My Reviews

[Myung]

Yeah, when that days arrives I'll be the first to acknowledge the revival of disco and wide collar shirts. Also I'm expecting a hardcore para para game to release at the same time. John Travolta doing para para...


The Red Steel demo was alittle disturbing to me. you could use your katana/Wii to slowly slit a character's throat. I guess considering the company present at the convention, I was the only one that felt a tad uncomfortable with that.

[Myung]

I'll say it, I AM a Ninja Turtle fan girl. I love the comics, albeit the anatomy in the earlier volumes could've used some more work. I loved the arcade game, beat the NES game, and enjoyed all the cartoon series and live action movies (except for the third movie in the franchise, which I kinda regard as Highlander 2: it NEVER happened).

So it was destined that I should see the green team's latest carnation in the theaters. I was very entertained, with some slight pangs of disappointment here and there. Okay, maybe part of the fun was because my roommate and I saw it in an empty theater at 11:00pm on a weekday and we changed seats every 15 minutes just because we could, but don't let that undermine my previous statement.

The fight scenes were incredible! The action sequences were storyboarded out wonderfully and if you are a fan of Leo or Raph, this movie was made for you. Unfortunately, if you're a fan of Donatello, which I am, you will cry to find that his role is modicum as in all the other movies. Mikey is just as silly and absent minded as in the TV series and in the movies (this persona is strange since he wasn't really that flaky in the comics) The style of the character design was great, especially for the turtles and Splinter. Splinter's shoulder pads were awesome; it was like Shogun meets Mr. Miyagi.

Where I thought the movie lacked was in the writing. The script had so many cliche one liners and unoriginal banter. Come on! With Patrick Stewart and Kevin Smith as your V.O guys, you'd think the writer's would be tripping over memorable quotes. And speaking of V.O., I think animated features need to stop worrying about "star" power, and get actors who fit the characters. Although Sarah Michelle Gellar isn't exactly topping off the A list, I suppose the casting director probably thought, "Hey, if we make April O'Neil a spunky, katana wielding martial artist/modern woman (WHAT?!), let's go with an actress who is known for TV butt kicking and appeals to the 20-30 something market." I was having so much trouble making the voice fit the design that I had to close my eyes whenever she had dialogue to prevent myself from bursting out laughing. And although I love the late Mako, it took him a while to get into the role of serene, meditative sensei without sounding like he was trying to run a Chinese restaurant whenever he raised his voice.

And my only other complaint is something that occurred with just some of the turtles, especially Leonardo. A great deal of the lip sync had overly exaggerated mouth movements. Then there were times when I thought poor Leo had tetanus or lockjaw whenever he talked. It was almost as if the animators were trying to convince you that turtles had teeth. It could be that a lot of the shots were out sourced and it was difficult for an Asian studio to make out the American dubbing. However I'm not sure which house did what, so I'm inclined to think it was just poor animation.

And as more of a personal issue, since Raphael is my least favorite turtle, I was WTF during that rooftop battle between brothers (I shall say no more for those who will be seeing it in the theaters).

All in the all, there were minor distractions, but as a whole they're still heroes in a half shell to me.

[Myung]

Phew! Neverwinter 2 Expansion is almost complete so I thought I'd take a break and go to a late night showing of Harry Potter. I have to say, I was impressed with the editing job. Being that the fifth book is the longest (and personally my least favorite), I was expecting the movie to be equally as long and painful. Not so.

SOME SPOILERS



First, the screenwriter did a laudable job compacting all of Harry's angsty teenage tribulations into a few scenes, but still getting his frustrating, "I don't want to be treated like a kid anymore" attitude across. Also, Emma Watson (Hermoine), my least favorite actress of the series, who is known to overact and cause her eyebrows to cramp up with their large range of motion, was portrayed in her best light by far. She was proactive, supportive, and much less whiny. The casting was very well done in regards to the lesser villan Umbridge and to the more colorful new cast member Luna Lovegod, as well as Helena Bohema Carter as Bellatrix. The pacing was very well done with just enough information to provide convincing motivation without making the movie feel like a big cliff note. Editing of Umbridge's totalitarian control over Hogwarts was done with great comic timing and the mixture of Harry's visions of the Ministry of Magic supplied appropriate suspense and impetus for the climatic battle at the end.

Some complaints would definitely be, and have been since his introduction, the choice of Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. The headmaster is firm, resolute, yet peaceful and serene. Gambon's bulging eyes and spastic movements keep reminding me of an escaped patient from a mental hospital. At least his robes look more like a wizard's than an 18th century nightgown, as in the fourth movie. And the final battle for some reason kept reminding me of Christopher Lee's Sauron in a punch out with Willow's Badmorda. Thankfully the 3D artists didn't cheat with the final duel. However, the fight between the deatheaters, the D.A. and eventually the Order was unsatisfying. I'm sure this was deliberate, but the battle in the chamber of prophecies had almost no Foley or sound work. Whenever someone was hit was a spell, it was almost as soft as ballet. I think it was supposed to be poetically ironic, however it felt too unnatural.

My biggest complaint though, is that one of the most important scenes in the movie, the explanation of the prophecy, was shot as a flashback! Isn't that one of the biggest no-no's in film fundamentals. In context, it was as if Harry was packing up his belongings before the end of school and trying to remember some old advise someone once told him. It couldn't have been more underplayed. The only thing more strangely deemphasized at the finale was the death of Sirius Black. The only mention of him was a kindly apology from Luna.

Having said that, I would still recommend this to movie goers. As a big fan of the novels and a better part of the film series, I was not disappointed with the movie as a whole. There were a few scenes I wish had been done differently, but I'm glad to see Daniel Radcliffe stepping once again into the role of Harry Potter and delighting a very dead summer, as far as theaters releases go.

[Myung]

What can I say? Pixar does it again! (btw, a friend of my roommate and I was just hired as a Pixar lighting technician. Congrats!) Ratatouille has warmth, attitude, humor, and a character appeal that I haven't seen since the Disney features of yore. The story was created by the director of Geri's Game, a Pixar short, and then later refined by Brad Bird. So of course the plot had to be amazing! Bird's Iron Giant and the Incredibles had style, innovation, and some of the best darn character interaction ever. The same chemistry is repeated in Ratatouille.

First, who would ever base a whole story on a rat preparing gourmet food? You'd believe that to make it work either it wouldn't have ratlike qualities, or the actions accounting for health code violations would be avoided all together. The awesome part of the movie is that these issues are tackled straight on with no flinching. And that's where the best humor comes from. Remy, the main rat, hates garbage. He despises the fact that his family can't even identify the food they're eating. In one of the first scenes that involve his serious work in the kitchen, Remy washes his hands under a faucet before he cooks. He also has his clan "steam" bath before helping out in the kitchen. (one of the funniest moments is when Collete returns and nearly pukes from the sight) In addition, his blue soft fur and pink ears make him cuter than the finest plushie (thanks to Pixar's mind blowing technical work). Yet, when Remy and his clan are discovered and chased out of their home, they scurry and mob just like rats in real life do. The best feeling in the movie was going from pure disgust at seeing the crammed rat bodies in the attic, to sympathy and concern for Remy when he is separated from his family. These torn, conflicting sensibilities are testament to Pixar as a virtuoso of the heart strings. And that's just the rats (though, despite my desperate tries, I couldn't find the same feelings for cars).

Linguini is awkward enough to make us cringe and cover our eyes when he messes up, yet his innocent behavior, his calling Remy by the nickname "little chef", brings you to tears of joy when things go his way. And everyone has a plan or a motive. There was never a point in the movie when I said "I would never do that", or "I totally would have done it this way instead!" What the characters thought, and then how they reacted to those thoughts were natural and thoroughly believable. Even the most outrageous, petulant behavior was not cliche but something to be anticipated.

The visuals, as always, were top notch. In each film, Pixar tackles physics and the imitation of life in a more and more complex way. The water running and colliding in the sewer ..., the diffused lighting against fog, the flickering Parisian streetlights casting dancing shadows on translucent material. All that were feats of great technical advancements. The hair, the fur, the enticing life like food textures were spot on! I so wanted to taste that cream soup Remy cooks up toward the beginning of the film. And my two personal favorite points of animation were the cook book scene and the end credits. See! 2D is not dead! It just needs to be reimagined.


So it just goes to show you, the medium doesn't mean shit! It's all about the art of storytelling. Now if only Disney could supply the same combination of fresh stories, splendid characters, and smooth animation, they would have a Ratatouille and not a Chicken Little. Thankfully the once good turned evil Michael Eisner is out of the picture. Maybe with Pixar still under contract, Disney will learn a thing or two. Or maybe they'll just have Pixar make the hits. Could be worse...could be Dreamworks.