Now You See Me Review

Now You See Me is a great example of plot convenience, which is, by the way, a really bad thing.

Now You See Me stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and a number of others in what seems to be the first major film release of the summer (discounting Iron Man 3). It is, basically, a heist movie revolving around magicians. Now, the premise is a great one, the idea of magicians using illusions and sleight of hand to  steal from a bank is indeed interesting. However, there are a numerous number of things wrong with this movie. But first the two things that were done right.

Performances were all round great, thanks to the ensemble cast, and the script is well written, dialogue kept clean and sharp.

Yeah, that's it.

Firstly, when doing a movie about magicians, it would make sense to use practical effects and real illusions to portray the events on screen, but NOPE! Excessive amounts of CGI for things that could be done far more effectively if done real (for example, the bubble scene. No explanation as to how it would be done in real life, therefore, the effect as done in the film is lackluster)

Secondly, as I said at the beginning, the entire plot revolves around plot convenience. NOTHING GOES AWRY! Ever. They just dismiss this 'elephant in the room' with a 'We're really smart' and 'there's an insider in the FBI, which is why they know everything'. However, nothing can explain the plot twist (not saying it here, but lets just say it's eerily similar, and objectively worse than the plot twist in Iron Man 3) as it just makes the plot more confused.

This could have been a good movie, but it just goes for the whole idea of 'Hollywood Genius' where the plot bends to the character's whims, and is therefore unrealistic. This movie is worth seeing for the impressive, albeit misplaced special effects and the performances, which are undeniably good.

Otherwise, don't expect much from this blockbustery 'smart' film.

Star Trek Into Darkness

I finally got around to watching the newest Star Trek film Into Darkness, and it was pretty good.
I'm not going to say it's the best movie I've ever seen, and frankly, I'm not much of a fan of the Star Trek series, but something about the sincere nature of the film to the lore surrounding the Star Trek franchise, or what little I know of it, makes this film quite a marvel.

The new Star Trek films are set in an alternate reality, and do not at all dismiss the original Star Trek series. Leonard Nimroy still appears as Spock Prime, from the original series, who was taken to the alternate universe of the current series in Star Trek (2009), and he is a fine cameo.

Definitely the highlight of the film was Benedict Cumberbatch's character of 'Khan' an extremely powerful member of an almost extinct species of semi-humans, who is out for revenge against, well, everyone. I haven't seen Khan's original appearance in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan' but it is referenced, and not overlooked, which is easy to appreciate.

I guess the only problem with the movie is that it's an action movie, when it should be a Star Trek movie first. Sure there's the characters and the science, but there's a lot more 'pew pew' than what little I've seen from the series.

Anyway, Star Trek Into Darkness is good. So there.

My Top 10 Favorite Internet (mostly YouTube) Entertainers

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my very first top 10 list. This list encompasses my favorite YouTubers, and other Videomakers, into an easy to digest list, including examples. So without further ado. Here's number

10
SourceFed and Sxephil

This is probably the only decent news show that is exclusively YouTube. These two channels, SourceFed, and Sxephil, are both internet focused YouTube channels that both look at news and pop culture events. SourceFed is a more professional approach, whereas Sxephil is a more vlog-style news show. Both of these channels are owned by the same man, Mr. Phillip DeFranco. My only issue with this is that it's directed to more immature people, and is too focused on America. Sure, he lives in America, but a little more international news would be nice. There was a massive flood in Thailand (where I live currently) in 2011, but he never mentioned it, despite the devastation it caused. Anyway, despite that, if you want news, check these two channels out.

9
TomSka

This guy is a pretty big British comedian, most famous for the asdf series of animated randomness, but although that is how I was introduced to the man, the reason I stuck with him was for his other stuff, and his overall humble nature on his other, more vloggy channel, DarkSquidge. Overall, this guy's really cool, sort of the person I would love to be friends with, and I do sincerely hope to meet him someday. The reason he's rather low, though, is that he rarely posts anymore. Not to his fault, but a little more content will be really nice.

8
Charlieissocoollike

This guy's really cool. He's another British guy, mostly known for his charm and good looks (most of his fanbase are girls, and for good reason) but he's also really charitable. I've already talked about this guy on my other blog samuentaga.blogspot.com, so check that out. Anyway, this guy's a really charming, charitable gentleman who's got a whole great life ahead of him.

7
JTheVlogMan

This is a bit of a more selfish/personal one. This is a smaller, less known channel owned by one of my good friends James Jacobson. Anyway, he's getting a few more views, and he's going to be famous eventually (I hope) so check him out. I'm sure he would love the extra views.
Oh yeah, and he does game stuff.

6
NerdCubed

This guy's one of the funniest LP'ers out there. He's gotten really famous really fast, so he hasn't quite worked himself and his show out, but he's got great potential. He's really talented and a good comedian. The only problem he really has is he has a bit of an ego, no offense to him. He's one of those typical 'games where better in the good olden days', especially recently. Now, he's still very entertaining, and not nearly as annoying as Pewdiepie, but he's still got stuff to work on.

5
Walkofftheearth

These guys shouldn't even count. Walk Off the Earth is a band. True, a YouTube based band, but they're going to get really big soon. These guys are talented, ranking up there with some other indie pop hits, and if they wanted to, they could strike up a good record deal. As of right now, they've got some songs on iTunes, and a lot of covers on YouTube, but they're going to be big, and their music videos are better than the 'real' pop singers ones. The reason that they're at 5, they shouldn't even be here, but they deserve to be here, if that makes sense at all.

4
Doug Walker

The only non-YouTube based guy on this list, Doug Walker is one of my favorite critics, and is the guy behind the Nostalgia Critic, one of the most famous internet video series out there, to my knowledge. He's talented, he knows good movies, and although we have our differences in preferences, he can recognize the good and bad in any movie he likes/dislikes. Yeah, this guy's cool, and although he's not perfect, he'll do.

Nostalgia Critic's Review of The Cat in the Hat

3
JacksFilms

There's not many people that can make me laugh so consistently. JacksFilms is a unique character, he's a great entertainer, very funny, and has connections all over the place. He's friends with the Fine Brothers, Pewdiepie, Tobuscus, and a couple of other big names. He lives in that area in America where all the YouTubers live, and he managed to make Smosh funny again in his latest video 'Your Grammar Sucks 50'. He's entertaining, very musical, and a nice person overall, from the looks of it.

2
TotalHalibut

If there's anybody I'd trust with buying video games for me, it's TotalHalibut, aka, TotalBiscuit. He's a YouTube based British American game critic/commentator who's famous for being brutally honest with anyone and anything, to the point of getting himself worked up over the stupid YouTube comments section. He's friends with a couple of other good game critics, including AngryJoe, who would probably be 11 or something, and he is very professional. Despite being in the crowd of gamers, who act rather immaturely, he stands out as being (mostly) mature and professional, and earns my respect and ears for that. He's the true face of gaming journalism.

And Finally my Number 1 Favorite YouTuber is...
Vsauce1, 2, and 3.

Vsauce 1 focuses on science, Vsauce 2 focuses on people, and Vsauce 3 focuses on Video Games, but what they all have in common is the fact that they are some of the most entertaining, interesting and educational YouTube channels you could possibly find. The thing I love about Vsauce is that every major episode of Vsauce 1 asks a big question, such as 'Why do people kiss' or 'What if the Sun Disappeared' and presents these curiosities with answers using the great power of Science. Vsauce 2 and 3 are slightly different and have different hosts, but there's still a big draw to them, especially Vsauce 2's 'Build it, Draw it, Play it' basically a showing off of inventions (build) artwork (draw) and music (play) that both professionals and the average bloke made. Vsauce 3, the newest channel, doesn't quite have the killer show yet, but Game Lut, a rehash of the previous Vsauce 1 show Lut, shows off different random things that people can buy on the internet. If I could pick only one YouTube channel to watch for the rest of my life (assuming they always made videos) It'll probably be Vsauce.

Why Are There Critics, and Why are They Important?

Professional critics are now commonplace in the media. Music, movies, television, video games, and even restaurants, are being reviewed by professional consumers called critics, and because of their place of power, some companies cater to the needs of every critic, giving them advanced screenings, private rooms, even early copies, of whatever they're reviewing to get into the critic's good books, and therefore, everyone else's. But why do we even have critics, and why do their opinions matter?

Many a cynic would criticize the critics by saying that they are full of themselves, sort of 'self important' people, who believe they're right and that everyone else is wrong. Well, that's a true statement, but it's the exception, not the rule, as the saying goes.

The purpose of professional media criticism is this: They represent you, and they represent the integrity of the artform that they are reviewing.
For example, say you are looking at the next Transformers movie (hypothetically speaking) and a critic says that the film was rubbish. Now, if you're already a fan of the film franchise, and don't care about the film's shortcomings, you can ignore that critic and watch the movie anyway, but if you're a new viewer, and have no connection to the Transformers franchise, the critic really represents them, and tells them whether or not the film is worth watching.

Critics really apply to niches. They look at the viewers of their website, or magazine or newspaper, and judge a film both on their own personal preferences as well as what the community would think. For example, the Christian Entertainment Website Plugged In would judge films and games as a christian, and mention certain things that only Christians and similar people would worry about, such as violent or sexual content, language, and themes, along with the typical pieces of quality, such as cinematography, story and acting.

So if you think that critics are the scourge of the earth, maybe you haven't found one for you. Critic-viewer relationships are rather important for anyone who takes watching movies or playing games, or doing anything, worthwhile and important.

Oldboy 올드보이 Review

Oldboy is probably the most famous South Korean film in the entire world, and since it's being remade by Spike Lee this year, I figured I'd watch the original film to see what the fuss was about.

And wow.
Wow.
Wow.

So, I'm just going to go SPOILER this time, because anyone who wants to see it probably already has.

So this guy, Oh Dae Su, is kidnapped and kept in solitary confinement for fifteen years, the only contact with the outside world being the guards that feed him and never talk, and the television in his room. Suddenly, after fifteen years, he is set free, and decides to find out why he was kept inside that room for fifteen years.

So then he meets this girl at a sushi bar, eats a live octopus whole, and then faints. He wakes up in her house, and a very awkward, sexually tense relationship begins as the two try and find out who put him in prison.

Eventually, they find a security guard at the place he was kept, and try to find out who captured him by pulling his teeth out with a hammer. (By the way, this film is really gruesome) and then the famous single-take fight sequence begins, and it's really good. That's definitely the highlight of the film, and there's nothing else that quite matches up to it in the rest, unfortunately.

Finally, following a couple of deaths, sex with the random girl, and several close calls to the man behind everything, he finally catches up to the man, who reveals everything that happened.

So Oh Dae Su and the bad guy used to go to the same school, and the villain had this rather, um, inappropriate relationship with his sister. Oh Dae Su, on his last day at the school, sees this, and spreads a rumor around the school, not realizing that they were siblings. She starts having signs of pregnancy, and commits suicide.

Then the villain, in anguish, decides to enact revenge, kidnaps Oh Dae Su, keeps him away from his daughter for fifteen years, then releases him and with help from a hypnotist, gets Oh Dae Su to fall in love with his daughter, the girl at the sushi bar.

So then, Oh Dae Su is stricken with guilt, begs the villain to not tell the girl, and cuts off his tongue for no reason, resulting in the villain letting him go, and killing himself.

So now, Oh Dae Su tracks down the hypnotist and gets her to make him forget about the identity of the girl he met at the sushi bar, so that they can continue their relationship without the guilt in Oh Dae Su's heart.

What the heck.

Yes, this movie is really well made and brutal, but it's also all kinds of messed up. I have no idea how they're going to remake this for more conservative American cinema, but a lot of the plot twists have to be readjusted for the remake.

It's really a personal preference, but this sort of stuff just makes me uncomfortable sitting there, watching it.

So yeah, it's good. Just make sure you know what you're going into, if you haven't seen it yet.

Iron Man 3 No Spoiler Review

Iron Man 3 was a really good movie. Go watch it. Now.

That's not to say it isn't perfect, but I can't really go into the details as to what I think is wrong with it, because it could potentially ruin the film for people who haven't seen it.

But anyway, this film is really fun. Robert Downey Jr. was, as usual, amazing as Iron Man/Tony Stark, but that's no surprise. The movie is more funny than the previous films, but it is also a bit more dark, especially at the beginning. It lightens up at the end, but most of the film is pretty well written and heartfelt.

You'll be surprised how much time you'll see Stark, and how little you see the Iron Man suit. This isn't a bad thing, just like in The Dark Knight Rises (This film is actually really similar to TDKR), but it might be unexpected.

I can't really talk about it much. Just go watch it and form your own opinions. Just keep in mind that things are a little different to the comics. Just think of it as a multiverse thing.

The Prince of Egypt

I have a long history of love for this particular film, and it continues to this day. As a Christian, the story of Moses was one of those stories that is oft told in Sunday School and the likes, and deservedly so. It is one of the biggest examples of epic in the entire Bible.

The Prince of Egypt is an animated Dramatic Musical that was first released in 1998, starring the voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes and others, and is probably the most epic family movie I've seen. It kick-started my interest in Ancient Egyptian culture and history in my youth, and is to this date the best Bible Epic i've ever seen...and it's animated.

The interesting thing about POE that sets it apart from other animated movies is that it doesn't bother with the dreaded 'Disney Comic Relief Characters' that are in every other animated movie, especially after The Lion King, including non-disney movies. The issue with these characters is that they don't add much to the story, and are really just there as distractions for the kids, as to keep them entertained through the more adult story (see Hunchback of Notre Dame). Prince of Egypt doesn't do that at all, and the closest it gets to that trope are the two High Priests, Hotep and Hoy, played by Steve Martin and Martin Short, but they come across more as creepy than funny, despite their more cartoonish design, compared to the rest of the movie.

But that's not to say the movie isn't funny. It has plenty of funny moments, such as the beginning with the brotherly quarrels between Rameses and Moses. These comedic moments are limited though, and the movie feels more like a musical along the lines of Les Mis, to give a recent example, than any Disney movie clone.

The music is the strongest part of the movie, and the reason I think that the film will do well on a Broadway stage. The film has one of the best openings ever, in my opinion, with the seven minute 'Deliver Us' instantly saying to the audience 'This ain't a kid's movie' with the implied deaths of thousands of children. Other songs, such as 'All I ever Wanted', 'Playing with the Big Boys', and 'The Plagues', and of course, 'When You Believe,' a song that was covered by Celene Dion and Whitney Houston for the soundtrack and became a worldwide hit. The lyrics mix perfectly with the Hans Zimmer score, creating one of the most memorable soundtracks ever written.

And the story is also amazing. Most everyone in a predominantly Christian or Jewish culture, whether they follow the religion(s) or not, are familiar with the Moses story, but the way the film presents it, as a tale of two brothers who are forced to be enemies by a higher power, is a very unique interpretation of the story. The fact that it's called 'The Prince of Egypt' speaks volumes about the tone of the story. At first glance, nobody would guess 'Moses' from the title, unless they knew about the film beforehand. The reason I believe it is titled that is because Moses, being raised in an Egyptian palace his entire life, would have a massive connection to the land and people, despite his heritage. Moses would've been conflicted with himself and the love for the country he was raised in, and the culture he belongs to, and the movie presents that conflict almost perfectly.

Visually speaking, the film is GORGEOUS. Every single frame is made perfectly. The throneroom of the Pharoh, with the statue of Seti right next to Seti's real profile is great framing. The entire movie feels huge, every picture is scaled perfectly, and the final fifteen minutes, with the parting of the Red Sea, is one of the most epic moments in animated cinema. Watching the movie just for the visuals in itself is an enjoyable experience, even to this day, and this film is fourteen years old now.

So yeah, this is probably my favorite animated movie, at least right now. What my favorite disney movie is, I get to later.

Oblivion initial impressions

Oblivion seems to me like the type of movie that requires several (or at least two) watches before a proper opinion can be given to it, because initially this film feels very fresh, pretty, and overall a good blockbuster-type movie.

Apparently I'm in the minority when it comes to the critics and this particular film, most saying that the story was predictable and it was light in the story department. I disagree, yes I predicted a few key twists in the story when they were initially presented, but the overall feel of the story was a mystery until I actually viewed the film.

I watched the film with my mother, and her limited sci-fi experience, besides the big ones like Star Wars, Star Trek and Inception, made the film an enjoyable and fairly unpredictable film for her, mainly because many of the tropes and cliches that are presented in this film are only familiar with medium to hardcore sci fi fans, something that neither me nor my mother are.

So as an outsider to the sci-fi scene, this film is really good, generic sci-fi. I enjoyed it as such, as did my mother, and some other people I am friends with as well. I will watch it again, with full knowledge of the story twists, and see if it still holds up as a film by itself. Until then, cheers.

Click (warning, spoilers)

Let me talk to you a bit about genre.

I'm not the biggest fan of genre, but I do respect it as a viable method of writing. The rules of genre that defines things as Drama, Comedy, Tragedy, Fantasy, Romance and others have been set in stone over many centuries of evolution.

However, when someone tries to break trends, and makes a movie that fills two genres that are almost completely different in tone and execution, there's a small amount of respect that is earned for being able to make a movie like that, especially when it is a success.

And that's where we get to Click, probably one of the most famous examples of a dramatic genre shift in the history of film.

Click stars Adam Sandler, and for the first two thirds of the film, is the typical Adam Sandler fare, with crude  humor, gross-out jokes, and general Adam Sandler randomness about an architect (what?) who is stressed with life and discovers a literal Universal Remote that helps his life be a little easier. He manages to fast forward sickness, rewind to previous events to relive them (albeit from an outsider perspective) and mute his wife's annoying friend.

There's only one catch: You can't relive the past, only rewatch it.

And when he accidentally fast forwards years of his life away, leaving his body on 'autopilot' (which is basically an emotionless version of himself) he finds that he divorced the wife he loved so much, his dad died of old age without him noticing or even being there, and his son has grown up to become a successful heir to his architecture company, the only problem being there's a severe lack of relationship between them (because when he got the remote, the son was only four years old, and he grew up to be thirty)

And this is where the dramatic genre shift occurs. Sandler wishes to rekindle his relationship with his family, who, mind you, has drifted off in different directions without him noticing, while his fat, unhealthy self is dying slowly.

Anyway, if you haven't seen the film, but don't care about spoilers (why else will you still be reading this) this event leads to the death of the main character, in an event that gets close to getting an emotional reaction for me (my number 1 sign of quality in a film) if it wasn't for Sandler.

The story is great, Adam Sandler isn't. This is a type of film that would've benefited from a better comedian, such as Jim Carrey (who proved that he could handle dramatic roles with 'The Truman Show') or even Robin Williams (who is constantly trying to be a dramatic actor, with variable results). Sandler's trademark screwball humor just feels out of place with the tone of the rest of the movie. Even Walken, who's considered the weirdest actor in the world, feels more in place in his comedic role as the angel of death who gives Sandler the remote in the first place, feels more in place than Sandler. If it was an all drama cast, with only Walken as the comic relief character, it would've been a far better movie, in my opinion.

My conclusion for this movie is that the Drama is great, the Comedy isn't. it got one of the two genres in this genre-bending film wrong by having Sandler in it, when a far more capable actor could've easily taken the role. It's a good movie, mind you, just not as good as it could've been.

The Croods

Wow...
I mean wow! This movie was a very very pleasant surprise.

The Croods stars Nicholas Cage, Emma Stone and Ryan Renolds. Cage is the father of a cavemen, sort of neanderthal family, who is absolutely afraid of everything, and Emma Stone plays the rebellious daughter who wants to see the world, but when they meet the first human outside of their family, played by Ryan Renolds, everything changes.

Now, i'm going to say something rather big here. The Croods is THE most BEAUTIFUL animated film I've ever seen in my life. Dreamworks have really outdid themselves, and i think it's mainly to do with the colour. This is a really pretty movie. The environments are amazing, the creature designs are amazing, and even the characters are very well designed. Let me tell you, it's hard to make a large, muscular woman look attractive, but they did it somehow, although it probably helps that she was played by Emma Stone. Hottest female actress, and her voice shows that.

The story is a combination of both a father-daughter relationship movie, and a roadtrip movie (except without the road) I won't spoil the story for you because it's worth watching. Ignore the relatively low 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, it's worth it. Watch it on the big screen too. It's so good seeing it in super HD digital widescreen. Don't ask about the 3d though, I didn't see it in 3D, and there's minimal "Forced 3D" scenes, although it probably would enhance the overall experience, since Dreamworks is good at 3D

Overall, this movie is a must watch. It's up there in the great animated movies, and it's the prettiest animated movie ever, getting really close to Avatar quality (although Avatar is more realistic, which gives it a small upper hand)

Just watch it.

9/10

*Amazing effects, character design, and scenery
*Great Slapstick
*Great Voice Acting
- Slightly Generic Story

Django Unchained: Sadistic, yet Satisfying

I really enjoyed Quentin Tarantino's latest theatrical offering Django Unchained when i watched it with one of my friends a few days before writing this. It was definitely deserving of both of its Oscar nominations.
But did it deserve to win?

Django Unchained is a film about a slave named Django, who is set free by a bounty hunter who gives him his freedom in exchange for his help. They develop a strong friendship, something rare in those times in which this film was set, and set out to rid the world of criminals for money.

This film is two things: A very violent and satisfying action movie, with 60's Spaghetti Western vibes mixed in, and a strong cultural and social commentary of a very serious problem of racism, both back then, and now.

And this movie succeeds.

Despite its typical Tarantino comedic tone, this movie is very realistic, in that the way slaves were treated was reminiscent of how they were actually treated in real life. I can just picture the character Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed existing in real life, or at the very least, back then. He is a despicable character covered in the disguise of false-kindness, something several people do often.

This film is amazing. I won't go too deep in why, but if you seen any other Tarantino work, you know what to expect.