hyde, First World Problem, Spoiler Alert, and Better at Rapping really show Frontalot’s skill. Not only has his rapping improved greatly, but also his lyrical ability has show improvement. Also on Zero Day are a couple of LOL-worthy skits, notably one with John Hodgman of Apple commercial fame. These are seriously funny skits even after many plays.

Zero Day has its fair share of guests in and out of the nerdcore community as well. Nerdcore mainstays such as Schaffer the Darklord, YTCracker, and Beefy show up and make an impact. Also non nerdcore guests Ken Flagg, Sara Benincasa, Jane Silence, and Molly Hager add unique touches to the album.

MC Frontalot has made an amazingly enjoyable album with major playback and not a single must skip track. This is Frontalot at his best and this sets the bar for all nerdcore. I look forward to April 6^th and I highly recommend buying the CD as soon as possible. If Nerdy is cool (and it is) that easily makes MC Frontalot the Nerdbassador to the non-nerd world.

Post Oscars

The Oscars are done and the results are in. It is now time to recap and see how I did. I will only be talking about the ones that I got wrong. Over all, out of my predictions I was twelve for twenty. With the ones that were guesses and the ones that were my favorites out of the way, there were a few surprises.

Best Costume Design – They say never to vote against a period piece for a reason my friends.

Best Documentary – Well this one was a guess out of left field. Out of this list I had only saw one of the nominees.

Best Film Editing – Hurt locker won this and while I wanted District 9 to win, I would have not picked Hurt locker over Avatar.

Music (Original Score) – Up won this and I can’t argue really. It was a toss up at best.

Sound Editing – Hurt locker won again. Oscar politics at play for most of these toss ups.

Sound Mixing - Hurt lock in another toss up.

Adapted screen play –Precious won this and I disagree 100%. Up in the air was a much better screen play. This was a shocker to me.

Original Screenplay – Hurt lock won to my surprise. This one I disagree with completely as well. Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds not winning this was a major disservice to Tarantino. This one left a bad taste in my mouth. A war movie about a bomb squad member who deals with his life in Iraq verses a war movie that rewrites history with Jewish soldiers killing Nazis, including Hitler himself. Which sounds more original to you?

Well there you go. With a 60% I am feeling good, yet look to next year’s show to try and bump up my numbers.

Also I have gotten my first request for a review. I will be sure to get to that after my next review, which is going to be Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. If any of my readers have suggestion for me you can drop be a line on my facebook page (http://bit.ly/9vVPCt), follow me @BlindReviewer on Twitter, or email me at theblindreviewer@gmail.com.

Oscar Predictions

With Oscar time right around the corner, thousands prepare ballots in their work places. I have made my picks and it could give you a head up when picking on your ballot.

Performance by an actor in a leading role – Jeff bridges should win easily for his role in crazy heart.

Performance by and actor in a supporting role – Christoph Waltz is the frontrunner for his role in Inglourious Basterds.

Performance by and actress in a leading role – Sandra Bullock is the strong leader here for her role in The Blind Side.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role – No doubt that this one will be won by Mo’Nique for her role in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’.

Best animates feature film of the year – Even though the race is tight look for Up to come out on top.

Achievement in art direction – Although all are possible winners expect Avatar to win based on scope alone.

Achievement in cinematography - Once again expect Avatar to win with Inglourious Basterds being a close

second.

Achievement in costume design – This one is up for grabs, but my money is on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Achievement in directing – This one is a tough one. I am betting on Kathryn Bigelow’s Hurt Locker to make history by naming her the first female director to win in this category.

Best documentary feature – Having not seen all of the nominees I have to give a partial guess, but I have faith in Food, Inc.

Achievement in film editing – I am making a risky bet with District 9. I think it will win at least one, and this one is it.

Achievement in Makeup – With a slim field for this category, Star Trek will win hands down.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (original score) – Look for Fantastic Mr. Fox to have this Oscar in a loaded category.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (original song) – The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) will win this without fail.

Best motion picture of the year - Hurt Locker all the way. Even though I do not think it should win, look for Kathryn Bigelow to win this close one.

Achievement in sound editing – Another toss-up vote. I am going with the easy Avatar vote.

Achievement in sound mixing – Toss-up category again, Avatar for the guess on this one.

Achievement in visual effects – Avatar has this one in the bag, solid vote.

Adapted screenplay – Even though I would love for District 9 to win look for Up in the Air to win.

Original Screenplay - No film in this category was more original that Inglorious Basterds, bet on it to win here.

There they are. Hope this gives you a slight edge when you pick yours. Look to after the Oscars for my thoughts and to say “I told you so” on my winners.

Daybreakers

Vampire movies are a dime a dozen. With the sudden flood of vampire interest how can a new property make an impact? Daybreakers gambles with something a bit different with the genre. Can Daybreakers sink its teeth into the movie going public or does it come off dry.

Daybreakers is a vampire thriller written and directed by Michael and Peter Spierig. The Australian born brothers are known for a visceral and violent style of movie making, and Daybreakers does follow suit. Still relatively new to the movie world, Michael and Peter have two other films to their name, with one being thirteen minutes long.

Daybreakers brings in a few heavy hitters to fill its roles. Ethan Hawke plays Edward Dalton, a vampire hematologist who is working on a blood substitute for the pharmaceutical company Bromley Marks. Dalton is sympathetic to the human race and feels the need to save them. His boss Charles Bromley (Sam Neill) is less caring about humans, and runs Bromley Marks. Willem Dafoe plays Elvis, a human resistance fighter, and ex-vampire. The acting is a strong point in this film, and pulls you into the story fairly quickly.

The art direction is steady with a few shots that seem to be out of place, though this is a small complaint. The CGI is at times terrible, and really hinders the films pace. Luckily this only happens two or three times with the rest of the film looking rather good. I do feel that while the acting was good, a more experienced director could have gotten a bit more out of the actors. That being said I have no doubt that Michael and Peter will do better with each future film.

I liked this movie. While it did leave me wanting more, I still feel that this film is solid and should be seen. The acting is good. The feel is good. A film about a civilization of vampires could easily come off cheesy, and Daybreakers makes its mark.

Sorry about the vampire puns…I could not help myself.

Legion

If god loses faith in humanity, does it make a good show? Legion tackles this question head on and runs with it. Do angels fighting make lots of money? Read on and see if this movie flies or falls.

Legion is from director Scott Stewart who is best known as a senior staffer at the visual effects company The Orphanage, and has done a few small films. Legion is set in a small New Mexico diner, and centers on the archangel Michael’s (Paul Bettany) need to protect a pregnant woman from the wrath of god. While the cinematography is not terrible, it does show that this film is from an inexperienced director. The direction is another story. A lot of weight falls on the director’s shoulders be it good or bad, and in this case it is mostly bad.

The story has immense potential but sadly comes off as a subpar zombie survival flick with angels who act like demons who look like zombies. The story is paced about as poorly as one could get it. With 10 minute spots of no action, Legion’s story can not hold it’s self up. Stewart is no Tarantino. The characters are uninteresting for the most part, and not due to the acting. The cherry on top of Legion is the ending. Not only is the ending unbelievable, unlikeable, and uninteresting, it is also close to nonexistent.

Now the acting is where most of the light comes from in this film. Paul Bettany and Kevin Durand are the only ones who seem to care about this job. Dennis Quaid and Charles S. Dutton are great actors, yet sleep through their roles, and the rest of the cast is made up of mostly actors you have never heard of. Paul Bettany is really up and coming in America. He is solid in mostly every role he takes and Legion is no different. Kevin Durand has been acting for 10 years yet is just now starting to get leading roles. Look for him to be in many more if he keeps up the level he was on in Legion.

Legion is not a terrible movie, yet it should not be seen in theaters. Wait till it comes out on DVD and watch it. I did not hate nor love Legion. It is a middle ground film that will be easily forgotten in the coming weeks though.

The Blind Review's Top Ten of 2009

After much review and 2^nd, 3^rd, and even 4^th watching I have come to my top ten movies of 2009. This was rather difficult to be honest. I am not sure if it is this hard every year, due to my lack of experience with the matter, but it took me a few days to come to a decision. So with out further ado I give you "The Blind Review's Top Ten of 2009".

10. It might get loud

9. The brothers bloom

8. I love you, man

7. District 9

6. Zombieland

5. (500) Days of summer

4. Star trek

3. Up in the air

2. Avatar

1. Inglourious Basterds

AVATAR

What is Avatar? A movie with more hype than most movies combined this year, Avatar had more going for it than any movie this year prior to release. Was it all worth it? Did Avatar knock the socks off of this film reviewer?


The seeds of Avatar were planed years ago, near fifteen years to be exact. The brain child behind this monster is James Cameron. Cameron originally had an 80 page script back in 1994 that was set to be filmed soon after Titanic was finished. Cameron who is known for his “epic” movies sited the lack of technology as a main factor to as why Avatar took so long as it did. It was not until 2008 when Cameron saw the leaps in CGI, such as King Kong and Gollum that he felt confidant that the world of Pandora would turn out right.


Movies on such a grand scale, like Avatar, can leave the important things behind. Things like acting, story, cinematography, and direction can be overlooked, if not totally thrown to the waste side. While the story of Avatar is fairly simple and has been done many times before, it is still solid in the delivery with a few twists added in for flavor. The story is one of the few down sides of this film. It is extremely easy to follow. So much so that I know of several 10 year olds that understood what was going on throughout Avatar.


With only a handful of actors in the film physically, the burden of believability does weigh more on actors. Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully who is the main protagonist is the film, and delivers as well as anyone could want. Sigourney Weaver brings experience and a solid anchor to the cast as Dr. Grace Augustine as the head of the Avatar program. Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore also deliver rock solid roles in the film.


I am going to take a second to talk about Zoë Saldaña who plays Neytiri. While she is only in the movie by the way of performance capture, and is entirely computer generated, she gives one of the best performances I have seen all year. She captures the soul of the Na’vi with what seems like ease. If she is not at least nominated for an Academy Award then something is seriously amiss.


So that leaves cinematography left that could hold Avatar back. The camera work is sweepingly epic in the grandest sense. With a world solely from the mind of Cameron, he knows exactly what he wants and the camera delivers. From landscape shots to intense action scenes the camera seems to be everywhere you want to be. At times you feel fully emerged in the world, and James Cameron’s direction is fully to thank.


After hearing comic con attendee’s talk about how amazing and new the CGI was, I was skeptical. After seeing the trailers I was still skeptical. After seeing the film I can saw that I was impressed. It is the next step in Computer graphics. Think back to when you saw Jurassic Park for the first time. It is that big of a step. Now is it some amazing new CGI, sadly no. It is the best CGI I have ever seen, but still just CGI.


Is Avatar worth the estimated five hundred million that it took to make? Is it even worth the twelve bucks I paid to see it? YES YES AND YES. This film is mind blowing. The first hour or so I did have my doubts about it, with the introduction and set up, yet after that I rarely could close my jaw. During the last battle I found myself saying “wow” more than I ever thought I could. This is the epic that film needs at this moment. This is the film that film fans need at this time. This is a must see in theaters. Home DVD will do injustice to Avatar, which does sadden me. With two sequels still in the mind of James Cameron would I, given the chance, give him the green light to spend five hundred more million to spend? YES! Go see this movie now. It is truly one of the best films of the year.