My fractal view upon Skyfall

Slightly Spoilerish review of Skyfall


Skyfall to me was a wonderful third chapter to the beautifully rebooted Bond universe. The last three films have built this new powerful origin into the true Bond we know and love. What we have seen now is the final cut to the diamond to jeweled perfection.

The classic nods were wonderful (spoiler-ish: the license plate on the DB-5 is the same as Connery's) and the villain was a true bondian treat. The final cap to the diamond was the end for me. Using that location just makes the whole concept come full circle to where we were back to Dr. No, in kind of a fractal sense of the greater Bond mythos.

Mendes was an interesting choice to me at first but I found his style to be the perfect story telling for this chapter. There were a few scenes (while neccesary for the plot flow of the film) that strained credibility but as we are nearing perfection in the previous rough diamond of Daniel Craig Bond, I was able to over look them.

Some may still not fully like Craig as Bond but to me he has more than proved himself. His brute force from before has been finely honed into a strong forced Bond. He is ready for more and I hope the next film lives up to more true Bondian Lore as we got in Skyfall.

Blade Runner Sans Dialog Part 1

Last year as an experiment I decided to clip out all speaking from Blade Runner. What was left was actually an amazing film that allowed you to focus on the ambiance and beauty of each frame. The side affect was the conversations were then truncated down to awkward and strange moments between characters. I give you the first part in an ongoing series of Movies Without Words-Blade Runner.

Raiders of the Lost Ark-Imax Review

For the record, Raiders of the Lost Ark is my favorite movie of all time. Outside of one minor plot hole*, it is a perfect film. I dare anyone to find me a more perfect and fulfilling film.

My first ever viewing was in 1982 watching it on VHS with the family at Grandma's house.** I then recorded it off of TV and watched that copy to death. Obtained the DVD when it came out. The soundtrack by John Williams has found a permanent place in my music collection and is never removed from my mp3 player. To say I am a bit of a nut for this film is a bit of an understatement. While I don't own a fedora or a whip, Dr. Jones will forever be my number one favorite fictional character.

So if I have seen this film so many times, would one more time really be worth it? With the recent release of a cleaned up imax print in theaters I knew I had to see it again for I had never actually seen this film on the big screen. The cleaned up print they delivered was amazing. I saw details in the film that I had never seen before. The gold idol he steals in the opening? The detail in it's eyeballs alone was beautiful. Marion's scarf she wears in Nepal? Who knew there were sequins and detailed design in it?

Ben Burtt apparently went back to the sound masters and created a new mix for this release. At points I was moved to tears at how beautiful it sounded. The boulder in the temple? You felt that thing coming at you. When Marion flips the mirror and catches Indy in the chin? Ouch. Every punch, shot, or even bad guys getting run over was even more visceral at the level of sound involved.

I did not think it possible to improve on the greatest film ever made, but this release delivered to me a religious experience (no pun intended with the power of the ark)that I have rarely if never felt in the cinema. Thirty one years later and this film still impresses me.




*How exactly did Indy travel on the submarine to the Nazi island? Surely that ship submerged during it's trip. (I know of the deleted scene with the periscope lashing but that small hole has always bugged me) Also, is anyone else still a little creeped out by Indiana's earlier statutory relationship with young Marion?

**Mom even covered my eyes when the big Nazi gets chopped up by the plane prop, but she let me see the melting bad guys at the end. When I asked her about it this recently she exclaimed that 7 year old me didn't need to see useless gore, but understanding the power of the Ark/god was vitally important.

Micheal Caine

Micheal Caine...you are one suave man.


 

The Dark Knight Reminisces

Let's just dust off this here thing.


I will be the first to admit, as a life long Batman fan I have had my own prejudices against the Nolan Batman films. After completing the trilogy this year, I have gained a new insight into the whole thing.

Just got done watching "The Dark Knight" again after only seeing it once. I found alot more to appreciate in the film than I did the first time. I honestly should have visited it again sooner.  Problems I had felt were present before were nowhere to be found. It truly is the best of the three when we stay in the realm of "make a 'real world' Batman" world.

The Dark Knight Rises was still the better film, if we imagine it being closer to the comic book world that Batman comes to. I can see how one might see that as a flaw of TDKR but I think it may have been more altruistic to Batman fans like me. TDK was the pinnacle to the realistic world view of the Batman so Nolan realized he couldn't top that so let's make one more inline with the books. He also played to the fans with giving us his version of Robin after claiming he never would.

At this point, I don't see any need to continue the Nolan 'verse. Even with the opening they left to continue I think we have all we need to see out of this Batman. I await the next version that we know will come.

In my theater....no one can hear me whimper like a little girl

In preparation for the June 8th release of Prometheus I plan on watching the first three Alien films. Even if the connection between Prometheus and Alien/s/3 is tiny, I think it is good to revist this world. I just need to find time to watch after Annette goes to bed. I will be watching the following versions of the films:

Alien-Original Theatrical cut

Aliens-Directors Extended cut

Alien3-Assembly Cut (a re-do of the film that is closer to Fincher's original vision. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_3#Special_Edition_DVD_.26_Blu-ray)

If you have any thoughts of seeing Prometheus, I recommend you do the same.

The Tarantino Mix Tape

I have a well known love/hate relationship with Mr. Tarantino. I think however, the following video has allowed me to appreciate him as an artist fully. My issues with his work lie in his overuse of homage and blatant straight theft of scenes. He writes some snappy awesome dialog, but I keep being disappointed by lack of something new to be shown. But my criticism of his work may have been a bit over zealous.

I just need to accept that Tarantino is the king of the mix tape.

(warning: contains all of the usual violence and language one finds in a Tarantino flick)

The Tarantino Mixtape from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

Samuel L. Jackson as the 12th Doctor:

"I want these mother fucking Daleks off this mother fucking TARDIS."

"...and you will KNOW my name is The Doctor when I lay my vengeance upon thee" [Activates sonic in bad guys general direction]

Ancient world Fantasy Weekend

This weekend turned out to be an interesting foray into the Ancient World Fantasy film genre. First up:

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)



Not sure why this film got a bad rap. It is a fun little adventure, captures the feel and movement of the games quite well and gives us a great little twist on the whole time travel genre. Jake Gyllenhaal does a great job (although his accent was a bit wobbly surrounded by a cast primarily made up of British citizens)bringing a likeable character and a physicality to the role I didn't know he was capable of. Beautiful scenery and decent script. For a good action adventure film, this one is just fine.

Overall: 7.5 out of 10


Conan the Barbarian (2011)



I will freely admit I am a huge fan of Jason Momoa primarily from his work on Stargate: Atlantis and Game of Thrones (I like to ignore the fact he was on Baywatch) so I went into this film already planning on enjoying it due to his presence. However, I walked out of the film realizing I had just seen something great. Not spectactular or "oh my god you have to see this" caliber, but a fun adventure that met every expectation I would imagine out of a Conan film.

If your only exposure to Conan has been the early 80s film, please clear it from your head when considering the new one. While Arnold and John Millius gave us a fantastic film, it really morphed into it's own thing and shied away from the original source of Conan. The new film manages to be much closer in spirit to the original books and has a great time doing so. Let me share with you the Just Another Movie Geek Official Conan Check list©:

-Copious sword play with blood lettings: check
-Ample bosoms on screen: check (and before I am accused of misogyny, I would say the male and female bare chest time was fairly even in the film)
-Evil bad guy that only our stalwart hero can bring down: check
-The riddle of steel: check (and I liked it better in the new one!)
-Witchcraft, sorcery and other black magics: check
-Other worldly-ness and ancient-ness to the setting: check

The only fault I found in it was as fantastic as the world we were given was, it did seem that travel time was completely ignored in favor of quick narrative. Not that I wanted a LOTR rehash showing Conan riding the sand for hours and hours, but things just seemed to happen a bit quickly. And not a complaint, but I was actually expecting a bit more gore. Sure there was plenty of blood flying, a few dismemberments and the such, but when shows like 'Spartacus Blood and Sand' manage to up the sword level gore gratuity to a new level I feel a bit let down when I don't get it here as much.

If you like yourself a good sword, sandal and sorcery flick, ignore the bad reviews this one is getting and check it out.

Overall: 8 out of 10

Side note: The universe apparently wants me to have more Alfred Molina in my daily life. Over the past 4 days he showed up in 3 films we have watched and then he was in a trailer before Conan.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Let me first say that when it comes to reading comic books, I am a DC fanboy. I collect primarily Batman titles and keep a good grasp on the rest of the "DC Universe." So why is it that of all the super hero movies of the last 10 years I have enjoyed the Marvel-Verse films greater?

Maybe they adapt to films better. Maybe I am not as critical of them as I am with the DC films. Regardless, Captain America: The First Avenger is a marvelous film.

For being as bored with the origin story in comic films as I am, this one managed to make it interesting. As an action film, its got some wonderful pieces and the pace was perfect. Casting was spot on and the fx were well funded. The patriotism of such and "american" character was dealt with evenly. Not overly in your face jingoistic, but portrayed a time when the group dynamic of our country was a bit more nobler. Chris Evans gave us a stoic and approachable Steve Rogers and Hayley Atwell delivered a breath of fresh air to the female character in the genre. She wasn't just eye candy, or the damsel in distress nor merely just the love interest. She was an equal. Director Joe Johnston (who proved he can handle the genre and the time period with The Rocketeer) created a wonderful film for fans of fun and entertaining cinema.

Some spoilery points of interest:

-A wonderful reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark
-Tommy Lee Jones steals every scene
-Stay after the credits for a nice set up for next years Avengers. I am probably going to have to break my Joss Whedon boycott
-Favorite Line: "I'm from Fresno, Ace."