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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Run, Jesus! Run!

A flash game that's completely ridiculous, but that's why I love it:
Run Jesus Run

It does give you a crash course on the New Testament...

Monday, March 29, 2010

KICK-ASS

I went in expecting something close to Wanted (which I dug the hell out of).
I was glad I was wrong.

While KICK-ASS (I only can write this with capitals, I'm afraid) does carry the same strain of irreverance and anarchy Wanted did (both were originally written by the same person after all), it also manages to be a sort of bastard son of Watchmen & Spiderman.
We're talking a cross between 2 of the best super hero movies ever made, with the energy of one the the best actionner that Holywood produced in recent memory.
If that doesn't give you the picture, nothing will.

The concept only is genius: to make a comic book movie, so set in a comic book environment, but give the leading role to Peter Parker's "normal" friend. So you're not in the real world, but it gives that more edge, as the guy could be anyone.

Any genius concept wouldn't work without a great character to root for. KICK-ASS doesn't have 1, but 3. Big Daddy & Hit Girl will most definitely stay in all memories as the cutest yet deadliest father-daughter team.
Nicolas Cage is just awesome in this. He makes us believe in this deeply loving father who does shoot his daughter in the chest to show her how it feels. And I just loved what he did when he talks as Big Daddy. Completely iconic.
Hit Girl is just so sweet, even when she slices peoples limbs off.
2 characters like that could steal a movie. Yet the emphasis stays on Dave, the main character. Aaron Johnson is again perfect here, as just the "standard" teenager who decides to try and make a difference in his own way. Anyone who has been teen in the last 20 years could identify to him. I certainly would. It's a movie that brings the super-hero fantasy one step closer to the average joe...
They're all nuts, yet so likeable, you just have to root for them.

And because of the "realisticish" setting and the hardboiled nature of the story, you just fear something will happen to them so you just root even more for them.
Even more so because Mark Strong composes a very fearsome baddy to face them...

In the director's chair, Matthew Vaughn delivers like I would never had dreamed he would.
He manages to be gritty yet colorful, mastefully shifts the tone (even the incrusions into teen comedy are a joy) and give us some incredible action sequences.
The movie just moves from memorable moment to memorable moment. Hit-Girl's kung fu antics, a brilliant tracking shot reminiscent of Old Boy, the best in-the-dark-shoot-out since Equilibrium, a back story told in comic book... The list goes on.

It's a wonder that it ever got done and it's another credit to give Vaughn that he originally financed it on his own.
In fine, he single-handledly delivered one of the best comic book movies ever made and a revigorating breeze on the genre.
For that I'm forever thankful to him.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Alice In Wonderland.

When it was announced, teaming up Lewis Caroll & Tim Burton seemed like a match made in heaven. I just couldn't wait to see what this could give and there was no doubt it would nothing short of amazing.

Then as a few first reviews came out, wildly negative, I was stunned. What could have gone wrong? Could Tim Burton waste such an opportunity?
So I went in slightly worried, but with an open mind. After all, I've pretty much liked anything he did (Planets Of The Apes was a low, but still enjoyable), especially his latest Charlie & The Chocolate Factory & Sweeney Todd.

So is it the disaster the critics announced?
No.
Yet, it didn't entirely work for me either.

There is a lot of stuff here that I really loved.
Visually speaking, it's a pure delight. Burton's Underland manages to really blend Burton's visuals with what you would expect from Alice's Wonderland.
It's happening 10years on so the world is kind of derelict and has a darker side, which works perfectly. No character has the same size or proportions and it all fit together seamlessly.
And for someone who says that he doens't know how to film action scenes, I thought he did a fine job on the final battle...

I liked a lot of ideas brought to the world due to the fact that Alice is older, especially her ambiguous relationship with the Mad Hatter.

Speaking of which, the characters, also, are brilliant. My heart goes to the Cheshire Cat (voiced by Stephen Fry), all feline grace and vaporous apparitions. But Helena Bonham-Carter's red Queen is also superb, as is Anne Hathaway's White Queen (I really like her way to really go over the top in how the character is gracious, yet has this calculating way of having people do what shes wants). Not mentionning Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter. And then there's also Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman... What a cast...
The designs of the red Queen's soldiers were also a highlight for me. Generally the production design was incredible.

So what went wrong then?
Well if I have to blame something, I'd say the story.
For starters, it didn't feel like it flowed very well throughout. Motivations of the characters weren't quite evident to me and I could see sort of shortcuts that didn't feel quite logical.
I'm not one for over-thinking movies, I usually take what the director gives me, but this did prevent me from fully getting into it. More like, I would be sucked in, but something would throw me out from time to time.

Also, the end for me was way too over the top. It felt rushed and clicheed. It's not all bad, there are good ideas, but I just didn't feel it was introduced well enough for me to buy into it...
There's nothing worse than leaving the theatre on a bad impression...

So it's far from a disaster, there's a lot to like here and any one who says that Burton wasn't inspired here would be clearly out of his mind, given the amazing visuals. But I can't help to think it would have been so much better with a better script.
I'll try and watching it again someday to give it another chance...

Friday, March 19, 2010

Shutter Island

Well I'll make it short here, because discussing this movie without spoiling anything is way too tricky and to spoil anything would be just unforgiveable.

At least can it be said that Scorcese delivers a masterclass in storytelling, on how to slowly but surely capture the audience in order not only to make it believe anything, but also to make it physically go through what the main character does...
The cast supporting this is wonderful and DiCaprio shows once more that he's definitely more than the good-looking guy from Titanic.

And the result is a beautiful magic trick.
You have to be able to stomach it, as the pathos is quite strong. But I found that what stayed with me was the pleasure of having been tricked and working out how all the pieces of the puzzle brilliantly fit together.

It's always an honor to see a master at work...

The Hurt Locker.

It came out last summer and I missed it at the time but thanks to its epic Oscar win, it was rereleased so I finally managed to catch Kathryn Bigelow's latest.

I remember that I went to see Black Hawk Down a few years ago and it had very good reviews saying that Ridley Scott had filmed war unlike anyone before. I completely hated that movie, so I guess that made the cinematography less impressive than it probably was, but I thought that treating the Somalis like nothing more than waves of aliens was utterly shocking. When the subject is "proper" war, I just expect more substance, more gravita. Real people are killed, it's not to be taken lightly.

The Hurt Locker does the exact opposite. Firmly anchored on its characters, depicting how each copes (or doesn't) with the stress of war. No heroism, or faked manly friendship (they're all on a job), as you often see. That makes it very unusual in this genre and almost "un-hollywoodian", which makes the flurry of Oscars not only more surprising but also more satisfying.

And here, Bigelow DOES film the war like no one before. Close to the action, making you feel right there, almost experiencing the rush, the paranoia. It is an incredibly tense movie.
There are no big battles, but still the "action" scenes will be worth your while, most notably an incredible sniper exchange. But none of this is glorified, always grounded in reality.
It could almost feel like a documentary actually.

What's striking as well is how the movie manages to define characters exactly in just a few frames. It is quite surprising that Guy Pearce, David Morse & Ralph Fiennes only really have a scene each. But just in that time, their characters exist and matter to the rest. Not a lot of movies can do that.

With the same subtelty, you also get a picture of the more global context, the situation of the locals, despite the fact that all is told through the soldier's perspective. And you're left with a lot of questions to ponder.
But on the other hand, with the chaos described here, how could people not turn mad?

It echoes a bit with Jarhead, although they explore very different themes (Jarhead deals more with the "dehumanising" process that turns people into soldiers, while Hurt Locker is more about their day to day life). A lot might be down to the identical setting.

But as war movies go, this one is a must. On every count.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Metroid Prime Trilogy.

I managed not to know anything about the Metroid Prime series before getting this compilation.
To be honest I was really skeptical at first. I was a fan of Super Metroid and although the universe is great, I was fed up at the time of this habit to turn everything into an FPS. Did Metroid need that? Certainly not.

Yet given the raving reviews, the lack of a good FPS in my game collection and the fact this package was offering 3 games for the price of one, I just took my chances.
I'm glad I did.

Without any hesitation, I will say that Metroid Prime had the same effect on me as Maroi 64 did: it takes everything the previous entries that defined them and adapted them with a 3rd dimension thus adding value and creating something different and equally great.
The 1st brilliant thing in Prime is the level of immersion.
In any other FPS, you see through the eyes of the main character, yet you have various information (life, ammo, etc) that get in your view. No one usually sees that. Here it's completely justified: you're in a suit of armor! Every piece of data, menu becomes part of what you would see if you were actualy in Samus shoes. I think it's an incredible plus to the whole atmosphere of the game.

That also introduces the concept of visors. As you progress through the game, you can change the way you see the world. seeing in IR for example. Not only does it add a great depth to the various puzzles you encounter (you have to question what you percieve), it's also insanely cool.

The next great thing is that it's not a FPS. The Metroid games are not about shooting things. They're about exploring a world. And that, thankfully, is what Prime's about. That's what saves it to become part of the endless flow of standard FPS you see nowadays. The environments are big, but small enough so you can learn your way around it. You can spot areas where you know you will have to come back with a better equipment. It's a great drive. And since all environments are very well designed, it's a pleasure to backtrack and search every areas, listening for that hum that informs you a power up is close by.

The equipment progression is also great. Every new piece of equipment brings new possibilities and it leads you to which area you should go next. Silent storytelling. Very clever. Although the previous entries did that already, this is a token to how this evolutions stays true to its roots.

Last, but not least, the numerous boss fights are all brilliant, always challengng you to use all your equipment to the full, switching weapons, visors, all the while doging, jumping, etc, which the gameplay allows you to do very easily.
I found the difficulty very appropriate, being permissive enough so you don't die all the time, yet fights can usually get you just that close to death so you're always on your toes.

And then you finish this 1st Metroid Prime and think "oh gosh it'll be the same again in the 2nd one, same weapons, isn't that going to be a bit boring?". No it won't. Of course, you will get missiles, the morph ball, the charge beam. But you get enough twists that it all feels fresh. And by having a parallel dimension where the atmosphere is toxic so you lose health continually, Metroid Prime Echoes dramatically shifts the challenges. That and it enhances the graphics substantially. I thought Prime was already beautiful (for a game that's over 5 years old), but Echoes blows it out of the water.

And then you finish Echoes and Corruption awaits! And it's even better visually!
I only have started this one, but I'm expecting great things, still in Samus' shoes...

Thinking that Metroid: Other M is due for release this year and will bring yet another take on this unoiverse...
That's how any franchise should be handled...

Micmacs a tire-larigot

Jeunet's latest is a very good movie.

There is a lot to like in here, especially for fans of his style.
It's beautiful to look at, it's bursting with clever ideas in the way it's filmed, the actors are all excellent, with a very diverse cast involving the old guard (Dussolier, Marielle), Jeunet's usual (Dominique Pinon, for example) and newcomers.
Jeunet's film also have a very specific atmosphere which I find has a lot of charm.
And it's funny.
So it's an extremely well crafted movie, perfectly enjoyable.

There's a small hitch though.
It's strange, but although I did enjoy it very much, somehow, I expected more from the maker of City Of Lost CHildren, Delicatessen & Amelie Poulain...
It's something that says that Jeunet's been freewheeling here and that, should he have pushed just a bit more (the script maybe?), we'd have had something much much more substantial.
The self references (to Delicatessen & itself), for example, are funny yet they seem a bit too easy...
It's a weird feeling.

But in the end, it didn't spoil it for me, as a "minor" Jeunet is still miles away from the usual standard... :)
I just hope he'll get the chance to do something "bigger" next time.