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An error has ocurred. Please try againThis year's theme is Best Picture Winners. I was hesitant to use this theme before as I had already seen a considerable amount of them and I wasn't sure if there would be enough that 1) were available without spending too much on rental fees, and 2) I was actually interested in seeing. But going through the list and cross referencing all my viewing resources I came up with 30 movies, and I didn't have to spend a cent!
This year, instead of choosing the theme and movies myself, I let my friends and family decide for me. Except for Da 5 Bloods and The Craft, which were my own choices, all movies were suggested to me.
That being said, what better theme to use for June than Pride! All my movies for this year's project are LGBTQ+ themed.
Looking at the various graphs of my IMDb profile, I noticed a distinct lack of movies rated from before the 80s. I mean I've seen a lot of the major movies that came before 1980, but I'd like those numbers to go up. To start to rectify that, this year I'm going with all movies made during the Golden Age of film-making, or from about 1927-1965. I don't want to say Golden Age of Hollywood since there are a few foreign films on the list and I didn't want to limit myself.
I had trouble coming up with a theme for this year's project that got me excited, so eventually I just went with movies I've been meaning to see but never did for whatever reason. It's going to be very random.
Reviews
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (2017)
Just because you can doesn't mean you should
Despite the review title and some of the things I'm going to get into about the new season, I am still giving it an 8 out of 10 because more than just being happy it's back, I'm happy it's on people's minds again. For close to twenty years MST3K was a niche show, a cult classic. I mention it to somebody and more often than not I just got a blank stare back at me. Now with the successful Kickstarter (of which I am a backer) you can find MST3K everywhere. It's streaming on several platforms, the DVDs got put out faster, there's real merch now, people know what I'm talking about and they want more and that can only be a good thing. That being said however, here's what I thought about the new season. Overall I liked it. Not as much as the original series but that's to be expected. It's certainly different, which doesn't mean it's bad, just different. It's like that Twilight Zone episode where the guy wakes up and everything is both the same and different at the same time.
The Good:
-The writing is top notch with the movies themselves and with most of the host segments.
-The rapport between Jonah, Hampton and Baron. The jokes flow really well between the three.
-Also really enjoyed Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt as the new Mads.
-Hampton Yount as Crow in general, he's like right smack dab in the middle between Trace and Bill as Crow as far as voice and personality are concerned.
-Being new while also calling back to the original series. For instance they brought back Pearl, Bobo and Brain Guy a few times (although what was with Bobo's mask? Did they lose the original or get that on sale?)
-The movies riffed were a great selection. Definite favorites were Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II, Yongary, Starcrash and Cry Wilderness.
The Not Exactly Good, Not Exactly Bad But I Got Used To It:
-Moving the opening to before the credits instead of after. I guess with no commercials it makes that change necessary.
-The new opening credits in general. Why does Jonah apparently have to recreate it every time? Just roll the opening, it doesn't need an explanation too.
-The new door sequence.
-Baron Vaughn needs to distinguish himself more, at least in the theater because he sounds like Jonah a lot of the time.
-Speaking of Tom, the fact that his arms are stiff now instead of loose springs.
-The increased mobility of the bots in the theater, which seemed to be done just because they could rather than have it be organic.
-The increased amount of riffs with more pop culture based jokes. You can tell how young the writers room is, which isn't good or bad, just an observation.
-The lack of Minnesota based jokes.
-Gypsy's new voice, though she didn't actually show up a whole lot outside the "payload" bits.
What I Did Not Like:
-Speaking of Gypsy, the stupid nonsensical "payload" which served no other purpose then to get Gypsy in the theater. Why when that never had to be a thing before?
-The new SOL bridge. It's just so flat with no dimension to it and I miss the hexfield viewscreen. If the movie could make the bridge bigger while still maintaining it's distinctive look, there's no reason this shouldn't.
-The extra people in Moon 13. They never needed anything more than the main Mad and one or two sidekicks, everything else just seems like superfluous nonsense that again they added just because they could instead of stopping to think if they should (which is pretty much the main criticism I have of the season as a whole).
-No shorts. Given it's on a streaming platform instead of TV I can see why there aren't any but still, I think one could have been done.
-Like others have mentioned, the shear amount of riffs they have with this basic thought of filling every non-dialog second with a joke, some of it even being blurted out before whatever it is they're riffing actually appears on screen. It just makes it painfully obvious these guys are reading a script instead of supposedly watching the movie for the first time. The show (outside of KTMA) has always been written so why is it Joel, Mike, Trace, J, Kevin and Bill were able to make the riffing sound natural and these guys can't? The answer is there's too many jokes! Not everything on screen needs a joke. The pacing got better as the season went on, but they can afford to tone it down a bit. Hopefully with season 12 on the way they'll take this criticism to heart and find their groove so that it sounds more relaxed and natural. Also it's ok to speak over dialog occasionally.
-The "meta" ness of the whole thing. For example they make blatant references to Kickstarter, that this show is streaming, that it IS a show and that they're back from a previous show, the Mads have the MST3K logo on their sleeves, etc. I haven't seen every episode of the original series, but I don't remember them being so blatant about "this is a TV show" or even mentioning the title despite half the series had them reading fan mail. It was really off-putting.
-On that note, I miss the "homemade" aspect of the original show. The biggest concern I had when the Kickstarter to revive the show was first announced and Joel said it would be filmed in Hollywood with a new cast was that it would lose it's homemade charm. One of the things I liked most about the original series was how everything was done in house. Like all the songs were written and sung by the cast, the sets and props were done by Best Brains and if any other characters showed up they were always played by somebody from the crew. Unfortunately those fears were realized between the overabundance of Paul and Storm songs and guest stars, most of which had nothing to do with whatever else was happening in the episode, the more mobile bots, which aren't even controlled by their voice actors anymore, the aforementioned new sleek bridge set, and the overly produced miniature scenes, particularly the opening in episode 1. You can plainly tell those scenes were done by a professional stop motion studio instead of a bunch of guys with spray-painted crap found around the house. Again, it felt like they only did it because they had an abundance of new resources instead of asking if it should have been done at all. Less is more in this regard, especially with this show.
-This may be just me nitpicking, but I had this sense that they were deliberately not acknowledging Mike's time on the show. Not so much Mike's time as a whole since like mentioned earlier Pearl, Bobo and Brain Guy showed up several times, but Mike himself. Like bringing back Gizmonics and the invention exchange, which was Joel's thing and having Jonah be more Joel-like in general. Like before MST3K Joel was a prop comic, that was his thing so the whole invention exchange was an extension of that. When Mike took over he started to do it but it was clear he wasn't a tinkerer like Joel so they dropped it. Why would Jonah be doing it? I don't know anything about Jonah's history before he joined the show but I know he's not a prop comic. I know there isn't the best history between Joel and Mike behind the scenes but still, with Jonah clearly doing Joel's stuff, it just felt like they wanted you to forget about whatever Mike did on the show. I'm hoping as time goes on Jonah becomes his own host with his own characteristics instead of just being a rehash of Joel.
Overall though, I did like the new season and I don't feel I wasted the money I kicked in, I mean I got a whole bunch of neat swag to go with the new episodes so it's all good on that front even without the new season itself. It had some good things, some bad things but ultimately I'm happy with it and I'm happy it's getting another season. Hopefully Joel et al read these reviews and take the criticisms to heart.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
You're Making a Musical, what's Not Theatrical?
For anybody that knows me, they know that I am a musical theatre geek, and they also know I love Sondheim and this musical in particular, so I was bit miffed when I finally saw this.
Certainly the cinematography was top notch in capturing the dark side of London, as only Mr. Burton can do, and I was dazzled by the camera movements, sets and costumes. I had my reservations with the casting of Johnny Depp for sure, but he surprised me and pulled off the title role wonderfully. The same can be said for Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen and Jayne Wisener, who was a perfect Johanna. The number "By the Sea" was probably the best number of the whole movie. Cinematically it was brilliant, and the sullenness of Sweeney coupled with the buoyancy of Mrs. Lovett and Toby made the song a delight to watch. Although the brightness did make my eyes wince a little from the almost total blackness from the first hour and half of the movie.
However that's about where my positives end. Jamie Campbell Bower, who played Anthony, and while a good performer, he had a very effeminate air about him. I mean he looked like a girl with that hair (what is with these movie musicals and the girl hair on the male love interests (Roger in Rent, Raul in Phantom)?), and he sounded like a low alto. The kid who played Toby, while awesome, I thought was too young. It made Pirelli's abuse just sad instead of funny like it should have been (see more about lack of humor below). My biggest casting complaint was definitely with Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett. For one thing she talk-sang the entire part, which I could have forgiven had she acted the hell out of the character, but she didn't. Instead all I got was this very tired woman who watched everything happen bemusedly. The whole movie I wanted to go in there and slap her, or give her a Redbull. Anything to wake her up. A completely nepotist miss-cast. I would have loved to have seen what Toni Collette could have done with the role.
Casting issues aside, my biggest complaint was the lack of ensemble. I mean he took out the opening song which sets the mood, and is the freaking' title of the musical. How could you not include "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" in Sweeney Todd? I read that Burton was originally going to have a chorus of ghosts fill the role of ensemble, but it was too theatrical so he dropped it. Too theatrical? You're doing a freaking' musical, what's not theatrical?! The lack of ensemble also made certain songs either lose their luster (like in Pirelli's Miracle Elixer) or questioned the entire point of why it was there (God, That's Good). On that last one, I especially questioned why it was there since half the song, the bit about Sweeney worrying over his new chair, was depicted already. I later heard that Depp and Carter tried to really focus on the music but Burton told them to stop it because it sounds too Broadway. Refer to my above mentioned comment on theatrics. I swear, if Tim Burton hates musicals and all their conventions, why didn't he just do away with the music all together? Get a Danny Elfman score if it'll make him feel better.
The other main beef I had was the fact that Burton took virtually all the humor out and made it darker than it had to be. I mean the show is essentially a black comedy, but all the funny lines were either taken out or made in such a way that it wasn't funny, such as the above mentioned abuse of Toby by Pirelli. The number "A Little Priest," could have been a lot better had they not just looked out a window the whole time pointing at what they were singing about. It's supposed to be their version of foreplay that they delight in, but the direction coupled with half the song cut, the comedic genius of the number was wasted.
Despite all that I said above, I didn't hate the movie. It's just my musical bias. I probably will buy the DVD when it comes out and I already have the soundtrack. The thing is, like I said before, I'm a musical theatre geek so I notice these types of things. My brother, who is certainly not a MT geek, absolutely loved it and apparently the awards deciding public loved it enough to nominate it for top awards already. It's not bad, I was just disappointed with some (most) of Burton's decisions that's all.
High School Musical (2006)
This is everything a musical is not
So the other day I finally got to see what all the hullabaloo is about this movie, and I have to say, it's gotta be the most over-rated piece of garbage Disney's ever put out. I'm a Theatre major and this was no musical. Let me list thy ways:
(1.) The movie's title is misleading itself because there was no actual musical in it. It all took place during the auditions, which never take a month by the way. (2.) If you're going to dub the singing, at least get a voice that sounds like the person's speaking voice. Troy's "singing" voice was like a complete octave above his normal voice. At least older movies like West Side Story and My Fair Lady matched the singers with the actors. Not to mention the lip-syncing was off practically the entire time. (3.) The story is almost a complete rip-off of Grease but with a slightly different ending. But Grease had a better setting, better actors and singers, much better music, and better characters. (4.) The script, and therefore the acting was terrible! Probably the best acting (and only the acting, not the singing) was from Ashley Tisdale. By the way, what the hell kind of a name is Sharpay? Did the writer get such a block on the character name that he spotted a Sharpie marker and thought that it sounded good? (5.) Are high schools really that taboo about people trying out for shows? Why is it such a big deal about these people auditioning? And only trying out since it seems both basketball and the Decathalon would be over before the cast list would even be posted, which brings me to (6.) What, does this show only have a cast of 2? Is there not an ensemble and secondary characters? Last time I checked Twinkle Town is not Last Five Years. (7.) Troy had the best line with "Why can't I do both?" Hmm..what an interesting concept this multi-tasking. (8.) The songs themselves were just pop songs, with little harmonizing. Sometimes pop songs work, like in Wicked. Not here, here they sounded like Ashlee Simpson rejects. (9.) Was it just me or did Zac Efron have more makeup on then the girls? (10.) Last but not least were all the stereotypes and disbelieve ability. Why is it so wrong for a jock to want to be in a musical. A friend of mine who's done a bunch of musical leads is a jock and in fact all his friends are jealous of him! He's converted a few too. Also what was with the coach getting worked up over a 15 minute detention? Wow 15 minutes is an eternity! Also it seems their classes only last 5 minutes since the bell rang, Darbus yells about theater and hands out detention, and oops there's the bell for end of class! Those kids got it easy since the teachers don't have time to assign homework.
What gets my goat the most about this movie and most likely its sequel is that people who are not that into musicals will see this and think all musicals are like it and completely dismiss the genre. Musicals are not like this, they have better story lines, characters, usually acting and singing, and much better music. You want to watch real musicals? Go rent Chicago, Hair, Godspell, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Producers, Rent, the filmed stage copies of Into the Woods, Passion and Sunday in the Park with George, among countless others. Or better yet, go see a real show on stage. Whether it be Broadway, Off-Broadway, West End, Fringe,Community, or a real high school musical just get up and see it! Anything is better than this tripe.
Now excuse me while I get one of those shirts that say "Come See a REAL High School Musical"
Timeline (2003)
A good adaptation
I really wish people would stop judging this movie without having read the book first. It really shows when they haven't read the book, and it really makes them look stupid.
I however have read the book, and after seeing the movie I believe it was a great adaptation and as true to the book as possible. I was just disappointed that they left out the whole tournament, and the character of the black knight, but I guess De Kere was enough. Have a piqued your interest? Good, then go and read the book.
There were just 2 problems I had with the movie: The first and foremost would have to be the casting of Paul Walker. Who in the hell decided to have his talent less ass as the lead role? Everybody else acted circles around him, and it really showed. The second was really a minor thing and shouldn't base your decision to watch it. It's just that La Roque and Castlegaurd looked 600 years old when they went back, and if it's 1357, those castles should look new.
But as I said before, the movie stayed true to the book pretty well, and except for the cut out scenes, different explanations and changing around of characters, it was good. I mean you should expect that from a movie adaptation. However if you do want a little tidbit of changed info from the book, the character of François never went back to 1357. If fact he didn't even know about it. François was the French Prime Minister that kept good relations between Doniger and France. Oh and Chris was never Johnston's son. He was Johnston's graduate student that was like a son to him because Chris had a tough time growing up. Want to read the book now?
Four Dogs Playing Poker (2000)
Perfect for rainy nights!
I just happened to stumble upon this movie one day after class, and was immediately captured by it. The storyline was intriguing, the actors were suburb, and the ending surprised me. Now whenever I catch it on TV again, I have to watch it! A prefect movie for when you're bored.
Swimfan (2002)
Mediocre script, excellent acting
Before seeing this movie, I was expecting another stupid teen thriller sex filled, curse out movie, but I was pleasantly proved wrong. It was a suspense filled movie and I found myself guessing how Madison was going to mess up Ben's life more and what was going to happen next. They didn't show any part of the sex except the initial start of it, and there wasn't more cursing then need be. However the script was all right and could have used a bit more work. But I found the acting superb! I got what I expected of Jesse Bradford, but I was blown away by Erika Christensen. Her acting was so emotion filled and dead on I almost felt sorry for her character when Ben kept pushing her away.
However I do have something to say to the people who say this movie is a rip off of Fatal Attraction. Well I think the writers had that in mind when they came up with it, and what mildly serious teen movie isn't based on another adult filled movie? Ever here of She's All That? Well that is just a teen version of My Fair Lady.
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Why are people saying it stunk?
I just recently got back from seeing this movie, and I have to say it was a great ending to a great trilogy. Sure it wasn't as good as the first one, but what sequel is? I though the movie was a little slow at times, but it was never boring. In my opinion, I think that everybody that said this movie was a let down was because they didn't get it. I understood the movie fully, and got everything out of it. Just open your mind a little and really look at the movie beyond it's surface. Then you will enjoy it.
Gosford Park (2001)
You just love those Brits!
This is one of my favorite movies, and sorry to have seen it lost to A Beautiful Mind. I have seen A Beautiful Mind, but I thought Gosford Park was much better. Although it did take me a few viewings to get everything, (thank you subtitles) I must it was definatly an entertaining movie. But what gripes me is that everyone calls it a murder mystery or a whodunit, when it's not. Sure a guy does get killed and there's an investigation, but that doesn't happen until the last 45 minutes of the movie. And the whole figuring out part was subtle as compared to full blown murder mysteries. No this movie is more of a witty way of showing the relationship between the rich and their servants, and what their opinions of each other are. All in all a great movie and a great way to spend a rainy afternoon if you can't go out.
Bruno the Kid: The Animated Movie (1996)
Not the best Bruno has to offer
I don't know how you can call it a movie. You just see it played as 3 episodes. Anyway, a great edition to the Bruno the Kid saga, but it doesn't have the best storyline. It's rundown is basically like a normal episode, only longer. Except the fact that it brings in all the best bad guys working together, and a load of great gadjets. All in all a great "movie," but not the best.
Bruno the Kid (1996)
I loves this show
I remember every weekday at 2:30pm on UPN during the summer this show came on, and I couldn't miss it. Sadly it went off once school started, and never came on again. It was one of my favorite cartoons, and I don't care if it was a vanity cartoon. Isn't every cartoon a vanity cartoon? This one was actually good. It was entertaining, exhilarating, and I loved all the gadgets he got with each mission. Not to mention all the ways Jarley told Bruno to call GLOBE at the beginning. Oh and if you are so upset about the fact that Bruno is bald, I mean if that thought haunts you so much that you lose sleep, think of it this way. Wasn't Charlie Brown also bald?
Top Secret! (1984)
One of my favorite movies!
From the first time I saw this movie I loved it. Just that subtle humor makes me laugh every time. I know a lot of people don't like movies like this because it has no meaning. Well duh! It's not supposed to have meaning, but just to entertain. In my opinion, if it made you laugh, then it did it's job. And it certainly made me laugh!