Prekall...

So, next week I shall be watching Watchmen. For those who don't know, this movie is based on a graphic novel of much renown from the 80's – a real down and dirty adult version of a super hero world gone awry. I just recently read the stories, relatively, within a couple of years and it is among the best comics I have read. Not my favorite but worth the read. Now the reviews have started to pour out of the interwebs of the film and I am afraid that it can not live up to the hype. The intergeeks seem to love it and say is as close to the books as a film can get, I just hope it isn't another Lord of the Ring situation. I hate those movies, very overrated IMHO but I like Zack Snyder's other films and count his Dawn of the Dead remake among my favorite films. Soon I shall be posting my rekall of the film so I thought I would get my preconceived ideas here as a nice precursor.

Vantage Point rekalled and rekalled and rekalled...

Vantage Point is a recent political action film staring Dennis Quaid and Jack from Lost. This film is told in a style of retelling the events of a political assassination as see from many different people. There are a few misdirects and a couple of times I felt that the characters were doing something that didn't make sense but was proved wrong later when seeing more of the details. I was a little hesitant of this form of story telling and was pleasantly surprised. This turned into a nice action film, the car chase was fun and had a good, laugh out loud moment. But a solid actionier after a little build up, I recommend for those looking for a action/thriller. A good time.

My Name is Bruce rekalled...

My Name is Bruce is a fictional "inside hollywood" film staring B film icon Bruce Campbell who lampoons his own current career and every one in he associates with. Directed by Mr. Campbell himself and written by Mark Verheiden(whose geek cred is quite substantial), the film is not quite as good as it could have been even with my low expectations. Mr. Campbell not only skewers himself but the fans that worship everything he does as well as how hollywood works. There have been better films that take on the machine that is hollywood and better films that use actors playing a version of themselves. I have been a fan of Bruce Campbell's work since I saw Evil Dead 2 many moons ago but his star is losing it's luster for me. I am not interested in stories of actors who resent the fame that they have gained and blame others for career short comings. Maybe I would be more interested if it was done in a quality manner but this is not that film. This film will probably fill the most adamant Bruce Campbell fan with it's many inside jokes and references but any other film fan will feel disappointed.

First Blood rekalled...

I just finished a classic for me, First Blood. It is a movie that really resonated with me for a few reasons on this most current viewing. As a child I was a huge fan of the war movie genre and I had relatives who were in the military so I remember wanting to see this film badly, it was not what I expected. Granted the film has the "action star" but this is before the 80's boom of action hero and felt like it was coming out of the 70's anti-hero mold. Sylvester Stallone does a magnificent job giving John Rambo the warrior with a troubled past as sympathetic veneer. The one character trait I noticed on this go around was when Rambo is looking for something and the item he has in his hands doesn't fit the bill he violently discards it, a nice consistent touch. This film, I believe, is responsible for some of the views I hold today, or at least reinforced them. 1) War can scar more deeply than a bullet or blade sometimes, that is why I am not a fan of wars in the real world, in film that is another matter. 2) Cops are dicks. 3) Rambo's knife is cool. 4) People around the country think the whole NW looks like town featured in the film. A myth I try to dispel. Seattle and Portland aren't like this. Once again I have selected a classic that I recommend, one of Stallone's best.

Band of Brothers rekalled...

Band of Brothers, the HBO WW2 series, is a great piece of television film making. Giving us a the voices of people who were actually there followed up with a gripping reenactment that shows people what sacrifices some people made while in war and the mentality it takes to make it through one of life's most unforgiving tests. I have relatives who have gone through wars and I have always wanted to know what happened to them but didn't dare ask them to relive those memories. This is one of the best pieces about war that I have been witness too, I hold it in rather high regard. I have actually seen this series a few times now which is quite the commitment since there are 10 episodes that are about an hour each and I still enjoy it. Can't recommend it enough for fans of war films that have heart or historical buffs. The crowning point of the series is to see the actual people named at the end of the series who the characters were based on, amazing to see what they are like when the series was released.

Helvetica rekalled...

The documentary film, Helvetica, is about the history and use of the typeface used as the name of the film. I found this film fascinating since I work with typefaces in my line of work and helvetica is a mainstay of my business. It has it's supporters, lovers, detractors and haters as displayed in this film. I thought they did a great job of showing many different viewpoints and fleshing out the history of helvetica was really interesting. I think this film is not only great for the professional designer but also the layman who doesn't understand why people care about type, you get a glimpse into the minds of passionate designers on both sides of the Helvetica debate and can make you look smart to others when conversating at a party. I highly recommend Helvetica as a film and a typeface.

Push rekalled...

Tonight I saw a preview showing of PUSH, a film about superheroes in the real world is what they were going for I believe. This film stared Chris Evans who was also the super powered Human Torch so he is not new to the super powered genre. He was not as charismatic as he was in Fantastic Four which is sad since you can tell this guy has personality but keeps finding terrible projects to be in. The film had an interesting visual style, the art direction of the scenes were interesting with many patterns and textures on almost every surface. The movie had many other problems, the pacing was slow for most of the film, the dialog was uninspired and the story was nothing new, actually retreading old X-Men comics themes. This movie seemed to be what a superhero film would have been if the grunge movement of the early nineties had been the director. My friend who fell asleep during the film had a great response to my question of how much of the film he saw-"too much".

TRON rekalled...

I saw the classic TRON over the weekend at a theater pub whilst eating tater tots and it is still a classic. One of the earliest films to use CG graphics if not the first. Now the graphics are not what one expects from CG today but the style of the graphics totally fits the world created here and the aesthetic of the computer world achieved with the filters is totally unique. The film straddles the fine line of a children's film and a sci-fi adventure, no cursing or extreme violence but one any age could enjoy. It does drag a little bit in the middle of the film but I still thoroughly enjoy this film after many viewings throughout the years. A must see for anyone who considers themselves a sci-fi fan.