MONSTERS, ALIENS, BOOKS AND THE FUTURE
Apr. 20th, 2009 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogSo I’ve been spending some time at the movies lately. And I understand there’s a shortage of people posting their opinions about movies on the Interwubs. So I’m here to help.
Monsters vs Aliens
In which bride-to-be Susan becomes the 50-Foot-Woman and is recruited into a super-secret govt agency of monsters that end up coming in handy when an alien robot attacks the Earth. In places, it’s hilarious and genius, but other times it tries too hard to be funny, and the angle of Susan getting married and wanting to be normal is played too schmaltzy for my taste. Overall it’s pretty entertaining, but it’s also full of missed opportunities, and not quite the 50s B-movie homage it wants to be.
Inkheart
If yr going to do a film where certain people can make words in books come to life by reading them aloud and also trap people inside them, yr obligated to make it believable rather than just asking the audience to just take it as read (so to speak). I don’t know if the original book was successful in that regard, but the film version isn’t. There’s too many inconsistencies, and the characters who find out this ability exists at all seem to take it too reasonably. Iain Softley makes it look good, but the concept probably works better in books than it does on film.
Knowing
At this rate you don’t have be a prophet to know that any movie with Nicolas Cage as a guy who can predict the future is like throwing yr money in the river. But I gave this a chance because Alex Proyas is responsible for two of my favorite movies (The Crow and Dark City). Okay, he also gave us I, Robot, but anyone can have an off-day. Or two. Knowing starts off with lots of potential but Proyas’ trademark gloom ends up getting marred by the usual cliches (surely we all know by now that the ”I’m-not-crazy-you’ve-got-to-believe-me” speech never ever ever EVER works). The “explanation” for what’s going on doesn’t quite work either. I’ve seen far worse end-of-the-world films, but that’s hardly praise.
I can see for miles,
This is dF
Monsters vs Aliens
In which bride-to-be Susan becomes the 50-Foot-Woman and is recruited into a super-secret govt agency of monsters that end up coming in handy when an alien robot attacks the Earth. In places, it’s hilarious and genius, but other times it tries too hard to be funny, and the angle of Susan getting married and wanting to be normal is played too schmaltzy for my taste. Overall it’s pretty entertaining, but it’s also full of missed opportunities, and not quite the 50s B-movie homage it wants to be.
Inkheart
If yr going to do a film where certain people can make words in books come to life by reading them aloud and also trap people inside them, yr obligated to make it believable rather than just asking the audience to just take it as read (so to speak). I don’t know if the original book was successful in that regard, but the film version isn’t. There’s too many inconsistencies, and the characters who find out this ability exists at all seem to take it too reasonably. Iain Softley makes it look good, but the concept probably works better in books than it does on film.
Knowing
At this rate you don’t have be a prophet to know that any movie with Nicolas Cage as a guy who can predict the future is like throwing yr money in the river. But I gave this a chance because Alex Proyas is responsible for two of my favorite movies (The Crow and Dark City). Okay, he also gave us I, Robot, but anyone can have an off-day. Or two. Knowing starts off with lots of potential but Proyas’ trademark gloom ends up getting marred by the usual cliches (surely we all know by now that the ”I’m-not-crazy-you’ve-got-to-believe-me” speech never ever ever EVER works). The “explanation” for what’s going on doesn’t quite work either. I’ve seen far worse end-of-the-world films, but that’s hardly praise.
I can see for miles,
This is dF
