The dog's a Red Kelpie, in case you're interested
Red Dog is the movie that Australia should have been. It’s a perfect storm of quintessential Australiana: mateship, multiculturalism, the outback, Strine, natural resources, and the Aussie-larrikin sense of humour. It paints a detailed portrait of both the country and its people, without resorting to caricatures or stereotypes like Baz Luhrman did (well, it does a little bit, but I’ll explain below).
Although it purports to be based a real, true blue story, the plot follows a very similar template to the Hachiko story, which was also recently filmed by Hollywood as Hachiko: A Dog’s Story with Richard Gere (I haven’t seen that one, although I’m willing to bet that this movie doggy-doos all over it, in line with my usual tirade about all the good things that Hollywood goes out of its way to ruin). Essentially, it’s about a dog that demonstrates the epitome of canine faithfulness after its master dies.
Because the story is made out to be a legend and told in flashbacks, the characters are all slightly comical (e.g. three Eastern Europeans characters with surnames ending in -ski are referred to as “The Ski Patrol”), but it doesn’t detract too much because you expect legends to be somewhat hyperbolic. The characters might be overplayed, the humour and emotions definitely aren’t – the script never tries to extort a laugh or a tear from you, and casually and confidently lets the audience decide for itself how it should feel.
Whether you’re a dog person or not, Red Dog is part of that rare breed: the charming Australian movie (but having said that, Aussie movies seem to be on the up and up) and definitely worth watching.
Am I the only one that thought this might have been an anagram for something? Although if Tom Marvolo Riddle/I am Lord Voldemort is the standard set by the books then I should know better than to bother.
No other movie franchise has held my attention for as long (10 years) and as often (8 movies) as Harry Potter. Well, there’s the Bond franchise, but that’s cheating ‘coz they’ve had, what, 6 different actors play Bond? Plus, none of those are related, whereas the individual Potter stories come together to form a gestalt – somehow bigger and more epic than its component parts.
You may recall from my review of Part 1 that I didn’t have many kind words for it. However, I’m happy to report that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a much more satisfying movie. It’s like the two were twins at birth, and one was sacrificed so that the other might live a better life; all the energy that was lacking in the former is present in spades in the latter.
I still make no apology for saying that the book on which it’s based was a travesty of lazy writing, but the authors of the screenplay have done extremely well to bring forward the strengths in the plot and hide the rubbish – again, by burying it in the first part – so that fans could enjoy a thrilling and satisfying end to the ride that they’ve been on for the last decade.
The cast and crew should be applauded for their efforts – unlike many others that received cheap, nasty cash-ins, Potter has been fairly reliable in delivering the goods. It’s had a good run, and as a fan, you couldn’t ask for more.
Bot, babe and boofhead. What more could one ask for in a movie?
Can you believe that this is my first Transformers movie review on Geekreads? With Transformers: Dark of the Moon, we’ve finally come to the end of Michael Bay’s movie trilogy, and let me say that it’s been a rough ride for this Transformers fan. It’s been quite the ordeal being asked by fellow Transformers fans whether I enjoyed seeing Michael Bay repeatedly rape my childhood, because secretly, I enjoyed the movies.
I realise the litany of offenses against the source material is epic, but if the huge box office success of all three movies is anything to go by, Bay could be forgiven for the fact that he has helped to cement Transformers in the minds and imaginations of a whole new generation, keeping the franchise alive unlike many other cartoons that are still lurking in the shadows waiting for the possibility of a reboot (or have already tried, and failed).
Having said that, it’s not all roses. Dark of the Moon, like its predecessors, is no masterpiece (although apparently it does demonstrate some advanced movie-making techniques, for those interested in the cinematic arts). Whatever merits it might otherwise have, the movie is sorely let down by:
- Bad concept: this isn’t really a Transformers movie, it’s an alien invasion movie featuring Transformers characters.
- Bad writing: the characters are not only inconsistent with the Transformers “lore” (as established in the original cartoons and comics), they’re inconsistent within and between the movies. For example, Optimus Prime goes from being a compassionate, courageous leader, to a ruthless, merciless killer without rhyme or reason.
- Tight budgeting: the scenes designed to minimise the use of CGI were so very, painfully obvious, e.g. how the Wreckers never appeared in anything but their “bristling with weapons” vehicle mode; they’re never seen to transform.
- Pernicious product placement: among the worst I’ve seen in recent times. From the glaring “Lenovo” logos on all the screens to the photocopier with a ream of Double A paper resting on it a la this old TV ad – it made the movie seem like one long ad.
But surely, the monstrous box office takings must mean that they did something right? Personally, I think these things might have been:
- Making the action scenes visually intelligible: a big problem with the previous movies (particularly Revenge of the Fallen) was that the robot fights looked like a giant machine vomiting jagged metal parts onto the screen. Giving each of the robots distinctive colours instead of the various shades of silver and grey, and the liberal use of slow-mo, made it possible to comprehend the fight choreography.
- Having “something for everybody”: yeah, the fans will argue that the humans in the story are superfluous, but unfortunately the rest of the cinema-going public would largely disagree. Covering all bases with the eye candy, toilet humour, conspiracy theories, etc. means that nobody is entirely bored and unentertained for the whole duration of the movie – whether you brought your partner, kids, parents or friends. Heck, even Margaret Pomeranz (of At The Movies) had kind words for the first half hour dealing with the moon landing.
You can’t please everybody, and I believe Michael Bay made the right decision by NOT pandering to the hardcore fans. Yes, the movies could’ve been better with consistent storylines and faithful characterisations, but then I’m afraid that the approval of the geeks would have kept others at Bay *tish boom*.
Why defy gravity when you can make it work in your favour?
For a long while, Dreamworks played second fiddle to Pixar in the animated feature stakes, with movies skewed towards the adult demographic through the use of celebrity voices and “street smart” humour, but lacking in heart. But then they delivered Kung Fu Panda – the story of a young, adopted panda named Po, who discovers the value of self worth through a combination of dumb luck and kung fu – and Dreamworks emerged from Pixar’s shadow in a flurry of fur, feathers and awesomeness.
Yet the elation was shortlived. That Dreamworks decided to make a sequel immediately brought the cynicism back, with expectations of a cheap cash-in (which they’d already done with Secrets of the Furious Five). But like Po’s teacher, I should’ve had more faith in the power of awesomeness. Kung Fu Panda 2 is at least as good, if not better, than its predecessor.
Firstly, mad props to the writers of the original for creating a world so rich with potential that gave rise to this new story. Did you notice in the first one that Po was the only panda? I didn’t. But Panda 2 starts to elaborate on that tale, working it into a much larger story that takes the story from that of a panda trying to save his town from the evil Tai Long, to trying to save the whole of China (and kung fu) against the threat of Lord Shen and his arsenal of weapons equipped with gunpowder.
What I loved most was the attention to detail in the character designs. Everything about them, from their form to the way that they moved, showed the care and craftsmanship that went into them, resulting in characterisations that in the real world, would be analogous to great acting. The humour was also razor sharp, recalling many of the gags from the first movie (e.g. the heart-to-heart between Po and his dad), and delivering completely new and unexpected punchlines that make the joke even funnier the second time around.
Sadly, the movie ends with the promise of a sequel, although maybe just this once, I might park my cynicism.
Models – of the enthusiast hobby kind as opposed to the category of human coathangers – are a useful analogy for discussing Super 8. Just as gluing together molded plastic parts creates an aesthetically pleasing replica of an ideal form, director J. J. Abrams has taken a bunch of old plot elements to create a very pleasant pastiche.
You’ve seen bits of this movie elsewhere. The Roswell/Area 51 alien conspiracy themes appear in more movies than I can name, and there’s a strong echo of The Goonies and Tomorrow, When The War Began where you’ve got a bunch of ordinary kids trying to grapple with everyday issues (love, identity, etc.) around extraordinary circumstances. But the “mystery monster” aspect in the promotion of this flick gives me the sense that Abrams is trying to make good on the poorly rated Cloverfield.
Happily, he delivers. Super 8 is very enjoyable, and the charm of the kids making their own zombie home movie spills over into the rest of the actual movie. The characters are very likeable and well cast, and the adults mostly stay out of the way to let the kids shine.
The script tackles a lot of themes so the story does get somewhat messy: a bunch of kids trying to make a zombie movie; father-son dealing with grief from losing their wife/mother; strange things happening all over town; two kids falling in love – but Abrams manages to hold them all together without, ahem, losing the plot.
It’s a fun “comfort movie” that Jenny and I will probably come back to over and over again (when we get it on Blu-ray).
