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Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
14 years
Reviews
Unicorn City (2012)
Unicorn City Welcomes You
First off, this is a movie focusing on Voss, an unemployed tabletop gamer who has anger issues and a difficulty separating his real life from his gaming life. He is flanked by younger brother Clancy and good friend Marsha, both who are members of his guild. Requiring money to help pay his share of the rent to his older brother Seth, he interviews for a gaming director's job only to find that he needs to prove his leadership skills in order to stand out. This is his catalyst for creating a gamers utopia out in the countryside for him and his fellow gaming friends. At first life is great in this fantasy world he has created. Then his arch-nemesis ShadowHawk, shows up to tempt the citizens of Unicorn City and cause havoc in Voss's life. Voss must come to terms with his life and determine what is important and what is merely fantasy.
I know I sat down to watch this movie with some reservations. I had preconceived notions it might seem too removed for a non-gamer to fully appreciate most of the movie. I was also worried that there would be a lot of "fantasy" scenes to deviate from what was the true meat of the story. I was extremely surprised to find at the movie that this is quite possible the most I have laughed at a movie so far this year. Sure the gaming aspect was a catalyst for most of the actions and jokes but the real punchlines were everyday frustrations. This is what makes it possible for everyone to find a way to relate to the characters. Also you can really sense the love that they have towards their gaming life. Everyone needs something to escape from their daily lives and this is what they are passionate about.
Some thing else that I loved about the movie is, that even though it was an indie film, it didn't feel like one. The production value was definitely very high, and this goes back to my worry that there would be too many "fantasy" scenes which can easily eat up budget. The acting was very strong in the lead roles with a few of the supporting roles needing a little bit of work. There was definitely a sense of chemistry among the cast that seemed to fill in the cracks where there was a bit of light acting. Many indie's are also plagued by poor sound and an atrocious score. While the sound was nothing per se special, it was still strong and the score was excellent at some points and not affronting during the rest of the movie.
Basically the production team most certainly put their time and money in all the right spots. They focused on story first, and then fundamentals. More movies today need to follow their lead, and learn that in the long run I am going to appreciate this movie more because I don't need a expensive movie setup to get the full experience. I just need to sit back, relax and enjoy. I encourage you to do the same and try help bring it to your city. Click here—–>Unicorn City, to go to their Facebook page where I hope you will like their page and click the widget on the left requesting it to a local theater. Help us spread the word about this wonderful piece of art and share it with as many people as possible. When they ask what it is like, respond that it's Role Models meets Napoleon Dynamite, with a dash of the Community for spice.
more reviews and geek stuff at www.dayoldstubble.com
I know I sat down to watch this movie with some reservations. I had preconceived notions it might seem too removed for a non-gamer to fully appreciate most of the movie. I was also worried that there would be a lot of "fantasy" scenes to deviate from what was the true meat of the story. I was extremely surprised to find at the movie that this is quite possible the most I have laughed at a movie so far this year. Sure the gaming aspect was a catalyst for most of the actions and jokes but the real punchlines were everyday frustrations. This is what makes it possible for everyone to find a way to relate to the characters. Also you can really sense the love that they have towards their gaming life. Everyone needs something to escape from their daily lives and this is what they are passionate about.
Some thing else that I loved about the movie is, that even though it was an indie film, it didn't feel like one. The production value was definitely very high, and this goes back to my worry that there would be too many "fantasy" scenes which can easily eat up budget. The acting was very strong in the lead roles with a few of the supporting roles needing a little bit of work. There was definitely a sense of chemistry among the cast that seemed to fill in the cracks where there was a bit of light acting. Many indie's are also plagued by poor sound and an atrocious score. While the sound was nothing per se special, it was still strong and the score was excellent at some points and not affronting during the rest of the movie.
Basically the production team most certainly put their time and money in all the right spots. They focused on story first, and then fundamentals. More movies today need to follow their lead, and learn that in the long run I am going to appreciate this movie more because I don't need a expensive movie setup to get the full experience. I just need to sit back, relax and enjoy. I encourage you to do the same and try help bring it to your city. Click here—–>Unicorn City, to go to their Facebook page where I hope you will like their page and click the widget on the left requesting it to a local theater. Help us spread the word about this wonderful piece of art and share it with as many people as possible. When they ask what it is like, respond that it's Role Models meets Napoleon Dynamite, with a dash of the Community for spice.
more reviews and geek stuff at www.dayoldstubble.com
The Green Hornet (2011)
Green Hornet Review as found on DayOldStubble.com
Review: Green Hornet With all the talk of January being a dumping ground for horrible movies and The Green Hornet being one of those at the top of the list I was surprised by how I felt at the end of the movie. By all means this does not mean it was a great movie. I felt it was a very enjoyable movie to go and watch. That being said there were still things that were plenty annoying about this movie.
Most obviously would be the excessive prattling from Seth Rogen's character Britt Reid, aka The Green Hornet. Granted it was his movie he wrote, and helped pushed to fruition but he really needed to dial back some of the stuff he seems to think is funny. I am glad he didn't rely on the normally heavy pot related jokes and pranks though. It just was easy to understand how whiny and childlike his character was but it didn't need to be etched that hard into our eyes and ears.
From what I know of the Green Hornet, which is very little, I am glad they seemed to expand upon the relationship between Kato and himself. Something I noticed was how in the beginning of the credits they made sure how they said it was based off the radio series which I had no idea of, so from what little I learned from the Green Hornet marathon on SyFy earlier in the week seems to have little merit on this adaptation. So my preconceived notions on how interactions would go between characters left me surprised. I am not sure how true Green Hornet fans are feeling about this movie, which I hope they would write to me and let me know some of the flaws they saw so that I may learn.
Sadly I felt that Christoph Waltz's talent was very underused. His character, Chudnofsky's opening scene with a meth dealer, played by Rogen's amazingly talented friend James Franco, was very much what I would have expected. It is all of Chudnofsky's following scenes that seemed to lack that spark that Waltz typically brings, and I want to blame the writing because it seems like his character was a set archetype by the writers, and that he did the best with what he could. This is all that I could find fault with the film because other wise the car, which has always been the most important part of the series, was amazing and stole every scene.
Of course Jay Chou's portrayal as Kato is part of the reason the car was so awesome as well as the fight scenes. They seemed to borrow some elements from Sherlock Holmes's fight scenes of slowing down the action before hand and also at key elements. This worked very well to showcase the martial arts prowess of Kato, and add a bit of edginess to what could have been otherwise boring and standard fights.
I was a tad surprised at how little screen time Cameron Diaz had throughout the movie but in retrospect I am quite happy with this decision. She has always been one of my least favorite actresses and the amount of time she had seemed to fit perfectly for this movie. At the end you see how she could come into a much bigger role in possible sequels.
All in all I was stung with surprise by The Green Hornet and I hope you all will look past bad early press and appreciate it the movie for its whole and not just focus on certain parts.
Most obviously would be the excessive prattling from Seth Rogen's character Britt Reid, aka The Green Hornet. Granted it was his movie he wrote, and helped pushed to fruition but he really needed to dial back some of the stuff he seems to think is funny. I am glad he didn't rely on the normally heavy pot related jokes and pranks though. It just was easy to understand how whiny and childlike his character was but it didn't need to be etched that hard into our eyes and ears.
From what I know of the Green Hornet, which is very little, I am glad they seemed to expand upon the relationship between Kato and himself. Something I noticed was how in the beginning of the credits they made sure how they said it was based off the radio series which I had no idea of, so from what little I learned from the Green Hornet marathon on SyFy earlier in the week seems to have little merit on this adaptation. So my preconceived notions on how interactions would go between characters left me surprised. I am not sure how true Green Hornet fans are feeling about this movie, which I hope they would write to me and let me know some of the flaws they saw so that I may learn.
Sadly I felt that Christoph Waltz's talent was very underused. His character, Chudnofsky's opening scene with a meth dealer, played by Rogen's amazingly talented friend James Franco, was very much what I would have expected. It is all of Chudnofsky's following scenes that seemed to lack that spark that Waltz typically brings, and I want to blame the writing because it seems like his character was a set archetype by the writers, and that he did the best with what he could. This is all that I could find fault with the film because other wise the car, which has always been the most important part of the series, was amazing and stole every scene.
Of course Jay Chou's portrayal as Kato is part of the reason the car was so awesome as well as the fight scenes. They seemed to borrow some elements from Sherlock Holmes's fight scenes of slowing down the action before hand and also at key elements. This worked very well to showcase the martial arts prowess of Kato, and add a bit of edginess to what could have been otherwise boring and standard fights.
I was a tad surprised at how little screen time Cameron Diaz had throughout the movie but in retrospect I am quite happy with this decision. She has always been one of my least favorite actresses and the amount of time she had seemed to fit perfectly for this movie. At the end you see how she could come into a much bigger role in possible sequels.
All in all I was stung with surprise by The Green Hornet and I hope you all will look past bad early press and appreciate it the movie for its whole and not just focus on certain parts.