Drama | Dave Watching Stuff

May 19 2013

Action, Comedy, Drama, Movies, The 59 Sci-Fi Movie Challenge

The Inverted Pyramid of Star Trek Movies

I consider myself a bit of a trekkie. I grew up watching and loving The Next Generation, dabbled in reruns of the original series, quite liked DS9, religiously watched Voyager and tried my best to like Enterprise. But one thing has always eluded me: the movies. To date, I have only seen some of the original movies, all the Next Generation ones and the JJ Abrams “Star Wars” years.

To finally rectify this, I decided to watch every single Star Trek film in the run up to Into Darkness. My mission, if you will, was to explore strange, old movies, to seek out dated special effects and receding hairlines, to boldly go where millions of geeky men have gone before.

Oh, also I decided to rank them from good to bad in a classic inverted pyramid style, so… ya. As always, lists are dangerous, so for fear of the wrath of die-hard Trek fans, this list is entirely my own opinion and I do not wish to be embroiled in any arguments about whether Kirk or Picard is better, because Picard is.

Here are my brief thoughts on each movie aswell as some random notes I wrote down during each viewing:

SPOILERS FOR ALL Continue reading →

Tagged jj abrams, star trek, into darkness, the wrath of khan, the search for spock, the voyage home, the final frontier, the undiscovered country, generations, first contact, insurrection, nemesis, james t kirk, jean luc picard

Apr 18 2013

4 Comments

Action, Comedy, Drama, Movies, Superheroes

The 2013 Movie Anticipatometer

Last year I invented the Anticipatometer, a method of anticipation-measuring that involves a third-party shouting various movie titles at me while I bounce on a trampoline. A fourth-party then measures the seismic readings of my “leaps for joy”, then feeds that data to a physician who adjusts the measurements according to my size, weight and body mass index. The properties are then ranked accordingly.

Looking back on the 2012 results, there were some instances where my anticipatory leaps became mournful hops of regret (Prometheus, American Reunion) and others where I continued to leap for joy upon exiting the cinema (The Avengers, Django Unchained). The rest were pretty good and were worth the wait – except maybe GI Joe (I quite enjoyed it, but the wait outweighed its merits).

What’s interesting is that only one movie from the list (The Avengers) made it into my 2012 Top Ten at the end of the year (although Django would have made it had it not been released here in January). This could indicate that sometimes too much hype can kill a movie or that there were a lot of surprises in 2012 or just that the movies I get excited about are rarely the best ones.

Here are the ten movies I’m most leaping for throughout the rest of 2013 (could not for the life of me find a still for Gravity):

Tagged alan partridge alpha papa, anchorman 2, anchorman the legend continues, catching fire, gravity, iron man 3, man of steel, star trek into darkness, the hunger games, the wolverine, the world's end, thor 2, thor the dark worlds

Apr 17 2013

4 Comments

Action, Drama, Movies, Reviews

Oblivion: A melting pot of ideas we’ve already seen

The end of the world looks gorgeous in Oblivion. From its beautiful barren vistas to the crisp “how the 70s saw the future” white sheen of technology, it is a beauty to behold on the big screen. The design aesthetic is distinct and lovely and something director/writer/producer Joseph Kasinski can be proud of. What feels less distinctive is the narrative, and while it’s undoubtedly solid, it’s far from unique.

The plot in one sentence: The ridiculously named Jack Harper is the last man on a war-torn earth; a drone-repairmen left behind with the last woman on earth as they prepare to meet the rest of humanity on Saturn’s moon, their new home.

The review in several paragraphs: Aswell as looking great, Oblivion has a number of things going for it. Tom Cruise is on very decent form and continues to remind us that he’s still got the screen-presence to place his name above the title. He usually has two ways of playing a character – action hero or everyman. He plays this somewhere in the middle and despite some occasional cheese, it works. The supporting cast are all fine, with Morgan Freeman being Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko being all mysterious and sultry. The standout was Andrea Riseborough, who had the more interesting of the female leads. Also, watch out for Jaime Lannister showing up and Melissa Leo doing a creepy southern accent. Continue reading →

Tagged andrea riseborough, morgan freeman, oblivion, olga kurylenko, tom cruise

Apr 09 2013

Warm Bodies: Zombie and Juliet

“Horror-comedies” are usually not funny enough, not scary enough, or simply lacking in both departments. It’s hard enough to evoke either laughter or terror by themselves in a movie, but to blend the two and keep the balance right is an entirely different skillset and one that director Jonathan Levine deserves a heap of praise for. On top of that, he somehow brings credibility to what is a ludicrously daft love story.

The plot in one sentence:

R is a zombie who is unhappy with his shuffling existence and wants more from his life (or lack thereof), until he meets human Julie (get it? R and Julie! eh? eh?) and starts to remember what it means to be alive again…

The review in several paragraphs:

Zombie fatigue has set in. Not content with gracing B-movies for so many years, the undead have now escaped into every entertainment medium out there (except maybe reality TV, but I wouldn’t rule out zombie X Factor as a future possibility). The Shuffling Ones were once the domain of horror aficionados and those people who dress up for zombie marches every year. Now The Walking Dead is the most popular cable show in US history, classic literary texts are being retrofitted to include them, a new zombie video game seems to be released every week and even Brad Pitt is co-starring with them. Continue reading →

Feb 11 2013

6 Comments

Comedy, Drama, Movies, Oscars, Reviews

Silver Linings Playbook: Cooper proves he can act, De Niro remembers how to

I owe Bradley Cooper an apology.

Before seeing Silver Linings Playbook, I was adamant that he was a terribly average actor and that his Oscar nomination was probably part of some mass Academy political movement/conspiracy theory to get one film in all four acting categories.

I was wrong. Bradley Cooper’s performance proves he is more than capable of handling a character of substance, perfectly conveying fear, heartbreak, hostility, confusion and eagerness in a subtle, endearing way that that is worthy of an Oscar.

I’m sorry, Mr. Cooper.

The plot in one sentence: Upon being released from a mental facility, bipolar Bradley Cooper sparks up a strange relationship with Jennifer Lawrence while attempting to mend fences with his estranged wife.

The review in several paragraphs: While it’s subject matter is notably dark, it meets it head on with enough humour and warmth that ensures that it never feels preachy, obvious or heavy-handed. What you get is a first-hand experience of how mental health issues affect everybody from the person trapped in their own head to their neighbours to the people closest in their lives. While I don’t have any personal experience with this, David O’Russell does and it’s clear the writing is coming from a real and honest place. While he doesn’t pull any punches, he’s not afraid to laugh either. The dialogue and situations are strange, funny and, I dare say it, quirky, but unlike try-hard indie fare, the off-kilter script is fitting. Continue reading →

Tagged Bradley Cooper, david o'russell, Jennifer Lawrence, oscars, robert de niro, silver linings playbook

Jan 28 2013

4 Comments

Action, Comedy, Drama, Movies, Oscars, Reviews

Django Unchained: Saying Nothing, in the coolest way possible

Django Unchained, like most of Tarantino’s movies, has little to say, but it says it in the best way possible. At this stage, audiences should know what they’re going to get – over-the-top performances from amazing actors in a genre-homage, wrapped in a crackling script and finished off with a cooler-than-Tarantino-himself-will-ever-be soundtrack. Django is more of the same, and it’s welcome.

Jamie Foxx is Django, a slave rescued by dentist-turned bounty-hunter Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz) who together team up on a mission to rescue the former slave’s wife from the ownership of the snaggle-toothed Monsieur Candy (Leonardo di Caprio). Little needs to be said about Waltz and di Caprio that all the award nominations cannot say. Blood was literally spilt. But Foxx is the bad-ass centre of the movie and he is as watchable and enjoyable the cool cowboy as any Eastwood or Wayne character. His friendship with Waltz is the heart of the movie and brings some unexpectedly touching moments – something not common, but welcome in a Tarantino script. Despite the B-movie/hyperactive nature of the characters, it’s easy to care whether they live or die. Continue reading →

Tagged christoph waltz, django unchained, jamie foxx, leonardo di caprio, quentin tarantino, samuel l jackson

Jul 26 2012

Make Your Own Bane Voice

Tagged batman, christian bale, christopher nolan, the dark knight rises, tom hardy

Jul 25 2012

My Five Word Review of The Dark Knight Rises

Ya it was quite good.

Tagged anne hathaway, batman, christian bale, christopher nolan, joseph gordon levitt, the dark knight rises, tom hardy

Apr 17 2012

4 Comments

Action, Comedy, Drama, Movies, Reviews

Three Surprises and Battleship

I’ve seen four movies over the last four weeks. Three of them surprised me. One of them was Battleship.

21 JUMP STREET

Level of Surprise: Quite Pleasant

I was expecting very little of this, having never seen the TV show, or having never liked Jonah Hill. But this was quite a pleasant surprise. The script cleverly plays with high school genre conventions in a fish out of water way. Hill and Tatum are the best buddy cop duo I’ve seen in a long time – Hill proving there’s more to his comedic skills than loud-mouth swearing and Tatum proving to all his detractors that he is more than just rom-com eye candy. He’s a funny guy. Continue reading →

Tagged 21 jump street, american pie reunion, battleship, channing tatum, Jennifer Lawrence, jonah hill, Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Taylor Kitsch, the hunger games

Mar 29 2012

1 Comment

Comedy, Drama, Movies

Dave Watching Stuff

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Category Archives: Drama

The Inverted Pyramid of Star Trek Movies

The 2013 Movie Anticipatometer

Oblivion: A melting pot of ideas we’ve already seen

Warm Bodies: Zombie and Juliet

Silver Linings Playbook: Cooper proves he can act, De Niro remembers how to

Django Unchained: Saying Nothing, in the coolest way possible

Make Your Own Bane Voice

My Five Word Review of The Dark Knight Rises

Three Surprises and Battleship

You’re my favourite customer

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Category Archives: Drama

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