Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - 2012, rated R. My rating: 6 out of 10.
Overall, if you like historical humor, or like vampire movies, then you'll enjoy AL:VH. If not, then you probably won't miss much if you don't see the film.
Friday, July 5, 2013
PCP on DVD - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
As I have my history teaching degree (even though I'm not a teacher), I always enjoy a good historical movie. I like them even more when they are crazy, over the top fun (like Inglorious Basterds). Also, I thoroughly enjoyed Wanted, and the director of AL:VH is the same man, Timur Bekmambetov, so when this film was announced, I was looking forward to it.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - 2012, rated R. My rating: 6 out of 10.
Based on the book of the same name (by the author of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith), AL:VH is a fun little historical mashup, combining America's greatest president with awesome vampire slaying abilities. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend that, it was a ton of fun. Unfortunately I can't quite say the same for the film. AL:VH has its moments, including a really cool action sequence atop a train, but in general the film is just kind of flat outside of the action sequences. Those are all done very well though, but action is something the director has down to an art. Plot and pacing in quiet moments, not so much.
Overall, if you like historical humor, or like vampire movies, then you'll enjoy AL:VH. If not, then you probably won't miss much if you don't see the film.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - 2012, rated R. My rating: 6 out of 10.
Overall, if you like historical humor, or like vampire movies, then you'll enjoy AL:VH. If not, then you probably won't miss much if you don't see the film.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
PCP in Theaters - Man of Steel
You know you're busy when you see a movie back on June 14th and finally get around to writing your review of it 3 weeks later. Sorry for the delay on this in theaters review, I usually try to be more timely on these so they go up while the film is still in theaters. But anyways, on to my review of the Superman reboot Man of Steel.
Man of Steel - 2013, rated PG-13. My rating: 8 out of 10.
Here is my 10 word review of Man of Steel: Better than Superman Returns, not as good as I hoped.
Okay, that's not exactly a helpful review. It's pretty hard for the film to not be better than Superman Returns, due to how disappointing that film was. That was the Phantom Menace of the Superman series, where you've been waiting decades for a new film and while it is technically proficient, it just falls flat. Meanwhile, Man of Steel is a reboot launched in a darker, grittier universe than Superman had previously inhabited, and one hopes a universe that also contains the rest of the Justice League.
There was a lot to like in this film. I liked the way they told the origin story, by using the narrative structure of mixing in the flashbacks as the film goes on, rather than telling the story in a linear fashion. Had they gone linear, the first 45 minutes of the film would've been rather dull, and most of it was stuff that is already ingrained into most viewers' brains from decades of Superman being a part of the pop culture landscape. I'm glad the film didn't spend too much time dwelling on all of that all over again. Also, I'm glad for the presence of Producer Christopher Nolan. He must've pulled director Zack Snyder aside and said "stay away from that slo-mo crap you always do." I was expecting the film to be dragged out with massive quantities of slo-mo, like Snyder's 300, Watchmen, & Sucker Punch, but I don't recall slo-mo being used once in this film.
The action sequences were flashy and entertaining, and the CGI was well done albeit used a bit too much, and in some cases the fight sequences got repetitive after awhile. There's only so much back and forth super-punching you can see the hero and villains do before it gets boring. The acting performances were pretty good though, especially Michael Shannon's General Zod. I look forward to seeing more of him as an actor in the future, he does a pretty good villain.
There were a few dislikes as well. Instead of doing slo-mo, the film uses shaky-cam throughout (that or the projector in the theater was busted and gave the picture a massive wobble) and it gave me a massive headache because it was shaking just so much. I was just glad I didn't see it in 3D. Also, there were a handful of plot holes that annoyed the heck out of me.
Overall I enjoyed the film, but not as much as The Dark Knight or the Avengers. I still recommend it to all to watch, but I hope the next one in the series is better. Disclaimer - I don't really read DC comics, I've always been more of a Marvel guy, so things in this film that conflict with the comic's canon does not bother me at all.
Man of Steel - 2013, rated PG-13. My rating: 8 out of 10.
Here is my 10 word review of Man of Steel: Better than Superman Returns, not as good as I hoped.
Okay, that's not exactly a helpful review. It's pretty hard for the film to not be better than Superman Returns, due to how disappointing that film was. That was the Phantom Menace of the Superman series, where you've been waiting decades for a new film and while it is technically proficient, it just falls flat. Meanwhile, Man of Steel is a reboot launched in a darker, grittier universe than Superman had previously inhabited, and one hopes a universe that also contains the rest of the Justice League.
There was a lot to like in this film. I liked the way they told the origin story, by using the narrative structure of mixing in the flashbacks as the film goes on, rather than telling the story in a linear fashion. Had they gone linear, the first 45 minutes of the film would've been rather dull, and most of it was stuff that is already ingrained into most viewers' brains from decades of Superman being a part of the pop culture landscape. I'm glad the film didn't spend too much time dwelling on all of that all over again. Also, I'm glad for the presence of Producer Christopher Nolan. He must've pulled director Zack Snyder aside and said "stay away from that slo-mo crap you always do." I was expecting the film to be dragged out with massive quantities of slo-mo, like Snyder's 300, Watchmen, & Sucker Punch, but I don't recall slo-mo being used once in this film.
The action sequences were flashy and entertaining, and the CGI was well done albeit used a bit too much, and in some cases the fight sequences got repetitive after awhile. There's only so much back and forth super-punching you can see the hero and villains do before it gets boring. The acting performances were pretty good though, especially Michael Shannon's General Zod. I look forward to seeing more of him as an actor in the future, he does a pretty good villain.
There were a few dislikes as well. Instead of doing slo-mo, the film uses shaky-cam throughout (that or the projector in the theater was busted and gave the picture a massive wobble) and it gave me a massive headache because it was shaking just so much. I was just glad I didn't see it in 3D. Also, there were a handful of plot holes that annoyed the heck out of me.
Overall I enjoyed the film, but not as much as The Dark Knight or the Avengers. I still recommend it to all to watch, but I hope the next one in the series is better. Disclaimer - I don't really read DC comics, I've always been more of a Marvel guy, so things in this film that conflict with the comic's canon does not bother me at all.
Monday, July 1, 2013
PCP on DVD - The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabin in the Woods was a horror movie that I was deeply looking forward to as soon as I heard it was coming out. I usually am not a huge fan of horror, as I find the genre to be derivative and predictable. But then I heard that Joss Whedon was writing and producing a horror film, and that piqued my interest.
The Cabin in the Woods - 2012, rated R. My rating: 9 out of 10.
As you may know from reading other posts on my blog, I am a huge Whedon fan. He has yet to make something that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. The Cabin in the Woods continues that streak. It is not your typical horror movie, but at the same time, it kind of is. You'll have to see it to fully understand what I mean by that sentence. But primarily, TCITW is a story of 5 college kids that go into the woods and then bad things happen to them. Standard horror fare really. But the film has a major twist, a very unique vision for that type of film, and it actually dissects all of the tropes of the genre and acts as a social commentary on the horror genre in general. It isn't a mean-spirited commentary, however, but a very smart and winking one. Clearly Whedon is a fan of the horror genre, and the film is filled with shout-outs and references to other horror films. It also reunites Joss with a number of actors from his other works, including Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers), Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse), and Tom Lenk (Buffy, Angel). The film isn't directed by Whedon, he turns those duties over to his co-writer, Cloverfield (as well as Buffyverse) writer Drew Goddard. Goddard does a great job in his directorial debut, and the script the two wrote is just outstanding.
Overall, the film is quite good, and I highly recommend it. It isn't a true horror film, but instead a witty yet still scary takedown of the horror genre. I don't want to say any more on the plot though so as not to spoil it, but if you haven't seen this yet, go pick it up on DVD and have a fun night.
The Cabin in the Woods - 2012, rated R. My rating: 9 out of 10.As you may know from reading other posts on my blog, I am a huge Whedon fan. He has yet to make something that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. The Cabin in the Woods continues that streak. It is not your typical horror movie, but at the same time, it kind of is. You'll have to see it to fully understand what I mean by that sentence. But primarily, TCITW is a story of 5 college kids that go into the woods and then bad things happen to them. Standard horror fare really. But the film has a major twist, a very unique vision for that type of film, and it actually dissects all of the tropes of the genre and acts as a social commentary on the horror genre in general. It isn't a mean-spirited commentary, however, but a very smart and winking one. Clearly Whedon is a fan of the horror genre, and the film is filled with shout-outs and references to other horror films. It also reunites Joss with a number of actors from his other works, including Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers), Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse), and Tom Lenk (Buffy, Angel). The film isn't directed by Whedon, he turns those duties over to his co-writer, Cloverfield (as well as Buffyverse) writer Drew Goddard. Goddard does a great job in his directorial debut, and the script the two wrote is just outstanding.
Overall, the film is quite good, and I highly recommend it. It isn't a true horror film, but instead a witty yet still scary takedown of the horror genre. I don't want to say any more on the plot though so as not to spoil it, but if you haven't seen this yet, go pick it up on DVD and have a fun night.
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