ICE AGE 4 Continental Drift, and Pixar's Brave.

Well yesterday I plugged my brain on the back seat of the Wizmobile, and took Mrs W and Master W to the pictures for our family outing, the weather was proving unpredictable, and I wanted to try out our son with a Reel D presentation as I kinda figured the light plastic frames would be more child friendly than the more heavier Dolby Digital 3d glasses.
Well my experiment was a success, my son having kept his glasses on for the duration of the film  which was ICE AGE 4 Continental Drift.
Now right off the bat lets be honest, ICE AGE as a movie franchise, is not going to win any Oscars for best screenplay, like a tv show it is a series of films that invites you to join a familiar cast of characters, and a few new members to the franchise on a series of escapades, playing fast and loose with history. Ice Age 4 as the title tells you, takes place during the continental drift, which is an excuse to separate our friends from the loved ones and for them to spend the next 90 minutes reuniting with each other.
     The last episode introduced us to Bucky as voiced by Simon Pegg and this time, we are introduced to a villainous band of pirates led by an ape, voiced, well I'll let you guess who but Game of Thrones fans will be pleasantly surprised.
      The story is only a frame work for a series of sketches and outlandish action sequences, but you know these films are critic proof because they are there to entertain the youngsters, and to be honest I kinda loved it. I know going in to these films what to expect, and every time I come away with a smile, having enjoyed the experience. This is a family film that delivers, I enjoyed it a lot more than the Lorax, and a hell of a lot more that the Alvin films and my 4 year old was suitably entertained and didn't move till the end credits. Though that might be due to the excessive amount of sweets he had consumed during the presentation.



Today I took my good wife to see the latest Pixar movie Brave, a Scottish tale about the conflict between a mother and daughter, a well paced, beautifully animated and colourfully told with a wonderful Scottish voice cast. I loved this film. Now I know some trusted critics have described it as a Pixar lesser work, I strongly disagree, I do feel it delivers for an older audience which is why we didn't take our 4 year old. By older I mean more your 7 years and upwards, just because its a little more talkie than your usual pixar fair. If I was to group this with other Pixar films I enjoy then this would be up there with the Incredible's and Ratatouille. Now I would break down the story for you, but that would be spoiling it  , this is a film you need to discover for yourself. But I enjoyed it ,Pixar still has it, and this film delivers. I guess in simple terms critics can have their opinion but this is one film that really invites you to decide for yourself.

Birthdays, the Lighthouse and Blu Rays

Well its been a wicked fortnight spent on the one hand celebrating birthdays and on the other battling the stomach bug from hell. Now I would be a lier if I even attempted to claim that this had curtailed my cinema going. It didn't, simple truth of the matter is Rock of Ages was the only new film in town, and to be quite honest it didn't really appeal. But last Saturday was spent celebrating my sons 4th birthday and Thursday my own 46th. 

   Well if you have been a follower of my blog you will know that Birthdays in our household mean a visit to Amazon.co. UK , a time when my wife unleashes the Visa card and sets me loose. As you well know when placed in this intolerable situation I tend towards a mix of the old and the new in the blu ray selection process. So this years official Mark's birthday selection is as follows.

1. The Yellow Submarine, if there is one other love outside of cinema, then it would be for the music of the Beatles. As a young kid in the 70's they were something I grew up with, and became a part of my make up. The Yellow Submarine to a kid brought up on Disney is like a shot of adrenaline , very much a product of its time, and yet timeless due to its wonderful stylistic choices. I already have the DVD but I now have the 4K blu ray restoration. It was the one film I did watch on my birthday and Its never looked better.
2. Transformers 3 The Dark side of the moon. Purchased to show off my 3D set up and because I actually enjoyed this third effort. 
3. X Men complete collection, it was on special and as it had X Men First class and for this reason it jumped to the top of my order along with
4. The Jurassic Park Collection, Spielberg, Dinosaurs, what more can I say. Its not Jaws but that Blu ray is out soon so this will help the wait.
5. Despicable Me 3D what can I say, I love this animated marvel, and its one I can share with my son.
6. The Italian Job, this is the original and in my eyes greatest version. Michael Caine, Benny Hill, Cool Britannia and a brilliant Quincy Jones soundtrack. I've yet to see the Blu Ray but its one I cant wait to hold in my hands and put into the player.

So although my blog has been quiet, my film watching hasn't been. I was even taken aback by the Blu Ray of Highlander which I had been led to believe was barely better than the DVD version. ( Its a lot better, it shows its age, but I was pleasantly surprised). 

    

     But normal service is about to resume, later today I will be taking the family to our local Lighthouse cinema to see Ice Age 4 and then tomorrow I will be taking my wife to see Brave. We would have taken my son but reviews have led me to believe that it might be for a slightly older audience. So watch this space. Also in the next week or so we will have Spiderman and the Darknight films to look forward too.

      But tonight I have something else to look forward too. Rialto film channel is showing Kill List the Ben Wheatly movie which I have been waiting to see for nearly 12 months to see. It didnt get distributed in Wellington so this is my first chance to see it and I'm pretty excited so I might expect my views in the next roundup I post.

Catch up Men in Black 3 and Prometheus

Well since my last review I've found myself soaking up film news, mainly the Hobbit announcements, the most important of which being the plans for its premier in Wellington. Buzz words abound, 48 fps etc and I'm praying for this to cap my year. I'm not a Tolkien fan per se, I would never win a pub quiz, but I am a Jackson fan, I worship Weta's wonderful work  and I've found myself looking across towards Mirimar's Shelly Bay, as signs of film making activity could clearly be seen from my office Window.

But I did manage to catch one good movie, I enjoyed Men In Black 3 it was everything Men in Black 2 wasn't, Will Smith brought his A game and Josh Brolin was amazing in his portrayal of Agent K. I loved it, for being the surprise that it was, for its sense of fun and for the Time travel .

Prometheus mmm now I will be working up to a proper review but for now I will just give my initial thoughts. This deserved to be so much better than the cinematic mess that has emerged. I have never seen or heard such piss poor characterisation. Scott is still a striking visual stylist, and the special effects work is amazing, I'm an Alien fan but I will be quite clear, I wasn't seeing this as a prequel, I accepted Scott's promises that this was a different story, with a different DNA. But no matter how good the effects, or idea's on display, the creature design work was piss poor. When you embrace certain design elements from the Alien franchise , you had better deliver with the creatures. I'm not talking about xemorphs, but the basic DNA template that is one of the major threads of this tale. New creatures , hell yeah but knowing Weta brought them to life is all well and good but elements made me think of Jackson's Kong and in particular the pit, and hell guys those creations were more terrifying than anything in this film.
    I was also disappointed with the whole mankind meets his creator theme, as this was weakest area of the film the scripting not being up to the ideas being pushed. But what really grated was some very basic, piss poor characterisation.

    I didn't want alien, I read the reviews, I wanted something new, a new kind of terror, and I didnt get it. This film was neither terrifying or thought provoking, But elements I did like, the set design, the use of 3D and the fantastic opening which was both beautiful, violent and disturbing atone missing from the rest of the film.

Even now , my head is turning over the missed opportunities, and gaps, there are no real plot holes though it is a criticism I have read a lot in the last three days. It just doesn't explain anything, and you know sometimes, the horror is in the idea when fully explained.