Post by Martin Stett on Nov 13, 2017 16:12:26 GMT
Poltergeist (2015) -- A cookie-cutter perfect family goes through some typical jump scares and enlists the help of a Kenneth Branagh imitator to clean their house of ghosts? Well... I guess there are worse things out there. 4/10
Philadelphia (1993) -- I'm sure this must have been all daring and risky, but the characters are bland, stock Oscar-bait types. The movie feels like it's trying to be "important" instead of telling a good story, and although nothing about it is straight up bad, nothing is very good either. 5/10
La La Land (2016) -- There are two movies in here. The first hour is a lifeless, unoriginal tribute to "the magic of movies," and like all tributes to that topic, it is more enamored with praising classic film than building a story or characters that work in their own right. The second hour is a lot better: a film about a breakup and dreams crumbling around us, and our decisions in the face of this. Sure, the music is never very good, but at least the characters come alive and argue and aren't the perfect couple that I hated so much in the first half. It's even enough to salvage the movie and make the whole thing... average. 6/10
The Last of Us (2013 video game) -- I've never included a video game in here before, but this isn't your usual game. Every action the player takes is to further the story and characters in one way or another, and the story shown here is really, really damn good. I didn't really like it all that much while I was playing, but I think that's because I had the wrong mindset; I was trying to get to the next level and win the game, instead of watching these characters interact and grow and make decisions that will alter their lives. But now that it's over, I can't get it out of my head. And that is perhaps the #1 sign of a truly great piece of fiction in my book. 9/10
The Bad Batch (2016) -- If Escape from New York was a student art film, it would be The Bad Batch. 4/10
Philadelphia (1993) -- I'm sure this must have been all daring and risky, but the characters are bland, stock Oscar-bait types. The movie feels like it's trying to be "important" instead of telling a good story, and although nothing about it is straight up bad, nothing is very good either. 5/10
La La Land (2016) -- There are two movies in here. The first hour is a lifeless, unoriginal tribute to "the magic of movies," and like all tributes to that topic, it is more enamored with praising classic film than building a story or characters that work in their own right. The second hour is a lot better: a film about a breakup and dreams crumbling around us, and our decisions in the face of this. Sure, the music is never very good, but at least the characters come alive and argue and aren't the perfect couple that I hated so much in the first half. It's even enough to salvage the movie and make the whole thing... average. 6/10
The Last of Us (2013 video game) -- I've never included a video game in here before, but this isn't your usual game. Every action the player takes is to further the story and characters in one way or another, and the story shown here is really, really damn good. I didn't really like it all that much while I was playing, but I think that's because I had the wrong mindset; I was trying to get to the next level and win the game, instead of watching these characters interact and grow and make decisions that will alter their lives. But now that it's over, I can't get it out of my head. And that is perhaps the #1 sign of a truly great piece of fiction in my book. 9/10
The Bad Batch (2016) -- If Escape from New York was a student art film, it would be The Bad Batch. 4/10
