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Into the Woods (2014)
Good, BUT...not for kids...NOTHING like the trailers...think stage presentation
I'm leaving my original review below to illustrate how a mind set, at least for me, can sway an opinion. I hated this movie the first time I started to watch it. I viewed it with my daughter and we had both been looking forward to this film from watching the trailers. It was so unlike the trailers that we just turned it off. I was angry and disappointed that my daughter had been disappointed. I hoped to save others from wasting their time as we had so I wrote a very negative review.
Even though I didn't like the film the first time around, the cast and production was so top notch that I decided to give the movie another shot, but this time with no expectations induced by trailers...just watch and absorb. Woah...a completely different experience! I still can't say that this was a brilliant film, but I am changing my one star to a six or maybe even a seven star rating.
It's a good, well done musical. If looked at as a movie rendition of a stage production, it comes across wonderfully. Yes, I know that that is exactly what it is, but the trailers DO NOT portray it that way and there in lies the big disconnect. I think most people that rate this so low were sucked in by the trailers and a Disney stereotype...or assume it is a movie for kids.
Watch this movie with no preconceived ideas other than maybe pretending that you are in the audience of a stage production. The music that was horrid is suddenly interesting and well executed and it's complexities are easier to appreciate. The acting is wonderful for the stage but too over the top and somewhat stilted for normal Hollywood/Disney...so again, view it as a stage presentation. The story set-up is a bit tedious and the real meat of the play doesn't come across until about an hour into the movie, so relax and give it a chance to build up. It is well worth watching, but it is not really for children and the gist of the play has little to do with fairy tales. The plot is still a bit disjointed and borders on being ragged but the seemingly disconnectedness of the set-up mostly gels towards the end. It is has a satisfying conclusion.
After my second viewing, I can recommend watching this film.
My previous take on this film:
"The first 26 minutes were awful...just garbage"
The first 26 minutes were more than enough to tell me it wasn't going to get much better. I turned it off. I don't think I have ever just turned off a movie before. ...I even like bad B movies, but this was close to criminal with it's waste of budget and talent.
I find it hard to believe that this dismal film is rated 6.1 on IMDb. In the first ten pages of reviews (all I went through), I could find only two positive reviews; the first reviewer found the film tepid; the second reviewer loved the film. Who are all the lovers of this film in the sea of one star ratings?
With such a budget and such talented actors how could such a piece of garbage result...it's an absolute mystery. This is, at best, fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3K.
Give me half the budget and I will make a better movie...guaranteed.
Vice (2015)
Mystery Science Theater 3000 wannabe
It isn't campy enough to make it on MST3K...pitiful in an embarrassing way...almost painful to watch.
How could someone actually make this movie? What a waste of production money. It is almost like they went out of their way to make a horrendously bad movie. There are many sci-fi blogs out there...why not get one of those readers to come up with some sort of script?
I kept waiting for something, anything, to be interesting, but this movie just plodded on and on. The only clever thing in this whole flop of a movie is their marketing ploy...buy Bruce Willis...people will pay to see a Bruce Willis movie...I foolishly did.
Avoid this movie, it has no redeeming value.
Left Behind (2014)
it's scifi/fantasy, anything goes, so why not Christian mythology?
Maybe all the negative reviews here prepared me with lowered expectations for this movie, but I liked it! It is very very far from the worst move ever as several reviews have claimed. Actually it was pretty good as a scifi/fantasy flick. I know it wasn't meant to be campy like Sharknado, but if looked at in that context it was entertaining.
I think the whole Christian motif makes many people close to that religion, either pro or con, like or hate this movie. If you are ambivalent about the religious aspects, it is a pretty cool story and well portrayed.
The pace of the film is good and it maintains interest. The acting is well done and there is some descent character development. Cage did a way better job than a couple of films I've seen him in recently (Rage 2014). Although far from his finest performance, he made the part believable. The dialog gets bogged down in several spots by spending too much time trying to convey a Christian value set, but it isn't too over the top preachy. And the script does give ample time to the point of view that most fundamentalist Christians are a couple sandwiches short of a picnic.
The music throughout the film was horrible, gosh, just awful, but it wasn't everywhere so just ignore it.
We embrace many strange concepts in movies all the time...zombies, vampires, killer computers, demons, honest politicians...well maybe that is a little too far-fetched, but talking animals, witches, gods, ghosts, hobbits, monsters, possession ...it's scifi/fantasy anything goes, so why not Christian mythology? I say give this flick a fair chance, don your Mystery Science Theater 3000 perspective and enjoy.
Unidentified (2013)
It wasn't worth my time...
I tried to like this film, I really did. It started off well and it promised to be fun, but as it progressed, it dragged badly.
It's an odd film in that it is almost two separate films joined together. The first half is a comedic road trip film. There were no segments in this part of the film that were done poorly, but there were just way too many segments. The bits and scenes just rambled on without going anywhere or adding to the story. This rambling did allow for some character development and set an overall tone, but I think the same result could have been had with better editing. The first half might have been actually good if it had been cut in half.
The second half of the film (almost to the minute) becomes more serious as trouble starts to befall the group of friends. The film really falls apart in the second half. The Blair Witch style filming worked in the first half but gets silly and implausible in the second half...not to mention down right annoying as the film limps to its conclusion. There aren't as many pointless scenes in the second half, but most of them are too drawn out. The reactions and motivations of the characters seems unrealistic for the most part. Even though the phenomenon that these guys witness is the point of the movie, the script can't seem to convey any sense of awe or horror. It's almost like the writers knew they had nothing and were stretching film time to connect to the ending. The end scene, overall, is interesting, but the Blair Witch hand held camera becomes truly irritating. While the ending scenes are mildly interesting, they don't do much to answer any questions. I think the filmmakers were going for tantalizing but got unfulfilling instead.
If I hadn't decided to write a review of this film (no one had reviewed it yet), I doubt I would have watched the whole thing. I think this might have made a good short film instead of a feature length film; maybe there's no money in making shorts.
The Snow Queen (2013)
weak at best
The soundtrack was well thought out, well timed, interesting, and overall, very effective. The costuming was also interesting, although at times I felt I was watching folks at Renaissance Fair flashing their coolest gear. The scenery was beautiful and the cinematography seemed well done. The actors and actresses were all extremely attractive.
Sounds like a good flick so far right?...nope. Most of the movie was interesting camera angles and filters following attractive folks in nice costumes running around a beautiful snowy alpine forest to an evocative sound track. There was absolutely no character or plot development, really lame and very sparse dialog (this may have been a blessing considering the weak acting), and two separate insipid plotletts running in tandem that had very little do with each other, even in the vapid ending of this slow paced, shallow film.
The story's premise had a spark of imagination but it failed to catch fire and quickly cooled to a dull cinder with a bland script that didn't do anything with it other than just re-state it...the story didn't go anywhere or change any of the characters. At least in the onslaught of several non-sequitur monster minions, there was a Donnie Darko bunny monster clone and something vaguely reminiscent of toothy version of Zappa's Thing Fish.
Probably the best thing to do with this movie is not to bother watching it, or just let run in the background with the sound turned down while you read a book. Be forewarned, there is no story here.
Outpost 11 (2013)
tedious building up to pointlessness
I love alternate histories and this film started with a very cool premise. The second 100 years war has raged on into the current year, 1955. There is a stalemate between the British and Prussian forces that has lasted for decades. Far from the front lines and deep into the Arctic Circle, an isolated British Outpost intercepts enemy transmissions and works on forbidden science. How cool is that for a hook? Oh yeah, everything is steam driven in this reality so, hey, I figured some nifty steam punk stuff...nope.
I'm far from an expert, but the film seems fairly well produced (other than one completely lame animatronic like spider that looks like a fugitive from a 60s Sinbad movie) and is visually appealing. The characters are stock clichés for the most part but still, the film spends most of its time trying to build characterization. Granted this does keep the budget low, and the plot is about a slow descent into madness due to some sort of physic attack presumably from the Prussians, but overall it drags up to the last few minutes where it fails to deliver any punch at all.
In the first part of the film, there is a feeling of anticipation and the suspense that comes along with it, but that slowly morphs into just plain tediousness. This tediousness continues at a slightly increasing pace until it impacts into a puzzling conclusion. Lots of gaps and holes along the way.
I can't really say that this film was a waste of my time, but it was not time well spent either...and I'm pretty easy to please.