Monday 28 May 2012

Are Bad Movies Actually The Best Movies?

No. Not at all. Not even handy.

But is a bad movie something that should be avoided all together?

Over the past few years, since my discovery of websites such as rottentomatoes and IMDB, I've been completely behind the idea that a bad movie isn't worth wasting my time over. So when I see a trailer for a movie I'm interested in, I watch these sites scrupulously waiting for the first yay or nay from critics and fellow film watchers around the world.

For some reason I trust rt a little more for the bad and anything that gets that little green rotten icon, I tend to avoid. IMDB helps me sort through the good a little bit more. 8.0 on IMDB? Holy shit I'll watch that.

But by sticking with this motif am I missing out on some hidden gems? Even though a movie may only get a 30% on rt, that does mean that there are a few people out there that thought the movie filled it's purpose or maybe even enjoyed the movie.

Case in point: Sucker Punch.

When I started to hear about this movie and saw the trailers I was incredibly excited. Directed by Zack Snyder, the same guy who graced us with Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen and The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole(what the fuck?), I was hoping for something that would have been the same caliber or even better. I love over-the-top action and I love hot ladies destroying shit in movies(The Descent, Alien(s), Kill Bill, Death Proof, etc.). How can this not work?

Well as we get close to opening night for Sucker Punch the reviews start rolling in, bad reviews. I was a little devastated actually. I had very high hopes for the stylized female action flick. So when the film finally bottomed out at 28% on rt I skipped the theater and stayed home instead. 28% wasn't worth my $11.50.

Time passed, movies came and went, we re-elected Harper, excitement for Dark Knight Rises continued to be the highlight of the internet for me and we all grew a little bit. Eventually I decided to download the movie I once was so excited about and finally give it a shot.

Well surprise surprise. I didn't hate it like the internet people made me think I would. Now it wasn't the gem I was hoping it would have been. It kinda broke down like this:

Story: Awful
Characters: Dumb as rocks.
Visuals: Very purdy
Action: This is what I wanted. Over-the-top.

So it wasn't a complete loss. I still got a pretty looking movie with the pulpy filler I was hoping for. The story and characters are what ruined the film in the end.

The point of all this is that even though the movie missed on a few of the most important things a movie needs to get right, it still had enough of what I was looking for that it didn't feel like a complete waste of my time.

I'm sure that every director that's made a dud would like it if everyone could look at those movies like that.

So in my attempt to immerse myself in the shittier pool of movies that's out there(not too much mind you, I don't hate myself), I'm not going to limit myself with the 6.0's and above on IMDB or the little red tomato. I'm going to look outside the nice little comfort zone and take a chance on some movies and hopefully find a little gem hidden somewhere.

Now having said all that, a friend of mine has started a blog about his commitment to watch the worst 100 movies as listed on IMDB's website. This is a man who obviously hates himself. Or loves the rest of us so much that he's making sure we never have to suffer through the same punishment. I'm not quite sure yet. Either way I'm sure he would appreciate it if you read the things he writes as well. You can find his blog full of never ending joy over at the bottom feeding blog.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, if you click the blue words, magical internetty things happen.

So now, in celebration of my new-found respect for the shitty movies, I'm going to watch This Means War. It bottomed out at a measly 25% on rt but managed a 65% audience rating and a 6.4 on imdb.

Wish me luck.




Friday 18 May 2012

Five Movies You Haven't Seen That You Should

They show up around this time of year, take advantage of our increased happiness caused by the warming weather and the longer days, they take a bunch of our money and then they're gone again, almost as quick as we met them.

You may hear from them again sometime down the road. Some people may even take them home afterwards and enjoy they're fun-loving company occasionally. However, for the most part, once they take their money and give you pleasure for a couple of hours, you'll probably forget about them and never hear from them again.

I'm talking about summer blockbusters in case anybody was confused there.

It's almost an event in movies. Every year around this time hw(hollywood) digs deep into their pockets and dishes out some big bucks to make sure you spend your hard earned money on the biggest, loudest, brightest movies they could haul out of their ass.

Now I'm not saying these movies are bad. But it doesn't matter as far as hw is concerned. The RT(rottentomatoes) or IMDB(internet movie database) scores don't matter as much this time of year. A 70% and up is great but usually you're looking in the 30-50%.

What are you getting for that high-school fail? Usually something extremely loud, with lots of explosions, some A-list actors, and some Michael Bay. Story isn't important. Neither is compelling acting. Shia Lebouf probably wasn't holding his breath for any oscars and neither is Taylor Kitsch this year in Battleship.

Will you remember these movies? Probably. It's hard not to remember when shit goes down and half of an American city is blown halfway to hell in front of your face while your eardrums try to scream how much they hate you but they can't be heard over the sound of explosions.

Will you ever watch these movies again? Probably not. I know I don't. I have a few movies here that I will occasionally turn on if I'm feeling fun a stupid. For the most part though few interest me enough to keep my attention for the first couple of hours.

So this summer do yourselves a favor. Instead of just going to see a movie because it's there and it's big and shiny and begging to be touched. Stay home. Watch a movie inside. Download one or rent one. Either way it's cheaper than the theater and I guarantee it will be a movie you'll remember more then Battleship.

Now I can't tell you what you're going to like but I do have a nice list of 5 movies you should watch that most of you probably haven't seen yet. These are great movies that are not only cheaper than the theater, but you'll probably gain a great friend out if it who you'll wanna hang out with time and time again. You can also watch these at home, with your own free(assuming you have some sitting around) popcorn and then maybe go for a walk afterword. See how helpful I am?



Warrior(2011)
This gem came out last fall but unfortunately it seems like everybody had their fill of fighting movies from last year's The Fighter(also a good movie). This didn't get a lot of attention and didn't do anything special at the box-office. Nick Nolte did get an oscar nod but unfortunately didn't win. I absolutely love this movie and watching Tom Hardy ruin people the way he does in this movie is something to see(probably practicing for Batman).

Attack the Block(2011)
So you like watching alien invasions? Well this movie will show you that there are better ways to do that in a movie than spending $300 bajillion dollars with plenty of silly looking special effects and the same recycled alien. In fact this is one of the best alien invasion movies I've ever seen. It's got some comedy and it's got incredibly bad-ass moments. Nice tidbit about this movie is they hardly used any CGI. A lot of guys in suits.

Fantastic Mr. Fox(2009)
Not in a mood for aliens or people getting dummied? Want something to watch with the kids? Fair enough. Give this one a try. Wes Anderson does an awesome job with this stop-motion movie and it's got a solid cast behind it. The humor is good for the family but a few things only older people will get. It's one of the better "feel good" movies I've seen in a while that hasn't come out of Disney Pixar.

Nowhere Boy(2010)
When people think of the Beatles they usually go straight to the music. That makes sense. If you're mind doesn't go straight there then there's something wrong with you, go see a head doctor. But John Lennon did do things before he was bigger than Jesus. This movie shows some of those things and it does it with some extremely good acting. I'll be honest and the movie didn't hook me right away but by the end of it I was very glad I watched. This also has one of my favorite new up and coming actors Aaron Johnson(Kick Ass, the upcoming Savages) and he does a superb job.

Shame(2011)
This one won't be for everyone but it's a great movie. It follows a guy who has a addiction to sex. Simple. Michael Fassbender is another amazing actor and he does a rock solid job(pun intended) in this movie. It makes me lose faith in the oscars that he didn't get a nod for his performance here. Ladies, you do get to see his shlong. Guys, there are boobies to even it all out. This is a dark movie but worth the watch.


So there you have it. Five movies that will make your lives considerably better(probably). I hope you guys give at least some of these a try and if anybody needs a copy of anything let me know and I can try to hook you up or point you in the best direction to find it. Also, would love to hear what you think of any of the ones you watch.

Cheers!

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Thanks for coming back!

Well here we are. If you're reading this than I've managed to reel you in with that first post and hopefully you're going to stick around until I jump the shark at least(TV reference. Don't worry if you don't get it. I don't judge.... much).

I was hoping to have a bit of a more substantial second post but I've been feeling like quite the piece of shit the past few days so I'm going to throw what I've got done up here for now to whet everybody's insatiable appetites(sarcasm will be a recurring theme as well).

My first order of business in trying to make it in the brightly colored world of film and TV is to find a place to learn what I needs learnin'. This is going to be the biggest challenge I'm going to have to overcome because it involves overcoming a whole bunch of giant little hurdles. These hurdles are as follows in no particular order:

1)I really need to be able to work in some capacity while I'm learning all these things. I haven't always been the wisest with my money and unfortunately I've racked up quite the tab over the years. Now I've asked extremely nicely if they would mind just making this stuff go away but apparently the banks don't work like that. Go figure. Now, I have learned from those mistakes and am working very diligently(albeit boringly) to pay this stuff off but they are still there regardless. I could always wait until I get everything paid off in full but I don't honestly want to wait that long. So I need to be able to go to college/university somewhere where I can also work at a decent job.

2)I need to be able to get in. I feel like some of the better film and video schools don't go letting everybody in just because they say they like watching movies.
 "I loves dem Transformers movies luh. 'specially da parts where dey blows shit up. Aww man das sick. lemme go to school here b'y" - any skeet at the mall.
Now I love transformers, but I also know that Michael Bay is a raging douche-bag who loves messing up my favorite childhood things. Having said that though, I probably have as much film and video experience on my resume as our skeety friend there. So I need to find something that I don't need much experience with. Possibly something where I need to interview to get in. I feel like I could state my cause well enough. Or I need to immerse myself into this business someway or another and get some damn experience(will have another post dealing with this soon).

3)I would ideally like to find a course in the 3-4 year range to complete. Now I'm well aware that getting into the business isn't as easy as going to school and then you're in. Done deal. I'm directing Avengers 3: The Black Widows Booty. I know that there is going to be some degree of working my way up through the ranks after school which I'm perfectly fine with. I feel comfortable enough that as long as I can get the basics beaten into my skull by some mediocre - amazing teacher, I can make my way to where I would want to be after that.


So keeping these things in mind I'm going to post on here the colleges and universities that I'm considering pursuing for this. I was going to devote a full post to this and list them all but I will remind everybody of the coughing and the sneezing and not really wanting to type anything that I mentioned earlier. I will throw one on here with it's pros and cons so it will seem like I haven't completely wasted your time and will tackle others in another post or two in the near future.

Once again, any help and suggestions dealing with this stuff will be greatly appreciated people!


CONA(or for those of you who aren't up on the kids lingo, College of the North Atlantic)
They offer a program covering film and video production based out of their Bay St. George Campus.

A positive about this one is that it's on the quicker side. Only being a two year course is a huge bonus. CONA is also probably going to be one of the cheaper options I'll end up finding as well.

Another positive is it's location. I would have to move to Stephenville to do it but I don't have to leave the island. This will help with the initial moving cost and I won't be so far away from home that getting back for a weekend or something isn't out of the question without breaking the bank.

The negative about this one is that it's on the quicker side. Being done in only two years makes me wonder what kind of credibility I'll have coming out of that program. I'm also a little concerned that this program would focus more on the technical aspects of film making much more then the artistic/creative parts. I'd like something that has an even mix of both.

Another negative for this is where it's to. Who the hell actually wants to live in Stephenville? And what kind of a job could I get while I'm living there? I do want to be able to work but I feel like the job opportunities that could revolve around school with a decent wage would be limited. But I have never lived in Stephenville so I can't say for sure. That's what this blog is for after all.

Friday 11 May 2012

Alright, attempt number... not sure(who cares)

 Alright so here we go. Another night. Another attempt at this.

Why am I starting a blog? That's probably the best way to start this first post because the answer to that question is going to determine if you, the readers, will continue to take precious time out of your hectic lives every now and then to plop down and read what I have to say.

I love movies. Simple. TV too, but mostly movies. There isn't much I enjoy better than kicking back with a nice tasty snack and enjoying a good filmograph.

I've probably already lost a few people right there because writing a blog about your opinion of movies is about as common these days as it is to wipe your own ass after you take a shit. So why should you read this one? Why should any of you give a shit about what I think about the movies(and TV shows) that I watch? Opinions are like assholes after all. Well this blog isn't just going to be about me watching movies or TV shows. It isn't going to just be about me telling you which actor/director/producer is annoying this week and how excited I am for The Dark Knight Rises(soooooo goddamn excited). This blog is going to be about my own personal journey.

Where am I going? Possibly nowhere.

Anybody who knows me knows that I'm a 25 year old who has very little as far as post secondary education goes. I would eventually like to pick up some of that good ol' college learnin' but I don't really know what to do(those of you who don't know me, consider yourself caught up). Now I've mulled over the ideas of a few different courses from CONA over the past few months. These would be perfectly practical, smart choices that could probably land me a secure, well paying job that I can work at in dull happiness until I'm ready to retire and live the rest of my days complaining about teenagers and the way things used to be.

Fuck that.

Well that's what a small part of me has been screaming out in the back of my thought muscle for the past few months now. Why do I have to settle for the mundane? Why do I have to just shuffle through life and enjoy it to the medium amount in a job that will make me wish in twenty years that I had the balls to follow my dream?

And here we are. This is my journey. I want to make an attempt to submerse myself in the world of film.

Now I'm aware that there are obvious hurdles in my way with this. And there are more than likely going to be many roadblocks and naysayers and objections. But I've convinced myself that I am very serious about this. This is something I love and I'm going to do my best to see this through. I feel like I owe it to myself to at least explore the options and try.

Not to confuse anyone. I haven't actually applied to any colleges or universities at this point but I have been starting to do a bit of research into the options available to me in Canada. They are out there and there's more than I expected quite honestly but I need to find something that would be best for me and hopefully open the most doors in the future.

And then there's the other things. Money. Living. Experience. These things also haven't been figured out. All in due time.

So this is my journey. And this blog is going to be my little online journal for said journey. A place for me to keep track of my progress with this. A place for me to ask questions. To seek help and recommendations. To give myself a little motivation to not lose track of this goal. To post my accomplishments and even my failures.

I want you to be a part of this journey with me. I feel like I'm going to need a little guidance with this. If any of you know anything about this industry and the ways to get my foot in the door I will gladly hear any advice. I'll even listen to concerns and objections. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a little bit of a following with this blog and that will help me keep the motivation I need to see this through as far as I can go with it.

Oh and there will be the other stuff. Like my personal thoughts on movies and TV shows I've watched. Or if anything interesting ever happens to me. Or even if I hear a funny anecdote I may share it on here. I may even put a scatter thought on something other than movies or TV.

I hope there are a few of you still with me and would like to thank you for sticking around this far. Now I'm tired and it's time to head off to bed. I should have my first real post up sometime in the next few days.

Cheers.

P.S. The name of this blog will change eventually. Just need to think of something witty and maybe even a little sexual.

*As a little reward/treat for anybody who stuck around this far. I give you this!