Castles in the Sky (2014)

"That was a stupid idea, but it was the least stupid idea we've heard today."-Albert Rowe
"You're trying to build a death ray. Yeah..that will never work."- Robert Watson Watt

So I watched this mistakenly when I was trying to watch Castle In the Sky. I was disappointed enough to stop after 5 minutes, but those 5 minutes were enough to make me come back and watch the whole film later.  Very impressive.

As historical dramas go, I liked Castles in the Sky.  The story of the origins of radar was worth a movie.  I had my doubts, but no longer.

I always seem to doubt the acting abilities of Eddie Izzard.  I shouldn't, but I do.  Based on Castles in the Sky, I will endeavor to give him all due credit.

In terms of quality, I think the BBC generally does a fine job.  Cuts are sharp. The script is concise and the accents are, for an American, spot on.

On a slight negative critique, It was unclear if Robert Watt ended up breaking up with his wife or if they got back together or if there was any resolution at all.  I think I was supposed to understand that they divorced...but it was just unclear.

On a scale of full windsor to half windsor, I give Castles in the Sky 2.6 out of 5 stars. 

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

"I have a better theory.  You are all not worthy." -Thor

As you may have noticed (if any of you are long time readers) that I enjoy Marvel movies. They are crafted just well enough to be a great experience....but are in no way art. Fish in a barrel.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed The Age of Ultron. I could tell that the sparkle was slightly diminished from The Avengers' previous incarnation. I applaud Joss Whedon for doing the what amounts to basically the impossible.  The only down side is that he has succeeded before with panche. so anything else is a let down.

There is no greater meaning to Age of Ultron other than nerdom.  I wish there was...but...meh.

Cool movie, cool characters, well packaged, same as always. Woot!

I did notice that Black Widow was less overtly sexy in her exits from screen as compared to the first Avengers film.  This is probably for the better.

Things I liked:

Linda Cardellini

"Code Green"

Andy Serkis (just cuz, I like him.  He was not particularly central to the film.)

Things I didn't like so much:

Ultron's motivation: Its not bad...but I guess I just would have wished his horrifying logic was more clear.

James Spáder: I like you.  You were the original Daniel Jackson. I didn't necessarily like your performance as Ultron. It was well crafted, meticulous, and purposeful...but not my cup of tea when it comes to super villains.

On a scale of Phase II to liquids, I give The Avengers: Age of Ultron 3.0 out of 5 stars.

The Black Cauldron (1985)

"Oh that horned king.  That black hearted devil." -Dalben
"Munches and Crunches."-Gurgi
"We do not give.  We do bargain." -Witches

The Black Cauldron gets a bad wrap and part of this comes from that it was released in 1985 and Disney did not release a home version until 1998. *There have only been two versions released, the 1998 release and the 25th anniversary dvd in 2010. Happy 30th to the Black Cauldron this July.* This was its supposed punishment for box office failure: to be forgotten.  Ask most even moderate Disney fans and they will have never heard of The Black Cauldron.  It doesn't exist for them.  There are no songs.  No rides. No characters. No attractions and very little merchandise. One begins to wonder how truly dreadful the Black Cauldron must be to merit willful societal memory erasure? *Made me think of George Lucas buying back all the physical copies of The Star Wars Christmas Special.

The answer is: Bad but not so bad as to deserve its fate.  The Black Cauldron suffers from an extreme lack of production execution, writing, and storytelling.  What it does not lack for is ambition. Disney swung to try and make "Snow White" for a new generation and ended up missing the mark, spinning around and looking silly. We should all want them to keep trying, despite that The Black Cauldron is pretty awful.

A little historical digging produced a number of interesting and laudable point that are pro Black Cauldron. 1. This was the first Disney film to use any kind of computer assisted animation. 2. They planned and made a serious effort at attempting a holographic sequence in 1985. 3. The sound track by Elmer Bernstein was recorded in the latest Surround Sound and is beautiful. Oh and the general word used to describe the voice of the horned king (John Hurt) is sepulchral..."chilling".

On the con side: The writing is terrible.  The story makes no sense. The characters have really difficult names to pronounce like Princess Eilonwy (eye-lon-wee) -That's not a con so much as just a barrier to understanding. Oh and I really dislike Gurgi.  He's like a Jar-Jar before there was a Jar-Jar. Well..ok he's better than that but not by much.

On the uncomfortable side:  There is a un-forgettable scene wherein Fflewddur Fflam gets turned into a frog by some witches and the proceeds to get lost in one of the witches cleavage. Too far Disney!

On a scale of regular born to cauldron born, I have The Black Cauldron 1.9 out of 5 stars.