Tag: 2011

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A re-review of Avatar (2009) by Kazed

Okay, okay. It's been almost two years since this was released, and for a few months now I've wanted to 're-review' the famous Avatar - Lord of (Suicide) Dreams. This is something I wouldn't usually do- changing my opinion on a film, but at the time of it's release, I suppose I, like many others was amazed at how visually stunning the blockbuster was. Unfortunately, this was blanketed by the poor story and lacklustre dialogue. Yes, I gave it a 9 back in 2009, which is a near perfect score, but I guess visually it's a well deserved score. HOWEVER. Under the NEW rating system, Avatar won't hold up so well like it did back then. This was meant to be a short, nice little refresh for the previous review I had written a couple of years ago. The only reason I'm doing this was because it doesn't deserve the full 9 I gave it. For the most part, the previous review was right on the button, it's just the rating- it was too high. Here we have the new, revised rating: Performances: 7/10 Plot: 4/10 Visuals: 9/10 Dialogue: 3/10 Overall: 6/10 - THIS is what the original rating SHOULD'VE been. Luckily, the visuals saved it's ass, otherwise, it would've been a pretty below-average flick.

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Martyn reviews: Jane Eyre

A classic. Jane Eyre is a classic story, written by Charlotte Brontë in 1847, and brought to life in the stunning film adaption by Cary Fukanaga. The film follows the principles of the book, making it fresh, and in an age of cynicism towards remakes and studio rehashes, it actually comes together as a beautiful, and relevant tale. The story follows our protagonist, Jane Eyre, as she runs away, from what and where is unclear, but there's fear and desperation in her lungs. Throughout the film we're given the flashbacks of how she has come to be, from her youth with an overruling Aunt, to her school years, and to her first job. It's a tale of woe, and one with a dark nature. Even with the story's age and probable dissection in English classes throughout the world, I don't want to spoil the tale. It's a film which takes a young girl through the steps until she is a woman. It takes fear, desire, depression, and youth, corrupting them and pushing us through the journey. I was surprised with the believable nature of the story, (even more so than 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes') as the characters just felt real. It had the depth you'd expect from a novel and took us on the same journey, with all the details on the way. The film really does hit home the emotion when it needs to, the character's and their individual plights don't feel forced, naturally finding themselves within their predicaments, dealing with the hand they've got. It is both a credit to Brontë's realism in writing, and Fukanaga's direction that the film literally feels like its happened, and that it is happening for the first time in front of your eyes. Overall, the film oozes beauty, the opening is one of the most stunning in recent memory, and haunts with its grace. The soundtrack is fantastic, going with the classic aesthetic, whilst retaining the needed emotion and most of all, unease. The acting is fantastic, Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender come off as revelations, and their chemistry is at times unbearably unsettling, with the deep stares, lips poised and rearing. In all respects, its a fantastic tale, brilliantly told, and beautifully brought to life. Even with my dislike of period dramas, Jane Eyre is my film of the year. A haunting and fascinating look into the past, and one I shall not soon forget. 9/10

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Martyn reviews: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

'Planet of the Apes', now I'm sure you've heard of it, is the classic featuring Charlton Heston with a strong feeling of isolation and xenophobia. Now, it is not important however, to have watched the 1968 film to enjoy and understand the smash hit of the summer, yet the added context of the original does enhance the experience. However, Rise of the Planet of the Apes in my eyes, is where Hollywood gets it right. It literally takes what you expect from the story, and runs with it, beautifully. The film follows scientist Will Rodman, brilliantly played by James Franco, as he struggles to come to terms with his father's Alzheimer's disease. The cure he works on is tested in the lab on chimps, and when the project is sabotaged, Will is left with the task of putting down a baby chimp. Deciding instead that the life of the baby is his responsibility, he raises the chimp, called Caesar, at his home with his father. Without divulging anymore information, I can tell you that the film took the conventions of the mainstream film, and just knocked it up a notch. The brilliantly told story of heartache and desperation told through both Will's and Caeser's eyes hits all the right spots. Its a brilliant, and somehow believable ordeal, with a cast of characters and narrative to really take you along with it. The film's digital effects team work wonders on the animals, with close up shots of faces displaying stunning realism, which when mixed with the brilliant motion capture performance of Andy Serkis, you're treated with the suspension of disbelief. All in all, without boring you any further with the details, the directing is spot on for the standard, the acting is brilliant, the story progresses beautifully, and the film is just a good, old fashioned, get your popcorn and watch romp, whilst retaining the important element of making the audience think. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, gets an 8/10 from me, and if you haven't watched it yet, I seriously recommend it.

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Muni Reviews: The 63rd Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards 2011

So this year Jane Lynch was hosting, her most notable role in recent years has been starting as the cheerleading coach on Glee. The opening monologue was very good and as usual had great cameos of stars from hit shows over the past year, it was very well worked and nicely put together. This year the Emmy’s also had the Emmytones a group of 6 harmony barber shop quartet like singers compromising of Kate Flannery (The Office), Taraji P. Henson (Boston Legal), Zachary Levi (Chuck), Joel McHale (Community), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) and Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show).  There singing was very good but I’ll be honest the show could have done without it. Right onto the awards, firstly I just want to point out I’m NOT going to go through each individual awards, I honestly don’t have the time and plus I got a feeling you’d give up reading after the first two, so instead I’ll go by the groups. The comedy awards Modern Family took home most of the awards best supporting actor and actress, as well as best writing and directing for comedy series. The lead actor and actress went to Jim parson (The Big Bang Theory) and Melissa McCarthy (Mike and Molly).  At this point I’d just like to point out that when the nominees were being announced all the women in the women category went up one by one, it was quite possibly the most funniest moment in the night, definitely put a smile on my face and was a joy to watch, that alone got a standing ovation from the entire audience which tells you how amazing it was to watch, worth catching it on youtube. Finally just on this part I’d like to say that Steve Carell was also nominated for lead actor but did not win, I’d like to say that I was slightly upset he rally did deserve to win and it’s a shame that he was not recognized in any capacity. The Drama awards The drama awards didn’t really have much drama; there was the shock but deserved win for Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), as well as that the show also won the award for best writing in its category. In the lead actor category, the lead actress award going to Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife).  The directing award went to Martin Scorsese for Boardwalk Empire. Mad Men as usual in a forth year in a row won the best drama award. There were awards for Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) and Margo Martindale (Justified) for the supporting actor and actress awards respectively. The best of British was on show too, with Kate Winslet winning the lead actress award in a miniseries or movie, for her role in Mildred Pierce.  Her acceptance speech however was a bit too over the top. She milked it a lot and was at times cringing to watch.  There was also a bag of awards for Downton Abbey winning best directing and writing as well as best miniseries. Finally there was a cameo award hosting for Ricky Gervais, which was very well put together and got a warm reception of laughs. Also a quick note when Steve Levitan was accepting the award for best writing in a comedy series, as he was telling the story of how his children caught him and his wife in the act of love making, the camera was on his wife and she gave “the look” which got a huge laugh and made me laugh too, another bit worth seeing if you can. A good year for HBO, NBC and ABC, all getting a handful of awards to share between them. I’d say that this years awards were a success and it had a good sense of humor throughout the show. Some outstanding moments, and as usual, some cringy moments too. It’s a great way to kick of the New Year for TV shows returning back to our TVs. Look out for Muni’s Top 5 US shows to look forward to, which I’ll be posting at the end of this week. Muni