Hype Tripe :: Paranormal Activity 3

I know there are movie reviews that are long overdue at the moment but this is something I wanted to do for some time. Something new besides reviews, keep my blog going with different posts. So I've come up with "Hype Tripe". This is where I'm going to let out all my nerdy excitement I have for an upcoming movie.

Here I go:



OH MY GOD!!!!!!! PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3!!!!!!!!!
...This is where I'm going to talk about what I expect from an upcoming movie and why I look forward to it.

Paranormal Activity was one of my first horror movie experience in the theaters. I know there is a large group of people who dislike this movie but in my defense most of these people probably didn't watch it in the theaters. If they did, then that's fine but if you hate this movie and you haven't watched it in the theaters I suggest you give it another try..during midnight with all the lights out and just you versus the large HD TV with surround sound. I'm not defending this movie as a film but it's a fun theater experience.

Paranormal Activity 2..eh, not as scary. I couldn't sleep for two days after I watched the first PA but the sequel did not have the same effect. I was quite thankful for that because the entertainment value was still there. I had fun during the sequel and on the bright side I'm glad that I could go to sleep without much trouble.

The best part about Paranormal Activity is that everyone tenses up in the theater when it becomes night time. And during the day everyone relaxes. It's a cycle of suspense and I love watching these movies with my friends because we're all enjoying the scares together. That's the fun part of it and I'm glad these movies are bringing such memorable experiences for me. I do not think these movies have re-watch values (I've tried it; it's not as good) but a one time viewing is perfect for a Friday night.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 :: A 63 Review

Original View Date: Today

It's been Ten Years...

10 years ago I sat, totally absorbed by what I had just seen. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (or Sorcerer's) Stone had just become my favorite movie, pushing Star Wars down to 2nd place. The Harry Potter franchise has grown with me as I traveled around the world; I had grown up with this series. Yes, this is like the "Star Wars" of this generation; we would look back at this, 'Deathly Hallows Part 2' and feel the nostalgia. Over the 10 years this franchise has brought joyce, laughter, tears and pure awesomeness to various theater screens and now it's time to say goodbye. But like Neville Longbottom has said Harry Potter will stay in us. The franchise will continue to grow through our memories.

Review (SPOILERS):

Plot (3/5):
I don't want to start off with the negative side of the film but let's get over with it. The plot of the film is quite nit pickable; this I find is the novel's fault not the filmmakers'. The things that bothered me were minor such as students still attending Hogwarts at a time like this...which is ridiculous. Hey, remember when in the fifth movie Seamus said his mother didn't want him to come back to Hogwarts? Well, that was when Voldemort's return was controversial. Now he's taken over everything and we see little first years in their Hogwarts robes. Also the movie does feel a little rushed and Harry goes through finding the Horcruxes quite conveniently by entering into Voldemort's mind...and he couldn't do this before because? See it's minor things like this but like I said before I had the same questions when I was reading the novel. As an adaptation I think the movie was extremely well done. It starts off right where we left off and is a non-stop action flick from start to finish just like it should've been. The only thing I wanted a little more was closure. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a perfect example of ending a franchise. It took time and the transition was smooth and we had time to say goodbye. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ends roughly 5 minutes after Voldemort is defeated and the '19 years later' sequence is quite short. It would've been better if it had been exactly like the book: adding more dialogue between characters that mentions Neville being a Herbology Professor and getting to know the childrens' names (not just Albus-Severus). Overall it's a satisfying ending that we can all embrace.

Characters (5/5):

The characters have brought total brilliance to the screen. This is the final, the most dramatic and emotional chapter. Every piece is put together, revealing the whole picture. They still managed to put in a few laughters here and there among the sad moments and thrilling battle sequences. Severus Snape's death is tragic and even the most stoic man on earth would shed an empathetic tear during his flashback scenes. On top of that all this is the final Harry Potter movie...the final conflict, the final facebook---I mean face off, the final battle...it's all over. Harry's character learns of Snape's identity and the two interacting right before Snape's death is great closure between the two. All these emotions put together form a masterpiece film.

The downside is the relationships being shown on screen. None of them have developed steadily over the movie franchise as they have in the books. They seem random and very unrealistic (especially during the 19 years later sequence). I know this was a continuing problem from the previous films but I'm adding the fact that it didn't work till the end.

Performances (5/5):
Multiple scenes gave me chills running down my back. The child actors we've seen in the first movie have grown up to portray their characters for the last time. Danielle Radcliffe is at his peak performance as Harry Potter; my favorite scene delivered by Radcliffe is when he walks out from the group of other students and faces Snape. The lines are bold and memorable and leads to a duel between McGonagall and Snape. Wasn't a big fan of some of the lines still; things like "That's my girlfriend!" coming from Rupert Grint and his character chasing after THREE enemies. Sure it made the theater laugh but to me it came off as a one liner. But seeing that Grint is the best actor out of the trio I don't blame his performance but the script. Ralph as Voldemort is still a little over the top (I think he screams "NYEAAA" about seven times in this movie). Still, these are just nitpicking criticism; all the actors were FINE.

Specifics (4/5):

The make up for this movie was recognizably bad in the Limbo scene - Albus Dumbledore looked awful. I liked how the movie was battle from start to finish and the number of combatants was delightful. I just wished they showed more specific duels between characters. I know that we don't see Lupin or Tonks die in the books but it would've been dramatic to see their actual demise/sacrifice. There was a lot of focus on Harry finding the Horcruxes but I would've liked to see in between shots of people engaging in fights...kinda like Lord of the Rings. They could've squeezed more things into this seeing that it's only 131 minutes long (and it didn't even feel that long!). What I wanted the most was closure with my childhood heroes. Remember when the Return of the King took about a 40 minute epilogue? I wanted just half of that: 20 minutes isn't too much to ask for...no amount of Potter is too much. Voldemort's defeat was a little too short and the movie ends about 8-9 minutes after his death so it felt like a horror movie ending: movie ends when villain dies. These are the bits the movie could've improved on.

The super awesome things about this movie are 1) the soundtrack, 2) the huge scale, 3) the final battle. I loved the Half Blood Prince opening and I liked the Order of the Phoenix opening as well...it looks like David Yates is awesome with Harry Potter openings. This opening was good too; the dramatic music played as the traditional sky sequence was shown...and then it faded into a Hogwarts surrounded by Dementors. I LOVED the soundtrack; the Prince's Tale scene is where it can be most appreciated. Above in the criticism section I did talk about the improvements they could've made with the final battle. However the battle was still satisfactory. The scale was huge and I really got the feeling that this was going to be it. The battle we've waited for...the one we didn't get at the end of Half Blood Prince. Everything that I had imagined while reading the book came to life. Great job and much better job with editing this time.

Theme (N/A):

Death, love, family...the typical Harry Potter stuff. It continues on to the final chapter but I don't really want to talk about it when I can talk about the awesome battles...besides I already talked about how emotional this movie was in the above sections.

Overall (4/5):
A satisfactory ending to my childhood franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 proved that splitting the adaptation in two was a great idea. There is room for improvement but this was certainly an event we will remember. Still, the Half Blood Prince remains as my number one favorite Harry Potter film.

Objective and Subjective

I've just realized that even though I might give two movies the same rating, I feel bad giving such a score to a movie that I liked. For example, Transformers 3 and Green Lantern are at a similar level in means of objectivity. By objectivity I mean that I judge a movie by its plot, characters and theme. Therefore things that work and things that don't. However I have realized I occasionally feel more lenient towards some of the "bad" films I've seen. I'll refer to my previous example: I liked Green Lantern but I hated Transformers 3...despite the fact that they are on similar levels in means of objectivity. So by liking Green Lantern more I have a personal liking towards it and therefore like it subjectively. ** The entertainment factor has the biggest impact on the subjectivity rating as well as my willingness to like the film. I would never like a Michael Bay movie.

In conclusion I have decided to rate a movie by both objective standards and subjective standards. Movies will still be rated from a scale of 1 to 5.

So for the previous movies I have not rated subjectively here I go:

Sanctum - Objective Rating: 1/5 | Subjective Rating: 1/5

Unknown - Objective Rating: 2/5 | Subjective Rating: 2/5

127 Hours - Objective Rating: 5/5 | Subjective Rating: 4/5

True Grit - Objective Rating: 4/5 | Subjective Rating: 5/5

The Green Hornet - Objective Rating: 3/5 | Subjective Rating: 4/5

The Adjustment Bureau - Objective Rating: 3.5/5 | Subjective Rating: 5/5

The Fighter - Objective Rating: 4/5 | Subjective Rating: 2/5

The King's Speech - N/A I'd like to disregard my previous review as I wasn't being fair. But I did not like the movie.

Vanishing on 7th Street - Objective Rating: 2/5 | Subjective Rating: 3/5

World Invasion - Objective Rating: 2/5 | Subjective Rating: 3/5

Fast Five - Objective Rating: 3/5 | Subjective Rating: 3/5

Thor - Objective Rating: 3/5 | Subjective Rating: 4/5

Source Code - Objective Rating: 3/5 | Subjective Rating: 3/5

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - Objective Rating: 2/5 | Subjective Rating: 3/5

X-Men: First Class - Objective Rating: 4/5 | Subjective Rating: 5/5

Scream 4 - Objective Rating: 3.5/5 | Subjective Rating: 4/5

Kungfu Panda 2 - Objective Rating: 2.5/5 | Subjective Rating: 2.5/5

Super 8 - Objective Rating: 2.5/5 | Subjective Rating: 2.5/5

Super 8 :: A 63 Review

Original View Date: June 17th, 2011
SPOILERS throughout review.


Plot (2/5): It's a nice mixture of Steven Spielberg's style with that of Abram's. Both filmmakers seem to have touched the film equally and it comes off as a good combination of mystery and sci-fi...until the end. There is an initially good build up but like a typical Abram film, we get tired of the movie. I don't mind suspenseful mystery but if we're going to be dragged along for two hours without a lot of answers I expect a worthwhile shock in the end. This movie's ending is a dud.

Everything is rushed at the end. It's a last minute theme rush which leads to an abrupt ending. How did the children communicate with the alien anyway? Even Michael Bay explained how the Autobots learned english from the internet. The monster alien thing in this movie has no consistency; some people he'll just eat on the spot, some he'll keep and some he won't kill if they start talking in English.

This is another LOST flashback. Interesting exposition that leads to a crappy ending.

Characters (3/5):
The characters really reminded me of Goonies. These are young kids swearing, bundling together and getting into trouble. Charles is one character I find really relatable. His obsession to make a film and his need for "production value" mirrors the young filmmakers.

But on the negative side let's just say that the dynamite kid can be categorized with Jar Jar Binks and the racist twin robots from Transformers 2.

Performances (4/5):
Great child actors were cast for this film. All of them were great...except for the dynamite kid whom I detested.

Specifics (3/5):
The only lovable part of this film is the post credits scene. Having experience being a child filmmaker in school, I know what it's like to be like Charles. And his finished product is absolute hilarity.

Theme (2/5): I see a few nudges here and there but it's really hard to find any significance in what the characters are doing. Like when Joe lets go of his mother's picture, what was the point of that? I know the dramatic music is playing but what has an alien monster leaving earth got to do with it? More explanation please!

Overall (2.5/5):
Another huge let down. I'm not a fan of Abram's style but I liked Cloverfield for its POV atmosphere. This, Super 8 has a long drag of mystery that fails to surprise. Not enough wonder, not enough explanation and a dead ending all contribute to Super 8's failure.

Kungfu Panda 2 :: A 63 Review

Original View Date: June 7th, 2011

SPOILERS throughout review.



Plot (2/5):

"Forget everything about the past. Because you will discover things that will make you question your sanity." - Scream 3. Looks like the Kungfu Panda franchise did not follow the cliche rule. This is the second installment and

we get some answers about Po's origins. And so does it work? Sort of. Not really. Po's origin story goes like this: Lord Shen, a peacock goes around killing every panda because the soothsayer said that a black and white warrior would kill him. So Po's birth parents sacrifice themselves to save Po and place him in care of the Mr. Ping.

First of all, how many times have we seen this type of origin story? Harry Potter, Prince of Egypt to name a few. Not only that, introducing this storyline was badly done. We go into the second act and The Furious Five and Po already defeat Lord Shen (which makes the main antagonist not that threatening) and Po suddenly is "disturbed" by the symbol Shen is wearing. This causes him to have a flashback...but he gets cut off. Throughout the movie he keeps getting these flashbacks but it's really hard to feel sympathy for him at all. It's extremely unrealistic that he would recognize any of this and recall his memories of him being a baby. Not to mention how random the solution is to this disturbance. Po eventually uses "inner peace" which we're told takes decades to master. Po just learns it out of nowhere and conveniently sees more of his past. *sighs* And in the ending we find out that Po's father is still alive.

More minor problems: we have two new characters, Kungfu masters who are unwilling to help. Where were these "masters" when Tai Lung escaped from prison? And how does a cannon get rid of Kungfu? It doesn't. It DEFEATS Kungfu in terms of strength but that doesn't mean it'll wipe out Kungfu. Kungfu was never a weapon in the first place, it was a mental training and a guideline for life.

Kungfu Panda 2 has a lousy script.

Characters (3/5):
Lord Shen is not even a bit threatening. He is practically already defeated in the second act. The up side for this section is Kungfu Panda himself. He's still adorable...but let's hope Kungfu Panda 3 is on hold. I cannot possibly laugh at more fat jokes anymore. Kungfu Panda is getting old now.

Performances (4/5):
Very hard to judge the performance of voice acting but I'd say all the voices match well with the characters...especially Po. Kungfu Panda is still Kungfu Panda. Funny, cute and lazy as we want him to be. Still, not a big fan of the grumpy voice work of bulgy characters.

Specifics (3/5):
The kid friendly action scenes are pretty entertaining to watch. It's creative how the Furious Five and Po work as a team to fight their enemies. The comedy is still good, not as funny as the first but scenes that reference old Kungfu movies are where the comedy is top notch. When Po is fighting alongside his friends he says all of their names just like how Kungfu masters call out animal names that are named after their moves. Funny!

Kudos to good 3D, epic action scenes such as the tower collapsing.

Theme (2/5):
Inner peace...already touched on that. It doesn't work. It's too abrupt and just like the first movie Po never really discovers anything through character development but comes through a sudden realization. Lazy writing, lazy writing. The father-adopted son relationship is explored here and emits a cozy feeling but doesn't touch the heart.

Overall (2.5/5):
Not as good as the original and just flat out unentertaining. There's a lot happening but everything goes by so quickly and the themes aren't explored well enough. Kungfu Panda 2 is a summer disappointment.