I was just checking through some of my favorite films, looking for others to add to my must watch list. One of the directors I found was Joe Johnston. I didn’t realize this before, but I’ve seen all of his films. Here’s a quick ranking:
Paula Félix-Didier, head of film museum Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires, discovered an uncut version of the 1927 science fiction film when she looked into reports that a tape in the archive was unusually long. She travelled to Berlin with a copy of the film and met with experts who say they are certain it is the missing original-length version of Lang’s masterpiece that reveals key plot scenes and an expansion of minor roles, Die Zeit said ahead of the publication of its Thursday edition.
I am immensly pleased by the news. I watched Metropolis in a class on European Cinema last semester and loved it. It’s a crazy, awesome silent film directed by Fritz Lang. I’m looking forward to the day when I can watch the whole film.
Synopsis: Will Smith plays Hancock, an apathetic superhero who causes more mayhem than he thwarts. When a P.R. man (Jason Bateman) is saved by Hancock, he takes it upon himself to help Hancock rid himself of his bad reputation.
Review: Armed only with the knowledge afforded me by the previews, I went to see Hancock not quite knowing what to expect. I thought it was very entertaining and had a solid, original story. It looked great, and Will Smith did his thing. I didn’t care for the constant ’shaky cam’ approach in the film and some parts of the story either didn’t make sense to me or could have used a few finishing touches. If you’re looking for a fresh superhero film (that won’t be joining the Avengers), Hancock is the film for you.
Synopsis: It’s the near future. Earth has been abandoned by it’s human inhabitants. A robot named Wall-E has been left on Earth to clean it up. His situation is changed when a visitor lands nearby.
Review:Wall-E is film for the whole family. It has a lot of heart and plenty to discuss about after seeing the film. Pixar is known for telling good stories, and Wall-E doesn’t let us down. It’s a fun and serious film. There are a few problems that I had with some of the techinical aspects and the story at the end, but it’s definitely worth watching in the theater.
You can watch previews for the film HERE. I recommend Teaser #1 because it doesn’t spoil the film that much, and the first part before the teaser starts is pretty neat.
This post is pretty much off-the-cuff, though it’s definitely something that I’ve been thinking about for a while now, and partially because of a recent discussion at Film Junk. I’m curious what everyone thinks about the subject.
Anyways, film criticism. Lately I’ve been wondering what the “job” of a film critic is to the majority of people. Is it…
a) To inform people what films they should watch or avoid
b) To expound in detail on a particular film
c) A combination of the two
I think, for the most part, that my film reviews have fallen into the last category. Along with that, toss in the factor of how much information (spoilers) should be included in the review. With option a) there would typically not be many, because most people haven’t seen the film yet, with option b) people have seen the film and want to discuss it further.
So I was thinking it might make more sense to end up writing two seperate reviews of the film. The first would be reduced to the bare essentials (synopsis, personal take, initial reaction, etc.) and the second would be a more indepth discussion about the film including spoilers.
