Movie Review: Blade Runner

Hello from Ithaca, NY! I'm staying here with relatives for the week, and I'm bringing you this website's first review out of state.

Blade runner follows the story of Rick Decker, a "blade runner" tasked with finding and destroying replicants, or human-like robots with superhuman strength, speed and agility. When four replicants steal a ship and come to earth, Decker must track down all four of them and kill them.

The film goes has definite themes about the thin line between hyper-advanced robots and humans, and does so without forcing it. Ridley Scott (Alien), more or less cements his place in sci-fi film history with this movie.

Even though it has Harrison Ford, the acting is nothing special, this movie more gets its kicks from over-the-top blood and gore and cool special effects, both of which it presents to the audience by the truckload. It's everything I hate about modern cinema with its overt sexuality and flashy special effects, but it's still enjoyable.

The plot is fairly complex, I had to go back and think about some of the parts in order fully understand  it, and this part of it I liked. It definitely gets its roots from the American film noir period, which is something you don't see very often anymore.

Overall: 3 out of four stars. It represents what I hate about modern film, but it does it well.

Reference scale:
Man of Steel < Blade Runner < Star Wars

What's your favorite sci-fi movie? Comment below!

Movie Review: 12 Angry Men (1957)

I really liked Citizen Kane. But I would have to say that this movie competes for my favorite movie of all time.

12 Angry Men entails only one night, and it only uses five sets, with ninety percent of it's time spend in just one of them. It's on a small scale, but that doesn't make it an incredible film. The story follows twelve jurors, whose names are never given (except for two at the end of the film), who must decide the fate of an eighteen year old boy accused of murdering his father. With the death penalty as the consequence, the stakes are high. Although at the beginning the boy's fate seems clear, there is more to the case that as it first appears.

The acting is superb, it stars a cast that would go on to do work in movies like Pyscho, Patton, The Odd Couple, On the Waterfront, Breakfast at Tiffany's and more. The list goes on and on, but the acting in this movie from all twelve actors are still probably some of their best performances.

The movie never actually shows any of the court case, but as the movie goes on it reveals more and more about the case. If done wrong, this gimmick could be extremely annoying, but it's done correctly in this and keeps the audience interested throughout the film.

The plot never stops twisting, with surprising reveals and arguments. It even has a few good laughs, if you have the right sense of humor. It almost reminds me of Breakfast Club because of how few sets the use and the tone of the movie.

Overall: 4 out of four stars. Really enjoyable.

Reference scale:
Genre: Courtroom dramas
To Kill a Mockingbird < 12 Angry Men < Nothing

Genre: Favorite movies
Star Wars < 12 Angry Men < Citizen Kane

What's your favorite courtroom drama, in TV or in film? Comment below!

Documentry Review: The Battered Bastards of Baseball

It's impossible not to love this quirky story about an actor who starts an independent baseball team in a city abandoned by Major League baseball.

The documentary follows Bing Russel, a baseball player turned actor turned baseball team owner, who starts an independent baseball team in Portland, Oregon. The team is scrappy, but it has charm and charisma, and over the years as it grows the Major Leagues become jealous, and that's where it really gets interesting.

It's a really touching film, using mostly old footage of games and interviews to tell it's story. The editing and graphics are very well done. It has cool imagery and animation which it uses for transitions and as a way of giving information. The editing does a good job of working with limits of the footage, and avoids jump cuts quite cleverly by switching from wide angles to close ups.

It's funny in parts, sad in some parts, and inspiring in others. It's a really positive movie overall, I left it feeling good. It's great for a little pick-me-up, it's like Rocky in that it leaves you feeling good and like you can do anything. It talks about the American dream and what it means to fulfill it, and it puts a smile on your face. It's also comical at times, especially when they talk about the antics of the players.

With a movie like this, you can often times find it repetitive, but The Battered Bastards of Baseball doesn't do that. It keeps giving you new things to think about, sometimes moving so quick that you've barely finished processing what they were just talking about.

Overall: 3.5 out of 4 stars. It's fun, enjoyable and inspiring. If you have Netflix, you can stream it.

Reference scale:
The Sandlot < The Battered Bastards of Baseball < The Rookie

What's your favorite baseball movie? Let me know in the comments!

I'm Back

I'm back! I don't have a movie to review, but I'll post as soon as I can, hopefully later today.

Movie Review: Frozen

I feel like this movie, has so many people who are obsessed with it, that there are an equal number of people who feel obliged to hate it because to balance them out.

The movie follows the princess orphan and not-at-all cliche character of Anna, who must bring back summer after her magic sister Elsa freezes everything with her magic. Along the way she works with a large cast of character including another orphan (yes, there are three of them in this movie), a reindeer and a talking snowman.

I don't think that this film deserves all of the praise it gets. I also don't think it deserves all of the hate. It's a decent movie, it's just not that great.

The plot is filled with cliches, which gets a bit annoying when what you knew was about to happen happens a bunch of times during the course of the movie. It's so predictable that there's even one song per sequence.

The characters are cute and it did make me chuckle in a few places. It definitely tries to play off of nostalgia from movie like Lion King and... um... okay, just Lion King. In this, it does a good job. A lot of people are a fan of it's songs, not me personally but a lot of people like them. It's hard to hate it too much, it's just a kid's movie. It's not insultingly bad, like Smurfs 2 but it's just not too super as a movie if you ignore the intended age demographic.

A quick note before I give my overall and reference scale: This is my last post for a week. I'm going out of town and won't have internet access, so I'll post as soon as I can when I get back. I'll miss it, but I posted twice today and yesterday so I hope that will make it up to all you readers.

Overall: 2.5 out of 4 stars. It's cliched, but it's a kid's movie. That said, you could better spend that 102 minutes watching The Iron Giant.

Reference scale:

Tangled < Frozen < Wreck it Ralph

Movie Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Part of what's great about this movie is how shocking some of it it is. It's not just "Wow! That ape is riding a horse" or "Wow! That ape is firing a gun!". It's "Wow! That ape is firing a gun while riding a horse!"

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place ten years after the first movie. It has a very memorable opening, with a montage showing the fall of organized civilization, then smash cutting to a ECU of Caesar. The plot is mainly about the relations between the humans and the apes as some try to co-exist in peace and others want war. The plot is very twisty, you can never tell where it's going to go next. For this reason, this is the most information I can give you about it without spoilers.

I would like to point out that this is my first review of a "new" movie. I went to the local theater with one of my buddies and we watched it, and had a good time.

Andy Serkis gives by far the best performance in this movie, as Caesar. Do they give Oscars for people playing apes? The acting overall is okay, but like I said, Andy Serkis is a standout. The direction by Matt Reeves (known more for his TV work) is decent, not great. It does get a bit annoying when the apes open their mouths and try to talk, and when their using sign language. It just gets a bit awkward.

There is no shortage of action of suspense in this movie, with explosions, guns and huge, nicely choreographed fight scenes. There are moments that are touching, but also moments that make you feel like it was directed by Micheal Bay.

Overall: 3 out of 4 stars. It's a good movie, I would recommend seeing it while it is still in theaters. It's one of those movies that is best seen on a huge screen where you can see every detail.

Reference scale:
Planet of the Apes (2001) < Dawn of the Planet of the Apes < Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Web Series Review: Red vs. Blue

Oh my god. This show had me laughing harder than I have in a very long time.

This web series, created by Roosterteeth, parodies first person shooter style video games with a hilarious series. It follows the exploits of two groups of soldiers, one red and one blue as they face off in a battle to take a canyon. As one character point out, there's no value to the canyon, both sides are just there because the other side is and even if one side could win "[Y]ou would just have two bases in a canyon. Whoop-de-do."

It's half satirical, half screwball style is just a barrel of laughs. I honestly don't think I've laughed this hard since the first time I watched Airplane. All the characters are completely immature, but the show does it in a way that it doesn't seem forced.

There are a couple problems with it, one being the graphics. I find this excusable as the creators used the engine from a video game to create it so they didn't have much control over it. The second problem I have is the audio quality. It does tend to cut out and sound like it was made several years previous to when the series was made, but it doesn't take away from the quality of the jokes too much. My last beef, and the biggest, is the editing. The editing could of been a lot better, with awkward fade-outs and sound cuts.

It's still extremely funny, and I would go so far as to say that it is the best web series out there. Now, I haven't seen a ton of web series but this is by far my favorite.

Overall: 3 out of 4 stars. It's a farce on the modern gamer's world and connects with all of us, even if you don't play games.

Reference scale:
Riley Rewind < Red vs. Blue < Nothing

Note: Yes, I posted twice today. This is partially because I will be gone next week, so I'll put out extra while I can.