Friday, July 20, 2018

Batman Ninja Review

So... There is a lot to respect about the animation in Batman Ninja. They obviously put a lot of work into this, and I appreciate it.

But for the rest... There is not enough facepalms or eyerolls in the world to express my feelings. Someone drank a LOT of sake making this movie.

I had originally thought this was going to be a story of "What If Batman lived in Feudal Japan". It's not. It's time travel.

Okay, I'll mildly accept time travelling Batman heroes and villains. But after that...? I think there are ways it could have worked, but not like this.

You have to REALLY love Japanese anime. I mean REEEEALLY love it, to the point where you aren't worried about common sense story telling.

Ugh...
Deeesher

Professor Marston & The Wonder Women Review

How much do you know about the creator of Wonder Woman?

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is truly an amazing biopic about his very unique life. Officially, I read that the Marston family rejected this movie, but nobody really knows all the details of his personal life.

What is known, is that the character of Wonder Woman is based on Marston's wife, their life partner, and their fascination with BDSM. Definitely an interesting psychological study of people during a time when many things we accept today, were considered a perversion.

I really hope this is more accurate retelling than the family said, because it's a beautiful story.

Deeesher

Fahrenheit 451 2018 Review

Fahrenheit 451 was the first Ray Bradbury book I ever read in 6th grade. I discovered him after reading a short story called Fever Dream in a magazine in 5th grade that gave me chills. Before that, I was mostly reading Hardy Boys and dinosaur books, so it felt great to read something with so much imagination.

In 1966, it was made into a movie by François Truffaut, which despite lead actor Oskar Werner's efforts to sabotage the production (because he hated the director), it wasn't a bad movie at all. There were a few powerful moments that I respect from this version.

And now, in 2018, I thought I would really hate the the modern Michael B. Jordan remake.

It turns out, parts of it were a decent modern take on the original concept!
And parts of it was Hollywood just changing things because they're idiots. Seriously guys, stop trying so hard. Your ideas suck.

The standout for me was Michael Shannon, as the Captain. He made me appreciate his acting skills, after really hating him as Zod in Man of Steel.

Otherwise, some of the scenes felt very well done (no fire pun intended), and it's easy to imagine some of the elements here happening with today's social media culture. But I still think the 1966 movie was a bit better.

In the end, you really should read the book.... before it's too late.
Deeesher

Westworld Season 2 Review

I will say again, season one was just amazing. This was truly one of my favorite shows ever put on television, nearly theatrical in many ways. The depth of story, visuals, and characters blew me away, after I expected it to suck. It was a reboot *blech*, produced by my mortal enemy, JJ Abrams, created by the brother of my other nemesis, Christopher Nolan. Somehow, not only did I accept it, I loved it!

And now we finally get Season two.

Um... out of ten episodes, there were a few I enjoyed a lot. But overall, the same method of story telling that felt brilliant in season one, seemed frustrating and confusing this time. In fact, I really started to get annoyed with their crap.

It was nice to see some backstory on the park and get a deeper history behind some characters, (particular standout for me was the Ghost Nation episode, and learning a bit more about James Delos), and of course visually, it's still stunning. But the overall arc this season started getting confusing and maybe a bit too existential for my taste. It seems like they are trying so hard to top season one, they forgot the story should still make sense to people watching.

I think you can summarize my feelings for this season with the opening credits. Both seasons have the same amazing score by composer Ramin Djawadi, but the visuals felt much better crafted for season one. The images had a much more powerful impact than the vague random look of season two's intro.

I'm eager for season three but they do have to... rein themselves in (see what I did there??).
Deeesher