I went to Redbox seeking Wreck-it Ralph, but since it was out of stock, I settled for another family friendly film, Monsters University. As far as settling goes, it wasn't a bad choice at all. It had all the cuteness of the original, plus the bonus points for getting to see Mike and Sully's origin story and their friendship develop. I really enjoyed the fact that while Monsters Inc. was primarily Sully's story, this prequel was mostly about Mike and his quest to become one of the revered scarers of Monsters Incorporated by getting through the Scarer's program at Monsters University.
The film shows the two going through their freshman year together -- Sully as a lazy student getting by on his family name, and Mike who has to work three times as hard because of his small stature and generally unscary appearance. The two are enemies until they're thrown together in a scaring competition, which they must win in order to remain not only in the scaring program, but at Monsters University altogether. It's really fun to watch it all play out in a monster school setting, and probably especially so for those that grew up with Monsters Inc. and are therefore college-aged now. This is in the same way that Toy Story 3 appealed to those that grew up with the franchise by showing Andy heading off to college. It's a really nice touch for recent Pixar films.
Another nice touch was the college website tie-in, which was released even before the movie. It has the style of a real college website, complete with pages about admission, campus life, and academics. Here's a link to check it out for a little fun: http://monstersuniversity.com/edu/index.html
I really enjoyed this movie, and immediately went back to watch Monsters Inc. to see again what became of Mike and Sully. Overall, a really solid family film.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
(Mild spoilers for episode 8)
Let's talk about "the better" first. The first and most essential good thing about Brooklyn Nine-Nine is that it's actually fairly funny and often enough has some legitimate "laugh out loud" one-liners. If you like a one-camera style similar to the The Office, Parks and Recreation, or Modern Family you might be able to find a place in your heart for this one as well. It's got the same types of quirky characters, family/work place dynamic, and some characters to root for. And like these shows before it, it's taking awhile to figure itself out. That's fine. It's also nice to see something new with the cop/comedy hybrid. It's all very "has potential" and that's good enough for now.
Now onto the things it could improve, the first and most essential (to me) being the main character of Jake Peralta. Jake's a gung-ho cop who seems more interested in the fictional action cop life than the real cop life, which includes paperwork and due process and routines. I'm fine with that -- if Jake played by the rules, it'd be a pretty boring show. What I'm less okay with is his conceited attitude and constant smirk. He's a know-it-all and considers himself the best, puts himself first a lot, and makes quips only he thinks are funny. Overall, he's not very likable. Now, while I do believe to a certain extent that main characters should be likable, I could see many cases in which they aren't and the show still works out just fine. No, the real issue is that Jake needs to be realistically vulnerable to something so audiences can care. Thus far, not much has affected him. He wins a lot of his arguments one way or another, even when he does wrong or causes problems for the precinct. Nothing has affected him, nothing has hurt him, nothing has given him the added layer of being a character who matters.
However, the most recent episode, "Old School," gave me hope for the future. It was not the best episode by a long shot, as it just wasn't as funny, and the first half was complete characteristic Jake -- neglecting the job to idolize his personal hero, getting drunk, and talking bad about Captain Holt while intoxicated to a writer who was going to quote him. The second half of the episode, however, is where my appreciation comes in -- Jake sought to make it right and make sure those quotes went unpublished even if it meant upsetting his personal hero. It was nice even if it was obligatory, since he was the cause of the trouble in the first place. But what I really appreciated was the end. At first we're meant to believe that Jake punched the writer because of an unwillingness to get rid of those quotes. But Santiago later reveals that Jake actually punched him because he called the gay Captain Holt a "homo" in a clearly derogatory fashion.
At this point, I was ready to cheer. Jake cares about something! He's not going to tolerate homophobia or disrespect for his captain, even by someone he once admired! He did something good even though it cost him (the writer wrote bad things about him instead)! Yay! This is what I've been asking for since the beginning. Let him be crazy and narcissistic as much as he wants, but make him redeemable. Make me love him in the same way I grew to love Parks' Leslie, Ron, and even Tom for all his faults. That, combined with humor that improves every week, will really be what makes the show worth watching.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
The Legend of Korra, Book 2 and "A New Spiritual Age" Review
The first half of the season of The Legend of Korra was strong overall, but certainly had its problems as well. One of my main issues with it was the decreasing likability of Korra as she whined, acted rashly, and ultimately made impudent decisions without caring about the consequences. For the first few episodes I attributed this to being true to both character and reality. Unlike Aang, Korra's not a child -- she has teenage emotions and hormones and the most important difference between these Avatars is that Korra did not come into power in a time of war. She's had a good life thus far -- family and mentors and the fact is, she's never been tested. Of course she's going to try too hard to prove herself, sometimes falling into the trap of believing she's right, and she's always been headstrong. After a couple episodes though, even my excuses felt thin, and my enjoyment of the show came mostly from other characters, particularly Tenzin and his family.
My other issue with much of Book 2 is that it did feel like a lot of set-up, which played off as boring or heavy-handed exposition. While many of the B-storylines were strong, I found myself waiting until we returned to the main storyline of the imbalanced spirit world and Korra's place within it.
Despite these problems, The Legend of Korra has definitely been on an uptick with amazing episodes, starting with "Beginnings 1 and 2" in which we see the Avatar origin story and meet Wan, the first Avatar. In many ways, Wan was similar to Korra with his tendency to act rashly, and his memories show us how his mistakes lead to the spiritual rift between light and dark spirits, Raava and Vaatu. Wan then had to work to make things right, and in doing so, he takes in the spirit of Raava and they become one. By letting Korra see this all, she gains a deeper understanding of who she is as the Avatar.
In the newest episode, Korra enters the spirit world with the help of Tenzin's daughter Jinora, and the two take on the quest of closing the spirit portal to prevent Vaatu from escaping his tree prison. But the two are quickly separated, and unabled to bend within the spirit world, Korra's fear takes a hold of her. Though she didn't know it at the time, her fears become her reality within the spirit world, and her helplessness has her reverted to a small child of around 3 or 4 years of age. Surrounded by darkness and all alone, an unexpected source comes to her rescue:
IROH!
As in, our UNCLE IROH! Original Iroh, with his round belly and tea drinking ways and sage advice. I don't think anyone saw that coming, but from what I've seen in the fandom, absolutely everyone was thrilled by this cameo. Iroh spent time with the de-aged Korra explaining how he chose to live in the spirit world after his time in the physical world was spent, and how her fears and turmoil influence the world around them. In this way, it allowed Korra to realize that she has light within her -- not just from Raava's influence, but from her own spiritual strength and inner peace. She can influence both worlds by maintaining this balance within herself. Because of this, I now believe that Korra's previous behavior and attitude were now very, very deliberate choices by the creators to show her learn what she can achieve not necessarily through force, but through enlightenment as well. It seemed extra appropriate for Iroh to be her guide, as he once helped young Zuko through very similar struggles. It was incredibly reaffirming to see all these aspects tie in together, and made me very inclined to rewatch the original series once again.
On the other side of things, Jinora found herself at Wan Shi Tong's Library, another great callback to the original series. She appeals to the scary owl spirit, and he allows her to stay and read about the Harmonic Convergence and the Spirit Portals. She learns that if both portals are open at the time of convergence, Vaatu would be released from his prison and would be able to wreck both worlds. As she leaves to warn Korra, Unalaq appears with Wan Shi Tong and captures her.
In the climactic showdown, Korra returns to her teenage form and finds her way to the 2nd portal to see Jinora in Unalaq's grasp. He threatens to destroy her soul with the same bending moves we've seen him use on other spirits if Korra refuses to open the portal. Completely caught between a rock and a hard place, Korra opens the portal and Unalaq still double crosses her. Jinora gets taken away by a dark spirit, and just as Korra is about to succumb to Unalaq's power, she is rescued by the dragon bird and awakens in the physical world. Tenzin is there, at first questioning on whether Korra has accomplished her goal, only to realize that his daughter is not waking up and that she's been lost in the spirit world.
"Korra, what happened to my little girl?" Tenzin asks desperately, and her tear-filled expressions speaks volumes, and then the episode ENDS on that heartwrenching cliffhanger. It was beautifully painful and real and once again, I have to give this show major recognition; for any flaws it may have, it has never been untrue to emotion or tried to dumb it down for the younger audience. These themes are universal to the young and old alike: a father's love for her daughter, a young girl's guilt at not being able to protect someone, and making a choice when there are no good ones to be had. Not only this, but the momentum the show has now picked up to carry audiences through to the end promises an amazing and well-deserved climax.
It doesn't matter if this is a cartoon or not, this is storytelling at its finest, and I cannot wait for next week.
My other issue with much of Book 2 is that it did feel like a lot of set-up, which played off as boring or heavy-handed exposition. While many of the B-storylines were strong, I found myself waiting until we returned to the main storyline of the imbalanced spirit world and Korra's place within it.
Despite these problems, The Legend of Korra has definitely been on an uptick with amazing episodes, starting with "Beginnings 1 and 2" in which we see the Avatar origin story and meet Wan, the first Avatar. In many ways, Wan was similar to Korra with his tendency to act rashly, and his memories show us how his mistakes lead to the spiritual rift between light and dark spirits, Raava and Vaatu. Wan then had to work to make things right, and in doing so, he takes in the spirit of Raava and they become one. By letting Korra see this all, she gains a deeper understanding of who she is as the Avatar.
In the newest episode, Korra enters the spirit world with the help of Tenzin's daughter Jinora, and the two take on the quest of closing the spirit portal to prevent Vaatu from escaping his tree prison. But the two are quickly separated, and unabled to bend within the spirit world, Korra's fear takes a hold of her. Though she didn't know it at the time, her fears become her reality within the spirit world, and her helplessness has her reverted to a small child of around 3 or 4 years of age. Surrounded by darkness and all alone, an unexpected source comes to her rescue:
IROH!
As in, our UNCLE IROH! Original Iroh, with his round belly and tea drinking ways and sage advice. I don't think anyone saw that coming, but from what I've seen in the fandom, absolutely everyone was thrilled by this cameo. Iroh spent time with the de-aged Korra explaining how he chose to live in the spirit world after his time in the physical world was spent, and how her fears and turmoil influence the world around them. In this way, it allowed Korra to realize that she has light within her -- not just from Raava's influence, but from her own spiritual strength and inner peace. She can influence both worlds by maintaining this balance within herself. Because of this, I now believe that Korra's previous behavior and attitude were now very, very deliberate choices by the creators to show her learn what she can achieve not necessarily through force, but through enlightenment as well. It seemed extra appropriate for Iroh to be her guide, as he once helped young Zuko through very similar struggles. It was incredibly reaffirming to see all these aspects tie in together, and made me very inclined to rewatch the original series once again.
On the other side of things, Jinora found herself at Wan Shi Tong's Library, another great callback to the original series. She appeals to the scary owl spirit, and he allows her to stay and read about the Harmonic Convergence and the Spirit Portals. She learns that if both portals are open at the time of convergence, Vaatu would be released from his prison and would be able to wreck both worlds. As she leaves to warn Korra, Unalaq appears with Wan Shi Tong and captures her.
In the climactic showdown, Korra returns to her teenage form and finds her way to the 2nd portal to see Jinora in Unalaq's grasp. He threatens to destroy her soul with the same bending moves we've seen him use on other spirits if Korra refuses to open the portal. Completely caught between a rock and a hard place, Korra opens the portal and Unalaq still double crosses her. Jinora gets taken away by a dark spirit, and just as Korra is about to succumb to Unalaq's power, she is rescued by the dragon bird and awakens in the physical world. Tenzin is there, at first questioning on whether Korra has accomplished her goal, only to realize that his daughter is not waking up and that she's been lost in the spirit world.
"Korra, what happened to my little girl?" Tenzin asks desperately, and her tear-filled expressions speaks volumes, and then the episode ENDS on that heartwrenching cliffhanger. It was beautifully painful and real and once again, I have to give this show major recognition; for any flaws it may have, it has never been untrue to emotion or tried to dumb it down for the younger audience. These themes are universal to the young and old alike: a father's love for her daughter, a young girl's guilt at not being able to protect someone, and making a choice when there are no good ones to be had. Not only this, but the momentum the show has now picked up to carry audiences through to the end promises an amazing and well-deserved climax.
It doesn't matter if this is a cartoon or not, this is storytelling at its finest, and I cannot wait for next week.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Safety Not Guaranteed Review
Hey look, another film review from me! What's that make, like 3 now? Yup. Occasionally, I do enjoy taking a break from my long-term relationship with television for a casual one-night stand with a film I never have to worry about again if I don't like it. Luckily, my brief rendezvous with Safety Not Guaranteed was actually quite enjoyable.
I'd seen the film recommended to me by Netflix again and again, but had mostly chosen to ignore it without further consideration. Yes, it had Aubrey Plaza who I love in Parks and Recreation, but it also looked liked standard independent film fare. Many independent films are great, many more are awful, and possibly even more fall into the mediocre range. If this were a mediocre television show, I'd give it a few episodes before deciding one way or another -- mediocre films shouldn't waste my time. Anyway, I took slightly more interest in it after I fell in love with New Girl and Jake Johnson, who co-stars. Even so, it still took high praise from a friend whose recommendations I actually trust for me to finally settle in on my couch, click that Netflix link, and enjoy.
Brief summary taken from IMDB: Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel. Not an overwhelming premise by any means, and perhaps more than likely to go wrong in the execution, but don't judge a film by its logline alone.
In the first few minutes of the film, I was a little concerned, as it did seem to be falling into the trap of indie films: the flaunting of their indie ways and their quirk to say, look at me, I'm different! But it also had the humor to back it up. I stuck it out, and it really picked up once the three main characters started out on their adventure together. Here's a breakdown of the characters for you to get a better picture of the dynamics at play.
Darius: Maybe it's the fact that her mother was killed years previous, or that she got saddled with a really weird name, but Darius hasn't been happy for a long time. She works at an internship, she studied in college and never went out, she never socializes or smiles or seems to enjoy things. If ever there was someone just going through the motions of a life, it's her.
Arnau: Arnau is in a similar place as Darius in that he doesn't go out or socialize. He's a nerd focused on goals that involve being a well rounded candidate for jobs, getting a number of degrees, and just falling in line of what people should do without taking in experiences for himself.
Jeff: Jeff is easily my favorite character -- the film doesn't work without him or Jake Johnson's performance. At first he seems to play the part of a cynic and womanizer. He takes on the story of a "time-traveler looking for a companion" in order to make fun of the person in an article. One of the first things he tells Darius and Arnau is that he slept with their boss. "Douchebag" occasionally seems an appropriate label. We later discover he actually took the job to hook up with an old flame of his youth, and in this storyline, we eventually see his true colors.
These three take on the story and Darius manages to find her way in with Kenneth, the supposed time traveler looking for a partner for his next adventure. As the two bond, she begins to smile and seems to be taken in by his beliefs -- he wants to go back in time to save his girlfriend, and she reveals that she would like to save her mother from being gunned down. It's this that wins his trust more than anything. Meanwhile, Jeff reconnects with his old flame, and it's then that we see his true nature: Jeff is a romantic at heart; he doesn't just want a fling, he wants a love story. He wants to sweep Liz off her feet and take her back with him to Seattle. But as we soon realize, the love story of this film isn't for him.
The best thing about this film is the realness of the characters. I feel like at one point we've all been Arnau, who doesn't think he can let go, enjoy crazy adventures of his youth, make real friends and find love. And we've all been Darius, feeling out of place. And we've all been Jeff, wanting to believe that there can be more out there besides empty jobs and empty flings.
I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending -- it's definitely the make or break point for most viewers, but even with my own mixed opinions about it, it doesn't change my feelings on the movie as a whole. I do think that this is the story the filmmakers wanted to tell: that if you believe in the impossible, sometimes you can make it real and can make it worthwhile. That's the real theme of this film: make experiences worthy of an adventure, a fairy tale, make it all matter. Because life is only so long.
My biggest complaint is that I wished for one more solid moment of closure between Jeff, Arnau, and Darius at the end. Looks or acknowledgement that the adventure they started with together may be ending, but new ones are just beginning with real friendship between them all. That's okay, though. Imperfection might actually make it better. Just like life, it's messy and crazy and hard, but it is worth trying for, and the movie is similarly worth watching for that reason.
I'd seen the film recommended to me by Netflix again and again, but had mostly chosen to ignore it without further consideration. Yes, it had Aubrey Plaza who I love in Parks and Recreation, but it also looked liked standard independent film fare. Many independent films are great, many more are awful, and possibly even more fall into the mediocre range. If this were a mediocre television show, I'd give it a few episodes before deciding one way or another -- mediocre films shouldn't waste my time. Anyway, I took slightly more interest in it after I fell in love with New Girl and Jake Johnson, who co-stars. Even so, it still took high praise from a friend whose recommendations I actually trust for me to finally settle in on my couch, click that Netflix link, and enjoy.
Brief summary taken from IMDB: Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel. Not an overwhelming premise by any means, and perhaps more than likely to go wrong in the execution, but don't judge a film by its logline alone.
In the first few minutes of the film, I was a little concerned, as it did seem to be falling into the trap of indie films: the flaunting of their indie ways and their quirk to say, look at me, I'm different! But it also had the humor to back it up. I stuck it out, and it really picked up once the three main characters started out on their adventure together. Here's a breakdown of the characters for you to get a better picture of the dynamics at play.
Darius: Maybe it's the fact that her mother was killed years previous, or that she got saddled with a really weird name, but Darius hasn't been happy for a long time. She works at an internship, she studied in college and never went out, she never socializes or smiles or seems to enjoy things. If ever there was someone just going through the motions of a life, it's her.
Arnau: Arnau is in a similar place as Darius in that he doesn't go out or socialize. He's a nerd focused on goals that involve being a well rounded candidate for jobs, getting a number of degrees, and just falling in line of what people should do without taking in experiences for himself.
Jeff: Jeff is easily my favorite character -- the film doesn't work without him or Jake Johnson's performance. At first he seems to play the part of a cynic and womanizer. He takes on the story of a "time-traveler looking for a companion" in order to make fun of the person in an article. One of the first things he tells Darius and Arnau is that he slept with their boss. "Douchebag" occasionally seems an appropriate label. We later discover he actually took the job to hook up with an old flame of his youth, and in this storyline, we eventually see his true colors.
These three take on the story and Darius manages to find her way in with Kenneth, the supposed time traveler looking for a partner for his next adventure. As the two bond, she begins to smile and seems to be taken in by his beliefs -- he wants to go back in time to save his girlfriend, and she reveals that she would like to save her mother from being gunned down. It's this that wins his trust more than anything. Meanwhile, Jeff reconnects with his old flame, and it's then that we see his true nature: Jeff is a romantic at heart; he doesn't just want a fling, he wants a love story. He wants to sweep Liz off her feet and take her back with him to Seattle. But as we soon realize, the love story of this film isn't for him.
The best thing about this film is the realness of the characters. I feel like at one point we've all been Arnau, who doesn't think he can let go, enjoy crazy adventures of his youth, make real friends and find love. And we've all been Darius, feeling out of place. And we've all been Jeff, wanting to believe that there can be more out there besides empty jobs and empty flings.
I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending -- it's definitely the make or break point for most viewers, but even with my own mixed opinions about it, it doesn't change my feelings on the movie as a whole. I do think that this is the story the filmmakers wanted to tell: that if you believe in the impossible, sometimes you can make it real and can make it worthwhile. That's the real theme of this film: make experiences worthy of an adventure, a fairy tale, make it all matter. Because life is only so long.
My biggest complaint is that I wished for one more solid moment of closure between Jeff, Arnau, and Darius at the end. Looks or acknowledgement that the adventure they started with together may be ending, but new ones are just beginning with real friendship between them all. That's okay, though. Imperfection might actually make it better. Just like life, it's messy and crazy and hard, but it is worth trying for, and the movie is similarly worth watching for that reason.
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