Sunday, November 27, 2011

Matt’s Week in Dork! (11/20/11-11/26/11)


    Another week down.  This is the extra, extra busy season in my non-Dork life, so I haven’t been doing as much cool as I’d like.  I didn’t get much reading done.  Watched some movies while I was drifting in and out of sleep.


The Creature from the Black Lagoon:  Amazing creature design and costuming help make this film especially effective.  The creature can swim, attack, and stand in the light of day without betraying its costumed nature.  The story is cool, the cast does a fine job, and the music is over the top intense.  A must.  One of my favorite Beauty and the Beast variations.


Revenge of the Creature:  Kind of boring movie about the exploitation of the gillman, this time making him an exhibit at a fairly crass oceanarium.  At least the creature is still his underwater self.  And darn it, John Agar is creepy. 


The Creature Walks Among Us:  This kind of silly sequel deals with the gillman being force-evolved into a more land based being.  Though the real story is about a dysfunctional marriage falling apart, and the dangers of jealousy and emotional instability.  Gone is much of the power and class of the original.   


Immortals:  The gods must be crazy!  With his typical flare for impressive visuals, Tarsem brings the gods to life in this Greek myth inspired epic.  The cast is quite good and the action scenes impressive and surprisingly brutal (lots of heads explode).  It doesn’t always work, and it’s certainly not a perfect film.  But, it’s actually a lot better than I expected.  And like this year’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Freida Pinto was nearly as irritating as the trailer made her seem.  God Fight!!!


Spy Kids: All the Time in the World:  Turns out the Time Keeper is actually Robert Rodriguez and he just stole an hour and a half of my time.  There was a time when I’d have considered Rodriguez one of my favorite directors.  And yes, I even enjoyed his kid friendly movies.  But this film sucks from moment one, and it doesn’t let up.


Mystery Science Theater 3000: Devil Fish:  Craptastic Italian horror gets a solid drubbing from the boys in this episode.  Sadly, Pearl gets some screen time, so it’s not as good as it could be.  However, the movie is a riot and Mike and the Bots are on.  Before Sharktopus, there was Devil Fish!


What’s Up Nurse:  Moderately funny…no scratch that.  Occasionally slightly funny.  Pretty typical low brow cheeky British humor.  Not really worth the time it takes to watch.


Dracula:  An interesting, iconic, but ultimately not that great adaptation of Bram Stoker’s deffinative vampire novel.  One thing I noticed upon this viewing is that the films editing is extremely awkward and rough.  The acting is typical of the early days of sound (read: more like stage acting).  There are, of course, some impressive moments.  But taken by itself, it’s only an OK movie.


Dracula (Spanish):  Pretty much the same script (but in Spanish) as the Bela Lugosi version, this film works better in part because the editing and direction are far cleaner and effective.  The actors feel a bit more natural and the cinematography takes more advantage of the same sets as the Lugosi version.


Dracula’s Daughter:  An OK movie, I actually found it more interesting than the original Lugosi film. There’s not really all that much to it.  Everything happens exactly how you expect it will.  But, it’s well made and the cast does a pretty good job.


Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 3:  The show continues to remind me why I loved Star Wars for so long (while pointing out why that love was so sorely tested by the prequel trilogy).  It expands the universe, tells good tales, and revels in the nature of space opera.


The Muppets:  They’ve still got it.  Unlike a certain friend of mine, I did grow up loving the Muppets and all things Jim Henson (sadly, wasn’t able to watch Fraggle Rock until a couple years ago…though that may be for the best, as I think I appreciate it more as an adult than I would have as a child).  And this movie is a love letter to that wonderful time.  A look back on what made them great, and a wonderful way to bring them into the spotlight again.  I hope the movie makes many new fans, and it certainly should.  The script is spot on, the jokes fast and furious, and that wonderful mix of extreme cheese, elbow nudges, and real heart that have made the Muppets so enduring.  Not gonna lie, my lump of coal (I don’t have a heart) twitched more than once, and a couple of times I got a bit misty.


Mystery Science Theater 3000: Swamp Women/Swamp Diamonds:  A ‘holy crap!’ awful Roger Corman movie about some lady ex-cons looking for some diamonds, taking hostages, and fighting in swamp water.  Sounds good, right?  It’s not.  However, the boys have a lot of fun with it, as they usually do.  A solid episode, with plenty of good laughs.


    That’s about it.  Didn’t even listen to much music or anything.


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