TGWTG User Blogs

11.30.08

Yo,

Another review for the campus newspaper, my final freelance project for them before I can get the interview for a permanent Staff Writer position. Wish me luck! With the 650 word limits, I'm going to need it.




Somewhere between the Westerns of the 60s and the Melodramas of the 30s lies Baz Luhrmann’s original vision for “Australia.” The outback native’s fourth film strays far from his close-up happy, slingshot camera to give a sweeping epic view of both the breath-taking Aussie landscape and the epic romance he created for it. Nicole Kidman plays Lady Sarah Ashley, a prim and proper model of British circumstance, who leaves her comfortable life to investigate her husband’s extended stay at their cattle ranch in Northern Australia. There she becomes aware of her husband’s death and her inheritance of almost 2,000 head of cattle on the only land not owned by a vicious beef-market monopoly. She enlists the expertise of the rough-and-tumble Drover, Hugh Jackman, to help herd the cattle down to the wharf in the nearby city in time for a huge deal with the hungry military. As Australia’s rainy season comes, so does the tail-end of World War 2, with the Japanese bombing of the continent splitting the pair, and their adopted Aboriginal child Nullah (adorable newcomer Brandon Walters, the film’s most genuine actor), apart.



The story as a whole is a predictable one, key plot points can be seen miles away with anyone with a romance novel fix. The actors know this, their characters dancing in stereotypical line when appropriate. Kidman is amiable and sweet as the oh-so-proper English girl that finds her rough and unwomanly side in the saddle, and Jackman is incredibly comfortable and magnetic in a role likely envisioned for him by his female fans with the least amount of personal romantic satisfaction. Some subplots are original and absorbing, but we’ve heard this tune before, the script drips with enough sap to make Shirley Temple projectile vomit. As much as that is a bad thing for most films, the tired narrative shines here. Luhrmann’s “Australia” is like an old photo album, more nostalgic than cliché. Although you know what’s going to happen, you can’t help but be engrossed in the characters and world. Kidman and Jackman are noticeably enjoying themselves as they imitate – and flatter - film convention, so much so that watching them throw themselves headfirst into the cheese makes us cringe less when we hear that same line of undying affection for the millionth time in our lives. The entire film falls together this way, the soaring, varied orchestral score and gorgeous zooms over cragged Australian canyons are more than enough to make you forget how CG those cows across the plains are.



However, knowing the film’s plot points may make you realize how long the movie takes to get to them. Like the classic romances it emulates, “Australia,” nears the three-hour mark closer than most audience members will stand, especially with the many subplots; Nullah’s narrative tradition of the Walkabout conflicting with his new mother’s protective wishes, the racist nature of the local Church Missions and their breeding of local Aboriginals for subservience; taking up more than a fair share of what could have easily been edited into a director’s cut, despite their dramatic and heart-wrenching intentions. When the film slows down from cattle wrangling or corrupted meat industry inter-politics, the scenes can drag on until a watch check, and it happens more than anyone with a “300”-sized attention span will be able to take. Those that can weather the dry periods, however, will be glad they did.



Like the continent of its namesake, “Australia” is a frontier of endless visual splendor, and with many stories scattered across its acres. The film’s noticeably long, with enough slowdown to make you wonder how much you really like this first-date of yours, but when we’re galloping alongside 2,000 head of cattle, it feels like “Gone with the Wind” was released yesterday, and we’re still in the era of Big Stars, Big Sets, and Big Stories.



One Word Review: Gargantuan

One Sentence Review: “Australia” faithfully recreates the feeling of the corny romances of Classic Hollywood; audiences will have to determine if that’s a good thing.

Comment (0)

Originally posted on July 3, 2008:

 

 

Comment (1) Read More...

  "Hellooo...I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to."

"He's the angriest gamer you ever heard, he's the Angry Nintendo Nerd...He's the Atari-Sega Nerd, he's the Angry Video Game Nerd."

 

Well, that was enjoyable, wasn't it, folks? These two well-known Internet icons of the reviewing industry have pleased us to no end. And I assume the battle shall come to a close fairly soon. But before that happens, I have constructed this fan viewpoint to explain why we love these dashing figures of pixels that appear on our screen in video format.

Comment (0) Read More...

Hello every one. Inspired by The Nostalgia Critic, I've decided  I want to start my own reviews of movies. But I didn't want to take nostalgic movies since that is obviously taken. So I've spent the last few weeks trying to think of my own unique movies I could review. And thats when I remembered "hey, I'm an actor!". So I've decided to review musical films! If you have any musicals you would like me to review, lemme know. Films can be old ones, new ones, Disney films, even movies that aren't originally based on a musical but they made one anyways (Across the Universe). So, lets get this underway and start sending me requests! You may send as many as you like. And spread the news to your friends. There's a new critic on the web.

Btw, if someone can help me come up with a good name for my reviews, it would be much appreciated. Thank you :-) 

Comment (11)

After two weeks of submissions, I have amassed 128 films (The number is still climbing, apparently some people didn't get the memo), and after a weekend of binging, banging and partying, I looked at the clock and was like "Oh fuck! WHERE ARE MY PANTS?!" Oh yeah, there was also that thing about the horrible movies thingy.

The deal is this: Everyone has their idea of what a good movie is, as well as a bad movie. Not everyone agrees, but the purpose of this is to help find some common ground with what sucks and what........doesn't suck that much.

There's also been a change in plans regarding how the matchups are going to be handled: Four matchups are going to be posted every Sunday right here on the blogs. All four polls will close on Sunday nights at 12:00am EST (That's one minute after 11:59pm on Saturday nights..........I can't believe I have to say that), and the next set will open on Monday around the same time. In the spirit of my current job, which is related to racing animals (I'll leave it to you to guess with one), I'll be posting wikipedia/IMDB links alongside the matchups, just in case you might not have watched either movie, but want to vote anyway.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16

Now you know the players involved, here's who's fighting this week:

Round 1-16:
    Jeepers Creepers vs Kung Pow: Enter the Fist

    College Road Trip vs Wicker Man, The (remake)

    Fast & the Furious 2, The vs Spider-Man 3

    Dracula 3000 vs    Home Alone 3

Comment (6) Read More...

My name is Lori Ingham. On most of the boards I am on, I go by Scoop11 -- it's a reference to my college days that would take too long to explain. And the name of the blog comes from the fact that I do, indeed, have a baby. He's going to be six weeks old this week, and he's just absolutely adorable.

I used to be a reporter for a paper. But now, I am unemployed and using my Bachelors degree in film studies for other pursuits. Namely, overanalyzing films that I've seen a gazillion times. But don't worry -- some day I'll find a way to make money off of this talent.

So far, the overanalysis has focused on remakes. It may branch into other areas, such as a conservative vs. liberal view or looking at real life versus the film world.

Comment (0) Read More...

9.27.08

Yo,



Fresh and de-stressed from the move, it is time to add another to the collection of games you need to have on your shelf. It takes a lot for a war game to make this list, moreso if its a shooter. There's something special about this IP.




Title: Brother's in Arms: Hell's Highway

Genre: Squad-Based Tactical Shooter

Developer: Gearbox Software

Publisher: Ubisoft

Rating: M for Mature

Release Date: September 23rd, 2008 (PS3, 360) September 30th, 2008 (PC)

Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC



Plot:



You play as Matt Baker, Staff Sergeant of the 101st Airborne Division (502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment) of the American Armed Forces during the later part of World War II. Dropped into the Netherlands as a part of Operation Market Garden, you and your unit are charged with securing multiple bridges behind the enemy lines. Players will follow Baker and his unit from the initial drop into the Netherlands through the securing and defense of land at Eindhoven.

Realism:



Gearbox Software employed retired Colonial John Antal of the United States Army as a historian for the game, making sure everything from the weapons to the dialogue were accurate to the time. Military tactics also went through a rigorous examination process, to insure that all field strategies in the game were capable to have been issued in the actual conflict. All characters ranked Lieutenant or higher are based on actual historical figures, where all beneath Sergeant have a foundation of a real person with dramatic license taken.

Gameplay



With improved AI on both the Allies and German side of the battle, players will issue military commands to their unit, positioning them in the best possible location to later attack from and ordering various assault tactics taken from cover. Great care has been given to the destructible environments, and to death and movement animations. When a character on either side is shot for final damage, the camera automatically slows down and zooms into the kill, where blood splatters and torn limbs add to a gruesome cinematic frag. Players have the option on how much of combat Baker himself takes part in, whether he leaves the majority of it to his squad and shoots from afar, or heads directly into the fray himself, guns blazing.

Emotion



A highly touted feature of Hell's Highway is the effort that went into the darker-than-most storyline. Unlike most war-themed shooters, the allied side the player controls ultimately loses the mission, forcing those members that remained alive to question everything from the frivolity of their duty to the measure of their spirit. Player-controlled Baker is a soldier still not comfortable with his rank, and still distrusting of those within his squad, and throughout the events of the game will slowly descend into a post-traumatic-stress condition due to the unprepared responsibility. The conflict between Baker and those under him is a main drawing point to the narrative.

Arsenal



Players will have a range of militant equipment to toy with, from the usual shotguns to semi- and full automatic weaponry, to a tank with multiple play options later in the game. As part of the humor entrenched in the storyline, players will have the option of bringing out a rocket launcher, lovingly dubbed Sheila, to finish off opponents on some missions. Each member of Baker's squad has a specialty and a weapon of choice, making their placement a key tactic in any battle.


Game Wikipedia Page

Official Site


- The final cinematic of the game implies that the sequel to the franchise will take place during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.

- The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game went gold on September 15, 2008 on preorders alone. The PC version went gold as well on the 17th of the same month.




This section will be updated with GT's review and other prevalent information. Make sure you go out and pick this baby up, supporting the more story-driven war games means we don't have to deal with as many American-iz-Numburr-1!!!! schlock titles!

Comment (0)

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

"The Stepford Wives." A term that has entered our vernacular to mean the perfect housewife. Some don't realize that it originally came from the novel by Ira Levin, who crafted a story about the Stepford Men's Association and their goal to turn back the clock on the women's movement and make their wives into perfect housekeepers.

In 1975, director Bryan Forbes tackled the book, with screenwriter William Golding on board. Clashes happened between the two, and Forbes went on without him, but still using his screenplay. One of the more widely reported differences was Golding's feeling that the Stepford women should be Playboy bunny types, but when Forbes cast his wife Nanette Newman to play one of the Stepford women the idea went out the window.

Comment (3) Read More...

When Gus Van Sant decided to tackle "Psycho," he decided to do it shot by shot.

He called it an "experiment."

I call it "what the hell were you thinking?"

Comment (2) Read More...

(Edited from my other blog, ConChrist, which deals with both politics and entertainment)

I finally got around to watching the Rob Zombie version of "Halloween" that was released last year.

The quick review: Bleh.

Comment (4) Read More...