Filmsy - Movie Reviews Blog

Gaspar Noe’s Enter The Void in glorious 3D?

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gaspar-noe-1I’ve mentioned to my friends a few weeks ago that the success of James Cameron’s Avatar would only mean that filmmakers will now consider the 3D format their newest toy and will attempt to find ways to use it. I even believe that, as far as big studios are concerned, it will replace traditional film.

But if there’s one auteur who I would consider as one of the least likely to use 3D, it would be Gaspar Noe. The guy’s ouevre is not something that you would even imagine on 3D. But apparently, I am wrong. There is now talk that Gaspar Noe is working on a “joyful porn melodrama”, and this is going to be shot in 3D. A porn movie in 3D? Now that is outside the box thinking. I can’t even begin to imagine how Noe is going to fully exploit the technology and how 3D will help propel his story. Are penises coming right at you from the screen and copious amounts of bodily fluids splashing about and making you feel that it’s going to bathe you in a sticky mess going to make for good cinema? I’m not really sure. But, one thing I know for sure though, this is going to be an event movie like no other. I bet the guardians of morality are already painting their signs as we speak.

British Academy Awards

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BAFTA/LA's 15th Annual Awards Season Tea Party

Contrary to a lot of people’s opinions, there is life outside America. And even when it comes to films, there is a lot of life in existence in other parts of the world. If all you know about are the Oscars and the Golden Globes, then it might be time for you to expand your horizons a little bit. Like, take a look at other awards such as the British Academy Film Awards. The nominations were done on Thursday and here are some of the most notable nominees, courtesy of a report by the Associated Press:

Underdog-turned-favorite “Slumdog Millionaire” picked up 11 nominations Thursday for the British Academy film awards, Britain’s version of the Oscars.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which stars Brad Pitt as a man who ages backward, also was nominated in 11 categories, including best film, best actor and best director for David Fincher.

Double Golden Globe winner Kate Winslet is competing against herself in the best-actress category, with nominations for both “The Reader” and “Revolutionary Road.” She is up against Angelina Jolie for “The Changeling,” Meryl Streep for “Doubt” and Kristin Scott Thomas for the French film “I’ve Loved You So Long.”

The best-actor nominees are Patel of “Slumdog”, Sean Penn for “Milk,” Frank Langella for “Frost/Nixon,” Mickey Rourke for “The Wrestler” and Pitt — who also was nominated in the supporting-actor category for the Coen brothers’ spy comedy “Burn After Reading.”

Batman thriller “The Dark Knight” received nine nods, including a best supporting actor nomination for the late Heath Ledger.

Clint Eastwood’s L.A. noir “Changeling” is nominated in eight categories, including best director, while political drama “Frost/Nixon” has six nominations including best actor for Frank Langella and best director for Ron Howard.

In addition to “Slumdog” and “Benjamin Button,” the best-picture contenders are “Frost/Nixon,” inspirational biopic “Milk” and Nazi-themed drama “The Reader.”

In the separate category of best British film, the nominees are “Slumdog,” ABBA musical “Mamma Mia!” hit-man comedy “In Bruges,” Irish hunger-striker drama “Hunger” and tightrope-walking documentary “Man on Wire.”

One thing to note – there are a lot of duplicates from the Golden Globes. But that is to be expected. The BAFTA winners will be announced on February 8 at the Royal Opera House in London. You can also visit the web site for more information.

Best Movies Of 2008

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Year in and year out, when December comes and January is just around the corner, we see all sorts of lists. Countdowns, best games, best songs, best TV shows, and of course, best movies. Naturally, every agency, person, and web site has his own “best list.” Which to believe? I’d say go ahead and make your own best movies of 2008 list!

If you’re too lazy to do that on your own and you need some help, though, here is one very interesting list from a reputable source – CNN International’s list. I wouldn’t be surprised if you find some of your favorite movies of this year on this list.

1. The Dark Knight
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Hunger
4. Wall-E
5. Leonera
6. Gomorrah
7. Waltz with Bashir
8. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
9. W.
10. Elite Squad
11. The Good, The Bad, The Weird
12. Il Divo
13. Cloverfield
14. The Wrestler
15. Happy Go Lucky
16. Linha De Passe
17. Man on Wire

I think that the beauty of this list is that it includes more than American movies. Truth be told, a large number of people are limited to what Hollywood churns out year after year. There are, however, countless other excellent films to be seen and experienced, which are created by people from the international scene. Perhaps it is time for you to try and see what they are about; expand your horizons so to speak? This list is a good place to start.

Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow – Review

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Naruto Movie 1

There’s one word that best describes Japanese cartoons such as “Naruto”, and that word is “filler”. Lots and lots of filler. The type of television show that takes twenty episodes worth of plot and stretches in out to fit one hundred. Shows like “Dragonball Z”, “Inu Yasha”, “One Piece” and “Bleach”. I recognize why they employ these tactics (the shows are made concurrently with the comics but have to keep from catching up with the source material, which often times leads to entire fifty episode story arcs of pure, meaningless filler), but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Thankfully, they also make movies. Much like the “Dragonball Z” movies I review so frequently for this website, “Naruto the Movie” cuts the crap and gets right to the point. It takes everything that’s decent about the show and leaves behind much of what makes it impossible for me to watch. But is it still any good?

For those who don’t keep up with the show, Naruto Uzumaki (Maile Flanagan) is an obnoxious ninja boy with a nine-tailed demon residing within his body, which gives him incredible power. He is a member of Team 7, a group of young ninjas consisting of the quiet loner stereotype, Sasuke (Yuri Lowenthal), the brain-dead pink haired generic anime girl, Sakura (Kate Higgins), and their leader, the enigmatic adult ninja, Kakashi (Dave Wittenberg). Team 7 is given the mission of escorting the stuck-up actress Fujikaze Yukie and her film crew to the Snow Country. However, along the way they discover that Yukie is actually the deposed Princess of the Snow Country, Princess Koyuki Kazehana. Team 7’s job meets with complications when they are attacked by a band of rogue ninjas, lead by Doto Kazehana, who wants Yukie’s necklace as it is in fact the key to the Snow Country’s greatest treasure.

Alright, so it should be fairly obvious that I’m not the biggest “Naruto” fan in the world. So then, why did I go see this movie for it’s extremely limited (one night, one showing, in select theaters only) theatrical release? Because America doesn’t make cel-animated movies anymore. Or, we don’t release them theatrically, anyway. As a matter of fact, the last cel-animated cartoon I saw in theaters was the “Full Metal Alchemist” movie…and I saw that when I was visiting Kyoto in 2005. I basically just wanted to see a cartoon on the big screen that wasn’t CGI. It really could’ve been anything.

Still, like I said earlier, this movie leaves behind most of the things I hate about the TV series and was actually rather enjoyable. The various batshit-crazy ninja moves that characters execute in battle are a trip and remain very creative and visually entertaining. They employ them in lots of inventive ways that actually surprise the audience (I never see that damn substitution-jutsu coming no matter how many times they pull it). The story’s no great shakes, pulling quite a few ideas from the much-superior “Castle of Cagliostro”, even going so far as to have a predictable “the REAL treasure of the country is blah blah blah, which the villain could NEVER have!” trite ending. Yet, they tell the story in the span of 113 minutes instead of 113 episodes, so it has that advantage over the TV series.

The animation is also pretty good. I mean, you can tell the budget wasn’t cosmic or anything, as the animation is only a bit better than the TV show’s, but it’s still very technically sound and the fight scenes are pure eye candy. A lot of “Naruto” fans express loathing for the English dub of the show, but I’ve never really found it all that bad. Well, save for that ”Believe It!” thing, but thankfully they keep that to a minimum.

Now for the stuff I hate. I hate most of the characters. That’s right, even Sasuke. The cast is basically made up of every shallow anime character template you can think of. I think Sakura is my least favorite, as the extent of her personality is “I love Sasuke, TEE HEE!” Naruto’s brand of obnoxious buffoonery can actually be endearing at times. I found the scene where Yukie maces him in the face and buries him under a pile of logs to be pretty funny. I suppose if I had to like one character, it would be Kakashi. He seems to be aware that every other character in the show is annoying as all Hell.

So did I like the movie? Eh, not really. But I’m not a “Naruto” fan, so it really wasn’t geared for me. I did enjoy seeing a well-produced cel-animated feature film on the big screen, so it wasn’t a total loss. “Naruto” fans are sure to enjoy it, and since they’re the target audience, I guess the film achieved its goal.

Grade: C

Super Mario Bros.: the Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach – Review

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Super Mario Bros anime

Believe it or not, back in the “good ole days”, America wasn’t the only country coming out with cartoons based on Nintendo’s iconic Super Mario Bros. In 1986, Grouper Productions (the same people who brought us Hello Kitty and her extended cast) came out with this OVA film which loosely adapts the storyline of the first Super Mario Bros. video game for the NES. Video cassettes of this anime can be rather hard to come by, and those that show up on Japanese auction sites can go for several hundred dollars. But god bless the internet: I watched it for free!

So, how was it?

Well, the premise is the same, though the story diverges in some key ways. Mario and Luigi are two brothers who own and operate a grocery store in (what appears to be) California. One day, while staying up late playing his NES, Mario is surprised when a beautiful Princess named Peach jumps out of his television and begs for his protection. She is immediately followed by the monstrous turtle-dragon, King Koopa, who effortlessly tosses Mario aside and kidnaps the Princess. The next morning, Luigi is skeptical of Mario’s story until a bizarre caterpillar-dog-thing enters their store and steals the locket Peach left behind. The Mario Bros chase it down a pipe and wind up in the strange world of the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon arrival, a mystical Mushroom Hermit charges them with the task of saving the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa’s tyranny and rescuing Princess Peach!

While some differences are immediately noticeable, the basic story is for all intents and purposes intact. Some changes are rather wacky, though. For instance, Luigi wears yellow and blue as opposed to his green and blue duds, and rather than act like a craven coward like he does in the games and in the American cartoons, he is instead a greedy sunuvabich. Good thing for him he winds up in a world where all you have to do is smash a rock open and gold coins fall out. Then there’s King Koopa. He’s much less sinister in this anime than in the US cartoons or even the more recent video games. His voice is rather whiney and high pitched (as opposed to the growly dragon voice we’re used to) and he’s kind of annoying. Probably the most perplexing change is that the character known as Toad in the US, along with all the other Mushroom Retainers, are girls. Noodle that one.

As far as the story goes, the OVA is aimed at kids rather unashamedly. It’s cute and funny, but only a little bit so. Some of the gags will have you smiling, but it’s a kid’s flick through and through, so don’t expect any “laugh out loud” moments. It probably could have been dubbed by the Super Mario Bros. Super Show cast and brought over to the US and fit in perfectly. As far as the animation goes, it’s no great shakes. It’s pleasant and not riddled with errors, but it isn’t what I’d call “visually stimulating”. It’s pretty much on par with all of Grouper’s Sanrio/Hello Kitty stuff.

I don’t mind it being a kid’s movie. I like kid’s movies. So that’s not what bugged me. No, what irked me was the over-the-top, “you’ve gotta be kidding me” product placement done throughout the film. At random instances, Mario with hit a block and Super Mario Brand Ramen will pop out and he’ll eat it and talk about how delicious it is. They even interrupt the final battle with King Koopa to hurl in some product placement. It’s rather annoying.

Overall, it’s a fun piece of obscure Mario media that’s worth watching, but not worth the insane prices it goes for online. Just about everything from the first Mario game is represented, from Lakitu and Spiney’s Eggs to the Hammer Bros. There’s even a nice twist ending that kind of breaks your heart (or Mario’s, at least). And fans of Super Mario 64 will instantly recognize the inspiration for the King Koopa boss battle from the climax of this film. But anyway, this OVA is only going to appeal to the hardcore Mario fans out there, and its limited availability doesn’t make it very accessible to a casual audience.

Grade: C+

And because I couldn’t find any other place to mention this, there’s a scene where Mario kills a Buzzy Beetle with a fireball. You can’t do that!