SPOILER NOTE: Spoilers will be highlighted in black so that you will have to highlight them with your cursor to read them. I apologize if for some reason it doesn't display right. Any possible spoilers will be in the 3rd paragraph.
I was recently invited out to a movie with one of my friends. We ended up seeing Maleficent. I was a little uneasy about it at first. I was worried that Angelina would look like an amazing Maleficent, but wouldn't really act the part. I worried that it would be far too watered down, and not be that impressive a story. I was worried it would just be a blow for blow live action copy of the original animated Sleeping Beauty and not really stand on its own. I was wrong on so many levels in my thoughts.
It truly stood on its own. You could enjoy it as a separate story in many ways without feeling the need to really compare it to the original book or the original Disney cartoon. It was much like Wicked vs The Wizard of Oz. You got this amazing view from Maleficent's point of view, which is what really allowed Maleficent to stand on its own without just being compared to the cartoon and book it was loosely based on.
It was also like How to Train Your Dragon in that if you have read the books and seen the movies. They keep some aspects from the books, but in the end the movies are completely different stories. Maleficent pays homage to its predecessors without just copying them.
The character growth throughout the whole movie was phenomenal. The way Maleficent grew and developed this seemingly motherly behavior and deep love towards Aurora was beautifully handled. It simply flowed so well. The wing stealing scene was iffy for me. I heard some people compare it to a rape scene. That aspect came through very strongly. However, the way Angelina portrayed Maleficent's anguish at having lost her wings seemed a little weak and maybe a little overly forced.
How her first love, Stephan, dealt with his guilt at having taken her wings followed by the rage/paranoia he developed when she put the curse on Aurora throughout the movie was a little iffy. Something about how he behaved and progressed from the moment the princess returned to his death just seemed a little off. It felt like a section of the movie that could have been so much more than it was.
Stephan didn't have any real reaction when Maleficent refused to kill him. He just immediately attacked her. There was no real reaction. It seemed like there was so much potential for maybe even just a moment of clarity even if it was still overshadowed by his rage and paranoia in the end.
Plot twists! I loved the plot twists throughout the last bit of the movie. There were some amazing moments where I expected things to kinda go the way of the cartoon and original book and there was instead this quick twist in things. The fact that the first time the prince tried to kiss Aurora it did nothing because, as he put it, they had only met once. It sent this message that love needs to be given the chance to grow and not just be rushed into. The kiss that woke Aurora was an adorable twist.
Also I thought that giving the crow, named Diaval, a much larger role in the film than he had in the cartoon allowed for alot more depth to certain scenes. The characters played off of him so well. It made scenes more fun, loving, enjoyable, and developed than they would have been if he had just been a crow with no real humanoid interaction.
In the end, I think everyone should see Maleficent at least once. It is completely worth it. It is a wonderful movie with an amazing cast and story.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
The Lottery
I saw a preview for this new Lifetime tv series titled "The Lottery." It stars actress Marley Shelton as Dr.Alison Lennon*. Due to the reading I did when I was younger, my mind immediately jumped to the old book about the people who draw a name from a bucket to decide who gets sacrificed for the harvest. However, that does not appear to be at all what this is about.
It has been 5 years since a child has been born, and there are only a few dozen 6 year old children. This immediately brings to mind the 2006 movie and 1992 novel "Children of Men." This particular series appears to focus on the US, and I am not sure if it will ever shift focus to any other portion of the world. From the looks of the pilot preview, a female scientist has managed to fertilize some eggs, and basically politicians are trying to decide whether or not to let anyone have those embryos.
I am worried that it will just become a play on "Children of Men," and not really stand out as truly original. However, I have decided to leave my final opinion for when it airs. Currently the pilot is scheduled to air July 20th, 2014. Lifetime seems to have currently scheduled it for 10 episodes. Of course, this also leaves me worried that I will get into the series, love it, and then they will decide to dump it. Fox did this to "Almost Human," and many sci-fi fans remember when Fox was also a major douchebag and decided to cancel "Firefly." Yes, I realize that was Fox and this is Lifetime, but in the end all broadcasters are bad about not seeing the true potential of a series and just kicking down right as it is about to really get going.
*Found this bit of information and the number of episodes at the wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lottery_(TV_series)
It has been 5 years since a child has been born, and there are only a few dozen 6 year old children. This immediately brings to mind the 2006 movie and 1992 novel "Children of Men." This particular series appears to focus on the US, and I am not sure if it will ever shift focus to any other portion of the world. From the looks of the pilot preview, a female scientist has managed to fertilize some eggs, and basically politicians are trying to decide whether or not to let anyone have those embryos.
I am worried that it will just become a play on "Children of Men," and not really stand out as truly original. However, I have decided to leave my final opinion for when it airs. Currently the pilot is scheduled to air July 20th, 2014. Lifetime seems to have currently scheduled it for 10 episodes. Of course, this also leaves me worried that I will get into the series, love it, and then they will decide to dump it. Fox did this to "Almost Human," and many sci-fi fans remember when Fox was also a major douchebag and decided to cancel "Firefly." Yes, I realize that was Fox and this is Lifetime, but in the end all broadcasters are bad about not seeing the true potential of a series and just kicking down right as it is about to really get going.
*Found this bit of information and the number of episodes at the wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lottery_(TV_series)
Monday, November 18, 2013
Almost Human Review and Synopsis
~~Review~~
Almost Human seems like a play on the I, Robot movie released back in 2004. However, I feel like it manages to do it better. The shared premises are a cop who watched a human die in an event that he blames on decisions made by an emotionless android who lost a limb that is now replaced by a synthetic version that feels like a constant reminder of his long held hatred for them. However, there is not the focus on seeing android developing an overall self-awareness or Issac Asimov's 3 rules of robotics. We see some of these ideas spread throughout, but just not exclusively focused on for now.
The characters are so far likable and the overall episode was not exactly what I expected. From this first episode I would at least say that the series is worth sitting and watching through the first couple of episodes to see where J.J.Abrams is going to decide to take us.
The first episode can be watched on Hulu if you missed it previously and new episodes should be available there as well, or you can watch them on your local Fox channel and/or the Almost Human official page..
~~First Episode Synopsis~~ (POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
In the year 2048 technology has improved far faster than ever before. New advanced drugs and technology are flooding the streets faster than officers can keep track of it all. In response new combat androids are developed and partnered with human officers to help fight back.
Detective Kinnex is an officer who was involved in a raid about 2 years ago. During the raid his unit was ambushed because the syndicate somehow knew they were coming before they got there. During the ambush his human partner was shot. He refused to leave him behind when the MX android unit that was with him said they should. His partner ended up dying and he went into a coma for 17 months. He blames the death of his partner on the MX unit that decided they didn't have a high enough survival chance.
Now after having been awake for a short while he is struggling to find out who is responsible for the ambush and get revenge and justice. During the time he was in a coma and/or otherwise out of comission for 2 years the police force mandated everyone be partnered with an MX. At first he is partnered with an MX, which he ends up getting unpaired with (won't get away more details on that).
As a result of the mandate they end up pairing him with an older model android that was about to be sent out for what was essentially surplus. This particular model had been labeled a basket case and discontinued previously. With his new partner, Dorian (DRN model), Kinnex is determined to find out the details behind what happened 2 years ago and learning to accept each other as partners.
Learn more by going to the home page listed above, or the tumblr page located at: Almost Human Tumblr.
11/20/2013 - Made some minor edits to include the fact that while he was out of commission for 2 years, he was in a coma for only 17 months of that to avoid any confusion.
Almost Human seems like a play on the I, Robot movie released back in 2004. However, I feel like it manages to do it better. The shared premises are a cop who watched a human die in an event that he blames on decisions made by an emotionless android who lost a limb that is now replaced by a synthetic version that feels like a constant reminder of his long held hatred for them. However, there is not the focus on seeing android developing an overall self-awareness or Issac Asimov's 3 rules of robotics. We see some of these ideas spread throughout, but just not exclusively focused on for now.
The characters are so far likable and the overall episode was not exactly what I expected. From this first episode I would at least say that the series is worth sitting and watching through the first couple of episodes to see where J.J.Abrams is going to decide to take us.
The first episode can be watched on Hulu if you missed it previously and new episodes should be available there as well, or you can watch them on your local Fox channel and/or the Almost Human official page..
~~First Episode Synopsis~~ (POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
In the year 2048 technology has improved far faster than ever before. New advanced drugs and technology are flooding the streets faster than officers can keep track of it all. In response new combat androids are developed and partnered with human officers to help fight back.
Detective Kinnex is an officer who was involved in a raid about 2 years ago. During the raid his unit was ambushed because the syndicate somehow knew they were coming before they got there. During the ambush his human partner was shot. He refused to leave him behind when the MX android unit that was with him said they should. His partner ended up dying and he went into a coma for 17 months. He blames the death of his partner on the MX unit that decided they didn't have a high enough survival chance.
Now after having been awake for a short while he is struggling to find out who is responsible for the ambush and get revenge and justice. During the time he was in a coma and/or otherwise out of comission for 2 years the police force mandated everyone be partnered with an MX. At first he is partnered with an MX, which he ends up getting unpaired with (won't get away more details on that).
As a result of the mandate they end up pairing him with an older model android that was about to be sent out for what was essentially surplus. This particular model had been labeled a basket case and discontinued previously. With his new partner, Dorian (DRN model), Kinnex is determined to find out the details behind what happened 2 years ago and learning to accept each other as partners.
Learn more by going to the home page listed above, or the tumblr page located at: Almost Human Tumblr.
11/20/2013 - Made some minor edits to include the fact that while he was out of commission for 2 years, he was in a coma for only 17 months of that to avoid any confusion.
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