MSU Japanese Club Presents EIGA SOSHINGEKI: MSU S.O.S.!!

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Movie Review Part IV

Spider-Man (2002) "B"
Wow. Spider-Man. On the big screen.
Epic. Spider-Man, along with X-Men sort
of set the tone that other Marvel films would
take. Campy to a degree. But full of life and
action. Plus we have the Great Sam Raimi
coming on.





Spider-Man 2 (2004) "B+"
Spidey is back. And is it better? Well story
and structure wise I prefer Spider-Man the
first, but Raimi is definitely the master here.
Doc Ock is handled brilliantly, and the film
ends on a great note. Danny Elfman delivers
an even more powerful theme for the villain
than before.



The Black Hole (1979) "C-"
I hate this film. It was terrible. Well
some of the model work is great as
is John Barry's score. But damn. Everything
else is a waste of time. Stay away from
this film, or your mind will be sucked
into the Black Hole that is this film.



Monsters vs Aliens (2009) 'B"
Initially I was excited by the prospect of
what this film could be. Trailers seemed
lame however. Glad I was wrong. Rogen
makes most of the movie, as do the
bizarre scifi film references. It's also
fun to see people step out of their
usual roles.


The Dark Knight (2008) "A"
Not much to say that hasn't been
said. Except that Bale kills what
could have been a perfect film.
Such a damn good film. Super
heroes are changed forever. But
can they do it a third time?

$quid.

This is being adapted into a full length film.
Awesome.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Why did they do this to you
Cobra Commander, you done look
retarded.


:(

Movie Reviews Part III

Aliens "A-"
While most certainly an adequate sequel
it does seem a little sloppy compared to Ridley
Scott's original masterpiece. Though Cameron
brings a lot of energy and fun to the franchise
that is welcome.



Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back "A"
THE BEST STAR WARS FOILM EVAR.
Best script. Best design. Best score.
Everything flows so well in this movie that
I can't even begin to describe it all. Just
know that this is one of the greatest sequels
of all time.


Push "C+"
Mediocre. It's not all that bad, it's just
so many people have done this all
before. Good effort guys, it just
should've had a little more. Fun
for a rental I'm sure.



Dune "B-"
Good lord David Lynch what has you
done to mah Frank Herbert. It's a fun
and campy and very ridiculous film.
Definitely worth taking a look if you
like 80s scifi cinema.


Mars Attacks "B"
AWESOME MOVIE! The
most disturbing thing I had ever seen
at that age. It still disturbs me but
now I understand and appreciate the
parody all the more.

Movie Reviews Part II

Some of these I've seen for the first time (mainly those that have been released this
year) the rest are just sort of thoughts on films I've rewatched.




Watchmen "A"
While extremely faithful the film
seems a little less polished than
the masterwork that is the Dark Knight.
An extended cut will probably help
to put the two neck and neck.




Alien "A"
Ridley Scott's best film, along with
Blade Runner. He took a genre and idea that
was so simplistic and made it one of the
most amazing creature flicks ever. This
movie should be seen by everyone though
most of it has been spoiled by
pop culture.


Religulous "B"
Just bought this on DVD and Bill Maher's look
at religion. It's entertaining as well as
humorous. There are a few parts where I wish
they would have delved deeper, but overall
a decent documentary.


Race to Witch Mountain "B-"
Children's films seem to be the best this year can
cough up with the exception of Watchmen.
This is a decent follow up to the original.
A little more effects heavy and surprisingly
brutal for a children's movie. It's
a fun way to spend an evening, and the Rock
isn't that annoying.


Austin Powers in Goldmember "B"
I hadn't watched this film in quite a while.
Though I dislike the brotherly connection made
towards the end I still felt it ended the series
on a rather high note. It's funny, and filled with
all the bizarre characters Myers has created
for the franchise. Solid Gold.

Marvel Film Release Dates

Marvel released revised release dates for
some of their upcoming films.

Iron Man 2 on May 7th, 2010
Spider-Man 4 on May 6th, 2011
Thor on June 17th, 2011
The First Avenger: Captain America on July 22nd, 2011
The Avengers May 5th, 2012

And of course X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes out May 1st of this year.

Watchmen. It's pretty epic.

Ah, Watchmen, It's taken forever, but it is here. It is here
and it demands us. It demands our gaze, our minds, and
our hearts. Is it the masterpiece it should have been? No,
but it's pretty damn close. Take heart in knowing that
an extended edition is on the way which may make the
film even better.

Story. Goddamn. What a story. While things have been
cut, and things have been replaced there still exists
a great take on the superhero genre. The means of the
finale is changed, but the effect is the same. The story, like
the production values are generally flawless.

The look of the film is one of its greatest strengths. The
costumes, sets, and all of the spectacles throughout the
film are flawless. Manhattan looks great, and certain scenes
are amongst the greatest in film history. (The Apocalypse Dream
and the building of the Castle on Mars)

The weaker aspects? Well Snyder drops the ball on some shots
primarily by either expanding too much on a scene or coming
up with a new camera angle. The new camera angle replacing
what is the original look from the Graphic Novel. Acting is alright
but I disliked a lot of the stuff from the Nixon actor and Silk Spectre I.

What was there that I disliked? Some of the music used was
ridiculous (99 Luft Balloons didn't fit in that well.) To be honest
I think it would have been fine to just have used the score
by Bates. I hate that Hollis Mason's death is removed, and that
we don't get to know the citizens of New York. Luckily we have
an extended cut coming out so the movie can improve upon what
is already an epic time at the movies.

The ending. It's changed and it doesn't bother me. But I
hated how the "NEW ENERGY! ZOMG" thing was stuffed
down our throats. The squid had more subtlety within the
comic. I did hate how everything just explodes. Explosions
are less horrific than a street filled with bodies and blood as
in the GN. Those panels are wonderful, and It's sad to see
them gone here.

My biggest concern was, well is the Dark Knight better?
Honestly? I'm not sure. Both are neck and neck. Right now
TDK is marginally better than Watchmen. Watchmen has
the advantage of a recut version being released later. So
who knows? Regardless Watchmen is one of these films
which anybody who considers themselves a geek must
watch at least once.


Pros-
Adapts the story fairly faithfully
Main players do a great job with the characters
Stylish and violent
Beautiful production design
Bates' score surprised me

Cons-
Cutting of Certain material
Some acting slip ups
Pacing Issues (too much too quick)
Some strange song choices.


I have much more to say on this film. But for now
I am running on 3 hours of sleep. I was 19 when I saw
Watchmen, and 20 by the end of this review. I would
give Watchmen an A.

Watchmen Has Already Set a Record

Warner Bros. Pictures' Watchmen has set its first record before even opening - its 3,611 theater count will be the most ever for an R-rated film.

Also, the Zack Snyder-directed graphic novel adaptation will play in an impressive 1,600 locations starting at midnight Thursday. That's substantially more than the 656 midnight shows that helped Snyder's 300 earn $28 million in only the first day of its $71 million opening weekend in March 2007.

The first-day haul for 300 was the second-highest ever for an R-rated film, after the $42.5 million tally that Warners registered with 2003's The Matrix Reloaded. The previous widest release for an R-rated movie was the distributor's 3,603-theater bow for "Reloaded."

The Watchmen theater count includes 124 engagements in IMAX which all will have midnight shows.

ROTF Leader Class Optimus Prime

ZOHMAHGAWD
This toy will be amazing.
The leader classes all look
like win to me. But this
is awesome.

Transformers Trek

I'm slowly becoming a sort of semi-trekkie
and I'm also a very big fan of the latest out
ing in the Transformers meta-series. Trans
formers animated features a crew that reminds
me a great deal of some of the great charac
ters from Star Trek.

Prime - Kirk.
While Prime has too much of Primal in him
to be completely Kirk-ish. He does have that
improv based command that makes Kirk
so recognizable. He also gets the girl...sort
of.

Bumblebee - Sulu/Chekov
While more like Chekov in his bizarre and
often obnoxious humor. Bumblebee is still
as adventurous as Sulu. This was one of the
easier comparisons.

Prowl - Spock
Prowl functions on very little emotion, and
often great wisdom. Prowl also has under
his command a great deal of interesting
ninja techniques to make up for Spock's
Vulcan abilities.

Buklhead- Scott
Well, he's kind of like the Prime/Kirk
connection. It's there, but I'm stretching
it. Bulkhead, like Scotty, is an engineer
and take great pride in his knowledge.
Bulkhead does so only towards the end
of Season 2 when we find out he does
know a lot about Space Bridges.

Ratchet - Bones
Oh come on. A cranky ole' doctor?
Though there's a lot of Kup in him,
Ratchet totally reminds me of McCoy
right down to the sagging eyes.

Watching The Watchmen

Watching The Watchmen

Episode 1: Silk Spectre II and Dr. Manhatten


Episode 2: Night Owl II and Rorschach


Episode 3: The Comedian and Ozymandias


Episode 4: Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons



Is anyone else extremely
excited for this film?
ZOHMAGAWD