Gloria Oliver's Blog, page 64
May 5, 2014
Mind Sieve 5/5/14
Greetings!
This is likely to be a short post as I'm drowning in stuff that needed to be done yesterday. Ack!
Ran across this by pure accident - WHOlock - Sherlock and Dr Who together. I think it's put together, but at times I had doubts! lol. Cool concept no matter what. :)
They Came Together Official Trailer #1 - looks very odd.
Lullaby Official Trailer - tearjerker alert!!!!
Curse of the Dragon Slayer Trailer - Mmm doesn't look half bad! Sweet!
The World Wars - coming from the History channel. This looks like a neat connector and what if to the two World Wars. Should be great fodder for anyone wanting to do alternate history.
Enjoy your Monday! (If that's possible! :))
This is likely to be a short post as I'm drowning in stuff that needed to be done yesterday. Ack!
Ran across this by pure accident - WHOlock - Sherlock and Dr Who together. I think it's put together, but at times I had doubts! lol. Cool concept no matter what. :)
They Came Together Official Trailer #1 - looks very odd.
Lullaby Official Trailer - tearjerker alert!!!!
Curse of the Dragon Slayer Trailer - Mmm doesn't look half bad! Sweet!
The World Wars - coming from the History channel. This looks like a neat connector and what if to the two World Wars. Should be great fodder for anyone wanting to do alternate history.
Enjoy your Monday! (If that's possible! :))
May 4, 2014
Virtual Tourist - Everquest Landmark 5/4/14
Morning! Sooo sleepy today. :)
Everquest Landmark
The world and I do some strange stuff occassionally. Here's the zone from underneath without dirt. Heh.
Great sky views
Hubby's home in the early stages
View from his front porch
A neighbor built this on top of a mountain
A very early pic of what I am up to. Though I ran out of obsidian and had to swtich to stone
Super cool village we found. Some awesome work.
Very detailed stuff
Loved their church
The guys said they knew this, but it seems we have two suns. I thought it was a glitch!
My obsidian stairwell with light orb stairs. Spryte helped me align the orbs. (I also finally figured out how to get rid of the UI!)
Works great too! Just run on up
View from above.
My above ground floor. The one above will be a garden. Also will dig down. This one I will leave open
Say hello to my little well! Need to take a better pic with the lights on. Heh
I am so making headway! Squee!
Have an awesome day!
Everquest Landmark
The world and I do some strange stuff occassionally. Here's the zone from underneath without dirt. Heh.
Great sky views
Hubby's home in the early stages
View from his front porch
A neighbor built this on top of a mountain
A very early pic of what I am up to. Though I ran out of obsidian and had to swtich to stone
Super cool village we found. Some awesome work.
Very detailed stuff
Loved their church
The guys said they knew this, but it seems we have two suns. I thought it was a glitch!
My obsidian stairwell with light orb stairs. Spryte helped me align the orbs. (I also finally figured out how to get rid of the UI!)
Works great too! Just run on up
View from above.
My above ground floor. The one above will be a garden. Also will dig down. This one I will leave open
Say hello to my little well! Need to take a better pic with the lights on. Heh
I am so making headway! Squee!
Have an awesome day!
May 2, 2014
Movie Review - The Amazing Spider-man 2
The Amazing Spider-man 2
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Sally Field, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Embeth Davidtz, Campbell Scott, Marton Csokas, Louis Cacelmi, and more.
Directed by: Marc Webb Screenplay by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinker Screen Story by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinker, and James Vanderbilt Based on the Marvel Comic by: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Cinematography by: Daniel Mindel Music by: Hans Zimmer and the Magnificent Six
Premise: Peter Parker is haunted by the ghosts of his dead parents and Gwen's father, which straine his relationships with Gwen and his Aunt May. Harry Osborn comes back to New York to visit his father on his deathbed. But the old man doesn't go before revealing the family curse, and giving Harry the possible means to overcome it. Then comes Max, brilliant but invisible to those around him, until a terrible accident that Oscorp tries to bury away and make him disappear. (Rated PG-13)
Review:
1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Andrew Garfield really brought home Spidey's tongue-in-cheek demeanor while crime fighting and even brought a little extra something extra to the web crusader. His scenes with Emma Stone have a lot of chemistry as well as a feeling of playfulness. Emma Stone lit up the screen whenever Gwen appeared. Dane DeHaan was a fun Harry Osborn - showing many facets; sharp, brooding, the shinning little boy, the desperate rich boy, and more. Jamie Fox was fascinating as the sad and almost creepy Max Dillon, then the much more outgoing and angry Electro.
2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: There's a lot of CGI in the film, but it wasn't always obvious, so it was easy for the audience to immerse themselves in what was going on around them. Some neat third person camera angles as the web slinger made his rounds around New York - just enough to give you a sense of what it's like to travel as he does, but not enough to give you motion sickness.
All the effects relating to Electro were fantastic. I especially loved the scenes where he reconstituted himself in thin air. Some cool graphics with slow motion made for several spectacular scenes. The lost subway stop was very cool.
The most fun, however, were the little touches - like the juggling act with the radioactive material jars, the inventive ways Peter used his webbing, Osborn's cool desk computer, the gas settling over the spiders. Some really great work all around.
One poignant scene has his webbing spread out just enough to look like a reaching, overstretched hand, making it a true extension of Peter and his desires.
3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: The film starts in a totally unexpected place with some reveals and hints on the answers to the mysteries alluded to in "The Amazing Spider-man". It then works its way back to present day where we get another treat as Spider-man deals with some terrorist trying to steal canisters of radioactive material.
The story flips back and forth between romantic, sad, hopeful, and even funny. Some of the best parts are these little vignettes of compressed time - shots of Peter when he's taking his costume off and the little visual clues to the type of day he's had - Peter doing experiments to try to find a work around for a flaw with his web dispensers - Peter at the cemetery over a five month period.
The tiny comedic moments peppered throughout also gave the story a boost - the way Peter buys Gwen some time when she's being tracked down by security - Aunt May and Peter arguing over the clothes washer because both of them have secrets they are keeping from each other in the laundry. The boost is a good thing, because chunks of the film were made up of standard fare and a few too many coincidences, so it needed all the help it could get to be anything other than cliche.
4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Stunts were a combination of live action and CGI and they were all done very well. There are a lot of blown up and thrown vehicles and lots of pedestrians running for cover, as well as people getting yanked out of danger in the nick of time
5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The film has some great spanning shots of New York. These very shots make the city going dark look very impressive and disturbing. The Oscorp building itself, inside and out, screamed of innovation and expensive technology. In contrast, Ravencroft, despite some of the high tech equipment, looked medieval and full of pain and secrets.
Conclusion: "The Amazing Spider-man 2" was definitely better than its predecessor. The vignettes are a hoot. Combined with the little jokes and cute moments, they take enough of the staleness out of the cliched plot to make it decent. Seeing the big battle with Electro is totally worth it.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Sally Field, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Embeth Davidtz, Campbell Scott, Marton Csokas, Louis Cacelmi, and more.
Directed by: Marc Webb Screenplay by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinker Screen Story by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinker, and James Vanderbilt Based on the Marvel Comic by: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Cinematography by: Daniel Mindel Music by: Hans Zimmer and the Magnificent Six
Premise: Peter Parker is haunted by the ghosts of his dead parents and Gwen's father, which straine his relationships with Gwen and his Aunt May. Harry Osborn comes back to New York to visit his father on his deathbed. But the old man doesn't go before revealing the family curse, and giving Harry the possible means to overcome it. Then comes Max, brilliant but invisible to those around him, until a terrible accident that Oscorp tries to bury away and make him disappear. (Rated PG-13)
Review:
1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Andrew Garfield really brought home Spidey's tongue-in-cheek demeanor while crime fighting and even brought a little extra something extra to the web crusader. His scenes with Emma Stone have a lot of chemistry as well as a feeling of playfulness. Emma Stone lit up the screen whenever Gwen appeared. Dane DeHaan was a fun Harry Osborn - showing many facets; sharp, brooding, the shinning little boy, the desperate rich boy, and more. Jamie Fox was fascinating as the sad and almost creepy Max Dillon, then the much more outgoing and angry Electro.
2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: There's a lot of CGI in the film, but it wasn't always obvious, so it was easy for the audience to immerse themselves in what was going on around them. Some neat third person camera angles as the web slinger made his rounds around New York - just enough to give you a sense of what it's like to travel as he does, but not enough to give you motion sickness.
All the effects relating to Electro were fantastic. I especially loved the scenes where he reconstituted himself in thin air. Some cool graphics with slow motion made for several spectacular scenes. The lost subway stop was very cool.
The most fun, however, were the little touches - like the juggling act with the radioactive material jars, the inventive ways Peter used his webbing, Osborn's cool desk computer, the gas settling over the spiders. Some really great work all around.
One poignant scene has his webbing spread out just enough to look like a reaching, overstretched hand, making it a true extension of Peter and his desires.
3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: The film starts in a totally unexpected place with some reveals and hints on the answers to the mysteries alluded to in "The Amazing Spider-man". It then works its way back to present day where we get another treat as Spider-man deals with some terrorist trying to steal canisters of radioactive material.
The story flips back and forth between romantic, sad, hopeful, and even funny. Some of the best parts are these little vignettes of compressed time - shots of Peter when he's taking his costume off and the little visual clues to the type of day he's had - Peter doing experiments to try to find a work around for a flaw with his web dispensers - Peter at the cemetery over a five month period.
The tiny comedic moments peppered throughout also gave the story a boost - the way Peter buys Gwen some time when she's being tracked down by security - Aunt May and Peter arguing over the clothes washer because both of them have secrets they are keeping from each other in the laundry. The boost is a good thing, because chunks of the film were made up of standard fare and a few too many coincidences, so it needed all the help it could get to be anything other than cliche.
4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Stunts were a combination of live action and CGI and they were all done very well. There are a lot of blown up and thrown vehicles and lots of pedestrians running for cover, as well as people getting yanked out of danger in the nick of time
5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The film has some great spanning shots of New York. These very shots make the city going dark look very impressive and disturbing. The Oscorp building itself, inside and out, screamed of innovation and expensive technology. In contrast, Ravencroft, despite some of the high tech equipment, looked medieval and full of pain and secrets.
Conclusion: "The Amazing Spider-man 2" was definitely better than its predecessor. The vignettes are a hoot. Combined with the little jokes and cute moments, they take enough of the staleness out of the cliched plot to make it decent. Seeing the big battle with Electro is totally worth it.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)
April 30, 2014
Picture Kaleidoscope 4/30/14
Morning!
Aurora Ice Caves by Bill Cady at Earthshots.org Almost looks like a curtain for the cave!
Bill Cady has some lovely panoramic shots as well as a plethora of other photos. Nice work!
Symphony of Sunset by John Fan at Earthshots.org. Very cool play with the light. Lots of cool nature photography and more at this site.
American Museum of Natural History Starts Digitizing, Makes 7,000 Photos Available To The Public - article by Gannon Burget at PetaPixel.com
Photoshopped Portraits Paint a Creepy and Cuddly Picture of Infamous World Leaders by Gannon Burget. Photos by Chunlong Sun. What a bizarre concept!
See you next time!
Aurora Ice Caves by Bill Cady at Earthshots.org Almost looks like a curtain for the cave!
Bill Cady has some lovely panoramic shots as well as a plethora of other photos. Nice work!
Symphony of Sunset by John Fan at Earthshots.org. Very cool play with the light. Lots of cool nature photography and more at this site.
American Museum of Natural History Starts Digitizing, Makes 7,000 Photos Available To The Public - article by Gannon Burget at PetaPixel.com
Photoshopped Portraits Paint a Creepy and Cuddly Picture of Infamous World Leaders by Gannon Burget. Photos by Chunlong Sun. What a bizarre concept!
See you next time!
April 28, 2014
Mind Sieve 4/28/14
Morning all!
Fan Fun
Sex Tape Movie Official Trailer - The name made me raise an eyebrow but this actually looks utterly hilarious!
Boyhood Official Trailer - they actually used the same actor and filmed this over 12 years! How bizarre is that?
As Above, So Below Trailer #1 - oooh Parisian catacombs. Not your typical horror flick location.
I Am Soldier Official Trailer - Dr Who fans will recognize someone in here. Heh heh
Social Media/Author PlatformBlogging: Tips, Tricks, and Knowing Your Goals by Jami Gold. Great stuff for author bloggers and more!
12 Types of Blog Posts To Drive More Traffic To Your Blogs by Rich Brooks from the Social Media Examiner. Great list! I think he's covered almost everything out there. :)
Writing AdviceThe Single Best Way To Sell Books (Or Lose A Sale) by Kristen Lamb. Eye opening stuff as always!
Rape In Fiction (Or: "Oh, Game of Thrones, Really?") by Chuck (NSFW) Wendig. He's got some definitely vital points in this for us as authors.
I have somehow managed to finish this at a decent interval. YES!
Have an awesome week, ya'll!
Fan Fun
Sex Tape Movie Official Trailer - The name made me raise an eyebrow but this actually looks utterly hilarious!
Boyhood Official Trailer - they actually used the same actor and filmed this over 12 years! How bizarre is that?
As Above, So Below Trailer #1 - oooh Parisian catacombs. Not your typical horror flick location.
I Am Soldier Official Trailer - Dr Who fans will recognize someone in here. Heh heh
Social Media/Author PlatformBlogging: Tips, Tricks, and Knowing Your Goals by Jami Gold. Great stuff for author bloggers and more!
12 Types of Blog Posts To Drive More Traffic To Your Blogs by Rich Brooks from the Social Media Examiner. Great list! I think he's covered almost everything out there. :)
Writing AdviceThe Single Best Way To Sell Books (Or Lose A Sale) by Kristen Lamb. Eye opening stuff as always!
Rape In Fiction (Or: "Oh, Game of Thrones, Really?") by Chuck (NSFW) Wendig. He's got some definitely vital points in this for us as authors.
I have somehow managed to finish this at a decent interval. YES!
Have an awesome week, ya'll!
April 27, 2014
Virtual Tourist - Everquest Landmark 4/27/14
Running late today! Noooo!
Everquest Landmark
Burled Wood Tree. CAn you see the face? Reminds me of the God Wood in Game of Thrones. Depending on the facing, you get a different face! Love these!
Occasionally, when I teleport or am in a hole, the world gets funky!
The yellow and blue are my property zones. Eventually turned that off as it get in the way. :P
Friends discovered a weird glitch. When they switched to low graphics, it changed the skin color, hair color, but also gave us skirts! Mind boggling.
Hubby's place - construction in progress. He's had a lot more time to build than me. He has some stairs, sandstone floor, and looks to have marked where he'll be adding walls. (Don't know why my pics got thew extra header there. Sorry!)
My pick and I in a partially mined out vein of gem stone. Grouping and staying within 200 meters of each other give both parties whatever one digs up.
Moon rise by my property
A super cool set up on one of the other zones. Guy went totally Egyptian. Wish I'd turned off the bloody property viruals before taking these. Argh!
The genie in the lamp!
Pyramid with and Anubis head for an entrance. He even had a trap inside! Amazing work.
Can you see the floating pentagram in the distance?
A buddies place. Done a lot of work on columns and minipixels for his guard rail. He was nice enough to let me make a schematic of his column. I've since cut out 3 pixels from each side and make them shorter to use in my own master plan. Bwahahahahaha!
Have an awesome Sunday!
Everquest Landmark
Burled Wood Tree. CAn you see the face? Reminds me of the God Wood in Game of Thrones. Depending on the facing, you get a different face! Love these!
Occasionally, when I teleport or am in a hole, the world gets funky!
The yellow and blue are my property zones. Eventually turned that off as it get in the way. :P
Friends discovered a weird glitch. When they switched to low graphics, it changed the skin color, hair color, but also gave us skirts! Mind boggling.
Hubby's place - construction in progress. He's had a lot more time to build than me. He has some stairs, sandstone floor, and looks to have marked where he'll be adding walls. (Don't know why my pics got thew extra header there. Sorry!)
My pick and I in a partially mined out vein of gem stone. Grouping and staying within 200 meters of each other give both parties whatever one digs up.
Moon rise by my property
A super cool set up on one of the other zones. Guy went totally Egyptian. Wish I'd turned off the bloody property viruals before taking these. Argh!
The genie in the lamp!
Pyramid with and Anubis head for an entrance. He even had a trap inside! Amazing work.
Can you see the floating pentagram in the distance?
A buddies place. Done a lot of work on columns and minipixels for his guard rail. He was nice enough to let me make a schematic of his column. I've since cut out 3 pixels from each side and make them shorter to use in my own master plan. Bwahahahahaha!
Have an awesome Sunday!
April 23, 2014
Picture Kaleidoscope 4/23/14
Morning!
Pics from work
Lovely sunrise just a couple of days ago
Molten gold
Look at that cloud cover!
I really need to get back on track! Sigh
Pics from work
Lovely sunrise just a couple of days ago
Molten gold
Look at that cloud cover!
I really need to get back on track! Sigh
April 21, 2014
Mind Sieve 4/21/14
Morning~! Back to the weekly grind. Wheee!
Fan Fun
Cold in July Official Trailer - based on the novel by Joe R Lansdale. Looks intriguing!
The Rover Official Trailer 1 - Gonna be a weird one. Could be good!
Jersey Boys Official Trailer - I like the way they speak to the audience in the trailer. Fab music too. :)
The Hero of Color City - not sure what I think yet. Heh heh
Social Media/Author PlatformTwitter Cards - Cards Drive Engagement From Your Tweets - from the Twitter Developers. A new thing to add to webpages and blogs. Stumbled over this over the weekend. :) For us technically inclined authors. Now to see if I can make it work here. Heh heh.
Twitter Real-Time Notifications: This Week In Social Media at the Social Media Examiner by Cindy King. Too much stuff! Nooooo!
Writing Advice5 Warning Signs Your Story Needs Revision from Kristen Lamb
The Business Rusch: Stand Up For Yourself by Kristine Katherin. This business is definitely not easy. Whee!
Have a great week!
Fan Fun
Cold in July Official Trailer - based on the novel by Joe R Lansdale. Looks intriguing!
The Rover Official Trailer 1 - Gonna be a weird one. Could be good!
Jersey Boys Official Trailer - I like the way they speak to the audience in the trailer. Fab music too. :)
The Hero of Color City - not sure what I think yet. Heh heh
Social Media/Author PlatformTwitter Cards - Cards Drive Engagement From Your Tweets - from the Twitter Developers. A new thing to add to webpages and blogs. Stumbled over this over the weekend. :) For us technically inclined authors. Now to see if I can make it work here. Heh heh.
Twitter Real-Time Notifications: This Week In Social Media at the Social Media Examiner by Cindy King. Too much stuff! Nooooo!
Writing Advice5 Warning Signs Your Story Needs Revision from Kristen Lamb
The Business Rusch: Stand Up For Yourself by Kristine Katherin. This business is definitely not easy. Whee!
Have a great week!
April 20, 2014
Virtual Tourist - Thief 4/20/14
Happy Easter!
Thief
Mission 3 - Dirty Deeds
(Got these out of order - doh!)
Final hidden room in the library.
Hidden treasure at tone of the windows in that room
The book! Had to use the weird puzzle key to open this compartment as well.
Now to get out!
Entry into the room with the book.
This whole zone is multilevel and all over.
Lighting was creepy! They have bats flying around too, but too fast to get a good pic
Important clue for making sure to get the moving stairwells aligned in the right order.
Place is a mess! Heh heh
Moving staircases. Oh yeah!
Mechanism to move the stairs.
Sadly my sinuses have not been happy. Got the book, made it partway out, then had to stop. Soon, Thief, soon!
Thief
Mission 3 - Dirty Deeds
(Got these out of order - doh!)
Final hidden room in the library.
Hidden treasure at tone of the windows in that room
The book! Had to use the weird puzzle key to open this compartment as well.
Now to get out!
Entry into the room with the book.
This whole zone is multilevel and all over.
Lighting was creepy! They have bats flying around too, but too fast to get a good pic
Important clue for making sure to get the moving stairwells aligned in the right order.
Place is a mess! Heh heh
Moving staircases. Oh yeah!
Mechanism to move the stairs.
Sadly my sinuses have not been happy. Got the book, made it partway out, then had to stop. Soon, Thief, soon!
April 18, 2014
Movie Review - Transcendence
Transcendence
Starring: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara, Morgan Freeman, Cole Hauser, Clifton Collins Jr., Cory Hardrict, and more.
Directed by: Wally Pfister Written by: Jack Paglen Cinematography by: Jess Hall Music by: Mychael Danna
Premise: A terrorist group executes simultaneous terrorist acts on scientific labs and scientists working on artificial intelligence. Recent breakthroughs by one of the killed men, however, gives hope to Evelyn Caster as her own husband lays dying from a bullet laced with radioactive material. But the terrorists are still out there and want to stop them, no matter the cost. (Rated PG-13)
Review:
1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: It was a lot of fun watching Johnny Depp as the brainy scientist later turned computer. Rebecca Hall did well as his passionate wife and scientist in her own right, despite the bad writing which pretty much left her with nothing in the second half. Paul Bettany's emotions on both sides of the issues presented were definite bright spots - well done. Kate Mara was very convincing, and even creepy, as the young terrorist leader.
2) Special Effects - Thumbs Up: Special effects were very good, though sadly most of them were nothing we've not seen before. Really nice job with the explosions and the nano repair sequences. The lab scene where we see what Will has been working on came out nicely. Best work though was with the repair work done on Martin. The little machine tubes on the med table moving about on their own was cool and creepy all at once.
3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Down: Sadly, as my husband put it, the plot of the film was "Beautifully Bad". The movie's premise was interesting, but the bad science and the shortcuts, as well as the turning of Evelyn's character into a passive lump, blackened what good was in there.
Some science fallacy is usually expected in movies, but the glaring holes in this one were too large to ignore. A virus made to destroy specific code infecting most systems might bring the internet and other systems down when it first hits, but reloading the original untainted software and rebooting/repairing other systems would allow us to have technology again - not send us into a new dark age. But sadly, this is the status of the world at the point where they begin the film and eventually circle back to.
With the computing power they claim Will has, and which he continues to exponentially increase, there's no way the terrorists would have figured out where they'd gone, as he could clean up/erase transaction trails even as he made them. And since Will put the FBI onto where many of the terrorists were located so they could be apprehended, he would have known, and taken steps, to help out his friend Max. Yet he never even knew his friend had been taken.
If a bullet is so radioactive it can poison someone to death from just a graze (I'd thought from the commercials he'd taken it in the gut) half the people there with him, and especially the cops handling evidence, would have died too.
The biggest error in my opinion, however, was the character assassination of Evelyn. She was the dreamer, the one who wanted to change the world - but after Will is transferred and comes back, she soon becomes an emotionless lump. When she first discovers what else was done to Martin, all she does is say she can't deal with it. Never once mentions to Will the fact (as the woman with the determination and intelligence we were introduced to would have) that he's bypassing people's freewill. There should have been raging arguments over this alone. But sadly, much like was done to Amidala from the "Star Wars" films - a strong willed woman is presented and then turned into a turnip because her strength and intelligence was no longer convenient to the plot.
And let's not forget the fact the terrorists pretty much brought their own fears to life due to their actions - a fact no one mentions or seem to notice. As Will said, the irony that they would take life to achieve their goals of stopping the creation of artificial life was quite ironic. The fact the main instigator never paid for her crimes? Even more so.
4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Some quick fights as well as explosions dot the film, so some adrenaline gets pumped into the audience here and there. Car flipping and even machine throwing thanks to the nanites livened up a few other scenes as well.
5) Locations/Cinematography - Thumbs Up: There are several gorgeous shots of nature, rivers, mountains, and some lovely CGI representations as well. The town Will picks to 'lay low' at definitely looked to need saving. But though Evelyn spoke of Will buying most of the property of the town, and the amount of work they brought to the place, I was surprised at the lack of improvement of the impoverished town. Worse, the town itself became a sore point in the bad plot when those opposed to the machine decide that's a good place to set up operations. As if Will wouldn't have put surveillance equipment on his properties? (It's even worse due to other reasons I'll leave you to discover on your own.)
Conclusion: Cool premise, horrible execution. Between the bad science and miraculous intelligence gathering efforts of the terrorists after they've ditched their electronic equipment, there sadly wasn't much to love.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Catch it on Cable)
Starring: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara, Morgan Freeman, Cole Hauser, Clifton Collins Jr., Cory Hardrict, and more.
Directed by: Wally Pfister Written by: Jack Paglen Cinematography by: Jess Hall Music by: Mychael Danna
Premise: A terrorist group executes simultaneous terrorist acts on scientific labs and scientists working on artificial intelligence. Recent breakthroughs by one of the killed men, however, gives hope to Evelyn Caster as her own husband lays dying from a bullet laced with radioactive material. But the terrorists are still out there and want to stop them, no matter the cost. (Rated PG-13)
Review:
1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: It was a lot of fun watching Johnny Depp as the brainy scientist later turned computer. Rebecca Hall did well as his passionate wife and scientist in her own right, despite the bad writing which pretty much left her with nothing in the second half. Paul Bettany's emotions on both sides of the issues presented were definite bright spots - well done. Kate Mara was very convincing, and even creepy, as the young terrorist leader.
2) Special Effects - Thumbs Up: Special effects were very good, though sadly most of them were nothing we've not seen before. Really nice job with the explosions and the nano repair sequences. The lab scene where we see what Will has been working on came out nicely. Best work though was with the repair work done on Martin. The little machine tubes on the med table moving about on their own was cool and creepy all at once.
3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Down: Sadly, as my husband put it, the plot of the film was "Beautifully Bad". The movie's premise was interesting, but the bad science and the shortcuts, as well as the turning of Evelyn's character into a passive lump, blackened what good was in there.
Some science fallacy is usually expected in movies, but the glaring holes in this one were too large to ignore. A virus made to destroy specific code infecting most systems might bring the internet and other systems down when it first hits, but reloading the original untainted software and rebooting/repairing other systems would allow us to have technology again - not send us into a new dark age. But sadly, this is the status of the world at the point where they begin the film and eventually circle back to.
With the computing power they claim Will has, and which he continues to exponentially increase, there's no way the terrorists would have figured out where they'd gone, as he could clean up/erase transaction trails even as he made them. And since Will put the FBI onto where many of the terrorists were located so they could be apprehended, he would have known, and taken steps, to help out his friend Max. Yet he never even knew his friend had been taken.
If a bullet is so radioactive it can poison someone to death from just a graze (I'd thought from the commercials he'd taken it in the gut) half the people there with him, and especially the cops handling evidence, would have died too.
The biggest error in my opinion, however, was the character assassination of Evelyn. She was the dreamer, the one who wanted to change the world - but after Will is transferred and comes back, she soon becomes an emotionless lump. When she first discovers what else was done to Martin, all she does is say she can't deal with it. Never once mentions to Will the fact (as the woman with the determination and intelligence we were introduced to would have) that he's bypassing people's freewill. There should have been raging arguments over this alone. But sadly, much like was done to Amidala from the "Star Wars" films - a strong willed woman is presented and then turned into a turnip because her strength and intelligence was no longer convenient to the plot.
And let's not forget the fact the terrorists pretty much brought their own fears to life due to their actions - a fact no one mentions or seem to notice. As Will said, the irony that they would take life to achieve their goals of stopping the creation of artificial life was quite ironic. The fact the main instigator never paid for her crimes? Even more so.
4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Some quick fights as well as explosions dot the film, so some adrenaline gets pumped into the audience here and there. Car flipping and even machine throwing thanks to the nanites livened up a few other scenes as well.
5) Locations/Cinematography - Thumbs Up: There are several gorgeous shots of nature, rivers, mountains, and some lovely CGI representations as well. The town Will picks to 'lay low' at definitely looked to need saving. But though Evelyn spoke of Will buying most of the property of the town, and the amount of work they brought to the place, I was surprised at the lack of improvement of the impoverished town. Worse, the town itself became a sore point in the bad plot when those opposed to the machine decide that's a good place to set up operations. As if Will wouldn't have put surveillance equipment on his properties? (It's even worse due to other reasons I'll leave you to discover on your own.)
Conclusion: Cool premise, horrible execution. Between the bad science and miraculous intelligence gathering efforts of the terrorists after they've ditched their electronic equipment, there sadly wasn't much to love.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Catch it on Cable)
