The Lego Movie (Review)
The Lego Movie
2014
Story by Dan Hageman & Kevin Hageman and Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Screenplay by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
The Lego Movie constantly refrains the song “Everything is Awesome!” throughout the film, and though the song is presented as a joke because things aren’t awesome, it best describes The Lego Movie. Because everything is awesome. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller took a toy commercial and traditional hero’s journey narrative and turned it into a celebration of tossing out instructions and a collectivist uniting against conformity and conservatism. Also it’s fun and hilarious.
The unlikely group of heroes unite against President Business, who controls the entire world and wants things to stay just the way they are. He gets incensed when things are built that don’t follow the rules or are weird. His reign has seen the Lego city become a virtual police state where everyone follows a huge list of rules and destroys anything out of the ordinary to be replaced with construction that follows the rules. The people are lulled into accepting their reality with glee, thanks to control of television and music, where every show is Where’s My Pants? and every song is the aforementioned “Everything is Awesome!”
The resistance becomes a celebration of individuality vs marching to the same drum beat. The Lego Movie encourages you to build what you want, and not worry about if your projects conflict with what someone expects you to do. While President Business seeks his stagnant perfection, the real progress and fun comes from the chaos of creation.
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Minor spoilers below the fold!
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Categories: Good, Movie Reviews Tags: Alison Brie, Anthony Daniels, Batman, Batmania, Billy Dee Williams, Channing Tatum, Charlie Day, Chris Pratt, Christopher Miller, Cobie Smulders, Dan Hageman, Dave Franco, Elizabeth Banks, Jonah Hill, Kevin Hageman, Lego Batman, Lego movie, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Nick Offerman, Phil Lord, Shaquille O'Neal, Tars sells out!, toys to films, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell, Will Forte
Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim
2013
Story by Travis Beacham
Screenplay by Travis Beacham and Guillermo del Toro
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
An action packed ride from the first frames, Pacific Rim delivers the giant robots vs. giant monsters action promised, and crafts an entertaining flick around it. Del Toro provides a love letter to a genre he grew up loving, and succeeded in updating it technologically to craft something amazing. Almost every frame is a piece of art by itself. The design and look are outstanding, the jaegers (the giant robots) are banged up and realistic, and the kaiju are scarily beautiful yet deadly looking. Battles encompass multiple environments, from snowy seas of Alaska to the cityscapes of Hong Kong to the ocean floor.
Pacific Rim keeps its flow, the segments where the story is set up feel natural and are done in creative fashion. Following along, our minds are too busy to wander, bereft of distractions and eagerly anticipating the next monster brawl. And when the real action starts, boy does it start.
There are minor spoilers below, but nothing that isn’t in the trailers. But if you don’t want to know anything, just know that Pacific Rim is my favorite film I’ve seen this summer, and possibly 2013. It’s fun, fun, fun, heartfelt and not full of the gritty reluctant heroes that seem to be everywhere. There are giant monster, robots, and it’s awesome.
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Pacific Rim viral images and clips
Pacific Rim came out with some viral vids and a bunch of jaeger blueprints to make all the mech lovers drool. Jaegers are the name for the giant mechs that the pilots will use to battle the giant creatures attacking the planet. Judgeing from the videos released, Pacific Rim will be damn awesome. It’s getting so much good buzz already that they’re going ahead and writing a sequel! Though we don’t get a good clear look at any monsters or the jaegers, there is a dead monster in one of the videos. The second video is below all the images.
Pacific Rim stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Clifton Collins Jr., Robert Maillet, and Rinko Kikuchi. Guillermo del Toro directs.
Categories: Movie News Tags: Burn Gorman, Charlie Day, Charlie Hunnam, Clifton Collins Jr., Guillermo del Toro, Idris Elba, Pacific Rim, Rinko Kikuchi, Robert Maillet, Ron Perlman
Categories: Movie News Tags: Charlie Day, Charlie Hunnam, Guillermo del Toro, Idris Elba, Pacific Rim, Rinko Kikuchi
Pacific Rim Images
Entertainment Weekly had a new image from Pacific Rim in their Comicon Preview issue, and beyond the image there was almost no new information, excpet maybe that they are using huge sets, including the biggest set in North America (which only had room for two feet from the giant robot Jaegers that the heroes use in their battles with the giant monsters!) The image shows Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi suited up for battle. Hunnam is Raleigh Antrobus, one of those washed up bitter pilots who returns for glory and redemption, and Kikuchi is trainee pilot Mako Mori. They pilot an old school Jaeger when all the cool ones get trashed by the kaiju (or something.)
Let’s not forget this other image featuring Idris Elba as his General Stacker Pentecost character:
The film also stars Charlie Day as Newt Gotlieb, but no photos of him have surfaced yet. But they’re waiting. At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean…ready to surface…like monsters…
Categories: Movie News Tags: Charlie Day, Charlie Hunnam, Guillermo del Toro, Idris Elba, Pacific Rim, Rinko Kikuchi
Pacific Rim gets a synopsis
Is there a monster movie I’m waiting for more than Pacific Rim? I don’t think so! Even the new Godzilla film must take a back seat to this giant monsters vs giant robot action! Hopefully del Toro is enough to make up for the writer giving us films like Clash of the Titans. From el Toro’s other films, there is no way this won’t look spectacular.
Synopsis
From acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ epic sci-fi action adventure Pacific Rim.
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes–a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)–who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
Oscar® nominee Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) is directing Pacific Rim from a script by Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans). Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Mary Parent are producing, with Callum Greene serving as executive producer.
The film stars Charlie Hunnam (TV’s “Sons of Anarchy”), Idris Elba (Thor), Rinko Kikuchi (The Brothers Bloom), Charlie Day (Horrible Bosses), and Ron Perlman (the Hellboy films). The ensemble cast also includes Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Clifton Collins, Jr., Burn Gorman, Larry Joe Campbell, Diego Klattenhoff, and Brad William Henke.
via Dread Central