Movie Review 12 Years A Slave

12 Years A Slave

(AKA: Slavery bad, Brad Pitt good)

Sorry for the delay but today I’ll just post the movies left for this year “Best picture”

Is said in screenwriting that the story should be like a rollercoaster, with ups and downs, to make you feel safe and then scare you, make you worry about the characters, give you trouble and peace, change the rhythm of the film and keep you guessing what is going to happen, but this movie has a complete different idea of getting the audience interested, and that is, to make everything with the same tone and pace, so the audience get the tedious of being a slave, I think?

I hope you don’t get the wrong impression, this is a good movie, but kind of boring, because it feels the same from beginning to end, even when he is free again you feel it exactly the same, and I don’t doubt that how the things were back in the day, but if I learned something about adaptation is that you can trim a little bit the story to give those moments where is calm and feels like everything is going to be better and make other moments like is the worst it could happen. Somebody can say that I’m not getting in the story to feel those changes, well that is not my problem, is the writer’s, director’s and cast problem, because they have to make me feel like I care, but is just plain this movie, there is never more or less tension or worry, always the same level, and like in wolf of wall street you get desensitized and see it like something normal, by the middle of the movie the audience acts like people of that time, looking at slavery and all that like something of the everyday living, and that’s a problem because it loose its impact and strength.

The characters outside the Main protagonist are cardboard cuts of stock characters, the slave owner that likes his slaves, the mean slave owner and the drunk, among the characters and that gives you the idea that is not a real story, because the mean guy is really mean and doesn’t have any other character traits than drink and lash people around, no inside his life that I understand because is not like he was inside his house to see what happened there but everybody is there just as background to make the main character shine and be notice even more.

If any of my instructors that had a problem with my script tells me that they liked this movie you’ll have to also take back everything you said about my script, because of Brad Pitt scene where he appears and save the day, is in the third act of the movie and is pretty much the solution to everything, is god with an Amish look, and that feels like a deus ex machina that no matter how real that was, feels like the writer didn’t knew how to end it and just tossed a Brad Pitt to save the day, as I said before, you can trim it a little bit to make it look less convenient.

Some people say that the scene of the lashes is kind of gruesome and that raw, but it looks almost like the one in Starship Troopers, is not that bad. Also I think I have read a lot of books where they lash people so in my mind it looks way worse than that.

When I heard that Lupita Nyong'o was nominated for the Oscar I thought that she deserve it (because the other that were nominated where in really crappy movies) I mean the scene where she gets a hit on the head with a glass bottle is great, if she acted that and the bottle was CGI it looked great, and if it wasn’t, well anyone that can take hit like that deserves an Oscar :P

In general the movie is fine but as I said, it might feel that is long and nothing is happening, because of that this movie is not worthy of being among the best picture of the year, have some good highlights but beyond that is somewhere in the dull side, even so you can watch it and might be even enjoy it.

You can see that this movie was made to aim for an Oscar, not to please the audience or to make them think about the wrongs of the past or anything, this movie is an Oscar seeker and nothing else.

As Eddy Murphy said in Bowfinger “White boys always get the Oscar. It's a known fact. Did I ever get a nomination? No! You know why? Cause I hadn't played any of them slave roles, and get my ass whipped. That's how you get the nomination. A black dude who plays a slave that gets his ass whipped gets the nomination, a white guy who plays an idiot gets the Oscar. That's what I need, I need to play a retarded slave, then I'll get the Oscar.”

*** 3 stars (Good but meh, nothing memorable about it)

Movie Review: American Hustle

American Hustle

(AKA: Fuck Screenwriters and say everything three times)

What happens if you throw the script by the window and tell the actors to do whatever they want? One of the worst movies of the year! :D That by some reason is nominated for best movie :S

Don’t get me wrong I have never been too strict to make the actors say their lines just like the script is written, if they have a problem with a line they can paraphrase it, but is that, just change the words and keep the message. Why am I saying this you might ask? Well is because this movie is a train wreck that the academy wants you to think that is a good movie.

While watching this movie my brother and I felt like some scenes where disarticulated and the characters didn’t act like themselves from one scene to the other, so we made a quick search in the internet and found that most of the movie was improvised! Hooray! But was so made up on the spot that even affected the plot, that is a great “No, no” in the film industry, because you can feel where they stick something that doesn’t feels organic, that it shouldn’t be there, and that is how this movie feels from beginning to end.

The movie is inspired by some FBI operation in the 70’s but here is where adaptation comes handy, there is a difference between “Based on” and “Inspired by” because Based means that there should be some actual events, and Inspired by means that everything could have been made up (Just like hearing a musical piece and that will make you think in a story) so the movie is not real events at all, then the actors had problems with the script from the beginning. Can you imagine? I mean you have people that have been in superhero movies (Batman, Mystic, Lois Lane, Hawk Eye and Rocket Raccoon) people that have read some of the most outrageous roles and now they have problems with the script? There has to be a problem with the script, so what do you do? Well this director said “Say whatever you want” in other words “The script was shit anyway” or “I don’t care for the writer” and they did it, that is why some scenes feel like are part of another movie.

Then I think they had a 50 page script because they are repeating everything 3 times, so they were something like “We can’t do a movie with a 50 page script… But if we say everything 3 times we get a movie 3 times longer! I’m a genius!” and no, you are not who ever came with that idea, I mean you notice almost immediately that they are saying everything 3 times, maybe because is all the improvisation and they need to fill the blanks while they are thinking in what to say, but there is something call “Script” that was made to avoid that, I know is kind of new it was invented during the old Greece (or maybe before that) but is a good tool to know what to say during a scene.

 

I just want to quote here something that happened during the filming of this very expensive home video, “According to Christian Bale much of the movie was improvised. So, during the shooting of the film he noted to David O. Russell, "You realize that this is going to change the plot greatly down track." To which the director replied, "Christian, I hate plots. I am all about characters, that's it." Well mister Russell, you can’t have characters without plots, hell, you can’t have a movie without a plot, well you can but is going to be a really bad one, just like this one. Also you need to direct the actors so they characters stay as they are supposed to be and keep on track of the story.

I heard that some people talked about the cleavages in this movie like it was something good, and is not that good, I mean you can watch a cleavage anywhere is normal, not to consider it as one of the high lights of the movie, because is not.

The nomination of this movie is an insult to the Film industry, because it means that you don’t need a script or a director to be consider one of the best movies of the year, you only need a big budget to hire lots of names and make it look like is the 70’s and here is your award, that awful.

Well if you call yourself a writer, or director or anything that works in the industry (Even as an independent filmmaker) save yourself the sore and all the gastric problems for all anger this movie might cause you, also the headache of trying to figure it out what is script and what is improvisation, because is equally bad.

* 1 Star (Not worthy the 2 hours to watch it, there is nothing to watch, is not even entertain as watching a bad movie)

Movie Review Gravity

Gravity

(AKA: Pretty visuals so you don’t notice the lack of story)

I just can imagine how this movie looks in imax 3d, I mean this movie was made for the big screen, watching it on the TV is pretty but you don’t get the immersion that should have. But after saying this lets go to the real review because a movie is not great just because it looks pretty. If that were the case Pacific Rim should be nominated :P

Almost forget, spoilers, but there are not much to spoil, the script is basically the beat sheet (is the skeleton of a story).

Well the story is about a group of astronauts that have to fix a satellite (Piece of equipment that is in orbit around the earth) but something goes wrong with the destruction of a satellite and now they have to get back to earth. That’s it nothing more, yes you have some development of the characters, because they have to rely on that, there is nothing else going on, but the characters are likeable, I mean, they are George Clooney and Sandra Bullock to people that could never be Bond villains because they are so likeable, so they are in their rolls of themselves in space, and nothing else.

The movie has like some Mexican films back in the beginning of the 2000’s of giving some data that will be important for the story, here is space, yes info about space, that there is no sound, but if they wanted to make it some kind of realistic they kind of fail, because you can hear the voices stronger the closer they are to the screen, and there are some sounds when they are fixing stuff, but the big sound they didn’t put them, or did they? Well if you have study sound engineering or foley, you would know that the way the used the music in this movie is called “Mickey Mouse” and is a kind of original score where the music works as the sounds of everything, if you didn’t notice I invite you to watch it again when is on TV and look for the music in perfect synchrony with what is happening, just like in the old cartoons where the music made the footsteps and the punches.

Other thing is that we can hear Sandra Bullock when she is screaming in the pot, and is supposed that we are outside, where in the beginning they told us that there was no sound.

One thing I hate was the “Wall-e” moment, quoting here a friend (Rebeca) “Are you fucking kidding me!” really you thought that nobody would get that, let’s use one of the most memorable scenes from one of the most memorable movies of space, I mean, I’ll have done the same, but I watched the movie, and I think was great in Wall-e, but here? Here feels just like a rip off.

The main problem with space is that there is nothing there, and I mean nothing, so there are no problems, no big evil to conquer, no great peril for our main character, no new comers (because is freaking expensive send someone there) so, you feel like there could be something else, something beside the main problem, but no, there is only the problem of the beginning and they quest is a straight line until the end.

When I watched this movie I felt that was the fastest of the bunch, and Oh surprise, is the shortest, and that’s good I mean if you don’t have enough story to fill 2 hours don’t make a 2 hours movie, don’t pad it with wide silent shots, just let the length of the story guide you.

Also pretty much the trailer has all the good scenes the rest as I said is more character development.

Well this movie is a big meh, if you don’t take the visuals at consideration, pretty to watch but so simple that everybody will get it, and is not as long as the rest of the Oscar nominated so you can watch it and don’t feel like you lost half of your life.

*** 3 stars (watch it or not, there is not big difference, but if somebody is willing to pay you the ticket for the theatre take it! As I said, this movie is visuals for the theatre)

Movie Review Philomena

Philomena

When the academy started to consider hallmark movies for best picture?

Don’t get me wrong, I liked this one, but the point is that it doesn’t feel like the absolutely best picture of the year, it feels like a TV movie that I watched a Saturday afternoon because I got hooked, not even because I wanted to watch it.

The story is fine (At least this one keeps the plot moving and there are no dead space) if there is a quiet time is to think and see a little growth in the characters, also the characters are well made, they have to this story is based on a real story, wait, aren’t almost all of the movies this year? Anyway, this movie is kind of easy going and not pretentious.

But my point here is that this one is a “Human Interest Story” like they point in the movie those are not very interesting, and those kinds of movies almost all the time end as TV movies, which I like from time to time, I mean not always need to be werewolves riding sharks so they can save Atlantis (Wait! Idea, I call it!!) but for best picture of the year? Come on, I’m sure there where something better.

Also what was the deal with nuns? I mean, why do they still around? Every movie where they are they are horrible people, and this is not a spoiler, this happens in the first act of the movie.

The characters are well made, and they can switch from drama to comedy in a second, without being silly or over the top, they are very human very real. And is that very essence and that switch between emotions that avoid made this movie tired, because is not always comedy or always drama so you have a rest from all that.

The only think I really hated of this movie was the poster, god! What’s with that horrible yellow color?

So if you what to see it is fine just I don’t think is the theatre ticket price worth, I mean you’ll watch people talking that’s it, and the theatre you enjoy what you can see.

*** 3 stars (You can watch it, is fine)