Catching up on animation since 2011 (poor blog, I'm so sorry. I really do love this subject matter too):

Loved:

The trailers didn't grab me at all, it just seemed uninteresting, but wow, this has got to be one of the best Disney films ever. Also ironic was that while Brave was good, it felt like a Disney release, but Wreck it Ralph totally feels like a Pixar release.
The animation is awesome, the 2D retro effects are really well done, but more than anything else the movie has soul, touching moments and cry out loud moments, giving it the special Disney magic.

The brother - sister relationship between Ralph and Vanellope is unique and rather realistic, and Ralph's "growing up" story is one of the best in this genre I've seen in a long time (and I don't even usually like growing up stories).
I challenge anyone to watch Ralph "saving" Vanellope without tearing up, or even bawling their eyes out.

Aardman really goes back to their roots with this movie. Proper stop-motion animation (though heavily enhanced with digital effects), pure British humour, and some of the best, laugh-out-loud moments I've experienced. It has some issues, but the humour is sound, and there's just so many surprising moments that's it's a thrill-ride the whole way through.

Also: Surprisingly curvaceous pirate. Come on, you should watch the movie just for "him".

Sigh, I don't know why this movie didn't do well at the Box office. I think so many expect an animated movie to be for everyone now, and darker moments and story lines are just not accepted.
Guardians has so much uniqueness; it builds it's own, realized fantasy world, it has good 3-dimensional characters for all the guardians, and its story is original and well-told.

Jude Law does an amazing job as Pitch Black, though his character is extremely dark. His nightmares and his demeanor might put him up there with the scariest villains of all time (Scar?).

The other voice actors also really have fun with their roles. Hugh Jackman goes all out on the australianisms, and while I wish North was played by an actual Russian actor, I have to say Alec Baldwin really makes that character.
The movie has some flaws, most notable the completely white cast (this is especially sad because the concept art indicate that the Tooth fairy was inspired by Thai architecture and culture), few female roles, and the whole story and all the characters are there just for Frost.

Having said that the movie is worth seeing just for its world building, and the unique take on the legends' homes. Maybe the movie is just too grown-up for its audience. Like Disney's Treasure Planet I think you might need to be around adulthood to really appreciate the uniqueness of what you're watching.

Notable Character: Phil the Yeti

Now, this might be a bit of a stretch, since I prefer the anime series over the movies (the anime has been re-cut with a few extra scenes into 2 full length movies; Beginnings and Eternal), but I have to say Madoka Magica came out of nowhere (for me, I'm behind on my anime) and knocked me repeatedly in the gut.
The story is a new, darker take on the traditional "magical girl" genre - asking some really difficult questions and surprises again and again with just how dark it is willing to go.
The main characters are very well done, and Homura might be the best character I've seen, ever. She's definitely one of my absolute favourites of all time.
Be warned that it's almost impossible to not watch the whole thing in one sitting - the 2 movies clock in at around 4 hours - the series is 20minX12episodes.
I won't say too much as to not spoil the plot, but I will say that Kyubey is an example to follow for movie makers trying to write such a character. Finally, finally a personality like that done correctly.

Do we really know what we're wishing for? Do we really want our wishes to come true? And what price are we really willing to pay for a miracle?





I'll try to follow up with a post about some more movies - those that I didn't love, but still were memorable enough or distinguished themselves in another way - and a few that either failed to deliver, or could have been so much more. I can only really comment on movies I've seen recently (as in own), so there will be quite a few gaps.

Bit-size impressions: Cat. 6: Day of Destruction

Don't know what to think of this mini-series. The script is horrible and the direction is wooden, but there's so many good actors in it! ‪Thomas Gibson‬ does a great job, even though his scripted conversations make his character an egocentric asshole (doesn't seem to be on purpose). 

So many characters, and sort of, but not really intertwining story-line, and totally evil boyfriend, and..

Bit-size impressions: Mongolian Death Worm

It's not even a B movie, it's a C movie! 
I like Victoria Pratt, but it's almost like they've been asked to act badly. Maybe they only had one take?

Bit-size impressions: Despicable Me 2

Very thin story, lots of unresolved plot lines - but incredibly fun all the way through, and some awesome references. Loads of fun for adults! 

Favourite moment: 'Thank you Gru-stewardess!'

Bit-size impressions: Dark Shadows

Vampires, over the top art design and extreme personalities.. 
Johnny Depp doing the same old role.

Bit-size impressions: The Cave

Finished a playthrough of the Cave with the boyfriend - Scientist, time traveler and the twins. Amusing, dark and some interesting puzzles. 
Also a lot of back-tracking and horrible two-player camera.

Bit-size impressions: Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania was enjoyable, lots of humour, plot mostly centered around driving the gags. 
Great to hear David Spade in a voice role again, though I did feel most of the celebrity voice cast was under-utilized. 
Would have liked to hear more from Spade, Steve Buscemi and Fran.

New York achievements evening August 10th

Saw #Wicked at #Gershwin Theatre. Amazing performers, really nice set pieces and effects, bought many souvenirs.

Also an achievement from Wicked evening: #walking up five flights of stairs in heels at a tube stop. NEVER AGAIN!

New York trip achievements August 9th to 10th

Didn't expect this climate in New York, extremely humid and hot, it's like being in a tropical country!
Last night we unlocked the achievements: 
#wait 50 min on runway for plane to dock 
 #take airport train into town 
#subway to near hotel 
#wander around the Meatpacking district with suitcases trying to find hotel.

Morning after arriving we had breakfast at the Cookshop in Chelsea right next to the hotel. Where I had american pancakes for the first time!
Today's achievements: 
#American breakfast
#not finding the store we were looking for
#finding a tourist attraction (High line park - park created on old railway lines over 10th Ave) totally by chance
#going cross-Manhattan and changing subways
#visiting Bloomingdales and again not finding the store we're looking for
#shopped at GAP

         

The Dark Knight Rises

It's a good film, a strong film, Gordon-Levitt does an amazing job, and Anne Hathaway's Catwoman is really a new start for a previously muddled character (give her a film!), Gordon and Fox are still amazing, as is Alfred and Bruce, but the ending let me down so much.

I was waiting for one sentence, one sentence the whole movie, and it never came; "that's the Question"

Where you overridden Nolan?

Also missed several characters that deserved an appearance, at least a cameo: Barbara, Renee Montoya, Maggie Sawyer (!!), the Penguin (somebody would have taken care of Gotham's richest) and Harvey, whose been missing the entire series.

The ending felt like such a cop-out, it just... It made me really, really sad.

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Prometheus

When Ridley Scott makes strong female characters, Ridley Scott makes strong female characters!

A genuine psychological and philosophical film, exploring what it means to be human and the big questions about life, creation, alien life and where we come from.

If you go in expecting an action-filled horror film, or the answers to the Alien-quadrology you will be disappointed.

The film asks more questions than it gives answers, and features some strong, stereotype-bending characters.

I especially liked Janek, the pilot, who uniquely is one of the smartest persons abroad the vessel, and the most caring.

Elisabeth Shaw is an extremely strong woman, without being butch or the "all-business" type. She has a dimentionality to her character I rarely see in movies, and especially not thriller/action-type movies. She's also uniquely treated as the boss the entire film without anyone drawing attention to it or questioning her leadership (well, besides her boss).

Michael Fassbender does an amazing job as David, the best acting performance in the movie, and the best I've seen in a long while, in a very challenging role.

Dr. Holloway is the weakest character of the main cast, and his "Indiana Jones"-type and brash behavior makes him more annoying than charming, and you might find yourself hoping for his death after a short while.

Some of the smaller roles are a lot less fleshed out, with diffuse roles and one seriously idiotic biologist, but they do not get enough screen time for it to be a serious problem.

The environments are beautiful, from the sterile Sci-fiesque space ship to the grey alien world, and there's a lot of subtle details in the design of everything they see. Everything from sound to lighting and colour blended together to create the otherworldly world, and I can't remember either music or digital effects, like it should be with a good movie.

The film felt much closer to its predecessors; 2001 and Alien than it felt to any modern movie. It had a quietness and slowness you rarely see these days, and might, unfortunately not be a good thing for it. The two closest modern equivalents I can think of would be Sunshine (which wasn't a good film at all) and Moon.


In the end I felt it was a beautiful, strong and philosophical film, and I enjoyed the whole experience (besides Dr. Holloway, bleh!). I think I'd rate it 8/10.

Bit-size impressions: Avengers

Really enjoyed Avengers. 
Captain America and Thor grew as characters and actors, new Hulk had a great personality, and Nick Fury is awesome! 
Some plot leaps and not well-explained character changes, and Hawkeye was not very likable, or played well, but nothing that impaired the great experience. Entertaining the whole way through!

Black Mirror 3 - Adventure Game review

Good ending to the trilogy!

Ended up enjoying Black Mirror 3 a lot more than I thought I would do, the second game was a bit all over the place, but the developers obviously listened to the criticism, and Black Mirror 3 goes back to the feel and story of the first Black Mirror game.
I absolutely hated Black Mirror 1's chunky controls, progression system, and protagonist, but Black Mirror 3 really expanded on the original story, kept referencing even minor characters and even explained some of Samuel's behavior, and I ended up wanting to go back and play Black Mirror 1 again, a game I swore never to touch with a six foot pole. 

Pros: Updated, strong story, new characters interesting and unique, main protagonist grown a bit more likable, nice backgrounds, good art and good animations, strong horror feel, true to the original in every way 

Cons: Some weird progressions, puzzles seem thrown in and out of place, most do not give enough feedback when solving (Read diary!!), fortune teller felt like a tacked on help system without any impact on game (almost like there were many more death moments that were taken out), voice actors are all over the place in quality, Ralph story comes to a VERY un-fulfilling end. 

The ending sets out to really explain and expand the history of Black Mirror and the Gordon clan, and while I enjoyed both the end puzzles (besides the skeleton-puzzle!) and dialogue, I was very dissatisfied with the epilogue, which just continued explaining unnecessary things, instead of showing the future like I wanted, and hoped for. 
For an ending with so. much. dialogue, it still ended up ending abruptly, and leaving me wanting more. 

Still, it's absolutely worth playing, and Black Mirror 3, as a whole, was both a fitting ending to the trilogy, and the best game in the series (in my opinion).

Gray Matter - Adventure game review

Adventure Gaming and review

Been in an adventure gaming mood lately, not sure how long it'll last, and it has been a while since the previous "AG mood" hit, but trying to get through my backlog now when I'm interested.

First, I finally finished Gray Matter, Jane Jensen's newest game, nearly a year after I first started it... 

It started a bit slow, with some confusing controls, but the story really picked up after the first chapters. Story telling and progression was very strong, but the solution/ending was clear early on, and the finale quite underwhelming. 

Pros: great soundtrack, strong acting from main protagonists, Sam is an engaging and strong character, beautiful backgrounds, Daedalus club/stage magic subplot is fun and challenging. 

Cons: bad/lacking character/contact animation, some progressions don't trigger properly, some bad voice acting from smaller roles, and the comic book cutscenes often drag on too long, ruining the mood.

World Invasion: Battle LA

So, World Invasion: Battle L.A:

U.S military film with the alien invasion really just being an excuse for fighting in America. Immensely American, patriotic and arrogant (America only country managing to fighting back of 20 cities/countries attacked).

Way too big cast of indistinguishable marines and few known/good actors.

Main role - the staff sergeant carries the film; kamikazes himself through the plot, and is the only one showing some initiative to learn about the aliens.

Token though girl (Michelle Rodriguez) having to prove herself as a worthy soldier.

Not the worst military film I've seen, bot not very unique or creative either.