Filmography
Jul. 23rd, 2007 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_lady_lilyTransformers
Went to see this with G at the weekend, and although we were expecting it to be a bit dire, it was actually surprisingly good. It made that good shift between comic silliness to very serious without you noticing, in the same way that Moulin Rouge makes the transition, which I am coming to realise is the sign of a Good Thing. It knew it was a summer blockbuster and didn't try to stretch the demands of the genre; neither did it rely on the special effects to glitz the audience, but had a good script to back it up. Yes, there were one or two clunking lines, but there was some really good stuff in there too. It was really just a very cool, funny, perfect summer afternoon film.
There were problems, of course. The Decepticons were very two dimensional, which was a shame, as I am led to understand that in the cartoons, part of the fun was that there was a constant tussle for power within their ranks. That all got 2D'ed here, and far more of the actual struggle was against human governmental authorities who didn't quite understand what was going on; the Decepticons only really came into play as full-grown group for the last big battle scene, which meant their potential as characters was severely underused. Plus the first Decepticon to turn up, the one that starts the whole film off, was far harder than anything else that materialised on the screen. The Autobots were a bit better fleshed out, but most of them were background colour instead of fully fledged characters, which missed out on their potential.
However, there was a heck of a lot packed into the short time - we couldn't think of one superfluous scene or battle. Even the love interest actually developed and didn't make us want to stab her. Definitely four stars - the sequel will, of course, be rubbish, but this is a film that knows the limits of the summer blockbuster and has negotiated them far more successfully than anything I've seen recently. Of course, that's probably helped by not being part of a franchise.
Dr Who, series 1
After watching one or two episodes of the first series of the new Doctor Who on planes jetting back and forth across the Atlantic, I thought I'd sit down and actually watch the series properly, and I'm jolly glad I did. Yes, the "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" were somewhat deflated after hearing far too many people do the creepy 'are you my mummy?' thing, but I think that was the peak of the series for me - I burst out laughing at the dancing on the spaceship in front of Big Ben, not to mention the various one-liners that dropped throughout those two episodes.
Overall, yes, the series quality was a little bumpy, but I have to say that they managed to capture the whole 'done in the BBC's back shed' ethos quite nicely, whilst combining new special effects without making them over-prevalant. And there were Daleks, which must have pleased old-style afficiandos. But overall it was good entertaining telly, although I will admit a considerable deal of pleasure at being able to say 'well, clearly this is half of a double episode, I shall sit here and watch the next one without having to wait a week'. Huzzah for DVDs.
I'm giving it a rest before coming to season 2, obviously, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. Four stars, quite happily.
Went to see this with G at the weekend, and although we were expecting it to be a bit dire, it was actually surprisingly good. It made that good shift between comic silliness to very serious without you noticing, in the same way that Moulin Rouge makes the transition, which I am coming to realise is the sign of a Good Thing. It knew it was a summer blockbuster and didn't try to stretch the demands of the genre; neither did it rely on the special effects to glitz the audience, but had a good script to back it up. Yes, there were one or two clunking lines, but there was some really good stuff in there too. It was really just a very cool, funny, perfect summer afternoon film.
There were problems, of course. The Decepticons were very two dimensional, which was a shame, as I am led to understand that in the cartoons, part of the fun was that there was a constant tussle for power within their ranks. That all got 2D'ed here, and far more of the actual struggle was against human governmental authorities who didn't quite understand what was going on; the Decepticons only really came into play as full-grown group for the last big battle scene, which meant their potential as characters was severely underused. Plus the first Decepticon to turn up, the one that starts the whole film off, was far harder than anything else that materialised on the screen. The Autobots were a bit better fleshed out, but most of them were background colour instead of fully fledged characters, which missed out on their potential.
However, there was a heck of a lot packed into the short time - we couldn't think of one superfluous scene or battle. Even the love interest actually developed and didn't make us want to stab her. Definitely four stars - the sequel will, of course, be rubbish, but this is a film that knows the limits of the summer blockbuster and has negotiated them far more successfully than anything I've seen recently. Of course, that's probably helped by not being part of a franchise.
Dr Who, series 1
After watching one or two episodes of the first series of the new Doctor Who on planes jetting back and forth across the Atlantic, I thought I'd sit down and actually watch the series properly, and I'm jolly glad I did. Yes, the "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" were somewhat deflated after hearing far too many people do the creepy 'are you my mummy?' thing, but I think that was the peak of the series for me - I burst out laughing at the dancing on the spaceship in front of Big Ben, not to mention the various one-liners that dropped throughout those two episodes.
Overall, yes, the series quality was a little bumpy, but I have to say that they managed to capture the whole 'done in the BBC's back shed' ethos quite nicely, whilst combining new special effects without making them over-prevalant. And there were Daleks, which must have pleased old-style afficiandos. But overall it was good entertaining telly, although I will admit a considerable deal of pleasure at being able to say 'well, clearly this is half of a double episode, I shall sit here and watch the next one without having to wait a week'. Huzzah for DVDs.
I'm giving it a rest before coming to season 2, obviously, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. Four stars, quite happily.
