Final Fantasy VII: Avent Children (2005)

As I have mentioned before, I am an animation fan.  Can't help it.  I am an adult and I still like watching cartoons.  Especially due to the fact that animation in whatever form it is allows for so much more spectacular story telling and effects.  Live action is catching up, but when it has come to super heroes and the sci-fi/fantasy world nothing beats animation.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is based of the video game franchise of the same name.  I was a bit distracted today, but this one was kind of a disappointment.  The story was a bit fragmented and was hard to follow.  Some of the story elements were kept in the dark about until the end.  Even then I was confused.

I action was fun although seemed a bit repetitive.  Multiple motorcycle chases and battles that seemed to be pretty much the same sequence each time.  The final battle was cool though.

Watched this particular version with English subtitles and that could have been a part of the problem as well. Anyway, the main reason I watched this one was due to my enjoyment of the 2001 release of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.  The version of that film that I watched was in English and I felt that the storyline was much better and easier to follow.  There were times with Advent Children that I was just confused as to what the objective was.

Watched on Netflix.  You might like this you might not.  There are some good fight scenes.  I could be wrong about my assessment, but just not really thrilled about this film.

Red Dawn (2012)

Way back in 1984 a movie came out that played into the psyche of the time.  Red Dawn placed a band of high school kids against the Cuban and Russian armies attempting to invade the USA.  Everyone I knew at the time could not get enough on that film.  In the theater, on TV when it was replayed and renting at the local video store.  Two years ago, they decided it might be a good idea to remake Red Dawn.  This time it is the North Koreans invading the USA with a tiny bit of help from the Russians.

There are a couple key plot lines that were kept.  The drinking of the deer's blood and Darryl leading the Russian forces to the group's location.  This time both scenes are under different circumstances and results.

The actors did the best they could with the script they were given.  The action sequences were a lot of fun to watch.  However, the overall story line does not play well.  A massive power outage turns out to be the way to get into the USA without being seen way ahead of time?  Yeah, not so much.  And the North Koreans do not have the resources to make an invasion like that happen.

All that aside, if you see it on Netflix or one of the pay channels, sit down and watch the film.  You just might enjoy it if you are not expecting much.  I will say this.  There is a scene that did take me quite by surprise. 

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

If you have not figured things out yet, Netflix is my friend.  When Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow came out ten years ago it got panned pretty bad.  In my opinion, I have a feeling that many of the reviewers really didn't know what they were dealing with.

Here is what I mean.  The movie is darkly lit.  It has a film noir feel to it because of how darkly lit it is.  Plus it is set in the 1940's.  The actors are performing in a similar style as 1940's actors.  And the entire movie is shot with green screen.  If you are not familiar with what green screen is, all the big sets, robots and most everything else is computer generated.  And you can tell.  In the movie's defense, it was one of the first to go entire movie green screen.

I actually like the story.  Kind of cheesy, but that is film noir for you.  I recognized what they were trying to do early and made adjustments for it.  In this film, Angelina Jolie's accent is pretty bad.  Usually when she does Brit the accent is more or less believable.  Not this time.  Jude Law is Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow plays the overly curious reporter/damsel in distress.

The rundown is that if you can get past the look of the movie and suspend your disbelief with what you are looking at in regard to the story, you could enjoy this film.  If you have Netflix and have not seen the film yet, give it a shot.  You might be surprised.  Or I am completely wrong and the film will suck.  Either way, and this is for the guys and maybe some girls, looking at Jolie in tight leather is not a bad thing.

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat hit theaters back in 1995 to modest success.  As I was flipping channels, I ran across Mortal Combat on Cinemax and thought I would watch for a bit.  The movie stars Christopher Lambert of Highlander fame.  The other name in the film that you might know is Bridget Wilson. 

This film does not stand up to the test of time, but it is a wonderful reminder of how the 90's tried so many different ways to get you into the theater.  Based off the arcade game success the studio was hoping to build off that success.  Mortal Kombat did well enough to spawn a sequel, Mortal Kombat Annihilation.  However, Annihilation did not fair well and a third film, Devastation, was shelved.  There is talk of a reboot to the, but the story line sounds really bad.

If you are in the mood for something mindless and a bit of fun.  Yes, the film can be viewed as fun.  Watch Mortal Kombat again.  Oh, for the sports fan that would go to NBA and NHL games...Mortal Kombat supplied the soundtrack to the fan adrenaline rush before and during the games.

Dear Mr. Watterson

Alright Calvin and Hobbes fans, this one is for you.  Dear Mr. Watterson takes an in depth look at the legacy of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes and newspaper comics in general.  Bill Watterson does not appear in the film.  According to the film maker and others interviewed in the film, Mr. Watterson does not like to do interviews.

The documentary takes an interesting look at how Calvin and Hobbes raised the bar for those writing comic strips at the time as well as the influence Mr. Watterson has had on future artists and his contemporaries.  They also talk about the business side of the comic strip world and the choices made in regard to Calvin and Hobbes. 

This is a documentary.  Please bare that in mind when watching this film.  The pacing is slow, but again...it is a documentary.  However, seeing the comic strips again brought back many memories and reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading the newspaper comics everyday.  You can find Dear Mr. Watterson on Netflix. 

Maleficent

Saw this film a few weeks ago with my daughter and a friend and I was pleasantly surprised.  Maleficent is a re-imagining of  the Sleeping Beauty story and the motivation behind Maleficent's actions against Princess Aurora.  

I will admit that I am not much of a fan of Angelina Jolie's work.  She is gorgeous, but her work hasn't really impressed me as of late.  This performance, however, was wonderful.  If you have not seen this film yet, I do not want to give much away.  So, let me say this...be ready for something a little different and be ready to cheer for the character you thought you would not cheer for.  

The visuals are outstanding and film as a whole is well done.  Maleficent is still in theaters.  DVD is due out soon.

Fightville

Alright MMA fans.  This one is for you.  Actually, anyone who has ever been curious about why people choose to fight.  I caught the last 45 minutes of this documentary on one of the pay channels.  Dustin Poirier is one of the featured fighters in this film.  Poirier is currently a top ranked fighter in the featherweight division in the UFC and is about to have one of the biggest fights of his life on Sept. 27th, 2014.  

Fightville shows what these fighters put themselves through and how hard it is to get into the upper ranks of the fight world.  One of the other featured fighters had a bout coming up, but was not training.  Once he came back to training a couple weeks out from the fight, he paid the price.  Not just from being out of shape, but by having his head handed to him in a sparing session.  Was a hard lesson, but a lesson nonetheless.

Fight fans who want to see the behind the scenes world of what makes a fighter will enjoy this film.  I also recommend it for the curious about mixed martial arts and to those that would like to see a story about perseverance.

The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects has to be one of the best films I have ever seen.  One of the best ensemble casts ever put together.  And it was the last good acting gig by Stephen Baldwin before he went nutty.  I hate to poke at him, but has he done anything good since this movie?  Just saying.

The story is so well written and contains some of the best plot twists ever, that just watching the film once will not satisfy.  There were aspects of character tendencies that I did not pick up on until the 3rd or 4th viewing. 

If you have not seen this film yet, go find it now.  It is currently on Netflix, but I am sure you can find it at your local Best Buy for cheap.  Or anywhere else that might sell videos.  You will not be disappointed.

A Man From Nowhere

A Man From Nowhere is a film from Korea and I have to say it was quite entertaining.  A couple aspects you will have to get over first.  Dealing with subtitles, random English from one character and lots of blood and guts.  However, the blood and guts factor is about the same as Judge Dredd (a movie that I reviewed a day or so ago).  Once you get past how they are speaking the dialog and you are okay with reading subtitles (unless you understand Korean), the performances are very good.  What I enjoyed most about this film was that they did not reveal too much at any one time.  The action sequences are very well done.  Not sure what else to say about this film other than if you are okay with subtitles and violence, you will enjoy this film.  Oh yeah, this is a well written, well directed and well acted film.  A Man From Nowhere is available on Netflix.