Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
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The critic is a bizzare creature who's tastes will change like the weather. I should know: I used to be one of them.
Although, I can't stand it when directors respond to critics (like Roland Emmerich and Kevin Smith did) - because usually the director has geniunely made a terrible film in that case. But most filmmakers take criticism surprisingly well.
The Prestige
Honestly, had me at every turn. Although, at the end of the film I was left with an odd feeling confusion. I had no idea who the protagonist or at least an idea of who was right.
That's why I like it, leaves you dazed.
Mickey wrote:Spoiler (click to read)
Does it tease Smaug, just like it did in AUJ?
In what way exactly?
Spoiler (click to read)
It does show simple glimpses of him until the confrontation scene between him and Bilbo, (Which is roughly two hours in) and then reveals him in all of his glory in quite a number of great shots.
What about the Flies and Spiders scene? Is that segment conveyed well in the film?
@Mickey, Oh yes.
The whole Mirkwood segment is great, albeit the journeying through the forest right before it is a bit short. That was one of the real highlights for me.
Also, we may want to switch to PMs, unless the others don't mind spoilers for the Hobbit taking over this thread for a bit.
Man of Steel
Surprisingly, this wasn't as bad as I expected. The big problem was the destruction was on the scale of a Michael Bay film and despite supposedly valuing life, Superman saves a grand total of one person in the entire movie, helps destroy an entire city, and his solution to a man threatening to destroy humans is crude and betrays the ideals he and his dad are intended to represent. And the Jesus imagery was a little too heavy handed.
Oh, and the score had no clear Earth theme, no clear Superman theme, and the closest it seemed to get was a building pattern of two note that never really got where it was going.
Jingle All The Way
Genuinely one of, if not my favourite Christmas film. Apparently it's not very well regarded, but I personally find it hilarious. I guess it's just one of those films that you're not supposed to take too seriously if you're going to enjoy it.
Jingle All The Way
Genuinely one of, if not my favourite Christmas film. Apparently it's not very well regarded, but I personally find it hilarious. I guess it's just one of those films that you're not supposed to take too seriously if you're going to enjoy it.
Jingle all the Way for me too. I regard it as a 'so bad it's funny' film.
Tyuerbo man to the rescue!
Irving Berlin's White Christmas (1954)
Not a terribly well-known Christmas picture. And yes, the song is featured at the beginning of the film, if you're wondering. Irving Berlin's White Christmas is heartwarming and wonderfully funny. Kaye and Crosby are the ultimate dancing, singing comedy duo. Clooney and Vera-Ellen are remarkably talented.
If you wanna check this out, I think they'll be showing it on AMC sometime soon.
9.2/10
Charly (1968)
Based on Daniel Keyes' remarkably original science fiction novel, Flowers for Algernon, this loosely-based film adaptation from Cinerama (featuring the late Cliff Robertson as the titular role) documents the brilliantly depressing life of a mentally handicapped man named Charlie Gordon. Thanks to the wonderful world of science, doctors are able to convert Gordon to brilliance. But, these changes soon affect those that Gordon loves, in this heart-wrenching dramedy that went on to give Robertson controversy over the Academy Award that he was nominated for, and later won.
I watched this in my English class. It just so happens that Flowers for Algernon is my English teacher's all-time favourite story. So, whatever went on before and during the montage sequence--I didn't get to see it. My English teacher didn't think "we were ready [to see the sequence]". I do have some my theories, though... 
Robertson's performance is astounding. And the technical aspects of this picture are ahead of its time. I felt like this film isn't from the 1960s. That's just how good those technical aspects were.
And yes, I have read the short story. Seeing the film adaptation makes me say to myself, "Ha! And I thought The Hobbit movie was unfaithful to the book!" But really, this film adaptation is pretty decent. By the way, my English teacher already showed us a good few minutes of the 2000 film adaptation, with Matthew Modine. The bulk of that adaptation is available to watch on YouTube, so maybe I should check that out sometime...
8/10
Last edited by Mickey (December 25, 2013 (10:20pm))
We always watch Jingle All The Way on Christmas Eve.
Charly is a great movie, Mickey. I also recorded a version of Flowers For Algernon off of TV around 2005. It was different but also pretty good. Way back when I used to program in BASIC on the Atari XL computer series, I made an Algernon game where you were the mouse and had to go through mazes and stuff then escape the lab.
A Christmas Story (1983)
Always a great Christmas classic to watch. And I hope it will remain classic for many more years to come. It's a shame that they had to go and make that straight-to-video sequel. I wish some people wouldn't tarnish a harmless holiday classic. I really should look into reading some of Sheperd's short stories.
9.3/10
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
"...and lo, he said 'Here is a film'."
You know you're watching a good film when it makes you laugh one minute, and cry the next. Hanks probably won't be nominated for a Golden Globe (or an OSCAR, for that matter), due to him already being nominated for his performance in Captain Phillips. But, I think Emma Thompson was the one to give the performance that really did it. I think it was this film that helped me come to realise those little details in Mary Poppins that I had never really noticed. I had grown up on that musical movie, but I was too young to view the film through the eyes of a grownup--or an older kid.
The film compares the characters of Mary Poppins to characters of Travers/Goff's girlhood. Master of the house, George Banks, is apparently based off of Travers/Goff's alcoholic father (Colin Farrell, in a riveting performance), who the viewer sees in flashback. Travers Goff (no, I'm not forgetting the slash; that is the author's father's real name) wants to be a successful parent. He does love his daughters, but he seems to forget that--in order to be a parent--you have to live in reality. His eagerness to become better and better as a parent makes him terribly sick, which ends up being the gateway to an alcohol-related end. A depressed Helen Goff takes the name of her deceased father and writes a successful children's book series that would consist of eight books. The original Mary Poppins book is a success among Walt Disney's daughters, and they plead him to buy the rights to the film and adapt the book into a motion picture. 23 years later, their wishes are granted when they are able to watch the picture on the silver screen. But, did anyone consider the trouble that Travers/Goff underwent to protect the rights of her book from the grasp of Disney?
This film delves deep into the three years that were spent making the Mary Poppins motion picture. Sure, Hanks is great...he really is! And Gimatti was very good too. And Novak and Schwartzman as the Sherman brothers? Great casting choices. But, Thompson as Travers is that delicious cherry on top. Her performance in this film topped it all off. And the director? John Lee Hancock has improved since My Dog Skip (back in 2000) and The Alamo (in 2004). I do believe this is his greatest film!
Saving Mr. Banks is not too drawn-out, not too padded, not too long. It has just the right amount of everything. And Thomas Newman gives us yet another great musical score. If you have to see one film this holiday season, head on down to your neighbourhood cinema and sit in a dark theatre room and watch this.
You will very much enjoy it.
9.8/10
Last edited by Mickey (December 21, 2013 (10:47pm))
No Country for Old Men (2007)
I'm a bit ambivalent about this film. One the one hand, it was refreshingly different from most standard Hollywood films these days. The cinematography was interesting, especially the large amount so close-ups and the barren landscapes. What I found especially interesting was the lack of music, which really helped intensify the tension and eeriness of the film. On the other hand, the plot seemed a bit convoluted (or maybe it was just because I found the accents of some of the characters, especially the Sheriff, difficult to understand). While Javier Bardem's performance as Anton Chigurh was excellent, I still thought it was still somewhat overhyped from what I'd heard. And while I get that this is meant to be a serious film and, in a way, the antithesis of the classic Western, the ending nevertheless seemed rather depressing. Also:
Anton's car crash at the end didn't make any sense to me, as it seemed completely random. It seemed odd that we never Llewellyn, who is the central character, even die--we just see his body in one shot. And the death of his mother seems completely random.
I have to say, though, I really liked the way Carla Jean's death was subtly implied but never explicitly shown.
Still, I thought this film was well-made. I may have to watch it a few times again before I fully understand it.
Jack Reacher (2012)
This is rather quite a different film from the last. It's a pretty solid action film. I don't particularly like Tom Cruise, but he did well in this. However, the villain is so wonderfully over-the-top Darth-Sidious-esque that when we find out his evil plan it just seems rather anti-climactic.
So the evil plan is to acquire construction companies and, umm... build things?
Aside from that, I liked it.
Unknown (2006)
Another interesting film. The concept was interesting and executed well, with strong performances from all actors (although the old guy tied up in the chair doesn't seem to do anything aside from yell and be rude to everyone else). It's somewhat slow-moving at times, but it builds up tension well and keeps one guessing. The final twist, however, seems rather weak, but that is more of a minor complaint. I especially liked the set design of the industrial building (where the main characters are trapped); it has a gritty yet surreal feeling to it that I really enjoyed.
I watched The Colony yesterday and I have mixed feelings about it.
First, I found it awful. Not just because of the plot holes and the issues with the credibility of the story, but because most of the elements were a bit cliché.
The way the tracks in the snow were never covered by the continuous snowfall and how the cannibals could walk all day and night without dying was ridiculous. The recurring alpha-zombies, or in this case alpha-cannibal character is becoming overused. (Land of the Dead, I am Legend, and now The Colony) And so is that one character that always tries to overthrow the good leader of a group. (Shane from The Walking Dead for instance.)
But then, as the story progressed, I was reminded of similar stories that I had heard not in films, but in the Lego community. MOC builders have written dozens of back stories to their creations that are remarkably similar.
It isn't an entirely unoriginal plot, it's just something I've seen countless times in the Lego community. This is what made the film more enjoyable for me.
The acting was above average for a lower budget film. Laurence Fishburne's performance was probably the most enjoyable, but it was nothing special. I just like him because he is Morpheus, you know. 
The cinematography was pretty interesting at times, but you can't really go wrong with moodily lit claustrophobic shots of underground tunnels.
The music was another thing that made the film more enjoyable.
In the end, it was an OK film, but I will definitely not watch it again. I really wish they had focused more on survival than on the action sequences with the feral cannibal people.
If this were a Bickfilm, it'd be a different subject.
5.5/10
Regarding No Country for Old Men, you'd probably be better served reading the novel if you want to understand the narrative. I enjoyed the film, and it doesn't deviate much from the source, but the bits of material that the Coens did leave out were crucial to my personal understanding of the story. The film works well as a literal translation of the plot, but lacks the novel's depth.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Kinda surprised that they would air this on the ABC Family channel. It's not the cleanest movie to be airing on TV. But whatever, it's Christmas. Anyway, this is my second time watching this. The first being around last Christmas, before I watched the original Vacation movie. I remember watching Christmas Vacation--the first time--and not having a clue as to who Cousin Eddie was. But, then I watched the original and it cleared things up for me.
Hughes has this way of knowing just how being a teen works. That's a gift not every adult has.
8/10
ABC Fam really is not into cleanliness.
ABC Fam really is not into cleanliness.
Now you tell me. 
But, they were showing those Santa Clause movies earlier on that channel. So, it surprised me how they could go from showing those family-friendly types of films to showing a film like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Nevertheless, its a great entry into the National Lampoon movies. After the film, I went online to the Internet Movie Database and looked at the "parental advisory" section of the film page for this film. As it turns out, I guess ABC Family censored some sequences where people might be swearing. And there were other instances where swear words were muted, but you could still hear background music.
EDIT: I saw two films after Christmas Day. Here are their reviews.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Wow, M. Night. Very gripping, very solidly written, very...predictable.
Who else saw the twist coming? I didn't even have to watch the film a second time to predict its twist ending. It never dawned on anyone that Crowe never drove a car? He always had to take the bus or walk everywhere. That's because dead people can't drive cars...duh! And he could never get the doorknob open and his wife could? Weird, huh? And the only person that ever talked to him was Cole, the little boy! That's because only he could talk to dead people, because of his "gift".
At the time of this film's release, people would've seen this film as wonderfully and painstakingly original. That's because no other films had ever been made in the vein of this film. Films like Hereafter (2010) and ParaNorman (2012) hadn't existed in the 90s. They were made years afterward. Nevertheless, I still had to roll my eyes, groaning, when
Cole told Malcolm that he could communicate with the deceased.
I felt like I had seen this before. I had, but no one in the 90s had.
I did, however, enjoy The Sixth Sense enough to watch Unbreakable, which I will do soon. But, I just feel like there was a lot of poor character development in this film, and a lot of things left unsaid. And if this film really was trying to send chills into its audience, then M. Night could do much better.
7.2/10
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
Stiller and Wiig don't have a whole lot of chemistry. And the screenplay's a little sloppy. But, the acting is decent. Plus, I didn't even realise that
Sean Bean played the photographer
until his name was displayed during the end credits. What a surprise! Maybe it's because he didn't have his Irish accent with him at the time. But, I knew that guy looked familiar...
Ben Stiller actually did OK as director. But, I feel like he's not using his "directorial powers" to his full potential.
6.4/10
Before the previews, I left the theatre I was in, and went a few theatres down to where they were showing the Hobbit sequel. Dang, I never noticed the 48 FPS before; but just then, it looked like they were showing the film on one of those Hi-Def flat screen TVs they sell at Best Buy and Walmart! That 48 FPS makes things go way fast! I don't know how (or why) I had never noticed it before.
Last edited by Mickey (December 28, 2013 (04:20pm))
*bump*
Australia (2008)
It starts out as a colourful, lighthearted comedy. Then the film's feel grows dark, once characters start dying. And the film begins to pick up, and with a nice fairytale ending, one can say that Luhrmann really knows how to tell a story. This is a great film, but then there are the cons. Much of the film and the dialogue was very predictable, and I always knew what was going to happen next. But, I felt like the film was trying its hardest to stretch out its running time. It's not that it was a long film, it's just that it didn't need to be. I felt like it really didn't have to be a 165-minute-long epic film. But, whatever. It was a great watch, over all.
9/10
Frozen
Believe the praises. And like with recent Disney fairy tale films, they broke from traditional Disney lore with some pleasant plot twists.
I definately have to get around to seeing Frozen.
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