Tag Archives: IMAX

Links for January 15th

Posted on by
Reply

Movie of the Week: Avatar: An IMAX 3D Experience

Posted on by
1

Um…wow!

Just wow.

The risk in having to wait so long to see a movie that has this much hype is that it won’t live up to it.  I was sitting in the theater prepared to be blown away by the CGI and disappointed in the plot/story. Well, I was blown away by the visuals and the CGI.  I felt like I was in a Disney* ride or something. As far as the plot goes, sure, it wasn’t original as parallels could be drawn to Pocahontas and FernGully: The Last Rainforest.  There was never a point during the movie were I was like, “This plot is stupid”.  Maybe the visuals were so good I didn’t even notice there was a script.

If an award can be given to a actor for a CGI performance, Zoë Saldana needs to get one.  While most of the performances were great  (except Sam Worthington needs to get his Australian accent under control), Saldana’s performance really stood out considering it was a) all CGI (unlike Worthington and Sigourney Weaver) and b) half of it was in a made up language, she deserves a lot of credit.

Seeing this movie in IMAX made it even more amazing.  If you are going to go and you live near a real IMAX, I highly recommend you see it there.  You should get there at least 90 minutes in advance and try to sit as far in the back as humanly possible so you can see the entire screen.  I generally see every movie in IMAX if the option is available but this is the first movie that is absolutely worth the extra five bucks!

* Or so I’ve been told, I’ve never been to DisneyLand or DisneyWorld

Movie of the Week: The Dark Knight: The IMAX Experience

Posted on by
2

4/5th

I guess I’ll finally get to this. I’ll try not to spend too much time on this because there’s already been a shitload of things written about it.

Is it the best comic book movie ever? Yes, sorta. I’d say it’s the best one for adults. There is something aesthetically pleasing to the kid in me about movies like Superman II, Spider-Man 2 and X2: X-Men United in that they exist in complete fantasy worlds and appeal to kid and teens. The Dark Knight was made with the conceit that “Let’s pretend that Bruce Wayne actually existed and that there was a terrorist that wore makeup.” This was like Heat with a cape. The Dark Knight is a comic book movie in the way that Road to Perdition and A History of Violence were comic book movies.

Spoilers below

What I Loved:

  • Heath Ledger as The Joker. Believe the hype. As a guy who can say he’s seen 80% of the movies Heath Ledger has been in, even I didn’t think he had this in him. To get a full range of what we lost with Ledger’s death, compare Ennis De Mar from Brokeback Mountain to The Joker.
  • Gary Oldman as James Gordon. Talk about range. It’s already been established what a great actor Gary Oldman is but it’s rare to see him do such restrained work. It’s a shame that his performance is getting lost behind all the (well-deserved) praise Ledger’s Joker is getting
  • Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. Eckhart is one of my favorite actors and he sold the transition of the “White Knight” to Two-Face. Especially the scenes in the hospital with Gordon and Joker
  • The characterization of the Joker and Two-Face. The Joker is a pull from Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke where The Joker is convinced that all it would take is one bad day to make someone lose it like him (and Batman) Harvey Dent is pulled from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s The Long Halloween where the only killings Two-Face does are to the people he feels are responsible for his situation. Also that’s where the idea of Harvey Dent, Gordon and Batman working together on cases came from. Since these are two of my all-time favorite Batman stories, I was quite pleased.
  • Maggie Gyllenthal did what she could with what little she was given but she made me care about her fate. I doubt Katie Holmes could have pulled off her last scene over the phone with Harvey.
  • Batman as a detective. I’m glad they didn’t just have Batman figuring stuff out by looking at like he’s Monk.
  • The IMAX shots. Holy shit. When you see the picture fill up the entire IMAX screen for the first time, you will be taken aback.
  • I’m glad Two-Face wasn’t the main villain. The way this universe that Nolan has created works, it’s not like Harvey Dent was going to start gathering henchmen and start to rob banks.

What I Didn’t Like:

  • Bale’s Batman voice. It works when he’s only saying one or two lines but when he’s having full conversations with The Joker, Gordon or Harvey, he starts to sound ridiculous. I know everyone can’t be Kevin Conroy but if there is one thing Michael Keaton had over fellow Batmen is his voice didn’t sound silly.
  • Speeches. There were too many speeches driving home the themes of the movie

What Made Me Think:

Movie of the Week: Speed Racer: The IMAX Experience

Posted on by
Reply

To quote Andrea upon leaving the theater, “Well, that was fun to look at.”

I think the biggest problem with the movie is it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a kids only flick or a flick that could have some adult appeal. If it was only for kids, then you could forgive the awful plot and the stale acting. If it was supposed to appeal to adults, then it was pretty bad.

Then again, you have to take into account that the cartoon made absolutely no sense. Speed Racer could never really be taken seriously. If you weren’t a fan of the cartoon, this might seem like the dumbest movie you’ve ever seen.

The races looked amazing, especially in IMAX (think the pod races in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace while tripping balls on acid). Although there were a couple of times where I had no idea which car was which.

If you are planning to see this movie, please get there early do you can get a good seat. You don’t want to be stuck in the front rows. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be with all the speed and colors but my eyes were definitely sore when I left the theater.

Movie of the Week Pt. II: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: An IMAX 3D Experience

Posted on by
2

How do you turn a 870 page book into a 138 minute movie? Very carefully.

The best way to describe what was determined to be left out of the movie form the book is this: describe the book in one paragraph (5-6 sentences). Mostly everything that was left out of that paragraph was left out of the movie. Little things were added for future reference (Grawp, Kreacher, lovelorn/jealous looks from a certain girl). And I’m okay with that. Why? Because they fixed the biggest problem I had with the book.

When I was going through my Potter book-a-thon last summer, this book was the hardest to get through. Not because the book was bad or anything but because Harry acted like a bitch for the entire book. I understand that Rowling was going for sullen teenager but he came across as a whiny, “woe is me” brat. Halfway through the book, I started to hate him. So credit to the screenwriter Michael Goldenberg and Daniel Radcliffe for making Harry’s attitude not as annoying and more understandable.

That said, I think they should have added the Quidditch scenes because this movie is devoid of fun and the “Weasley is Our King” scenes would have lightened the mood of this otherwise political thriller set in Hogwarts,

Imelda Staunton is the biggest standout as Dolores Umbridge. She pretty much takes over the movie. I just wish there were more scenes with her and the other British acting powerhouses in the film (Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman particularly).

The battle in the Department of Mysteries in IMAX 3D was amazing. It was a much better use of the technology than Superman Returns (the only other movie I saw in IMAX 3D). It is definitely worth the extra cash and if you are near one, you should definitely make the effort.