Posts Tagged ‘Movies’
I saw Blair Witch Project a total of one time. At the time I was amped up to see it, but was quickly disappointed after finding out there was absolutely no truth in it. Now, at this point I can look back and say that it was a decent movie, and good for being the first of it’s kind. The creators took a chance and did well for it. There’s a certain charm to the move and the scary parts are scary in a way that your average horror movie isn’t. There’s no real jump scares or gore of any kind. There’s a lot of little nuances that pick at the viewer and the movie in a whole is a more psychologically scary than anything else. The movie is good in it’s way, but I only saw it once and don’t really plan on seeing it again. I don’t regret seeing it, in fact I’m glad I saw it. I’ll just probably never watch it again.
Jump to 9 years later and another movie in the same horror movie sub-genre is released called Cloverfield. The marketing for this movie was phenomenal. The audience is left wondering what the heck is going on, but given enough information to be curious for more. The problem with this is that it was hyped up beyond belief and when I actually went to go see it I left the theater trying to convince myself that the movie was better than what I just sat through. I was on the fence but as time progressed I began to not like it. After TF:RotF came out I now realize just how bad a movie can be and now that I think about it Cloverfield wasn’t bad. In fact, it’s a movie I wouldn’t mind watching again.
Which bring us to the present and the movie in question is Paranormal Activity.
More like Paranormal CRAPtivity. Am I right folks?
I’m just kidding, the movie isn’t that bad. The marketing technique was similar to the one used for Cloverfiel. It gave you a taste but no real information. The movie itself shared more resemblance’s to Blair Witch. Very small cast to begin with only two of the characters are faced with the actual trials of the movies plot. I won’t go into budget for any movie, because I believe the only real elements you need to tell a good story is a person who is able to tell a story and tell it well, but also, maybe more important, is a person willing to listen. For me, budget doesn’t matter.
That being said; This movie is eeeh ok, but could have been better. They did a good job of letting you get to know the characters before anything major happen but they took a bit too much time doing this. Also, it almost hurts the movie in that. By the end, it turns out I didn’t really like the character of the bo friend. He’s just an unlikable guy. I get that he reacted in a way that a real person may act when being put into this situation, but it is still a movie and it’s important to like the characters, especially when there are prominently only two characters in the whole movie. Also, through his actions the story line was able to progress, so I guess he can be forgiven.
Every horror movie needs some way to get across the rules within that movie. Something that says “this is how things work” and “this is why things are happening.” In Blair Witch, it was done through interviews from the town folk and through some research, which worked because it was about some kids investigating the lore of the Witch. In Cloverfield the rules were revealed as the story progressed, which also worked because the people in the move were finding things out as we were. In this movie the rules were literally expounded by a hired psychic .. and that was his only purpose. He told them what was going on .. and that’s it. Well he told them what they should do, but only so that when they did the exact opposite the audience can scream at the screen “No don’t!”
Non of the really good parts happen until the end and even then they aren’t that really scary. I was expecting to see some kind of apparition but, nope. A lot of the scares really on jump scares, which is kind of a cop out, in my opinion. When I was a kid I used to sneak up behind my grandma and go “BOO!” and startle her but I never considered myself scary. To really be scared by this movie you have to be of the mind set that this could possibly happen. Which I believe it could. But again, there are things they could’ve done in the movie, but simply didn’t. The ending itself is almost predictable but also pretty sad.
Would I recommend it? Wait for it to come out on DVD, and watch it late at night. Alone. With all the lights off.
At this point I don’t really care about it. I don’t dislike it. I just don’t care. A few years down the road I may feel differently about it.
This was one busy weekend. A lot of work done but at least I had time to catch a movie. When we got to the theater it was between two choices; The Invention of Lying and Zombieland. Tough choice. The reviews for both the movies had been good, but in the end we decided on Zombieland. I think we made the right choice. Not to say that Invetntion of Lying probably isn’t a good movie. It’s just, it’s a good thing to end up liking a movie more than you thought.
It’s been a long time since I walked out of a theater feeling really good about life because of a movie I’d just watched, and who would’ve thought it would be from a zombie flick. It was a fun movie. It made it seem like, if there were going to be a zombie apocalypse, then it would be an ok thing. I don’t want to give away anything, but the movie has a surprise cameo not mention in the trailers, even though it’s one of the better parts of the movie. About the only thing I didn’t like about the movie were Wichita and Little Rock. They kind of got on my nerves, but I guess they’re justified and their rolls help progress the story, so it’s something I can overlook.
I didn’t really know what to expect from the movie going in, and I certainly didn’t expect to like the movie as much as I did. Also, it’s got me in the mood to see other zombie movies. Hey it’s October so what better time, eh?
So I just finished the first season of Avatar. I know this cartoon is kind old and has been over for a while now, but i figured since the new movie’s gonna be coming out soon, then I’d better get some good ground work in before the premier.
I remember when the show was new the only thing I saw of it was a marathon on Thanksgiving. I only caught a few episodes but from what I saw I knew it was a show I could get into. I wanted to see more buuuut, I don’t have cable at the time .. I still don’t. I don’t really watch TV. The friend I was with, whom was watching it with me, made the comment of Avatar being a Naruto clone. To this I said ” … What?”
Even after watching one episode I could tell it was an original idea and no way was it a clone of Naruto. Just for fun let’s take a look at the similarities between Avatar and Naruto (bare in mind that at the time Shippuden wasn’t a thing). Oh yeah, and beware of possible spoilers:
- The main character in both the shows wear orange.
- One has obvious influences from anime, the other IS an anime
- Both take place in an alternate world or reality that has a heavy asian influence
- Both main characters have female friends that they wish could be more than friends.
- Martial arts.
Hmm, okay so it dawns on me that there are some similarities between the two series and the list could go on, but you know what? From the list compiled I could easily say that Avatar and Naruto are copies of Dragon Ball. Trust me. Comparing these is like comparing oranges and orange apples. They’re completely different. Both are good, but for their own orange reasons.
Avatar is a good series to get lost in. Has a good story line, and because it takes itself just seriously enough, it get’s a way with being playful and silly a lot of the time. I like the fact that the first season wraps itself up nicely and has a good set up for things to come. Can’t wait to finish up the series. Hopefully I can do that before the movie comes out. When is that again? *Goes to check.* .. July 2, 2010?! .. Oh, yeah, I’ve got plenty of time.
Being that this is my first post, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Sai, one of the hosts and the photographer for the AniMaid Café. I’ve never really been good at talking about myself, so you’ll just have to get to know me through the random post I’ll be making on this blog.
This past weekend was an interesting one. Went to see 9, attended a Glay concert, watched a good portion of the first season of Avatar AND I made, then ate a sandwich. .. Actually I’m just kidding I never made a sandwich.
I don’t really consider myself enough of a J-Pop or J-Rock fan to be giving a review of the Glay concert. I’ll just say that out of all of the J-Rock bands I’ve seen this year, I find Glay to be the better of ‘em. Their music sounds more like the type of music that I’d find myself normally listening too. Now if T.M. Revolution came to town, there’s a concert I know I’d enjoy.
As for 9 .. I’ll try to talk about it without giving away too much of the movie, being that it’s just after the first week it was released.
It wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. I didn’t even walk into the theater with my hopes all that high. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good movie; it looked good, the character’s were complex and well flushed out, the environments were good. The main disappointment was in the fact that the story line felt like it took for ever to get off the ground.
I dunno, maybe the movie should’ve been longer than it was, but to me it just felt like the movie ended just as the story’s pace was picking up steam. Also another thing is that it was lacking that certain atmosphere that most other Tim Burton movies have.
The thing I liked most about it, is that it didn’t baby the audience with a totally happy ending. It was almost bitter sweet. If they tightened up all the loose ends then it might’ve ruined the message the movie’s trying to give. Also, there were also some parts of the movie that weren’t directly explained and you just kind of had to go “oooh so that’s why ..”
Would I recommend it? Sure! It’s a fun movie to watch. Other than those two gripes it’s a pretty good movie. Would I say it’s one of my favorite movies of the year? Nah
I’ll get back to you about Avatar once I’ve finished it.