Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Review)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Directed By: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia Le Beouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro


What’s It About

Let me give it a shot. So apparently Transformers have always lived among us. In 17,000 B.C., a group of evil Primes built a machine that was then incased within the pyramids, which when activated with the Matrix of Leadership key, would drain the suns power and destroy the Earth but would create Energons which are then used to give power to the All Spark. A battled started among them, the key was hidden, and the world was safe… until 2009. A Decepticon known as The Fallen is back and wants to kill Sam Witwicky (Shia Le Beouf) because he holds the key to get to the Matrix of Leadership and… ahh forget it! I know you don’t care about the storyline. It’s about a bunch of cool looking robots fighting each other, and stuff blowing up! There!

Thoughts

Forget about trying to understand the plot. If you’re going to watch this film, you know you’re only going because you want to see cool automobiles that transform and go at it with other machines. If you go with that intention, you will have a good time. I realized early on that I had to let go of any expectations involving the story. Once I did, I found myself enjoying this flick.

This Transformers sequel is on robotic steroids! There are well over forty robots, ranging from cars, motorcycles, RC’s, aircrafts, construction vehicles, trucks, SUV’s, and humans. Yes, you read correctly, humans! Apparently, Terminators live in the same universe as Transformers! While this was the only major gripe I had with the robotic characters, (I mean come on! If they have the ability to transform into humans, then why the need to be vehicles?), everyone else kicked major butt! Some of my favorite bots were Arcee, the female motorcycle Autobot, and Sideswipe, a Stingray Corvette. Though they have minor roles, the few scenes they’re in look cool. By the way, I was relieved to see Megatron and Starscream’s relationship going back to the days of the cartoon and comic book series.

Michael Bay is the man when it comes to high caliber action sequences and with ROTF, he must have felt like a kid in a candy store! He blows up everything! A factory in China, BOOM! The Eiffel Tower, KAPOW! The Egyptian pyramids, KERPLUNK! Oh, and the robot fights are more brutal and bad ass this time around. There was one scene where a head was literally ripped to shreds by an Autobots hands. Bay took full advantage of the salary he was allowed to have for this sequel because every CGI effect or character mixes in perfectly with all the live action shots and if you thought the first one had amazing fight sequences, you haven’t seen anything until you witness the forest battle between Optimus Prime and three Decepticons! On a side note, I read in other reviews about how it’s hard to tell who’s who during battle sequences. I honestly didn't have that problem. The camera is better paced this time around and it allows for the audience to see the robot mayhem in all its glory.

While ROTF is fun to watch, there are many sour points that do not allow it to excel beyond its predecessor. Besides a plot that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, you also have two bots (Mudflaps and Skids) who have already begun to stir controversy over their portrayal, too many sexual references (You should be more responsible in what you put in a movie if you’re going to have a toy line which is obviously aimed at kids.), and characters which you don’t really care about. There are plot lines that get built up only to go nowhere. One example is the Witwicky parents being kidnapped to use as bait to lure Sam, yet you could almost swear that the Decepticons took the parents to keep them safe because they just hand the parents over to Sam! Why go through all the trouble tearing down Paris to find the parents, if all you’re going to do is hand the parents over without some elaborate scheme? It seems that all the effort was put into the action because that is pretty much the ONLY aspect of ROTF that worked well.

Do not expect this to be an epic Transformers masterpiece. The first one was better because it was the story about a boy and his car, which is a concept most boys can relate to. This sequel has nothing for us to gravitate to other than the metal on metal action. There isn’t more than meets the eye in this flick.

Memorable Moment

Optimus Prime’s battle in the forest against three Decepticons! It comes halfway in the film and it is by far the best fight sequence. It almost reminded me of the King Kong fight against the T-Rexes.

FYI

Sam injuring his hand and wearing a bandage over it was written in last minute to protect Le Beouf’s hand which had just gone through surgery due to a car accident.

Score
6 out of 10

Box Office Results

June 26th- 28th


1/ Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen $112,000,000

2/ The Proposal $18,466,000

3/ The Hangover $17,215,000

4/ Up $13,046,000

5/ My Sister's Keeper $12,030,000

The Soloist (Review)

The Soloist

Directed By: Joe Wright
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx


What’s It About

Steve Lopez, a writer for the LA Times, is desperate to find his next story. One sunny day while walking through LA, he runs into Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless musician who Lopez finds out through their conversation, was once a promising student at Juilliard School. An unlikely friendship begins and Lopez soon finds that his story has not only struck a chord in the lives of those who have read his column, but the scattered notes in his own life begin to align themselves to help him become a more complete melody.

Thoughts

When adapting a true story to the big screen, many liberties must be taken in order to hold the audience’s attention. This is done because, let’s face it, life really isn’t that exciting, or at least exciting enough to merit a whole film. Screenwriters normally throw away all the boring stuff and infuse the script with dramatic pieces that while they don’t hold true to the real events, they do normally cause the story to elevate enough to take us through the motions. Unfortunately for The Soloist, we have the opposite effect with screenwriters disregarding Nathaniel Ayers violent outbursts towards his colleagues and teachers while at Juilliard, and how shock therapy affected him, moments in his life that would have lifted the story as a whole and instead they add a fictional relationship between Lopez and his ex wife and a small performance that Ayers almost gives at Disney Hall.

While I enjoyed Joe Wright’s work on Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, here he just seems to be out of place. He tries to infuse artistic shots here and there, like his previous films, but what we get are just weird moments. There was one scene in particular where were transported into Ayers mind and “see” how the music plays out in his head, but what we get is something more like an acid trip of colors that stays on the screen for too long. There also seems to be a lack of direction when it comes to the style of the film. One moment it wants to be an indie film and the next a big Hollywood film, and then an artsy film, never finding a balance.

There are good points to talk about. Downey and Foxx do a great job portraying Lopez and Ayers. These are two actors that know how to carry a scene and when you feel desperate to want to help Ayers and frustrated when you don’t see positive results, that’s all thanks to their talent of knowing how to make you believe in their characters. Foxx in particular was so good in fact, that I wish more time were spent on him. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Tom Hollander make an appearance as a character not donning a period piece costume like in most of his other films. Also, to be quite honest, even though it sounds like I’ve been bashing the film for the most part, I did enjoy myself. It’s just that walking away from this, I knew that it could have been so much more.

It’s really unfortunate that The Soloist did not stick to just the facts, because in a film of this nature, the facts was all this film needed.

Memorable Moment

Lopez is desperately trying to get Ayers to go to the Disney Music Hall but Ayers refuses to leave his cart with junk alone. In the next scene, Lopez’s ex wife is looking out the window, only to find Lopez running up the ramp that leads to Disney Hall all while pushing the cart!

FYI

Real homeless people were used as extras for the skid row scenes.

Score

5 out of 10

The Last Airbender Teaser

The Last Airbender is M. Night Shyamalan's next project due to be released on July 2nd, 2010. It is based on the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Box Office Results

June 19th- 21st


1/ The Proposal $34,114,000

2/ the Hangover $26,855,000

3/ Up $21,366,000

4/Year One $20,200,000

5/ The Taking Of Pelham 123 $11,300,000

Only You (Review)

Only You

Directed By: Norman Jewison
Starring: Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Bonnie Hunt
Year of Release: 1994


What’s It About

Through a game on a Ouija board and a Gypsy, Faith (played by the lovely Marisa Tomei) discovers that she is meant to spend the rest of her life with a man by the name of Damon Bradley. Life goes on, Faith is engaged and ten days before her wedding, she receives a phone call from… you guessed it, Damon himself! He’s on his way to Italy, so she… you guessed it, goes after him!

Thoughts

I was thirteen when I saw this film. It was the first romantic comedy I had ever seen and like so many other males, this was the film that made me fall in love with Marisa Tomei! Fifteen years later my wife and I decided to rent it, though I was hesitant. I mean, it’s been fifteen years! Certain films age horribly in that time (I still cringe when I remember going back recently to watch Face Off. I should’ve left the good memories I had of this crappy film alone…). Well, while the first five minutes where Faith is eleven look pretty dated, and kind of cheesy, everything after that works wonderfully.

A lot of the charm in Only You is in Italy itself. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist (who’s noted for working with director Ingmar Bergman) paints a simple Italy, showcasing small details like alleys, fountains, all while still retaining the romance that comes with the country. That is not to say that there aren’t moments where were swept away by the vistas of the countryside, or that we don’t get panned out shots of the city, we do. But what makes this trip so special are the small details, the details that take us into the film to the point where, by the end, we could almost swear we were there ourselves.

This movie wouldn’t be what it is without the great performances by Robert Downey Jr. and… of course, Marisa Tomei. There is not a moment that you’re not rooting for them, and even if Downey’s character uses sleazy methods to try to get to the girl, you can’t help but to cheer for his efforts! Adding to the mix is Bonnie Hunt as Faith’s sister in law and best friend Kate. She played a similar role to this in Jerry Maguire and it’s a role she knows how to do well. My only gripe is Stephen Fisher who plays Kates husband. He annoyed me since he seemed to come on too strong in his few scenes, almost throwing away the feel Only You was trying to go for.

You can’t go wrong with Only You. It’s a perfect companion for a Date Night at the house. It will also motivate you to want to see Italy, trust me; my wife has been taking about going since!

Memorable Moment

As Faith is running to find Damon Bradley, one of her shoes comes off, a la Cinderella, Downey’s character grabs the shoe, finds her and that’s when she gets the surprise of her life!

FYI

Apparently, Downey and Tomei were an item during filming. Must be nice Downey!

Score

8 out of 10

Box Office Results

June 12th- 14th


1/ The Hangover $33,415,000

2/ Up $30,515,000

3/The Taking of Pelham 123 $25,000,000

4/ Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $9,600,000

5/ Land of the Lost $9,153,000

Two New Mario Games on Wii!

During the E3 convention, Nintendo announced that two new Mario games are coming out for the Nintendo Wii. New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be released this winter while Super Mario Galaxy 2 has a release date of 2010. This is exciting news, since we haven’t seen multiple Mario titles (were excluding anything that’s not a traditional Mario game) since the days of the NES!


New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a side scrolling platform game that will allow up to four players to play simultaneously. You will have the option to choose between Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad and Yellow Toad. When an item box is smashed, four of the same item will jump out instead of the traditional one item.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a direct sequel to Super Mario Galaxy. Once again Mario will retain items like the bee suit, but will now add items like a jackhammer. Yoshi will also be included in his new adventure!

My Sister's Keeper Trailer

My Sister's Keeper will be in theatres June 26th. It stars Abigail Breslin, Cameron Diaz, and Alec Baldwin.

Box Office Results

June 5th- 7th


1/ The Hangover $44,979,319

2/ Up $44,138,266

3/ Land Of The Lost $18,837,350

4/ Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian $14,634,988

5/ Star Trek $8,310,480

Up (Review)

Up

Directed By: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Starring the Voices Talents Of: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai


What’s It About

Senior citizen Carl Fredricksen is about to lose his home when he decides that instead of giving it up, he will embark in the adventure of a lifetime… and he’s taking his house along for the ride!

Thoughts

I love Pixar films. Besides the fact that they’re just so entertaining, they’re the only animated films that put story before a quick laugh. This is the secret that unfortunately, other animated studios (Dreamworks, Sony Animation) can’t seem to get right. While these studios go for the quick laugh, Pixar goes for the heart. They want their films to hold a special place in all of us, and with their tenth film Up, they do not plan on changing that strategy any time soon.

What makes Up so great is how they utilize each and every character. Without trying to spoil anything, one of the characters, Ellie, only has ten minutes of screen time, yet we became so attached to her that before you knew it, her performance had us in tears! That’s right, tears! Now, normally I don’t like to see films that have the “mandatory” child sidekick, but Russell was different. He never got annoying, in fact, he had me feeling sorry for him. There were moments that I wanted to leap from my seat to just give him a hug! I know that when making Up, Pixar was challenged in making a senior citizen that could be appealing to kids and adults. Using the late Spencer Tracy as a reference was just perfect because it helped to elevate Carl Fredricksen’s performance!

The animation in Up is gorgeous! The vistas in South America are so breathtaking that I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie alone helps boost tourism in those parts of the country! I’ve always enjoyed the character designs in all of Pixar’s movies and this one is no exception! I love the squared look they gave Carl and the Egg shaped look of Russell, or the little details like the material in Carl’s jacket and Russell’s Wilderness Explorer patches. There is just so much detail in everything that it will take a couple of visits to truly appreciate all the work that was put into this flick.

Something I did not expect was the adult themes in the film. Normally, if a child in the story is being raised by one parent, it’s because the other parent died. Not here. In Up, the parents are divorced! Other areas covered in the film are infertility and death. Now before you start thinking that this is not a suitable film for the kids, just know that Pixar handled these areas with a lot of dignity and class.

Up really is a special film that, like all Pixar films, needs to be seen. The artwork, story, and characters make the $50.00 that you will spend on a trip to the theatres for a family of four worth it! And parents, you WILL love this film. After all, this isn’t a Dreamworks production!

Memorable Moment

The story of Carl and Ellie.

FYI

John Ratzenberger (the mailman in Cheers) has voiced a character in every Pixar film to date. Try to see who he voices in Up!

Score

9 out of 10

Toy Story 3 Teaser

The movie that started it all in CGI animation will be back next year for it's third installment!

Star Wars: The Old Republic Trailer

So here's the deal. I was just browsing "The Tube" (That's You Tube, for all you non tubbing peeps)when I stumbled on this. When a trailer looks this good and gives you more pleasure than the last three Star Wars movies combined, you can't just keep it to yourself. It's being developed by Bioware, the same people who brought us Star Wars: Knights of the Republic 1 and 2.

Box Office Results

May 29th- 31st


1/ Up $68,200,000

2/ Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $25,500,000

3/ Drag Me To Hell $16,628,000

4/ Terminator Salvation $16,140,000

5/ Star Trek $12,800,000