Mad Max: Fury Road (2014)

"You shall ride eternal: shiny and chrome." -Immortan Joe

WHOA!! Just whoa!  It's been over a week and I am still geekin out. Mad Max Fury Road is a cinematic spectacle, and I loved it.

In turns, it is: terrifying, disgusting, shock inducing, unsettling, and beautiful. oh and while I hate to think that I am part of hyperbole creep....Mad Max Fury Road is awesome.

The only thing that I believe holds Mad Max: Fury Road back from true cinematic greatness is that, as of now, I don't connect Mad Max to any higher themes of human existence or treatises on current issues. Mad Max: Fury Road seems to be just the most well done bit of "RAWR!!" I have seen this decade, if not ever. Perhaps that is theme of human existence...?

On to the technical highlights.

1. The story boarding and shot selection for Mad Max reminded me of Ozu or Kurowsawa. Every shot is worthy of a still frame. George Miller, you have outdone yourself.
2. The first 5 minutes are possibly the most terrifying five minutes of the decade. I was amazed at how filming in fast motion and then slowing it down increased the terror.
3. Those stunts were ridiculous.  Of course there was CG, but I appreciate how many of the stunts were real.
4.To go along with my praise for George Miller, I really appreciate it when a film knows how to conduct tension throughout a film.  Fury Road is essentially just one big chase scene for two hours.  That could get boring. *I'm thinking of you Duel.* Yet, through the use of ever more impressive narrative devices and stunts that beggar belief tension and attention are held. I thought it was over when there was a gasoline spitting contest on the front of two speeding semis, but no.
5. The icky factor: much of what made Fury Road suspend belief was its attention to the details and tactile nature of icky icky things, Immortan Joe's back for instance.  Without that solid grounding in putrescence, other things like a blind guitar player shredding the horde on to war might seem silly.  (It was not. It was just too cool.)

*Point for conversation* I saw this film in a rather shabby theater in a mall in Phnom Penh, and with a little research I believe there were some rather significant edits to the Cambodian version.  1. There is apparently a lactation sequence that was cut and 2. The damsel in distress in a cage was supposed to be naked. In the Khmer version she was wearing clothes. Were there other changes? Comment and let me know.

On a scale of the little drummer boy to the blind albino guitar fire guitar player of the horde, I give Mad Max: Fury Road 4.1 out of 5 stars.

also the cat name of Imperator Furryosa is pretty great.

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.

    

Insurgent (2014)

"Hey look a rainbow. I love this place. Pathological friendliness..."go with happiness". -Peter

Here's a link to my first review of divergent.

http://donttakewhatisayseriously.blogspot.com/2014/06/divergent-2014.html

I liked it.

So I went into Insurgent with very mild expectations of quality. My mistake.  I should learn, but I don't.

Insurgent was not the pleasant surprise that its forebear was. It was as if the creators decided that in order to make the film different and better they had to take out all of the content that made Divergent pretty good and put in explosions and hallucinated dreamscapes.  Insurgent is most definitely not a bad movie....but is decidedly formulaic and lacks any of Divergent's sparkle. Oh and the giant flying box of turmoil like a super mario level and absurd.  

There are two other points that I want to bring up as relates to Insurgent: McGuffins and source material.

McGuffins:  A McGuffin is any desirable object serves as motivation for characters in a story. Examples include such things as The Case in Pulp Fiction or The One Ring. The McGuffin for Insurgent is honestly just a box.  It glows. It has immense power. It does nothing. I kinda laughed at the ridiculousness of this particular motivating object. Apparently, Kate Winslet just desperately wants to open the box. "Open the box, Kate!" Conveniently, the only way to open the box is our main character Tris...shocker.

Source material:
Upon viewing Divergent I commented that the idea seemed rehashed like Avatar and Battle Royal. On that thought I went ahead and read the book to see how accurate I was.  What I found is that while the books are simplistic, the story, set up and themes of the book are in fact vivid. This led me to be slightly ashamed for the movie.  How could one waste such vivid themes like forgiveness, compassion, empathy, sacrifice, and predestination? Now having seen part 2, there is no doubt that the writing team wasted the noble efforts of the Author Veronica Roth to instill a greater debate among literate teens and possibly uplift her chosen genre from the depths of twilight induced schlock.  For shame producers and writers.  If you have a simple source with clear themes and emotionally connective writing, don't waste it.

On a scale of first person to fourth person narratives, I give Insurgent, 2.49 out of 5 stars.

天空の城ラピュタ [Castle in the Sky] 1986

"PAZUUUUUU" -Sheeta  (all the time.)

Castle in the Sky is great.  Nuff' said. Its plot and villain reveal are a little wonky...but whatever. I'm just going to move on and talk about some neat things I thought about while watching it this time.

I understand animators (ahem Disney and Hanna-Barbera) resuse animations, styles, and even ideas.  It is really easy and saves money.  I get it. Honestly, no harm no foul for me on that account.  However, I cannot break the serious connective tissue that links Castle in the Sky with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.  The robots are extremely similar. The little almost pikachus are in both films as well as undeniably linked environmental themes.  I do not necessarily subscribe to the theory that both movies are part of a joint universe.  But, I do believe the Hayao Miyazaki may have loved his creations from Nausicaa and borrowed liberally as animators and studios are want to do. It would be interesting if Nausicaa was in fact the post apocalyptic rebuilding of the world of Castle in the Sky possibly creating a circular narrative for mankind's relationship with the planet, but that would not add anything substantial to either film.

I think the most developed and complete character from Castle in the Sky is the pirate leader Dola.  Its like they decided to make a complete opposite to Sheeta.  She's the leader of air pirate gang that spouts truth like Captain Jack Sparrow and always has a cunning strategy. This time I noticed that Miyazaki deliberately draws parallels between the relationship between Sheeta & Pazu and Dola & her extremely mustachioed engineer of a husband. Is there a pirate side to every relationship that remains pure and honest?  I am not sure. Hayao Miyazkai seems to think that piracy is a "noble" pursuit.

Also, I just like the idea that Sheet ends up wearing Dola's pants with the comment. "You remind me of a young me."

On a scale of Neuschwanstein, to Bodiam, I give Castle in the Sky 3 out of 5 stars.