Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Quick Flicks ... and Some Dalek Trash Talk

Attack the Block

★★★-1/2

This one's been on my list for a couple of years and it was an unexpected delight in the same way that Pitch Black was. A good, solid monster movie with a basic puzzle to solve in order to rid oneself of the monsters. In this case, the twist is that the monsters are faced by a gang of young thugs in a council block (that translates to "the projects" in the U.S.). Thoroughly enjoyable if one doesn't expect too much from it and watching the young actors is a delight, many of whom were recruited from local acting schools.

I especially enjoyed the fact that you can tell the aliens are not CG. The young actors said that they were actually frightened during action sequences because they were acting with real, unpredictable "creatures" ... it both shows and enhances the film.

The director went to a lot of trouble to get the place right. He interviewed council block kids to find out what weapons they'd grab if aliens landed. They use real slang and at times I felt as if I were watching a foreign language film with the captions off. However, there was always enough understandable dialogue for context.


Cars 2


★★★

This was the only Pixar movie we hadn't seen so I finally bit the bullet and rented it. It wasn't bad, especially considering their true demographic is children and not me.

The animation especially was a delight, as always. We really enjoyed picking out how they had "auto-ized" famous landmarks in the cities around the world.

The plot was basic as was the dialogue, which was a disappointment considering the high standard Pixar has set for itself in those departments. However, for what it is, a movie for children, it is perfectly adequate.


Dr. Who - Doomsday (Season 2 finale)

We're gradually working our way through these and I was quite ready for Rose to be trapped in a parallel universe. She was fine, but I did get a bit tired of her. So it was all quite sad and so forth as she and the Doctor were parted.

But the real joy was watching the Cybermen face the Daleks. Hannah is far ahead of us in the show and had mentioned that the Daleks have some of the worst trash talk ever. Indeed. Here's a sample and I both loved it and cracked up simultaneously. Of course reading it just can't do the exchange justice since the Daleks continually scream their dialogue (in a robotic sort of way) and the cybermen have toneless robotic voices.

Cyber Leader: Daleks, be warned. You have declared war upon the Cybermen.
Dalek Sec: This is not war. This is pest control!
Cyber Leader: We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?
Dalek Sec: Four.
Cyber Leader: You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?
Dalek Sec: We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek! You are superior in only one respect.
Cyber Leader: What is that?
Dalek Sec: You are superior at dying!

12 comments:

  1. One good thing about "Cars 2" is that it definitively ended the debate about which was the worst Pixar move. Although worst in their case is rather relative when compared to what passes for family entertainment by other animation studios. Pixar proves you can do family animation with no references to fart jokes.

    As for "Attack the Block" I recently watched it myself and was also pleasantly surprised.

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  2. I love Daleks. Daleks are cool. I hate Cybermen. Cybermen are boring. (Stomp stomp stomp stomp.) So I like this scene very much.

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    1. I must admit that one thing I really love about the Cybermen is their stomping. It says so much with one little (big) movement!

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  3. It's on YouTube :-D
    http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=vu6_IxkAHsI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dvu6_IxkAHsI

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  4. OK, so Cars 2 wasn't Pixar's best. But you gotta give them some credit for Pope Pinion IV and the Popemobile.

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  5. I was doing some movie review browing last week and was *shocked* to find out that, apparently, everyone hates Cars 2. I thought it was a fun spy flick, with excellent music, and the popemobile IN a popemobile. Good enough for me.

    I had to skip the Doctor Who review, I have to wait to see it until it comes on Netflix!

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    1. Somehow I completely missed seeing the Pope at all. Now how did that happen? Hmmm ...

      On Dr. Who ... I was worried about that but figured that it had been out so long that most interested parties would have seen it (or, as would have been the case with me formerly, not care).

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    2. Also, it just occurred to me ... it is streaming free on Amazon Prime, but not on Netflix? Weird!

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  6. That is the most awesome Dalek line you will see in the show, but the best episodes are yet to come. "Blink" is usually the episode we show people to get them hooked on the new Doctor Who. It's in the middle of the next series, so you will see it soon!

    As for Cars 2 being the worst Pixar movie, I have to weigh in to defend it. Think of A Bug's Life...Can you name any of the characters? Describe the plot? I can't. I know I saw the film but I judge it completely forgettable by the fact that I have completely forgotten it. Cars and Cars 2 have paint-by-number plots, but at least there's some wit and creativity in the execution. The "Mater as a dumb yokel" gag gets pretty tired in Cars 2 but the movie has other fine qualities (including Bruce Campbell as the American spy car for whom Mater is mistaken).

    I'll have to pay attention the next time the kids watch Cars 2 so I spot the popemobile. I missed it too!

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    1. I see that Rose has my back on A Bug's Life which screamed Magnificent Seven. I mean to say, how about when the bullies retire to their hideaway ... in Mexico?!? Cracked me up.

      I actually always forget about A Bug's Life being Pixar but I would rank it above Cars II and ... I'm sorry to say ... Up. Up was fine and had many good themes but it had significant problems for me.

      Hannah told me that Blink is the episode everyone uses to convert people into Who-vians. I've been looking forward to it!

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  7. That seems a little unfair to A Bug's Life. After all, if you like The Magnificent Seven or The Seven Samurai, you should like that movie. They're basically the same thing except with circus bugs instead of trained professionals.

    Dr. Who is on Netflix streaming except possibly the most recent season.

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  8. I don't remember that at all about A Bug's Life. I honestly remember nothing about it except seeing it. I am going to rewatch it. It's available through inter-library loan at our local library--I'm putting my request in ASAP!

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