Tuesday September 27, 2011

Metropolis- The 1927 silent film is not perfect… but it is a masterpiece. It's like staring at a beautiful piece of literature written in old english. You might not completely relate to the people or their motives during the time period, but it's a time transcending story that has a great vision and thesis. The Utopian society in the film is used as a medium for conveying the fragile condition of the relationship between the working class and the wealthy bourgeoisies. The movie combines genres of romance, action, suspense, science fiction, and revenge in order to create a epic that truly does convey a sense of purpose. It's not just that. The visuals are fantastic. The amount of work and money put into a movie in the late 20s needs to be viewed. It's the science fiction 'Titanic' mixed with '1984' and 'Blade Runner' although it came before all those films and even heavily inspired one of them. It's a classic, and a true piece of art. If you haven't seen it, put the two hours in, because it's way worth it. On another note, when you are watching it, keep note of how hilariously unsexy the erotic dance one of the characters supposedly does. Too funny.



- Jeff Bassin

Monday September 26, 2011 - TERRA NOVA PREMIERES

Terra Nova Premiere- What if you were able to reset history with the knowledge of the mistakes humanity has made in the past? Welcome to Terra Nova. It aint the paradise it foretells, but overall, it holds a promising future ahead of it. The same can be said of not just the colony, but the show as well. It's super ambitious and it has a crazy budget in order to present it's unique plot. It's kind of like a mix between 'Jurassic Park' and 'Avatar', but it's grounded in a time travel world much cooler than both. 'Genesis', the show's pilot, has two parts, but in reality has three different tonal arcs to it. One is the future, or their present, where overpopulation, war, and pollution are major problems… sound familiar. Anyways, the second is the beauty of Terra Nova, displaying the fresh air, dinosaurs, and nature. Finally, the last part is the dangers of Terra Nova, showing that there are bad dinosaurs, and that society is beginning to repeat itself. By far, my favorite section was the first, because even though the show won't take place there (happy it isn't, would get boring), it sets you up for the new world and creates a grim and tragic backdrop for our show to reside in. This is not saying the other parts were bad. They were just more generic. Especially the third half. Either way, I love 'Jurassic Park' and it's giving me a 'Lost' vibe that I'm digging. I'll keep watching.



- Jeff Bassin

Saturday September 24, 2011 - TOP 10 REASON FOR THE BEST PIXAR FILM

The Incredibles- There is a reason it's my favorite Pixar film. One can say that it's a mix between that Pixar "family" sensibilities and 'Watchmen', but I'll further venture to say it's much more unique. Top 10 Reason It is the Best Pixar Film:

1) It's great how it chooses to humanize its villain, so then he makes immoral choices, they also seem grounded. Jason Lee does a great job doing the voice over.

2) It's visual to script jokes, from capes, to outfits, to annoying babysitters, the movie really has it all.

3) Edna Mode, the single coolest fashion designer ever. Darling, don't argue with me.

4) Michael Giacchino's jazzy score stays in your head to an extent. Very superhero.

5) Doesn't hide under a kid's film. It's like a bottle of alcohol placed under heavy enclosing. Kids can stand around it, but parents are the one who get the real benefit. It's a spy film first an foremost.

6) The superhero code names. Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Frozone, Bomb Voyage, Gazerbeam, The Underminer, Mirage, Syndrome. There are loads more named, and all of them are unique, fun, and underlay a theme or personality trait of the figure who inhabits it. So much for hiding one's real self.

7) The locations of the film. Suburbia. Tropical Island. Cave. Secret Hideout. Volcanoes. THEY HAVE VOLCANOES!

8) The underlaying adult plot of a soured marriage and a man's midlife crisis. It's clearly a personal film for Brad Bird and can be compared to his family life and Pixar working life. These are not things for a kid's film. Hey, they won't really notice. Even if they do, these are completely appropriate for kids to watch, so it's okay.

9) Great lines. "Everyone can be super! And when everyone's super… no one will be", "Next time you gamble, bet on your own life", and "You sly dog! You got me monologuing!". Classic.

10) Director Brad Bird's attention to detail. There are so many little things that are so integral in the plot, but add a slight touch of re-watchability each time. There is way too many for me to list. Things like that, as well as the success of my second favorite Pixar film, 'Ratatouille', and the underrated-ness of 'The Iron Giant' is exactly why I have so much faith in Bird directing something live action. 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' may seem a bit generic (since all hollywood action films seem that way) but I'm hoping Bird will add enough detail and creativeness to make it the best of the series.



- Jeff Bassin

Wednesday September 21, 2011

Footloose- This is the original we are talking about. Though I will get to the upcoming one before this review is done with. First thing I need to say, the original is cheesy. It's got a silly plot (although plausible) and has ridiculous dance sequences that would make little sense in reality. It's not a musical, so outside of it's campy center is just 80s fun. In fact, the entire film's plot structure revolves around the events that slowly force this new kid to change his entire town. On that point, I enjoyed every minute of it. I wasn't blown away, but it was fun and it made its point. I don't see why it has so much praise. Kevin Bacon was a star in this film so that's great and all, and I'm sure that the new one will fail to have the same effect on its audience in any way at all, cast or otherwise. But it's a harmless movie. It's about the effect of dancing releasing you from pressure and stress. Based on the trailer that I saw for the new one, it seems like the same movie as the 84' one. Like literally. Like shots and songs all remind me of the original. Also, it's directed by Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan), who is a competent director. I think he can handle a tween film. The only problem I can think of would be that it lacks originality and just remakes everything with the original and adds hip hop songs to make it modern (apparently Brewer used the original screenplay and use added pieces of modernism, like a "Frankenstein" screenplay). Might get boring for fans of the original. But I don't really think 'Footloose' is an instant classic anyways, and I don't really plan on seeing the new one (at least not until it's on dvd, netflix, etc.).

FYI, I dug the 'Footloose' reference 'Modern Family' made tonight.



- Jeff Bassin

Tuesday September 20, 2011

Secrets of a Soul- This was an odd movie. Not in a bad way. Okay, maybe a little bit. 'Geheimnisse Einer Seele' is kind of cool but ultimately too much for a viewing outside of educational purposes. Essentially, the movie is this guy, who ends up having this wierdy dream sequence that causes him to be afraid of knives. So he goes through a psychotherapist and the guy employs Freudian techniques to analyze his "unconscious" dreams and desires. The only really interesting part of the film is the dream sequence… which is crazy, but I'm sure you can google around and watch it. The dream bits don't make up that much of the film so you are left most of the time wondering what the dreams mean, and even though the questions from the dream analysis eventually pan out, by the end of the "months" of therapy, the answers became not good enough. I liked it from an artistic/inspirational standpoint, but as a film of plot, it is kind of hard to get into. I would recommend it, certainly, but only to the courageous. Those german expressionists mean business, so watch the film for its "unconscious" content before you look for a really "conscious" plot.



- Jeff Bassin

Monday September 19, 2011

X-Men: First Class- I found the film much more "fun" this time around (#2), which isn't to say as a bad thing, but as an "okay, I wants you to have a goodz time yo" sort of thing. I still didn't really see all that much friendship chemistry between actors, James MacAvoy and Michael Fassbender (although their dialogue seems to tell me otherwise) and January Jones is still as void of any acting range as the diamond shell of her mutant ability, but other than that, I had a good time with it. Bacon really shines in his role as Sebastian Shaw (the villain of the film) and all the other members of the so-called "First Class" have really fun lines and jokes that add to the "cool" atmosphere of the film. I think if the film focused less on the "First Class" and more on Charles Xavier and Magneto, the film may have suffered from redundancy so I can understand the lack of real conversations between the two "Besties". The film is a set up for what's to come, whether it's another prequel of a different character, or a sequel to this prequel, and considering this one's semi-high regard in my mind, I would gladly go to see it (as long as it isn't the 'Wolverine Origins' ones).




- Jeff Bassin

Sunday September 18, 2011

Thor- I liked it, but didn't love it... I would still tell you to see it (especially since it has a big role in the background plot of 'The Avengers' movie). Despite its problems, I can certainly understand why someone as successful as Kenneth Branagh (Known for directing and acting in pretty much all the Shakespeare film adaptations and 'Frankenstein') would get involved. It's fairly well casted, since I enjoyed the performances of its real stars, Chris Hemsworth (Thor, getting tons of attention at the moment) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki, Thor's brother). Although the plot of the film is somewhat loose and thrown to the side of it's big action set pieces, when it does get into the mythos of Asgard and it's inhabitants, it's thoroughly interesting. On a different note, I felt like I couldn't feel the connection between Hemsworth's Thor and Natalie Portman character, despite it having a pivotal role in Thor's character development. Whatever, I guess that part of the screen time was given to Kat Dennings' "Pop Tarts" lines.



- Jeff Bassin

Saturday September 17, 2011

Attack the Block- This is the second time I have seen this movie, and while my expectations were sort of too high before viewing, it's quality certainly didn't go down. Still a solid action/comedy/horror hybrid well worth your time. So go see it, I guess.



- Jeff Bassin

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Dracula Dead and Loving It- Couldn't help it. Bringing it up with Nosferatu, made me want to make sure my claim was correct, and I'm glad to say it was true. You have to like Mel Brooks films, or at least the 'Spaceballs' kind of spoof humor, not 'Blazing Saddles' or 'The Producers' territory. It's a semi-recent film in his career, but it's way better than 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights', which I just couldn't get into. Just too silly. Brooks takes it a little more seriously than he normally does, using a fair amount of homage to 'Nosferatu' and Coppola's 'Dracula' while also using his own signature brand of humor. Leslie Nielsen does a good Count Dracula, but it's really Peter MacNicol's Thomas Renfield, the faithful servant/slave to Dracula that steals the show. Every bit with him is great, from the upside-down hanging in a prison cell to speak with Dracula, to the moving coffin on the boat scene. But the best scene by far is when the main character, Jonathan Harker, chooses to stake a vampire with Dr. Abraham Van Helsing "by his side". There is something hilarious about this movie, even if it equally misses as much as it hits. Those shadow jokes are just too good. I guess it's a guilty pleasure in my film list.



- Jeff Bassin

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold- Be warned. I have always been a fan of Morgan Spurlock's work. This is most likely because he uses his documentaries not on a political agenda, but on an entertaining educational basis. His target this time: Advertising. Spurlock understands that advertising takes up way too much of our everyday lives to fit into an hour and a half of our time, so his plan comes into play. Finance his movie using his movie. He spends the time of the movie, showing how a blockbuster gets involved in advertising by funding his film the same way. The concept's meta style is almost too much for a mind to handle. But when you follow, you really become tuned in to the world we live in. We all realize that organizations are constantly fighting for us to buy their products, but to what extent, it really takes an insider viewpoint. Spurlock presents the horrors of marketing in such a fun way that you might ignore the horrors underlying everything he does for the film's running time. The Neuromarketing scene displaying how they have learned to appeal to our brains' desires insinuated frightening ramifications for the future. Will we even have control over our desires when companies can appeal to everything we want. How much control do you really have over the products you buy?



Nosferatu- The 1922 classic "Symphony of Horror" plays out Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' in a influential way for all vampire films to come. In fact, this is the film that first introduced Sunlight murder into the vampire equation (looking at you, tons of future movies, 'True Blood', etc.) (not looking at you, 'Twilight Saga'). Overall, it's slightly boring, but none more so than your other average German silent films, but also it's tonally awkward, though that is mostly just the modern viewpoint. The film is kind of an unexpected downer overall with an ending blurb that seems to contradict its final scene. I won't go into it more than that, but the blurb did not convince me of its claim. Not one bit. Another thing that bothered me quite a bit was the super consistent use of obvious lines (pretty much every line, so it warrants the "Super") like "you will have to sweat... and bleed to make sure this man moves in", or how about the ever popular, "your wife has a nice looking neck". It's too much to take. One line is nice, it's like the director winking like "get it, it's a vampire movie" but 20-30 times is like him throwing bricks with the message tied around it, and I'm like "Enough, I get it!" Anyways, there are better vampire flicks to watch, but it's shorter and its minus beastiality rape and Keanu Reeves with a poor british accent, so I'll watch it over that one. Haven't seen the Bela Lugosi one yet though.



P.S. Best of the three to me is probably 'Dracula: Dead and Loving It'.



Come on, it's Leslie Nielsen. He was even solid in 'Superhero Movie'.

- Jeff Bassin

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Red State- Kevin Smith shows off the fact that his ability to tell stories was never about the budget Hollywood has given him, but because of the words he has put on a page. The film doesn't aim to destroy anyone, or rather it aims to destroy everyone, satirizing every element of modern day culture, from the abusive and sinful youth, the dangerous and forceful religious believers, to the submissive and torn government, who have the power to sway peace but lack the acceptance and toleration needed to do so. No one is right, and maybe that is the merciless rant that Smith presents. But maybe he has a point. Are we so ignorant to ignore there is truth in the film. This film tells us a opinion and presents it through an analogy of characters. It's a political cartoon shaded in a cinematic color.

Watch 'New Girl' Pilot Before It Airs?

If you want to be ahead of the television curve for the fall premieres, or if you are a fan of Zooey Deschanel and her zany antics, then you can find the free pre-released pilot on itunes. Not sure if it's good or bad (but it's basically Deschanel attempting to do what Tina Fey has been doing for years with her comedy persona like Liz Lemon), there really isn't anything exciting or refreshing about it. But it's only 22 minutes long, on the plus side. So watch at your own risk. Also, is it just me or does Deschanel have the weirdest face in the poster?

Here's the link: http://bit.ly/nHYRhk



- Jeff Bassin

Thursday September 8, 2011

Attack the Block- Not only is this a movie to seek out, but a movie to seek out again. Coming out of just seeing it, I can certainly make the claim that it's a film that will deserves multiple viewings, for being not only original, but fun in the process (like its produced predecessors 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Shaun of the Dead'). Don't get it wrong by the trailers, this movie is far more sci-fi than comedy, and far more action/social commentary than horror (though there is an okay amount of gore). It has moments where you chuckle, but it's all grounded in reality, and that might be one of the reasons it's so great. It's generally thrilling when it tries to be and it has interesting wit when it has something to say about the culture in the film, even if that something is underscored by the sleek dark design of the aliens or the solid score by Felix Burton and Simon Ratcliffe (Basement Jaxx) and Steven Price. The best of this film comes from its characters, who are so interesting together that I could see myself watching a sequel with the survivors facing some other random oddity and I probably wouldn't even mind the absurdity of that situation. Goes to show you, never underestimate the comedians. Joe Cornish, this his feature directorial debut, does good work, and I'm psyched to see whatever he cooks up next.



- Jeff Bassin

Tuesday September 6, 2011

The Golem- This is an odd one. While it works well as a companion piece to 'Caligari' (use of German Expressionism), the story of this one was not as compelling. I'm Jewish, so technically this film should be the better of the two. It's got Jewish folklore and a 'Frankenstein' clay man to boot, but there was something way slower in concept than in 'Caligari' and for that reason alone, I would go with that one over this. In fact, I really didn't know where this film was going until 3/4 of the way through, but the funny thing is that the first 3/4 was the better half of the movie. As soon as it gets to its point, I'm like, "Done." 'The Golem' has all the elements of a solid work, from its odd and comedic special effects and makeup, to the odd gestures of the characters (there's a sequence where a dude is totally getting to 2nd base with the female lead) and there's even a few surprising moments throughout, but somehow it still managed to push me toward the watch a few times. I'm not saying it's bad. It certainly has its artistic and religious merits. Overall, the biggest fault I had with it was that every so often, I would claim "Oh, that's interesting, I wonder if they will go there with it… and nope they didn't". It's like, I saw a better movie within it that it just couldn't live up to.



- Jeff Bassin

Friday September 2, 2011

Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension- This was a solid fun feature length episode that feature all the repetitive meta jokes (a lot about 3D), clever visual gags, and complete self awareness that one is used to from watching the series. It's fun and and has a sense of something way smarter than what it is, but it never gets complicated so that kids can still understand its dimensional concepts. It was a nice break of an hour and a half and it could even stand as a competent finale to the series. Although it isn't, and there will be way more adventures to come, if they are any bit as solidly entertaining as this one is, then I would watch it.



- Jeff Bassin