The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus!

This movie was EPIC. Dude. Terry Gilliam captured the imagination so ridiculously perfect. The only thing that was even SLIGHTLY wrong with this movie is that the first shot of Heath Ledger was of him hanging (but, I doubt Gilliam knew he would die). Regardless, it's astonishing. The cast is AWESOME; Jude Law, Johnny Depp, and Colin Ferrell definitely stepped up to the plate. and I'm pretty sure Lily Cole is the most beautiful girl ever. Period.

A++++

(I apologize my reviews aren't as good as Kody's. But I watch a movie for the movie, not for the technical crap. See it now!)

- Jo.

This week is full of Moons, Lockers that hurt and Dragonballs...

Well it seems I might be getting around to doing this more often. Not much has happened in the last week so I'm heading right into the reviews. I know most of these films were released earlier this year but I just finally saw them.

The Hurt Locker: The movie is about a small group of soldiers in the current Iraq war whose mission is of bomb dismantling. The movie is definitely one of the best of the year. The cast gives great performances and Jeremy Renner is astounding as the thrill seeking Sergent. The movie is excellently directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Strange Days), who brings a shocking sense of realism to the dust filled landscapes. Usually I'm not all for the documentary feel that a lot of movies these days go for, ala District 9, but this movie really relishes in it. It adds a strong sense of realism that actually had me very uncomfortable but its reality. Bigelow really sweeps you into the tension of each moment, never letting you feel safe. She brings you into the world of the three man Bravo Company as they battle their own devils and understand the risks they take. The is definitely an accomplishment and one of the top films of the year. I'd recommend it to anyone. A+

Moon: Moon is a sci-fi thriller about a man named Sam Bell, played excellently by Sam Rockwell, whose 3 year contract to run a mining station on the moon is about to end. Sam gets in an accident and thus begins the 70s-ish trippiness of Duncan Jones' first movie. I don't want to give away to much of the plot but Sam may not be as lonely as he thinks he is. Rockwell chews up the screen with his commanding performance. Kevin Spacey is the only other star here, as Bell's computer companion, and the two work well off one another. Jones' direction reveals many of its inspirations but he does bring a very solitary feel to the whole thing. My one vice is that I can't say to much about the movie without giving things away. Moon is a great sci-fi in a year filled with them. I recommend this to anyone. A

Dragonball Evolution: Dragonball is the story of a young man named Goku, who is raised by his grandfather in the ways of martial arts. Goku is a free spirit and is out for revenge after his grandfather is killed by the ancient evil known as Piccolo. First off, I am a die-hard Dragonball fan and grew up watching the show. I loved it's over the top fight sequences and lighthearted comedy. I was surprised to see how much of the series was kept in tact for the movie. As a reminder this is based on the first Dragonball show and not the more well known spin-off Dragonball Z, so don't expect any Super Saiyans or Planet destroying. The cast of characters is intact with Goku, Chi Chi, Bulma, Yamcha, and Master Roshi, with the addition of a Female sidekick for Piccolo and the curious exclusion of Krillin. The biggest change is that Goku lacks his tail and attends a futuristic high school. The overall plot has changed from Goku seeking to become a powerful warrior to the typical outcast boy tries to get popular girl along with some planet saving (the quest for the seven dragonballs is also intact here). The acting isn't going to win any awards but most of the cast is like able, especially Chow Yun Fat who hams it up as Master Roshi. The one person that I cannot stand though is Bulma. The actress emotes nothing and acts as though she's been forced to read the lines. Everything else is pretty standard and people who haven't seen the show will probably be put off by the outlandishness of the story. This movie is definitely for the fans. B-

Well that's all for this week. Until next time. -Ko

2010 Let's try this again...

Alright I'm terrible at this. I've made it one of my resolutions to update this more often.

So these past few months a few things have happened:

• Jo and I have celebrated our birthdays.
• Jo has moved back to Reno for the time being.
• I finally got an HD TV.
• I has just about finished a short film, written by my good friend over at Projection Pictures.
• And we have seen plenty of films.

So lets get to the reviews shall we! (I apologize the reviews will be brief but I need to do a quick catch up.)

District 9: A brilliant sci-fi from the great new talent Neil Blomkamp. Sharlto Copley provided a great performance and the movie boasted a very compelling story. It's one of the best sci-fi's in years and makes you actually feel for it's CGI aliens. A

Inglorious Basterds: I will admit after Death Proof I was a little sketchy about how I'd feel about this movie. Once again Quentin Tarantino proved why he is one of the best filmmakers alive. Basterds has the great Tarantino dialogue and characters rounded out by the excellent cast. The standout performance is Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, one of the best performances of the decade. A+

Where The Wild Things Are: Spike Jones brings his delicate touch to one of the best children books of all time. Although he's only made 3 films so far Jones has set himself up to have one of the best careers in film history. Taking his vision to the world of Max and the Wild Things, Spike made one of the best children films and films period of the year. A

(500) Days of Summer: It is truly amazing that this movie was written by the guys who brought you the Pink Panther 2. 500 Days is set to become one of the best anti-rom-coms right up there with High Fidelity and The Graduate. Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt bring heart to the doomed lovers and showcase one of the most realistic romances portrayed on screen. A

A Serious Man: The Coen Brothers are back, but this isn't the Big Lebowski, Hudsucker Proxy Coens. This is the darkly comedic Barton Fink duo. This movie is very deep and very Jewish. It's one of those movies I will definitely be coming back to so I can figure it out. It definitely stands out as a movie that had me deep in thought even months after the credits rolled. A+

Paranormal Activity: I have had the opportunity to see this film again recently and I still find it enjoyable. I will say that it was much scarier in the theatres and the movie seems much shorter than I remember. I do think it is a good movie and I'm glad that it has made some studios step back and think about how much budget factors into the overall movie. I just hope this doesn't mean studios will only pickup low budget hand held films. Overall I'm happy for the people behind paranormal. B+

9: Shane Acker's Doll infested Post-Apocalyptic vision is a good movie but I think I might have come out at the wrong time. This year had great animated movies with Up, Coraline, and 9 as well as ones I need to see like Fantastic Mr. Fox and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I enjoyed 9 but I will say I didn't enjoy it as much as everyone else. Perhaps a second viewing will persuade me. B

Couples Retreat: I almost forgot about this film completely. It was a pretty standard rom com which is sad because I was expecting more from the Swingers duo of Vaughn and Faverau. It was like able but not memorable. C+

The Hangover: Okay this one's cheating but I just barely saw this one. Overall, I thought it was over hyped. I like everyone involved in this film but I didn't find myself laughing all that much. I thought the movie couldn't decide whether to have awkward, slapstick, or shock comedy and the random changes of styles don't help in the end. Like King of the Hill I like the movie but don't laugh out loud. B-

Avatar: There is no doubt James Cameron still has it. This isn't just a movie but an event. This movies visuals will make you re-assess what can be done with movies. I love this movie but I still find myself being iffy about the writing. Go see this movie, and see it in 3-D. You owe it to yourself. I just hope Cameron doesn't take another 14 years to make a movie. A-/B+

Well I think that's about all of them. I can't wait for this year's films and I still have plenty to see from last year. Until next time. -Ko

One month later....

So I suck at this weekly thing.

Recently, much hasn't been to crazy. Been working more and writing more. Went on a trip to Montana which was nice and I even gambled a little.

Well onto the review. I know this movie is old but I just recently got the chance to see it.

This time we journey once again with Sacha Baron Cohen in Bruno. Boy o boy where do I even begin with Bruno. The first thing I want to say is I actually enjoyed Bruno. It had some really funny moments and I also liked Borat before it. Now onto the actual review. Bruno is another movie in which Sacha Baron Cohen takes on a ridiculous persona in order to unearth the ignorance of some people. This time its Austrian gay fashion show host Bruno. This movie is a pretty good comedy. If you are expecting the same thing as Borat be warned, Bruno is more shocking and the character is much more developed surprisingly. You actually get a feel for the character of Bruno and at some times you forget that its Baron Cohen in costume. But one problem with the movie is the fact that a lot of it seems staged. This doesn't take away from the movie itself seeing as there are a few events that had to have been real.

I have to give props to Baron Cohen for being able to be threatened by people and not break character for one second. It is also interesting how this movie tries to send a message. It shows how ignorant and homophobic some people can be and then turns around and makes fun of being gay 2 minutes later. Some of the segments are setup to show how many people in this world are afraid of gay people, while many others are just shown to see how far Baron Cohen can push people before the start throwing fists at him. Also, for those of you who haven't seen Borat be warned this movie is built on shock humor and there is plenty of nudity. I say this because I took my girlfriend and she hadn't seen Borat, so she was in for a surprise.

Altogether I say this is still a fun entertaining movie. I just don't think it is a comedic revolution like the media has been saying. But I would say it is on par with Borat. I give this movie a B+.

Well hopefully I can get around to seeing more movies soon. District 9 is next on my list. Until next time. - Ko

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Hello, our ever so faithful readers. This is time it is I, Jo, who is doing the movie review, instead of our good sir Kody. Why? Because I found OH SO MANY things wrong with this one. I apologize that it's not in any sort of order- but I'm determined to get every last bit out. By the way, if you haven't seen this movie OR read the sixth and seventh Harry Potters, I wouldn't advise reading this, as it contains some spoilers.

Alright, the first thing I NEED to get out is, did they even take into consideration the book whilst writing the screenplay? It seemed as though none of the writers had even read it; almost like they grabbed some teeny bopper off the street and went, "Okay, paraphrase the Half Blood Prince in five minutes." There weren't ANY SCENES whatsoever that matched the book in any way! And, yes, I understand that they need to make some sacrifices, however, there wasn't anything that played off as it did in the book. At least with the previous movies they were able to keep true.

Alright, next thing. What happened to Dumbledore's funeral? One of the things that has always remained consistent with the books and the movies is that it begins in the middle of summer, and always, ALWAYS ends at the end of the school year. So... what? Are all the kids just going to hang around until fall for his funeral or what? Also... one of the last scenes was Harry standing in Dumbledore's office, and McGonagall is being all, "Blah blah blah Dumbledore loved you," and Harry is fondling Dumbledore's wand. Uhm.... Hello?? Isn't it kind of a BIG thing how Voldemort goes through all this trouble to desecrate Dumbledore's grave to GET to his wand. Wasn't this movie supposed to be setting up for the seventh?

A little thing, yet I still found somewhat important. Narcissa's hair. In the book, Narcissa has hair that is long, blonde and pale. In contrast, Bellatrix is "dark as his sister was fair." They got Bellatrix right. But WHY, oh WHY is half of Narcissa's hair brown? It makes no sense! The Malfoy family has ALWAYS been described as extremely pale, with straw blonde hair. Would it really have been that hard to just dye the entirety of her hair?

Which (kind of) brings me to my next point. The whole Borgin and Burkes thing. First of all, didn't Draco ditch Mummy dearest? I mean, the Dark Lord gave him a mission to kill Dumbledore. I don't think it would have been in his best interest to just waltz into a dark magic sort of store with a wife of an imprisoned Death Eater, plus a good four or five Death Eaters, and, oh! Let's not forget a werewolf too! Wouldn't people have noticed a huge group of people just sort of waltzing into the store, let alone waltzing along in Diagon Alley?

Next point- all this werewolf crap. This one is kind of tricky, as it includes two different story lines. First off, Tonks' and Remus' relationship. Well... isn't there not supposed to be one? And yet, she calls him "Swee' hea't" at the Weasley Christmas party thing. The reason Tonks CANNOT be with Remus is because he's supposed 'blending in' with the other werewolves, including Fenrir Greyback, and Remus believes that it's just too difficult, blah blah blah. Because of this, Tonks gets all depressed, and changes her Patronus. (Which, if I may add, wasn't even in the movie - Luna found Harry in the Slytherians compartment instead of Tonks. More about that later.) Harry misreads it and believes her to be in love with Sirius (who was only mentioned ONCE! COME ON!! They didn't even INFORM Harry number twelve, Grimmauld Place now belongs to him! Don't worry, I'll get to it.) which leads to all sorts of complications. Ugh. We'll get back to Tonks and Remus later. Let's move on.

Fleur Delacour... Uh... Wasn't she in the book? Somewhere? Just a little? Oh, yeah, THAT'S RIGHT, BILL AND HER ARE GETTING MARRIED! Wasn't that mentioned a little bit in the book? OF COURSE, THE WEDDING IS HOW THE SEVENTH BOOK STARTS, AND HOW THE DEATH EATERS TRY TO FIND HARRY. Man, oh man. Good luck, David Yates, you're going to have a helluva lot of angry Potter fans on your tail for this one. Fleur wasn't in the movie at all! And it's Fleur and Bill that finally bring Remus and Tonks together - Bill gets attacked by Fenrir Greyback, and Fleur declares, "I am good-looking enough for the both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave!" Which has Tonks crying and going, "You see! She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten!" Which sort of brings me to (one of) the last points - 

The end battle. In the book, when Harry and Dumbledore return from the caves, there's supposed to be all sorts of a commotion, which is where Bill gets attacked by Greyback. No, not in the movie... All the Hogwarts students are just sleeping away as their headmaster gets killed. 

Now... It's been stated since the VERY BEGINNING that you cannot Apparate INSIDE of Hogwarts, correct? Hermione states it god knows HOW many times throughout the entire series. And, yes, I'm very aware they didn't even give the Apparation lessons in the movie. And yet, "Being [Dumbledore] has its privileges." OH COME ON. That totally RUINS the last part of the book too, where Dumbledore Stupifies Harry under the Cloak (which he didn't have) so Harry can watch all of this lovely Dumbledore-killing unravel. The book itself even states, "Dumbledore had wordlessly immobilized Harry, and the second he had taken to perform the spell had cost him the chance of defending himself." And doesn't someone question why there are two broomsticks up on the Astronomy Tower?

Alright, last complaint - Rufus Scrimgeour. Uhh... What ever happened to him? Regardless of the fact that there wasn't even a Minister meeting at the beginning of the movie, Scrimgeous was NEVER shown. Where's all the stuff about Harry being "Dumbledore's man, through and through"?

Okay, and this is my VERY last complaint - the whole Weasley house catching on fire after Death Eaters entice Harry into an open field. Um, what? Where did that even come from?

Alright, well, that's it. I'm sure I missed out on other things, but those are the majority of my complaints. I'm sorry it's so out of order, but I had a hard time trying to put it in order and it didn't do much good anyway. I was sooo excited for the movies; and now I'm just hoping they didn't butcher the seventh one(s) as well. Enjoy. I'd like to hear your comments on it as well.

- Jo

It's been a while...

Okay so I'm not very good at this whole weekly thing. I have been way busy this past week.

So far everything seems to be about the same. Dave and I are starting to write our first feature film which we hope to film later this year. Okay on to the movie review.

I've been pretty busy but I was able to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and boy do I wish I hadn't. The first Transformers was about a boy and his car, except the car is actually a shape shifting robot, stay with me on this one, that had come to Earth to stop the Decepticons from obtaining the all spark, a device with ultimate power. Transformers was an enjoyable film and that's saying a lot since it is Micheal Bay and it was a movie based on a wildly conceived toy line. Transformer: RotF however is a plot less, mind numbingly stupid film. The only parts of this film that I actually enjoyed were the ones when Optimus was kicking some robot ass, and even those scenes were stupefied with lines like, "You're a tin can!" or "You piece of scrap!" The entire movie completely offended me with how stupid it was. There's Sam (Shia LeBeof) who was a likable nerdy guy in the first film and has now become a complete whiny dick in the new one. There's Mikela (Megan Fox) who although a 2-D character, was at least strong willed and independent in the first movie, has now become a shriveling mess of boyfriend dependency. The robot's that were once cool and warrior like are now reduced to one liners and swearing. Now, I'm not against swearing obviously but for a kids movie this one has a lot of it, and I think it's completely stupid that the robots swear as well, come on!

Of course by now everyone has heard of the offensive twins, I can see why people would get offended. What I don't understand is why do some Transformers have accents? I think it is just lazy writing that the robots have been reduced to racial caricatures. And it makes me sick thinking of how much money was put into making those twins look like characters from the Homiez figurines. Oh and there is the mysterious disappearance of John Hurt's character, At least one actor was smart enough to turn this movie down. There is a lot of things that bug me about this movie, from the now dubbed 'Deceptislut' to the Transformer 'Scrotum' to Tom Kenny (Spongebob Squarepants) voicing seemingly every Transformer to having almost no plot at all. And as for the score, I feel bad that Hans Zimmer has been reduced to working around a Linkin Park song. Don't get me wrong, I liked old Linkin Park but they seem to not want to go away. All in all there are way to many things I hated about this film and I wouldn't suggest this to anyone. Save that $8 and go buy yourself a DVD of a good movie, or go see a much better film.

Well that's all for this week, I hope to have more to come soon. Until next time. -Ko

Wednesday Already!

Yes, yes, I know. I haven't updated in awhile but it's only because I have been busy.

So since the last blog not much has happened. Everyone has just been going to work or school. Our friend David just finished a video for a monthly contest. Be sure to check it out and vote for it over at filmaka.com, the movie is titled "Now You See Me."

Jo is moving into a new place of her own by the end of the month. I wish her good luck and can't wait to party there.

I had a job where I was able to film the Kenyan ambassador to America. It was fun and will be a great addition to my demo reel. Now on to the movie review.

So this past weekend I finally saw "Up", the new Pixar film. This film has already become one of my favorite Pixar movies. The movie is about a man who wants to travel to South America, I dream he had shared with his wife, and does so by using a vast amount of balloons to elevate his house. Along the way the man befriends an eager young boy scout, a talking dog, and an elegant bird. The trailers for this movie seemed awfully boring but it was a blast. Carl, the elderly man, is much warmer in the movie instead of typical cold old man as seen in the trailers. And the CG is amazingly breathtaking. As with all Pixar films though it's not about the CG but the story and boy is this one a tear jerking. I was literally balling through half the movie. The film immediately breaks your heart in the first few minutes with a beautiful opening montage and it keeps plucking those heart strings until the very end. Up is full of wonderful characters and beautiful lands that only the team at Pixar can bring to life. I absolutely loved "Up" and while it may be getting mixed reviews, it's still in my top 5 favorite Pixar movies. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

Well that's my review for this week. Until next time. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but hopefully it will be next week. Oh, and we'll always have Paris. -Ko