Shmee.Me

September 11, 2013September 11, 2013

Jack the Giant Slayer

Jack the Giant Slayer is a 2013 film directed by Brian Singer (X-Men). It had a large budget, and it was a pretty massive failure for Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures, so I went in with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised.

The story is about Jack (Nicholas Hoult) who since he was a child has dreamed about giants and adventure, but since he is a peasant farm-boy has little hope of ever fulfilling his dreams, but as fate would have it he runs in to a monk who gives him some magic beans, and he is soon on the adventure he has always dreamed of.

This film could have been just another overwrought special effects “epic”, and it kind of still is, but Brian Singer is able to bring in an element of fun that saves this film from just being a 3D slug fest. He is able to get the cast to have just as much fun as he is having, and it carries through the screen.

Nicholas Hoult is pretty good as the title character Jack, and for his major leading role he does an admirable job, but back up cast really shines. Ewan McGregor as Elmont the captain of the king’s guard plays the role with an wink and a nod, and he is always having such a good time that it is contagious. Stanley Tucci is also having fun as the villainous Lord Roderick, he seems to enjoy being over the top evil.

Despite the good efforts by the cast and Singer, this movie still feels like it was designed in a boardroom to try and cash in on a popular fairy tale that they tried to prop up in to something bigger than it is, so at times its sudo-epic nature can make it feel dull and contrived. We were just lucky that they decided to hire good talent for this particular cash grab, and it ended up better than it had it any right to be.

Jack the Giant Slayer is not a great movie, but it is a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

September 10, 2013September 10, 2013

I Attend Monsters University!

Monsters University is a 2013 movie, and a sequel to the 2001 movie Monsters Inc. The movie got all the main characters to reprise their roles, and it was directed by Dan Scanlon. The movie was a huge success world wide pulling in over $724 Million.

The story follows a young Mike Wazowski as he tries to follow his dreams to become a professional scarer. The problem is that he is adorable and decidedly un-scary, so he has to work at it very hard. Meanwhile James P. “Sulley” Sullivan is a natural scarer, but is to lazy to study his craft.

The movie is actually just a standard college frat movie, but written for kids. So if you have seen Old School or Animal House, you will kind of know what to expect here, but your four year old can watch it. Luckily there is enough Pixar charm to cover over its generic nature.

Billy Crystal and John Goodman are great with their roles. They seem to understand what makes a good voiceover. The rest of the cast is good too, especially the Pixar usual suspects. I liked that Nathan Fillion had a role too as the leader of the rival frat.

Monsters Inc. was never my favorite Pixar movie, but they did a good job with this. If you are looking for good family film, Monsters University is a fine choice. It is not quite the up to the Pixar classics, but it was cute, and had a lot of heart.

September 1, 2013September 9, 2013

When is a Movie a Success?

I was reading a report about this summer’s box office busts and a surprising title was listed: Pacific Rim. True Pacific Rim did not light up the North American box office, but it made over $400 Million world wide in box office receipts, so I have decided to dig in to this number a little more and see what it means to truly decide if Pacific Rim was a bust or not.

First off lets break apart that $400 million. Just over $100 million came from North America, and about $110 million came from China. The remaining $190 million from the rest of the world. In most parts of the world the studios take 60% of the receipt price with the remaining 40% going to the theater, but in China the studios only take in 25%. This is because piracy is rampant in China, so the ticket price has to be low for people to go to the movies. Over all Legendary/Warner Bros took in $174 million from most of the world, and only $27.5 million from China, but still that is $201.5 million, not bad for a box office bust, but there is still more to dig in too.

The budget for the movie is estimated at $190 million. That means the studio has only cleared $11.5 million, and of that they are still probably paying for the advertising costs which are usually about a quarter the budget of the film, so in this case it would be about $50 million, so the studios are still in the hole about $38.5 million dollars. That sounds bad, but there is still money on the table.

The movie has yet to come out on home video. This used to be a major earner for films, but as streaming video and the internet has taken off, fewer people are ponying up for the price of a DVD or Blu-Ray. Still, $38.5 is well within reach, and they still get to sell the TV rights to various TV stations around the world, plus random merchandising like comic books, t-shirts, and toys. This movie will make a small amount of money, and considering the make or break nature of the film business, I bet a lot of executives are happy about that.

But the major money maker is still to come: the sequel. Very rarely does the first movie in a franchise make tons of money. Batman Begins only took in $375 million world wide, and sure that was eight years ago, and it didn’t have the China tax, but still had they stopped there Warner Bros would have walked away from billions. The reason is, as much as people complain about sequels and the lack of creativity, they like a sure thing. Once a movie has proven it is good and worth their money usually the second and third movies make bank.

In the end I think Pacific Rim was a success, critically and financially, and it makes sense why Guillermo del Toro is talking sequel, so if anyone else wants to call Pacific Rim a bust they should look at the numbers first.

August 30, 2013

Muppet Treasure Island: Airport Edition!

If you know me than you know that I love the Muppets, so Muppet Treasure Island is a guilty pleasure for me. It came out in 1996, and it was directed by Brian Henson. It may not be the best Muppet movie, but it is certainly not the worst.

The movie for the most part fallows Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of a boy Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop) and his friends, Gonzo and Rizzo, who are given a map by the ex-pirate Billy Bones (Billy Connelly). They are soon off on an adventure on the high seas, or the big blue wet thing as Squire Trelawney (Fozzie Bear) calls it. The cook/pirate captain Long John Silver is played by the always wonderful Tim Curry.

Billy Connelly and Tim Curry are perfect for Muppet movies with their exaggerated acting ability and over the top perfomances. Kevin Bishop on the other hand tries his best, but he is not as talented as the Connelly and Curry. It is a shame too since he has so much screen time.

The musical numbers are mostly good in this movie with Cabin Fever and Professional Pirate as the stand outs. Curry directing the staging as the pirates sing always cracks me up.

The puppet work by Jim Henson Studios is fantastic as always. If I could act or use my hands well, puppeteering would be a dream job! It is always amazing how quickly I forget that all the Muppets are puppets.

This is not the greatest movie in the world, but for me it is always fun to watch because I love the characters so much, and there is something about felt puppets preforming classic literature that just does it for me. I watched this movie on HBO Go, but I am sure that you can get it any number of places.

August 27, 2013

What To Say About Four Lions!

Four Lions is a British film that came out in 2010. It was created by first time film maker Chris Morris. The film stirred up a lot of controversy when it came out, and it is not hard to see why.

The film is about a group of radicalized Muslims that are trying to plan a suicide bombing. The problem is that they are complete and utter idiots, so things do not always work out for them as planned. Yes that is the plot.

This film is hard to watch. It takes something that is a current threat and lampoons it in a very British deadpan sort of way, and because of the subject matter I felt bad every time I laughed, and to its credit it is very funny.

I think that is why it is such a brave film as well. The laughter disarms us enough that we can see the argument the film is making without instantly turning away. The film is trying to show us the real people behind these attacks, so that we can see that they are somewhat normal people with deeply flawed and twisted thinking.

The film is so uncomfortable to watch that I don’t think I would recommend it to anyone, but it is a good piece of filmmaking. Not one that I necessarily agree with, but it is filmed in a way that makes the argument palpable enough to listen too.

If you want another take on the movie Daniel compares it with some of Chaplin’s work here.