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Talison
Reviews
The Simpsons: Regarding Margie (2006)
Just Misses The Mark
There's a lot to like about this episode, especially from the time period it comes from. It has solid gags, a solid premise, and is one of the better paced episodes of Season 17. It has some small problems. Marge's jump to throw Homer out seems rushed. Hibbert's finger gag reinforces he is no longer the kindly family doctor of the earlier seasons. But that's minor in the long run, as it all builds to a sweet moment at the end where Homer unselfishly states what's so great about Marge.
Unfortunatly, it's all spoiled by the last 2 minutes where Homer is drunk driving, endagering Marge, and Marge remembers she's an enabler and therefor responcible for Homer's bad behavior. This era is all about Homer being horrible, and they almost got through an episode without that but had to force it in at the end. Marge could have remembered Homer because of his sweet speech about her, they had the perfect ending right there, but man did they not stick the landing.
The Son of Kong (1933)
Fine For What It Is.
A perfectly fine sequel to King Kong, especially considering how fast it was made, that nonetheless could have been so much more than it was. It ultimately adds nothing to the King Kong saga, but is a fun little movie on its own.
The creature effects are on par with the original and the cave bear is the stand out new creature to the film. Son of Kong himself manages to be endearing despite having very little screen time.
The human story is solid, but nothing special with a likable female lead and enough charisma from the Denham character to justify a tertiary character taking the lead.
And those dancing monkeys are so cute.
Daredevil (2003)
Everything I wanted in a comic book movie (Possible Spoilers)
I have been a comic book fan for most of my life, as well as a general sci-fi fan. Daredevil has never been a book I have read regularly, but I was familiar with the character.
Going in to the movie I really didn't think it looked that good. In fact, until I saw the HBO special I almost wasn't going to go.
But I went. And I'm glad I did.
As a comic fan I was very impressed. Right off the bat I noticed the film makers didn't try to put a larger than life Superhero into a realistic world. They seemed to go with what works in the comics, with comic book style physics. Daredevil moved acrobatic and fluid, not stiff and mechanical as was the case in the Batman movies. Bullseye was maniacal and over the top. Elektra was graceful, but was still portrayed as inexperienced with only school training.
The casting was mostly spot on. I have been wanting to see Ben Affleck as Batman for sometime. He proved my faith in him by pulling off this similar character. Collin Farrel pulled of a sinister Bullseye that made me forget his costume had been completely changed. Duncan also makes us forget that his skin color may not match his comic book counterpart. He plays The Kingpin exactly as he should have been played. Garner doesn't really look the part of Elektra, but she pulls it off better than expected.
And little things made this movie better than expected. I loved that Daredevil's back was scarred from his adventures, and that his eyes were scarred from his accident. It was great to see that he was depressed by the life he had chosen, but knew it was what he had to do. He did it willingly, but coped with painkillers and trying to good in his everyday life.
The fact that he slept in a sensory deprivation tank was a particularly nice touch.
But it was the well written script, the high action plot, and the great action that makes this movie. Bullseye's fight with Daredevil in the church was probably the best comic book style fight scene ever made. The close ups and rotating cmera shots just made it better. It wasn't realistic, or even the imitation of extreme realism like Crouching Tiger, it was like watching a living comic.
The radar sence was just as I always pictured it. All the billy club tricks were there. The hero actually changed his voice while in costume. And unlike the Batman films, the hero did not go home to the girl in the end or unessisarily kill the villain.
This was a comic come to life, and I think it was aimed at comic fans. At the very least it doesn't try to change what isn't broken in the comics.
It's not Superman or the first Batman. It's not as good as Spider-Man.
X-Men (2000)
Worth my 9 year wait.
Yes, nine years. I was a freshman in high school when I first picked up a copy of Wolverine and was introduced to the world of X-Men. I immediately fell in love with the characters and was reading the trade magazines to find out when I would see a movie.
Now the moment has come, and it was worth it.
This was definitely one of the best comic book films that this comic book fan has ever seen. It had none of the problems that most comic films have. The dialogue wasn't cheesy, it was very realistic. The look of everything was also realistic without being untrue to the comics. I can't believe that they got Wolverine's hair right.
The changes to the characters backgrounds weren't anything that made me mad or dramatically changed the characters. Nothing like the Joker killing Bruce Wayne's parents. They basically just put the characters together at a different time then when they all met in the comic. In the end, it made the characters they chose work well together without 10 hours of background story to cover 35 years of comic book development.
All and all, I have to say that they presented a very dramatic movie story and fully used these amazing characters to their full potential.
Let's hope Spiderman is this good.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Worst I've Ever Seen
I went into this movie with great expectations. Truly, it was a wonderful idea and an amazing concept. The web sight and Sci-Fi Channel special helped build up a hype around this movie that I thought it deserved. I was scared before going in.
It's a shame that the actual movie captures none of the magic created by the hype. The movie is build up after build up without any sort of pay off. Not only was I never scared, but I was angry that nothing ever happened after an hour and a half of waiting.