Review – The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert [1994]

Starring: Hugo Weaving, Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce
Director: Stephan Elliott
Screenwriter: Stephan Elliott

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is gay, in both definitions of the word, and that’s precisely what makes its charm almost irresistible. It’s a fun romp through the desert of Australia. It has a kinetic energy that almost never lets up, and it has characters that are as unpredictable and eccentric as its costumes (for which it won an Oscar). One thing that makes it as enjoyable as it is are the three leads, all typically “macho” men, or at least actors who play roles associated with more masculine character traits: Hugo Weaving, Terence Stamp and Guy Pearce. The fact that they play three musical drag queens is something that starts out seeming like a gimmick, and as the film progresses, becoming a more and more pleasing choice.

Review – District 9

District 9 [2009]

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Screenwriter: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell

The best science fiction utilizes itself as a catalyst to discuss issues and ideas that are relevant to the world we live in. It’s not about lasers and stars, spaceships and warp drives – although it can include some, or all, of these things – it’s about worldly ideas expressed through otherworldly circumstances. District 9, although not one of the best science fiction films, aspires to this brand of sci-fi. Most of the film takes a thoughtful and realist look at not only the idea of extra-terrestrials coming to planet Earth, but also makes itself into a commentary on the apartheid government in South Africa. The director, Neill Blomkamp, doesn’t even make this an allusion, but an outright statement, setting the film in Johannesburg.

THE 82nd ACADEMY AWARDS – Nomination Reactions and First Official Award Predictions

So it’s taken me long enough, but they’re finally here! My official Oscar Predictions. They’re only in the major categories: Best Picture, Animated Picture, Director, Acting Awards and Writing Awards. I feel I have the knowledge and information to properly predict those. The other awards… Not so much. I could try, but frankly, I’m going to be lazy for the moment and just focus on the major ones. Maybe before the official Oscar telecast I’ll make predictions in other areas. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Remember, if you want to see these predictions later, just check out the page at the top labeled “The Oscars.” That will take you right there. Or just click here.

What’s Going On

As many probably noticed, I haven’t been updating as frequently. I’m back at school now. Second week almost over. It’s just been extremely hectic. I haven’t even had time to write about my reaction to the Oscar nominees. Which stinks. I have some stuff I’d like to say about it. I’ve also been battling some kind of stomach flu or something. I don’t know. But I’ve been sick the past couple days. I guess what I mean is, I’m working slowly on getting some stuff together. Let me just give some idea of what’s to come soon concerning reviews…

District 9 -I wanted to get a review of it out earlier, but I didn’t, and I should have. I’ve started working on it, so expect that sometime soon.
The Apartment – I have a review in my head that just needs to get written down. Furthermore, it’s one of the reviews that was done over at 1001 Movies Club.
This Saturday, the 1001 Movies Club will be publishing reviews of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I’m working on writing one for that as well.
I just recently saw Dr. Strangelove again, and after discussing it in my class feel more confident about reviewing it, so I’m going to take a stab at that.
Where The Wild Things Are – I finally finished it… Thoughts are still swirling in my head, but expect a review sometime in the next couple weeks.
Nanook of the North – I’m going to be seeing this on Thursday, and I expect that we’ll be discussing it in class as well. I don’t know if I will write a review, but perhaps. We’ll see. It’s a possibility.
There are others as well, but those are the ones I’m mulling about getting around to publishing. So expect them. There’s a screening of Inglourious Basterds this Friday as well, and though I’ve seen it before, seeing it again will probably solidify my thoughts, so I wouldn’t count out a review of that, either.

Also, for those interested, check out the letter Roger Ebert published on his site. You can read it here. I’d publish it on my blog here, but frankly, since Ebert was gracious enough to publish it, you can go there to read it. But feel free to comment on it here if you so desire.

Review – Deliverance

Deliverance [1972]

Starring: Burt Reynolds, John Voigt, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty
Director: John Boorman
Screenwriter: James Dickey

The idea of “mountain men” has been one that has pervaded American society since urbanism and suburbanism became more widespread. Deliverance is perhaps the first movie to portray the idea of the outside urbanites or suburbanites going into an ultra-rural, Appalachia-esque setting and, essentially, getting in way over their heads. Deliverance is, at times, scary, and there are scenes that have become iconic since its original release, but the overall result of the movie leaves one somewhat detached, and hollow. Some films do this effectively, but in many ways, Deliverance is as flat as the conventions it follows. The fear that’s evoked from a couple of scenes never truly follows through to the end, and so I was left wondering what the point of it all was.

The 1001 Movies You Must See

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. I’ve joined a little movie club called The 1001 Movies You Must See. The basic premise of it is that a bunch of bloggers who love movies get together, review films every week from the book The 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and then collectively post those reviews to the blog that’s been set up. It’s really fun, and I’m going to start doing it. I’m going to post a review of one of the next films up to be reviewed, Deliverance very shortly, but I just thought I would let everyone know.

I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I won’t be reviewing every single of the 1001 movies, but I’ll try to do my best to review as many of them as I can. My schedule is busier than it was over break, what with my being back in classes and all, but I will be reviewing at least one of the movies per week. I highly encourage you all to check out the blog, which you can go to here, or you can look on the blog roll on the right. It’s gonna be some good times.

Why Do Video Game Adaptations Suck?

Why do video game adaptations suck? This question has been plaguing me ever since I saw Super Mario Brothers, the very first video game adaptation, and realized that movies couldn’t just be dumb. They could be downright god-awful. Every movie lover has his moment of realization, and Super Mario Brothers was mine. The problem is that since then, we haven’t really come that far. It’s not as if the video game adaptations being made today are far superior to that of Super Mario Brothers. There are myriad reasons why: bad, unknown actors, bad, unknown writers who probably wrote the screenplays on the toilet while taking a break from writing thirty other screenplays that will never get bought by a studio, and of course, Uwe Boll. Though I shouldn’t pick on just him, even if he is the very worst. Other directors have done video game adaptations as well. The issue with directors is the same as the other issues: they’re unknown, small-time, and inexperienced. Hollywood obviously doesn’t have any trust in video game adaptations. And I can’t help but wonder why.

Some Thoughts on the Golden Globes

The Golden Globes carried no surprises, in my opinion. That’s just the problem, but there’s not much to be said about it except “oh well” and just move on. The only interesting thing here is the implication it has on the Oscar race.

A Conversation With John Gilpatrick

I’ve begun doing some collaborative work with a fellow blogger and Twitterer, John Gilpatrick. You can visit his blog, John Likes Movies, by going here. We’ve decided to do “conversations” every now and then. Discussions about current movie news, awards, or review movies we’ve both seen. It’s always going to be different, because it’s just a conversation. It’s not an in-depth interview of any kind. It’s simply the thoughts, ideas and insights of two guys who love movies, coming together to talk about movies. We hope to do this more in the future, to make this the first of many. I hope you all enjoy it. If so, please comment. Feedback is always a nice reward.

In this edition, we talk about a few things, including the recent decision by Sony concerning the Spider-Man movie franchise, the Oscars, and more specifically, Kathryn Bigelow’s seemingly inevitable win for Best Director on the horizon. Check out the full conversation after the jump.

The Significance of Gears of War in The Hurt Locker

Note: Although I do not specifically spoil anything about the movie, I do allude to a specific scene in the film. For those perfectionists out there who need to see a film untainted by such discussions, I would advise you to see the movie before reading. If not, or if you’ve seen the movie, by all means, please keep reading.

I’m really taken by surprise that more people have not commented on the fact that Spec. Eldridge is playing the video game “Gears of War” in one scene of The Hurt Locker. I think that this should be further examined, yet I haven’t seen anything that even talks about it in the reviews I’ve read. I don’t know why that is (perhaps those reviewing the movie haven’t played the game), but I think it requires further examination. It was obviously intentional. Eldridge could be playing any game at all, and yet he’s playing what some consider to be the most realistic war game ever. Realistic in the way it portrays combat, and puts you in the middle of fire fights, scrambling to find cover and hiding behind any object possible in order to survive.