Movies

So I've seen some of the movies that have been coming out in the last several months. Some, but not all the ones I'd like to see. I still haven't seen the third Hobbit film, which is possibly the one I wanted to see the most, but oh well.

I did see Interstellar. That was amazing. The soundtrack was really well done, different from what Hans Zimmer had done before, but fit the film excellently. If you are a fan of science-fiction, or Christopher Nolan, please go see this movie. Nolan is my favorite director, and SF is probably my favorite genre, so to see the two finally united was wonderful.

I also saw Fury. Initially when I first heard about it coming out, I thought "we don't need another WW2 movie, besides, it's probably just Brad Pitt doing the thing from Inglorious Basterds." I was wrong. Pitt's character was quite different, and he did a great job. In fact, all of the acting was great, including what was probably Shia LaBeouf's best work on screen to date. Don't let the fact that he's in it turn you off from this film. I'm no WW2 history expert, but I've heard they paid a lot of attention to historical accuracy in this film. It certainly felt real, and I would agree with the quote on the box that it was "the best war film since Saving Private Ryan." But I don't want to over-hype it, either. It's kind of a smaller scale than that film, taking place after D-Day in the final days of the war. I won't say anything else, as I like to know as little about a movie as possible going into it. I usually try to avoid seeing trailers these days for that reason, but it also means that seeing movies is more of a gamble, so I see fewer films than I used to.

Gone Girl lived up to the hype, in my opinion. I didn't read the book, but the film was excellent. I didn't see a trailer, I just knew that it was directed by David Fincher and that was enough for me. You could definitely feel the Zodiac vibe at times, since it involved police investigation. Again, I won't say any more as especially this film is one you want to be surprised by. Try to avoid any spoilers! Don't even read the back of the box! Features great performances by two actors far out of their genre: Neil Patrick Harris, and surprisingly, Tyler Perry.

In February, I saw Kingsman. I wasn't really interested in this one at all based on the trailer I had happened to see, as it sort of felt like a college-aged Spy Kids. However, my roommates were going out to see it, and I figured, "why not." It ended up being a lot different than I expected. It was definitely rated R, which from the trailer I had guessed it was maybe PG-13. It was somewhat gratuitous, in fact, and reminded me of both of the Kick-Ass films. It turns out, Kingsman was directed by Matthew Vaughn, the director of the first Kick-Ass. Anyway, it ended up being a mostly pleasant surprise. The film took some unexpected turns, and had some pretty crazy fight scenes. It was fun to see Samuel L. Jackson in a different sort of role (comedic villain), and Mark Hamill on screen for the first time in who knows how long in a minor role.

Last night, I saw Nightcrawler, which I had been wanting to watch for a while. I ended up not liking it quite as much as I thought I would, but I believe that is down to two factors: I expected a lot going in, and the protagonist wasn't that likeable. That aside, it was still a very well-made film, and covered a niche subject that isn't often done (the life of an independent news cameraman, bending the rules to increase profitability). It's definitely a good film with some good performances, and I give it bonus points for its uniquness. Features an avant-garde-retroish soundtrack by James Newton Howard that complements and clashes with the subject matter in interesting ways.

That's about it for now.

LEGITIMATE

....I bought Super Metroid the other day. The actual cartridge, from 1994, and have been playing it on the SNES. The difficulty is such that I can no longer think of too many other things than playing the game while I'm playing it.
I suppose I should let you know I've never played this game before (!).
But it is AMAZING, I love all aspects of it. The music, art, level design, and sheer amount of upgrades are great. It is just so deep for a game of its era, especially of that genre. This game is easily the equal of Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario World, games I have spent a solid amount of time in. It is chillingly mysterious and so full of variety in the levels. The idea is that you are on one contiguous area the whole time instead of levels that you progress to and cannot go back. I have only put a couple hours into it, but I would go so far as to call it the pinnacle of side-scrolling games on the SNES.

I implore you to check it out.

Also, if you're interested you've probably heard, but The Hobbit has been greenlit, it will be directed by Peter "the man" Jackson, and will be released in two parts, Dec. 2012 and Dec. 2013, I believe. I guess pre-production actually began in '08 or '09, and they have had all the script, concept art, and sets pretty much hammered out for some time. What held it up were several lawsuits against New Line by Peter Jackson and the Tolkein Estate. I'm not sure I like the movie being split up into two parts, because they will have to make the second one "better" and the easiest way to do that is to not make the first one as good, and it seems like one continuous story to me.

That's about that.