cameragod Reviews

Cowboy Bebop (2021)

Not as relient on tropes as the original

[8/10 · 24 November 2021]

One of the things about the original was it reliance on the characters doing something because that's what their character trope would do and not because of something the story had set up as their motivation. In the anime characters took actions, shared moments and emotional payoffs they hadn't earned through anything they had done or said. The show relied heavily on the viewer providing their own context to the trope filled shorthand to link the sometimes random character actions.

The NETFLIX show attempts to "fix" this. It tweeks the characters to give them reasons to behave as they do other than that's just what that type of character would do. Spike and Fay's "shower/bath/shower" dialog does more to bond them and explain their relationship to each other than anything that happened in the anime show.

I liked it but obviously some don't like script driven characters and were not bothered by all the "wtf" plot shifts in the anime show... after-all it was just cartoons :)

The only thing that dragged a bit for me was every scene with Vicious and Julia... although I feel that ep. 9 and 10 made that worthwhile.

Press (2018)

Sad fantasy

[5/10 · 4 February 2019]

I've worked in the news media for over 30 years. So had some hopes when I started watching BBC mini series "Press" (cool name) but kind of lost interest in the second ep in when the multi millionaire who owned one of the papers claimed he didn't care if the paper made money only that it did quality journalism... I mean I can suspend belief to dragons and elves but that is pushing fantasy a bit too far. Its well made but badly let down by the writing.

The History of Comedy (2017– )

Should have been called "The American History of Comedy"

[6/10 · 25 January 2018]

The show isn't badly done but while I learned a lot about American comedians I'd never heard of before or never rated as any good, the rest of the world is comedy free apparently. It makes bold statements about who was the first to do what type of comedy or the most important influence, yet somehow it seems to totally ignore comedy done anywhere else outside of the USA.

So not so much The History of Comedy and more a bit of an inside joke.

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

Halfway in Star Trek Discovery and you broke me.

[3/10 · 18 October 2017]

It looks good. The acting is fine. The "science" is a direct steal from a late 70's Dr Who ep… so meh. But the cast doing whatever stupid thing they need to do no matter how against type to move the obvious/stupid story-line and cheesy dialogue… "you haven't heard the last of me, you haven't heard the last off… (insert name complete with middle initial)" There is too much good TV now to put up with such lazy writing.

Monster Trucks (2016)

Could do better

[6/10 · 22 July 2017]

So I saw Monster Trucks... (reasons OK) and its actually quite a technically well made kids movie that steals shamelessly from other better kids movies. The casting is weird and at times its taking itself a bit too seriously, but what gets me is the unnecessary plot holes joining the stolen bits together. Plot holes that you see coming a mile down the road, easily avoided, but they just drive on in. I get that its "just a kids movie" but if they put a fraction of the effort they went to with the FX into the script... it would still be a kids movie I guess... just more of a How to Train You Dragon movie as apposed to a Transformers movie.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

See Tom run. Run Tom Run.

[4/10 · 22 October 2016]

You know that Tom running meme? The whole movie is that. Tom running. Tom and others running. Why are you running Tom? I know they are "on the run" but lets not be so literal. I mean if you want to be inconspicuous maybe sprinting around town is not the best idea. They run and run and when they don't run its mostly Tom nodding while lots of "acting" is going on... meaningful nod says "I'm complicated and having feeling." All the best bits were in the trailer, actually done better in the trailer. The edit pacing of the movie is poor,really, really disappointing. This year has been a lot of meh franchise movies... this is one of them.

The Lovely Bones (2009)

Subtle.

[9/10 · 13 December 2009]

PJ has made a movie that requires some emotional buy in but returns it with interest. This is the first movie in a very long time where I actually care what happens to the characters. Not just the lead but the whole family, even the villain… I care how their stories are resolved or not resolved.

There is so much big and obvious stuff happening up front it is easy to miss the subtlety that runs beneath, so much that is implied rather than spelt out. It really hard to talk about without using spoilers (might do another post with spoilers) but trust me there is a lot more to this movie than meets the eye candy.

If you are a relaxed film watcher that likes everything handed to you on a plate underlined with heavy handed dialog and massive visual cues then you will only get half of this movie… and you still might enjoy it.

If you are the type of movie watcher that doesn't mind working a little, reading a lot from inferences, pick up the tonal shifts and can see past the big CGI scenes and see them for what they are (a device to show Susie as small vulnerable and in jeopardy even though she is dead) then you are going to get a lot out of this movie… and really enjoy it.

Second Hand Wedding (2008)

Very good film

[8/10 · 24 May 2008]

I went to see this with my wife at the Lighthouse Theater in Petone. I was pleased to see a little Kiwi film so well supported by the sold out audience. Secondhand Wedding didn't disappoint. A tight, funny script with some well delivered acting carefully/skillfully directed.

The lead rolls were all good performances but better than that was the depth of the minor parts. Even the smallest of rolls were handled with skill nobody jarred... well John may have been a bit hammy but he worked it… :) NZ movie acting seems to have come of age.

The lines are funny. At one point I wondered how well it will be received outside of NZ because of the local jokes... and then I wondered if anyone outside of the grater Wellington area would get it but I think there are enough universal truths to make this delightful movie a hit anywhere.

Technically the Viper digital camera it was shot on delivered some good pictures. I doubt anyone seeing it would spot it wasn't shot on film. I did think it could have been graded a bit warmer, the normally fantastic Kapiti sunset was a bit nothing and there seemed to be a few random focus issues but those are minor niggles. I really enjoyed Secondhand Wedding, it was a lighthearted, well done and proves Kiwi's can do comedy and there are niches out there other than horror.

TMNT (2007)

Sub plots better than the whole

[8/10 · 11 April 2007]

How many things were wrong with this movie? Too many to cover but somehow I loved it. "3,000 years ago… blah blah blah…" I sat through the intro thinking is it too late to get my money back? But then we rocked into what is in bits a very good movie. The sub plots are all very true to the original B&W cartoons and the animation looking a lot like The Incredibles uses comic book physics too good effect, it just works. The Leonardo vs Raphael fight alone is worth seeing this movie for… I'm confused. I sit here trying to think why I liked TMNT so much and all that comes to mind is the many faults but sitting in the theater I enjoyed the ride immensely.

Find a child and force them to take you too it.

Serenity (2005)

treats the audience with a degree of respect few Sci Fi achieve

[9/10 · 25 February 2007]

I loved this movie. I think the thing about Serenity is the depth of the characters. A lot of that has to do with the development they got in the Firefly series. But if you listen to the commentary you under stand the detail Whedon when into to give the characters in Serenity a solid believable background. A solid foundation to build the fictional future on. To make the ride feel more real. Another thing I like about Serenity is that it doesn't seem to feel the need to explain everything. I like unanswered questions or only half explained plots and motives so you can fill in the blanks yourself. Once again when you listen to the commentary you can hear just how much though was put into leaving stuff out on purpose. Yes to some degree it a cheesy western in space but it was fun and treats the audience with a degree of respect few Sci Fi achieve.

Maiden Voyage (2004 TV Movie)

Don't watch this movie, not even as a joke.

[1/10 · 25 February 2007]

I saw this on TV the other night… or rather I flicked over to another channel every so often to watch infomercials when I couldn't stand watching it any longer. It was bad. Really, really bad. Not "so bad it's good" just flat out bad. How did it get funded? Who thought this was a good idea? An actor friend of mine auditioned and was told he wasn't good enough to play a bad guy but I think what they meant was "save yourself and runaway from this steaming pile of @#$%." I bet the rest of the cast had been given the option. To be fair the acting was hard to judge because of the appalling fake American ascents. The shooting was dullllllllllll. The action was awkward and stilted. The dialog was inane. By far the saddest thing was ship. In real life the Interislander ferry is a shabby boat and on film it doesn't scrub up well. Instead of trying very unsuccessfully to make it look like a new crews liner with bits of tinsel wrapped around rusting polls, I kid you not, they could have change the script to explain or even celebrate the shabbiness. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb. Don't watch this movie, not even as a joke.

Event 16 (2006)

I was the DOP

[10/10 · 27 January 2007]

OK first up there is no way I can be impartial as I was the DOP for Event 16. That said I'm really pleased with how it came out. Thank you for all the kind comments about the camera work. Any given Sunday for a year I would be out with Derek and the rest of our small crew getting through the shot lists. It's hard to believe just how well the continuity held up. My lighting kit consisted of whatever I could get that weekend so often I would be trying to recreate what I did a few weeks ago with a completely different set of lights. It was a lot of work but seeing the finished movie, what Derek has done with it makes it all worthwhile. Event 16 is out on DVD now in New Zealand and I have to say it looks good there. Some of the limitations of the DVCam format we shot on don't stand out on the smaller screen. Some people still need a ven diagram to work out what is happening but personally I like a movie that needs a bit of thought. The behind the scenes stuff is good and doing the commentary track was a lot of fun, even if I was suffering from the flue and sounded like I had a broken nose, I think it ads a lot to the Event 16 experience. I hope if you stumble across Event 16 you enjoy the ride for what it is. I'll be checking back in here so if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the forum below.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Look out Terry Pratchett.

[4/10 · 29 April 2005]

Let this film be a warning to you Terry. If you don't hurry up and have made a decent Discworld film one day you will die and there will be a horrible film adaptation of your books like this one. It's not so much a film of the Hitchhikers Guide as a Hitchhikers Guide-ish flavoured film for Americans. Yuck!

The Hitchhikers Guide was never about a stunning plot line. It was never good Sci-Fi the silly plot was just there to hang the fantastic dialog to. Douglass wrote such funny dialog why mess about with it? Why cut out most of the actually funny lines? It can't be a time thing as so much pointless bland banter was added. So why rip out the heart of the movie the one thing that made it different and funny.

Alright. Lets not compare the book to the movie but it is hard not to compare the movie to the radio and TV series. Look at Sin City. In the comic you had what was basically a brilliant story board for a movie. So they made it and it worked. THHGTTG had a fantastic radio show with brilliant dialog that could have been the base of a very funny movie but the movie makers ignored it and ended up with a weak THHGTTG flavoured movie.

I didn't really like the TV series when it came out but I thought it was better/funnier than the Movie. After seeing the movie a few days ago last night I got out the TV series on DVD to see if I was remembering the TV show as better than it was. Nope. Forget the bad FX, OT acting and glacial pacing and a few seconds into it and you can see what the film forgot. Arthur Dent is not the poor everyman/victim character, he is a slightly removed observer, a sarcastic sod that continually spouts dry one lines. FORD "How are you feeling?" ARTHUR "Like a military academy… bits of me keep parsing out." Endless insightful and clever throw away lines that you wish you could think of at parties, keep zinging out taking you by surprise. They are all gone from the movie. The pitiful few that remain are the probably only funny moments in the movie… and I'm sorry but if you laugh at "Look out he's got a towel!" then you have been seriously staved of good comedy. I know that American audiences are renowned for not getting sarcasm but I think the producers of this movie underestimated them and did us all a disservice by removing the one thing that made THHGTTG more than just another silly Sci-Fi story. DNA's sharp dialog.

Snakeskin (2001)

The whole thing is like a slow drive to nowhere with the kids fighting non stop in the back of the car.

[1/10 · 24 April 2003]

I so wanted to like this movie, my sister was Melanie Lynskey's body double, but sorry sis you were good, the movie sucked. I didn't like or hate any of the characters, finding them bland, one-dimensional and sadly unengaging. The portrayal of the American drifter was right passed cartoon and into offensively stereotypical. Snakeskin does nothing new or even well, the comedy that should help lift the story is limp and unsatisfying. The whole thing is like a slow drive to nowhere with the kids fighting non stop in the back of the car. Are we there yet? When will it end? Spoilers- other than actually paying to see the movie.

The writer Gillian Ashurst may think getting F***ed in a toilet by a stranger is very exciting and everyone's secret fantasy but. yawn, is this crap really the best she could come up with? I was glad when one of the main characters put the gun in his mouth and died. One less source of weak inane drivel to listen to and I felt relieved because the movie must nearly be over. wrong it just kept going on and on. and even then the end was not worth the wait.