We saw “Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel” this weekend at Ian’s place and I seriously thought it was hilarious. Go and have a look at the trailer and definitely watch it on DVD if you can.
We got to see the 15 minute preview of Avatar, the new James Cameron movie (Director of Titanic, Alien, and many more classics). The movie has been in the making for over 10 years now and there has been a lot of hype surrounding the buildup to it’s premiere on the 18th of December.
The reason for all the hype around this movie is because of the technologies used in this movie. The movie relies a lot on computer generated content and many of the characters are fully computer generated. On top of that the movie will be shown in (IMAX) 3D. Normally when a director makes a movie like this, he would not be able to see the full product until after the post production. In Cameron’s setup though, he was able to preview something that resembled the final product on a screen while shooting the real actors, and change anything he wanted.
Now, before I go on I want to point you at this trailer. Have a look at it and I’ll continue my rant afterward.
We saw a 3D version of some of the scenes that were in this trailer, and a few more. All and all it was quite impressive, and I can imagine really enjoying the experience in the IMAX, and I will probably do so in December.
I don’t think it lives up to the hype though. The acting (mainly Sam Wortington’s main character) is a bit mediocre, and the story line seems to be very predictable. I don’t necessarily want to say that we have seen this story line before in a movie, but anyone who has ever played a 3D shooter must feel like this is a cheap and predictable story line. Even worse is the fact that because the movie relies so much on CGI that it almost looks like a really long trailer or cutscene for the next FarCry.
The added idea of 3D projection doesn’t work for me necessarily either. It is cool in the slow scenes, but in any of the fast ones my eyes simply can’t keep up with the image. I’m not sure if that’s me because I wear glasses, or because I’m simply turning old, but it takes away from the experience. It also makes the movie feel more gimmicky that it needs to be.
I do have to say though that the 3D experience is a lot better than what I saw in Harry Potter 6 where it really felt like I was looking at one of those old ViewMasters. I will write an article soon on why I do think 3D is the future of cinema, but why it simply isn’t there yet.
The movie premieres in the UK on December 18th and I think I’ll probably go and see it in the IMAX within a week of release, simply because I am a sci-fi geek and I do like these kind of movies.
What do you think? Discussion in the comments.
For the 5th week of our 52 movies challenge I saw Slumdog Millionaire (2008, #47 in the top 250). Melinda had already seen this movie last year during a preview screening and marked it as a clear Oscar contender from the start. Well, I guess she was right: it got 8 Academy Awards including best movie.
So what did I think about the movie? I thought it was fun to watch, that’s it. I think it was a bit mild in comparison to the much more gripping Cidade de Deus (2002, City of God, #17 in the Top 250) which also partially plays in a slump (but in this case in Rio de Janeiro). Additionally the film was also a bit predictable, but all and all the film was saved by the cinematography. I think this movie is a great recognition of the cultural and social diversity of India, and Danny Boyle managed to capture it very nicely.
For those of you who haven’t seen the movie yet, I think it’s still in cinema, but if you got a nice large TV I think the movie is also perfectly enjoyable at home.
For the 4th week of our 52 movies challenge we actually went to the cinema. We have a shiny Odeon cinema pretty near to our new flat so it was a good excuse to give it a try. We went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008, currently #112 in the IMDB top 250). It was an interesting movie, and I really enjoyed watching it. It is up for quite a few Oscars and I think it might win a few because the cinematography is gorgeous.
The big problem with this movie is that the similarities to Forrest Gump (1994, #45 in the IMDB top 250) are ridiculous. I didn’t know that the writers behind the Curious Case were the same writers that wrote Forrest Gump, but you don’t need to know this to see the relation between the two. The little compilation below gives a good comparison (beware, it might have some spoilers).
In the end I think the movie was worth seeing, and the special effects are quite impressive, but if you have a big TV at home don’t bother going to the cinema and get the DVD instead.
We’re running a little bit behind in our 52 Movies Challenge, but nothing is lost: we will watch 52 from the IMDB Top 250 movies this year, no matter what! In week 2 and 3 we saw The Shawshank Redemption (1994, the almost permanent #1 of the top 250) and Psycho (1960, #23 in the top 250).
Week 2 – The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Andy Dufresne is a young and successful banker whose life changes drastically when he is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover. Set in the 1940’s, the film shows how Andy, with the help of his friend Red, the prison entrepreneur, turns out to be a most unconventional prisoner.
The film features Tim Robbins as Andy, and Morgan Freeman as Red. My expectations of this movie have been high from the start, mainly because it has been the #1 movie on IMDB for quite a while now (with some temporary interruptions of new movies like The Dark Knight) and I was ashamed that in all this time I hadn’t been able to catch it when it was shown on TV.
So imagine how underwhelmed I was when I started to watch the film and slowly started to puzzle out what was going on and what the plot was heading too. It seemed I actually had seen the movie already, but had somehow repressed it. I still enjoyed the movie, but somehow my mind was spoiling it a bit for me. It seems I really need to work harder at doing my research before watching a long movie like this one.
Week 3 – Psycho
Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam’s California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.
I normally don’t tend to watch movies made this far before I was born, mainly because most of the movies from this era are too slow and just bore me to death. Now to be honest, this Hitchcock classic would probably have not been on my list, but given that it’s number 23 in the top 250 I had to give it a serious try. The movie’s pace was actually not that bad and the fact that it’s shot in black and white actually works really, really well. This movie has been made in a time when color movies were already quite the standard so the reason for this one being black and white is just as much of an artistic decision as why some of my photos are. The cinematography is gorgeous and sometimes made me think “how did they record that?”.
It is a definite must see, and don’t turn it off after the first few minutes because it seriously only gets better from the start.
The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) is the world’s most popular source for everything involving movies and TV shows. For years they have gathered movie ratings by their users and build a ever changing list of their Top 250 movies based on this.
Melinda and I are both fans of the big screen and we regularly write movie reviews of new movies that we’ve seen. Imagine our surprise when we had a quick look at the Top 250 and realized we had only seen a measly 25%-32% of the list! The Top 250 is filled with rather old, slow, and long movies, and somehow we had never watched any of them because one really needs to set some time apart for them.
So here is our home-made-challenge for 2009: watch 52 of the IMDB Top 250 Movies. That is one movie a week, and as this year started on a Thursday our weeks last from Thursday to Wednesday. This gives us the weekend to watch the movies, and a few days extra might we not be able to watch it in the weekend. We invite everyone to come and join us every week. We’ll be listing the next movie as we review the previous one.
Week 1
Last week’s movie was La Vitta è Bella (aka Life is Beautiful, 1997) which is currently #87 on the IMDB top 250. It is directed by and starring Roberto Benigni who is an Italian comedian and director. The movie won 3 Oscars, including that of Best Actor and Best Foreign Language Film. I had already seen the movie but Melinda hadn’t yet and she had gotten the movie on DVD for Christmas. We both loved the movie and even had to wipe a tear in the end. Here is the trailer:
Week 2
This week we’re going to watch the long-time #1 in the Top 250: The Shawshank Redemption (1994). As I said earlier, we’re inviting anyone to come and join us in watching this 142 minute long classic.
I know I could write down some traditional new year’s resolutions like last year, but everyone knows (and nobody cares) that I need to eat more healthy, sport more, etc, etc.
So here are some of my more geeky new years resolutions for this year.
The first real trailer for the upcoming Star Trek movie by JJ Abrams has been released today and I personally think it’s spectacular. I had honestly given up the Star Trek franchise a few years ago but this might just be the kind of fresh direction needed to get the show working for the next generation again.
Here is the YouTube trailer, but you’re better of going to the official site and watch the trailer there (preferably in HD).
Cristiano on Tech/Life 
