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tlso1987
Reviews
Duct Tape Forever (2002)
Good supplement to the TV show
I enjoy watching The Red Green Show, and when I found out the cast made a movie, I was curious to see how it held up. Movies adapted from 5-minute sketch comedies have a reputation for spreading their routine too thin. Red Green benefits in having a large ensemble to draw on, and the antics of the other famed Possum Lakers break up the plot at intervals.
The gist of the story is that a land developer is demanding compensation for his limo that fell into a sinkhole outside the lodge. While the gang finds it fishy that a limo would be driving anywhere within 10 miles of the lodge, Harold comes up with a plan to enter a duct tape sculpture contest with a third-place prize large enough to pay their obligation.
It's a goofy movie, and while occasionally the actors still seem to have their TV-hamminess stuck on, the film is broken up to give different members of the cast a spotlight - highlights including scenes with Mike, Edgar, and Ranger Gord. While it does deviate a little from the show for some dramatic tension, it does so with Red's wry commentary and never feels terribly forced or out of place.
If you're a fan of the show, approach this as more of an extended outing with the gang than something that's really theatrical in scope. There's a little more budget (but not much), a little more story (again), but it's an enjoyable break from the norm of the series overall.
Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
Left the tripod at home.
Battle: Los Angelis isn't really terrible, it's just forgettable. First off, the title's just bizarre (What's the colon for? Is it some sort of pause? Or is this an installment of a series called "Battle"?). The on- screen title doesn't even have punctuation, so it seems like some sort of run-on. Are prepositions out of style? Does "Battle of/in Los Angeles" take too long to say?
If you could tell from the title, the shaky cam became really intolerable. With no stable shots and none really lasting longer than half a second, it was nauseating to figure out just what was going on (either do the shaky cam OR the quick cuts - NOT both).
The main plot makes little sense. Basically the aliens have landed in major cities worldwide. The USAF is going to nuke Los Angelis to cut them off at the source, but they decide to give some marine squads a chance to rescue some civilians. They rescue maybe 5 people and lose even more, and by the time they make it out there's no one left to drop the bomb.
The aliens and their ships had decent, if forgettable designs. In keeping with disposable plot points, one scene involves the marines and a medic hurrying to dissect an alien to find a weak point - and NEVER use that discovery practically. The team meets with a communications expert and a few surviving members of another squad, but for the most part they blend in with the others after they're introduced. There's an odd scene where a civilian lady seems to fall for Aaron Eckhart that doesn't go anywhere, and there's a short conflict with the marines doubting their commander that's resolved in one scene and seems unnecessary.
In the beginning they take the time to give everyone a name and some sort of back story (engaged, shell shocked, etc.) but with the sheer amount of characters introduced, none of these is really followed up on for more than a minute or so later on. In the end, it's almost like the writer couldn't decide what to do. The characters weren't distinctive enough and had too little screen time to be an ensemble movie. It was too quick-cut to be a mockumentary. There weren't enough recognizable actors to be even a Roland Emmerich-style B-grade disaster movie. It was just sloppy, and not even bad enough to be funny.
My Life as a Teenage Robot (2002)
Down-to-Earth and out-of-this-world
I'd never really heard of My Life as a Teenage Robot, but it caught my eye stumbling across channels one day. I stayed tuned as the episodes kept rolling, and it struck me - this show is really good!
The plot's pretty simple - mad scientist Dr. Wakeman programmed XJ-9 to defend the Earth, but after being discovered by her human neighbors, Brad and Tuck, "Jenny" decides she'd much rather fit in with humans - but has to get over some of the social hurdles of being a 6 foot-tall, steel-plated, heavily armed war machine.
The show does really well with its premise. Even at their extremes, the characters are all likable, and have some great voice talent to back them up. The pacing is very relaxed, without a lot of the exhausting hyperactivity you see in a lot of newer shows.
The animation has a very traditional style. The characters are a mix of '60s Hanna-Barbera, Astro Boy, and Felix the Cat. The backgrounds look hand-painted with abstract Art Deco and Populuxe designs. And despite being a scifi-themed show, there's none of the conspicuous CGI common to classics Futurama and Invader Zim.
I was just getting started with this show when I found out it had been canceled for a couple of years, which is a shame because it still seemed to have a lot of energy in it. I'd call it an underrated classic for fans of scifi and animation, and probably good enough for Nick's intended audience, too.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
THE way to remember Power Rangers
Side by side, the old Power Rangers show and the movie that came in the middle of it are pretty different. While the movie was written like an extended episode of the TV show, it's saved by better production values and good editing.
Here's an example as far as production value - the Command Center in the TV show, if you remember, was a black curtain with Christmas lights hung around to fill it up. Zordon was a 2-second video clip that was looped to look like he was talking. In the movie, the Command Center is a huge room of patterned metal walls and blinking computer panels. Zordon, in the movie, is an actual actor in makeup, green-screened so his head is floating in the air.
And the editing - the main characters always perform these over-the-top, often wire assisted martial arts, but in the movie these moves are cut just long enough to be ridiculous, and accompanied by humorous sound effects.
The main characters are as useless as ever, and really it's the villains like Paul Freeman who steal the show, but if you grew up on Power Rangers and are looking for a trip down memory lane, look to the movie for some kicks.
Super Mario Bros. (1993)
For so much directing, it's a lot better than it could've been
I loved this movie as a kid. More recently, I've learned just how much of a living Hell the production was. Evidently the directors wanted it as a totally dark Blade Runner-style flick while the producers tried to change things. To their credit, the producers weren't exactly insane trying to market an adaptation of a kids' game to kids.
For the most part, the actors don't seem as miserable as they say they were throughout shooting (actually I hear Dennis Hopper and Fiona Shaw had a blast playing the villains).
Again to the staff's credit, a live-action feature based on a video game was a pretty new thing, and while Mario Bros looks, on the surface, nothing like the game, some players will recognize parallels and hidden references in the script and scenery. Finally, the production design of this movie is amazing. There are so many little details in the sets and props, it's actually hard to separate this movie from other big scifi films of the time.
Give this movie a shot, and you may be pleasantly surprised.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
The first good parody movie in years
Since Mel Brooks' days of satire, parody as a genre has been just about limited to the mass-produced "from the makers of Scary Movie" films - in which scenes from the films they parody are re-staged, but with groin kicks and fart jokes.
Shaun of the Dead, rather, brings parody back to life by playing around with the genre it parodies. In this treatment of the zombie movie, the main characters barely notice anything's changed - why would they, when there's issues with the landlord, the girlfriend, and the stepdad? It's only when someone's about to have a bite taken out of them that anyone reacts to the oncoming apocalypse.
The reason Shaun of the Dead works is that instead of just looking for holes in movies to make fun of, it presents itself as just another one of the movies that it parodies. And with the comedies Hot Fuzz and Spaced under their belts, I can say that Edgar Wright, his cast, and crew are the most competent satirists of the past decade.
Krull (1983)
I don't normally pass up '80s scifi, but I'll gladly make an exception for Krull
The fantasy boom of the 1980s made plenty of fun cult classics. Unfortunately, I can't count Krull among those classics.
The story is way too weak. The villain is a barely-defined giant evil alien thing that exists basically as an abstract set that the main characters run around in. It sends out swarms of monsters after the good guys, but that's about the extent of its menace.
To challenge this vaguely evil force, the movie introduces a ragtag band of about a dozen heroes. It's a two-hour movie, but the writers are determined to give each an equal amount of screen time, and that act really takes its toll - it's hard to sympathize with a character if his problem is introduced and over with in the span of about ten minutes. They all seem to come out of nowhere, with no purpose but to back up the main hero as he tries to rescue his bride from the aliens - and THAT goal is constantly interrupted by these vignettes where a minor character has to complete a quest that will allow them to go on.
Don't bother with Krull. Or DO bother with it, so you know how NOT to write a good scifi/fantasy movie. For fun '80s fantasy, try Willow instead.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Star Wars goes back to the basics
What can I say? The prequels were hit-or-miss and the pilot movie was iffy.
I basically tuned in by accident, in the middle of an episode, but gave it a shot anyway. It has sort of a Saturday morning vibe, but that's exactly what propelled the original movies and cartoons back in the '80s. It's good vs. evil, colorful characters, fast-paced action and cornball humor.
It looks like the writers and crew are having fun with this series. I've read that they took inspiration from the Thunderbirds, and it shows. Give it a chance if you're in for some of that old-school Star Wars fun.
Star Wars: Droids (1985)
Where's the video?
Right now there's a DVD out with a few of the stories edited into movies, but I wanted to see it in its original form. I had one video as a kid, and the rest of the series I've only seen through low-quality internet videos.
It's interesting to see the direction the show took immediately after the original movies and before Episodes 1-3 were thought of. The character designs are fun, and even if they're sometimes cliché or annoying, they're bearable overall.
The writing style is campy for sure, but the show's a great piece of nostalgia and I'd gladly shell out the money for a good-quality set of the original episodes.
Doctor Who (2005)
How I got hooked
So one night back in 05/06 I was bored and looking on the TV Guide for something interesting. I saw on the SciFi channel they listed Doctor Who. I knew a little about it, and was interested in catching an old scifi show I'd never seen before.
I tuned in a few minutes early and they ran some TV spots. The only Dr Who I'd ever heard of then had curly hair and a scarf - when I saw the previews advertising the "series premier" and this guy running around in black with a leather coat on, I was disappointed. I'd seen how old scifi shows get revived - they try to justify all the cheesiness of the old show, add long story arcs about politics, have the characters constantly moping and wash out all the color. It already happened to Galactica and Star Trek.
I decide to tune in anyway, to say that I did. The theme music was catchy - it sounded like it was ripped out of the 60s, so I was satisfied so far. The Doctor shows up - immediately starting a long rant while running with a bomb from the bad guys. Then I saw the bad guys - MANNEQUINS. Mannequins who replace the sidekick's boyfriend with a plastic double. By this point I'm rolling on the floor, laughing and having fun. The next hour they showed Episode 2 - it's the year 5000000000, the Earth's dying, historians call a 50s-style jukebox "an iPod", and the last human in the universe is a stretched-out piece of skin with a brain in a jar. Can you tell I love the show at this point? The reason Dr. Who rises above other modern scifi shows is its reverence to the campy, cheesy show it spawned from. They're not afraid to have colorful, plastic-looking aliens, and the only difference with the returning aliens is the higher-budget costumes/makeup. They don't need to be bogged down in baggage from the real world - every week is just an excuse for the Doctor to romp around in a new place/time and meet new aliens.
I can tell you, years later I found the Scifi channel advertising a new Flash Gordon series. I figured the source material's a lot like Dr Who, they're just taking a wing from Who's revival for an American scifi hero. When I saw Ming the Merciless as a well-kept politician in a business suit, I knew the show was EXACTLY what I expected New Who to be before I saw it.
Scifi fans, take note: you DON'T have to be ashamed if your franchise of choice is cheesy. It doesn't have to be realistic, it doesn't have to be reimagined, it doesn't need a long chain of relationship issues and political strife - it just has to take you on a colorful adventure for 45 minutes at a time.