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Reviews
Katedra (2002)
A great display of capabilities in CGI
Although perhaps a little light on story, Cathedral is a near-perfect display of computer-generated filmmaking. Rich in lighting effects, computer-designed architecture, and visual invention, the film is just great to watch. As mentioned earlier, the story is a little weak, as the filmmakers chose to tell their story with visuals rather than dialogue. However, because of the fantastic visuals and inventive storytelling techniques, the filmmakers' messages are effectively conveyed. While I don't think this could be the best short film of the year, it is certainly one of the best to look at.
WarGames (1983)
Well, it was a very good try...
WarGames is the type of film that tries really hard to overwhelm the audience with fantastic ideas and visuals. Similar to films like Star Wars and Back to the Future, it gives the audience a taste of a "cool" topic. In this case, the movie is about computer-hacking and war-based scenario games, with a bit of snooping and "phreaking" (cheating telephone companies and the like) thrown in for good measure. It belts out movie cliches all over the place ("We've got to stop this thing from destroying the Earth!!!" "Save the world!!!" type of junk), and falls into a formula flick pattern 30 minutes into the film.
The basic premise is that a kid (Matthew Broderick) hacks into some government computer and accidentally triggers it to blow up the world. That's it. He's got to stop the computer, the big boys up in government think they've got the situation handled, yadda yadda yadda. Meaningless tripe used to hold together the movie. Along the way, he macks it to the pretty girl (obligatory in any movie with such a boring plot), gets imprisoned, escapes due to incompetence of adults, etc.
I have a theory. *ANY MOVIE FEATURING COMPUTERS IS DOOMED.*
Computers in this movie beep when they're not supposed to, the interfaces always seem to need passwords to get somewhere. In this movie, the computer even TALKS, no doubt to impress the computer illiterate movie junkies. Back in '83, computers could talk as well as dirt, due to terrible sound cards and nonexistent sound filters for voice speech. Nonetheless, the producers of this film think that they're above the laws of common sense. Oh yeah - and every person speaks what they are typing. Right. Next...
As for the acting, it was okay for a bunch of rookies (it was Broderick's first movie). Cinematography was okay for the time, but it was no Apocalypse Now.
In conclusion - if you want to rent a movie this weekend and have a good time, you might want to pick up a copy of this to fuel your fireplace (sarcasm, etc.). If you want a good movie about hacking, don't hold your breath. If you want to find a good movie about war, rent Apocalypse Now or Saving Private Ryan. If you want to waste 5 bucks and 2 hours of your life, pick up this, Antitrust, Hackers, or any other "good" "movie" with "competent" "hackers" in them.
If I were to rate this, it would get a 2/10. Two points for Matthew Broderick, since he's a good actor despite his trash lines.
Gekijôban Poketto Monsutâ: Myûtsû no Gyakushû (1998)
Wow, and I thought the Rugrats movie was bad...
The first time i heard about this movie, i said to myself "eh, just another stupid tv-show spin-off movie". i actually went to see this movie, which is an odd thing for me. It turns out that i am not as screwed up as i thought i was for hating pokemon. I mean, there are just so many shoddy graphics and bad animation a guy can take. "humor", as the stale puns in this movie is ironically called, is reduced to a few polite chuckles when a person falls down because he was insulted in some way. not only that, but the plot was pretty dry itself. the main theme seemed to be "150 little runts each fight each other in order to teach that fighting is wrong". hmm.... yet another thing that bothers me is the entire fan base. i mean, could 1 million 3-12 year olds be totally brainwashed by this mindless drivel? what is so exhilirating about seeing some mouse-wannabe try to shoot lightning bolts at another mouse-wannabe? why are people wasting their money on stupid CCG cards with even more bad graphics when they can enrich their minds as well as their pocket money and actually use feasible strategy and buy Magic: the Gathering, made by the same company but 1000 times better? it's sickening. in short, when you go to see the movie and you are a civilized, smart person, bring along an airplane sickness bag. or, even better, slip away from kid brother and watch The Sixth Sense. that movie was great, AND it doesn't feature little runty mice killing each other.