Amph Preview of Coming Attractions: 21 Jump Street

I'm more concerned that it has ruined what should be a good to great series of movies based on a fantastic animated series.

 

I think that poster says it all. An iceberg resembling a sinking ship.

 

Avatar was such a magnificent cartoon series, it deserved better. From the reviews it looked like absolutely everything went wrong, from allowing Shyamalan to write the script to an awful 3D conversion that muddied and spoiled what little visual appeal the film may otherwise have had.

 

Some of the problem seems to be 3D conversion:

"Most reviewers were clearly bent out of shape by the goings-on in M. Night Shyamalan?s latest movie, The Last Airbender, based on the Nickelodeon cartoon series. ?Mr. Shyamalan?s attempt to conjure a realm of myth and adventure out of special effects and long expository speeches might serve as a textbook chapter on How to Do It Wrong,? writes A.O. Scott in the New York Times. Roger Ebert?s review in the Chicago Sun-Times is no less scathing. He writes that the movie ?is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented. The laws of chance suggest that something should have gone right. Not here.? Ebert has voiced his dissatisfaction with 3D movies in the past, but he lays into the studio for its efforts to convert what was originally 2D into 3D. ?Airbender looks like it was filmed with a dirty sheet over the lens,? he growls. Comments Ty Burr in the Boston Globe: ?The process is to genuine 3-D ? the kind you see in Toy Story 3 or How to Train Your Dragon ? what colorization is to color: A ghoulish simulation.? But Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune remarks that the film would be ?barely functional in 2 ? or even 1? dimension. Carrie Rickey sums up in the Philadelphia Inquirer: ?Loved the look of the film, hated the 3-D, thought some of the performances clunky and felt that way about the dialogue, too.? »

 

The critics rake just about everything that's not Toy Story 3 to hell and back. That's not why I'm not going to see it. I'm not going to see it because it just looks...horrible. The arrow kid's voice during the trailer was annoying (I guess he was trying to sound noble or wise or something), the effects look overblown and blinding, and the movie generally looks like it's trying really hard to be something it's not. And failing miserably.

 

If this bombs the humiliation of Shyamalan will be all the more complete because of the release date. If they knew they had such a dud on their hands, why not quietly move the release date to February or October. A flop on a big event weekend makes people extra angry.

 

I read a review today in my local paper; the reviewer said, "While watching these young actors try to emote, you may think you're seeing dead people." I nearly choked on my cheesecake bar.

 

"Despicable Me"

90 % Tomatometer

Reviews Counted:20

Fresh:18

Rotten:2

Average Rating:7.6/10
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Runtime: 1 hr. 35 min.

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Kids & Family

Theatrical Release: Jul 9, 2010 Wide

Synopsis: "In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon (Yes, the moon!) in Universal's new 3-D CGI feature, Despicable Me. Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad.The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes. [Less]

Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Danny R. McBride, Jemaine Clement, Miranda Cosgrove, Jack McBrayer, Mindy Kaling, Ken Jeong,

Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Screenwriter:
Producer:
Studio: Universal Pictures

Poster: Good

Trailer: Good

Pro: Carrell, Wiig, Andrews, Arnett

Con: The plot sounds a little hackneyed

Verdict: I'm guessing: Great Big Hit

 

Not a big animation guy, but this should be awesome. I'll see it.

 

Wow, that is an amazing voice cast.

 

After Toy Story 3, there's really no point for me to see another animated film until Pixar's next.

 

Fixed.

 

As one of the five people who didn't like The Sixth Sense to the point where I actually disliked the director, can't say I really mind if this bombs out too.


Anybody who has their name start with a single letter needs to go home and rethink their life.


Anyway, I won't be around to see Despicable Me, but it sounds great just off the description of his home. That and Predators will make the summer, IMO.

 

Predators (2010)

64 % Tomatometer

Reviews Counted:122

Fresh:78

Rotten:44

Average Rating:5.8/10

Consensus: After a string of subpar sequels, this bloody, action-packed reboot takes the Predator franchise back to its testosterone-fueled roots.

Runtime: 1 hr. 47 min.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror

Theatrical Release: Jul 9, 2010 Wide

Synopsis: A group of elite warriors are hunted by members of a merciless alien race known as Predators.

Starring: Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Topher Grace, Laurence Fishburne, Oleg Taktarov, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Louiz Ozawa, Walton Goggins

Director: Nimród Antal

Screenwriter: Michael Finch
Producer: Robert Rodriguez
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Poster: Not Memorable

Trailer: Ditto

Pro: the cast is remarkably upscale for this material

Con: this material

Verdict: TV

 

That doesn't seem like a very honest "consensus" for Predators, particularly since the top critics gave it a 46%, that's a big gap, explained I guess by the fanboy genre apologists who tend to do a lot of the so-called reviews that get stuffed into the "T-Meter Critics" rating.

 

Love that director's name. Self-description doesn't cover it.

 

By most accounts Nimród Antal's debut, Kontroll, is quite good -- probably yet another case of Hollywood importing foreign talent and then expecting the talent to survive Hollywood nonsense and shine through the ridiculous production system.

 

His name is pronounced nim-ROAD, not Rod.

He was born in Los Angeles, so when Hollywood imported him from Europe, they were bringing him home.

Nimrod Antal bio

 

Wherever he was from, his early film experience was in Hungary.

 

Nice try but no cigar. This guy's as American as apple pie, he didn't move to Hungary until he was 18. He's no European filmmaker.

In fact, he SOUNDS American too.

Nimrod speaks

I see the point you were making, I'm just making sure you see mine too.

 

Pronounced as it sounds.

 

Inception (2010)

89 % Tomatometer

Reviews Counted:62

Fresh:55

Rotten:7

Average Rating:8.4/10

Consensus: Smart, innovative, and thrilling, Inception is that rare summer blockbuster that succeeds viscerally as well as intellectually.
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Runtime: 2 hr. 28 min.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Theatrical Release: Jul 16, 2010 Wide

Synopsis: "In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one's mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset."

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine

Director: Christopher Nolan

Screenwriter: Christopher Nolan

Producer:

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Poster: Good

Trailer: Fairly intriguing

Pro: the cast, the director, it's not a sequel, a remake and does not apparently involve superheroes. Not 3D

Con: it's not a sequel, a remake and does not apparently involve superheroes. Not 3D

Verdict: Yes.