Pop Journal: Brave

Brave (Movie / 2012)

Eh.

I don't know if this movie crumbles from the weight of that "Pixar" logo above the title or if it was the long bumpy road in development, but Brave passes the grade in all avenues but still feels like a disappointment. I went in to the theater with the hopes that it would wash the taste of Cars 2 out of my mouth, and it did accomplish that but it left another aftertaste that felt a little worse. I expected Cars 2 to be what it was, the first real cash grab by the studio and Brave was to be the return of great stories and characters. Well as you can see from the above statements, it missed.

What went wrong? I can throw out a lot of things. Most films need a Villain to move the story along and here we were treated to a bear that has no real agenda, we think, and is only in the film for small phases. Second we have the witch that completely pulls us out of any immersion we were feeling with the film. Next there are the plot holes (many you could drive the Pizza Planet delivery truck through) such as Merida not immediately telling her Father what happened; Merida following the wisps three (!) times when each time something bad happened; Merida shoots for her own hand and this leads to war?

Wow, I guess it really comes down to the creators of a film trying to justify the hero or heroine making stupid decisions all the while keeping you in their corner. Ariel made a dumb deal with Ursula, Simba trusted Scar, Aladdin was about to kiss Jasmine as a nobody and then makes the leap that he must be a prince to hook up! But we forgive them because they overcome adversity and learned something about themselves. Merida just comes across as a spoiled brat who learns to love her now bear mother after one (!) afternoon of playing in the river.

So, it's really that bad? No. I hate that I feel this way, but you're Pixar dammit and I expect more from you. Brave is still better than anything Dreamworks or Sony throw out there. What really is thought provoking is the fact Disney Animation is getting stronger while Pixar is apparently going the other way. Odd that Disney's fall began around Brother Bear and now Pixar comes along with Brave (Originally titled The Bear and the Bow) and flounders some. Lesson is: Stay away from Bears.

Pop Journal: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic (Video Game / 2011)

I just "capped" a character on SWTOR and feel that is enough to add to the journal. The game is a bit of a conundrum and hard to really describe, so let's just say that I leveled a Bounty Hunter to 50 within a month and stopped my subscription.

There are parts of the game that work really well, but all of those parts have absolutely nothing to do with the "Massively" in MMO. The story is about as good as any MMO I have ever played, and the questing and companion systems are really nice. Most of these elements would be better suited in a single player game but feel a little disjointed and watered down in SWTOR. The best way to frame this is with the fact i married one of my companions and all it did in game was a couple of letters with some gifts. The game really didn't respond to me getting married, the same way it didn't respond to many of the choices I made in game.

I also loved the space battle mini game and liked that it gave me something to do to break up my time with PVP, questing and dungeons. That really speaks to the design philosophy of this game, you can tell Bioware wanted people to play the way they wanted to play. What felt counter intuitive to that was the traveling in the game, in that it took forever to get anywhere. When I first got my ship I was really excited about traveling the galaxy, until I had to sit through the load to get on the ship, travel, get off, walk through the same spaceport on every planet and do it all again to leave. I felt like I was playing Final Fantasy 11 again where it would take an hour to travel across the ocean. It really feels like all that travel was put in to extend play time, because like i said before, I capped in a month.

Finally I want to touch on the PVP element. They went with a truly bizarre idea of grouping all 10-49 players together and raising everyone's stats to level 49 for warzones. This means I would roll over a level 49 trooper only to be two shotted by a level 12 sorcerer. Also you ended up playing you own faction sometimes, which can only lead to tears. The biggest issue though is I played on a PVP server and only crossed paths with an Alliance player ONCE. What is the point of having a PVP server then? It just kind of sums up what SWTOR really is, a really good (sometimes great) single player game wrapped up in a ho hum MMO wrapper.

Pop Journal: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Movie / 2011)

There is some tension brewing in my head regarding Sherlock Holmes. First we had a brilliant and somewhat revisionist take from Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Ritchie in Sherlock Holmes a few years ago and I loved it. Then, something changed in between that film and it's sequel: Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock. I love both of the Holmes movies only now I look at Downey and I no longer see Sherlock, what I see is a pale ghost of what Cumberbatch brings to the small screen.

On it's own merits it is a great movie. Everything I liked about the first movie is back and Law and Downey throw verbal jabs off each other as well as anyone. This time we even got treated to Jared Harris as Moriarty, and I hate to say it again but it is no where neat as nuanced as Andrew Scotts portrayal on the BBC.

This all sounds rather doom and gloom, but again I had a really good time. I didn't like Noomi Rapace in the film, she did a great job with what was given to her it just felt her role was not as needed as the film makers wanted us to believe. In the end A Game of Shadows will have to settle for my second slot of favorite Holmes adaptations, but that in no means is a bad place to be.

Pop Journal: Mad Men; Season 5

Mad Men; Season 5 (TV / 2012)

I watched all four previous seasons of Mad Men earlier this year wanting to finally be a part of what everyone has called the greatest drama on TV. I tried to get into the show in it's first season, but didn't really give it a chance. Well, I'm glad as heck that I finally got on board because this show is about as good as a drama can be 5 years in.

This year the focus was really on Don trying to do right by his new wife and firm. He only fooled around once and that was revealed to be a fever induced hallucination. No, it seems Don Draper had finally found what made him happy in life. That is until the very last moment of the finale when Don was propositioned at a bar by a lovely lady. So there it is, the big cliff hanger going into next season: Did he or didn't he? I think it framed the season incredibly well and I hop that the next season doesn't open with a blatant answer.

Another thing that works so well for Mad Men is the way it can actually make me care for characters I loathe (Pete and Betty) in a way that was sometimes heartbreaking. Sure other characters came (Ginnsberg) and went (Price) but it was the full on return of Joan that was the highlight of this season. She and Don share a moment at a bar towards the end of the season that made me wonder why these two don't share the screen more often. Add on top of that Joan's highly controversial night out and she easily stole the season.

I am happy to add another drama into my viewing schedule, the only downside is this makes other drama's on TV seem like bad middle school plays.

Pop Journal: The Woman In Black

The Woman In Black (Movie / 2012)

It's refreshing to see a scary movie that doesn't rely on heavy doses of blood and gore to deliver some really creepy scares. The movie does go down some familiar paths to get these scares, but the journey down these well trodden paths is a lot of fun.

Daniel Radcliffe is Harry Potter, and this is really what I was thinking the entire time I watched the movie. It didn't really get in the way of the movie and he did a really good job with a script that expected him to react more and talk less. I think that with his first post Potter film he would have distanced himself from such familiar surroundings and did something modern.

It's the ending of the movie that really sold me on the entire film. I won't go into spoilers here, but the ending is a fitting way to end this scary movie. I liked that in the end, evil is evil. It's a simple idea that the Japanese have really embraced with their scary movies, but it seems that western audiences always yearn for some kind of redemption.

Pop Journal: Chronicle

Chronicle (Movie / 2012)

Chronicle is the "Batman Begins" of found footage films. It was an amazing portrait following the rise and fall of a young man granted super abilities by some "mysterious" sphere. The fact that it is presented in the same way Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity lends it the gritty reality that the gloss of a traditional production would only take away from the tone.

A lot works very well, although it takes a very long time to arrive at the incredibly riveting final act. We see the movie through Andrew's eyes and we are beat over the head with the typical everyday things that would drive a quiet teenager to go on a destruction filled flight over Seattle. He's bullied at school, his drunk father beats him around and his loving mother is sick and close to death. His only "friends" are his cousin Matt and the cool kid from school Steve, both of whom also gain the powers.

To be honest I got bored, and this movie is only 89 minutes long. It's all so heavy handed and Andrew's final break is such a big change for the character your mind is kind of swimming through the last sequence, but what a sequence. I have not been so involved with what was happening in a movie in a long time, and I really didn't know how they were going to have everything play out. The ending made the movie very recommendable and I really hope to see a sequel that explores this world further.

Pop Journal: Snow White & The Huntsman

Snow White & The Huntsman (Movie / 2012)

Well, there was a good movie buried somewhere under all of that. First thing that I have to say about this movie is that it was dark, very dark. You may say it was so dark that it looked as if it was trying to be very dark. It felt like this was a retelling that was trying to distance itself from the Disney film of 345 years ago (or something close to that). Why? I don't know. Some will say it was trying to be more epic to appeal to the "Tolkien" crowd that has been weened on big scale action, but even those had some lighter moments to bring some levity to the proceedings.

The acting ranged from passable (Kristen Stuart) to great (Charlize Theron) with Chris Hemsworth just kinda being there. The Seven Dwarfs were great and should have been brought into the picture much earlier than half way through. They at least added some character to the dark performances around them.

On a final note I want to mention the directors love affair for "cool" looking liquid effects. Yeah, we get it, the film looks distinct and different. This film falls into that territory of being a remake trying to please an audience by being radically different than what you've seen before, missing the fact that the story has enough traction on it's own merits that it has endured this long without any major change to the formula.

Pop Journal: This Means War

This Means War (Movie / 2012)

It was fun in that "Well it wasn't all bad" kinda way.

All three of the leads give really good performances, but it is not entirely surprising that Reese is the hopelessly single girl, Pine is a womanizing d-bag and Hardy is the well-intentioned emotional Brit. It all works out the way  you think it would, and like I have said before that is not all bad for this type of light hearted fare.

McG (sigh) gives us a very polished and good looking film. The action scenes are shot with a lot of flare and there are some really fun "stealth" sequences involving some really long shots.

As an action movie it delivers the goods, but it is the "romantic comedy" stories that fall flat on their faces towards the end. We are led to believe that this woman would date these two guys and have it revealed to her that they were not only lying about knowing she was dating the other but on top of that they were secret agents using her as measuring stick for which could "win" her. Really? They took the plot from "She's All That" and added spies.

Finally, Chelsea Handler should not be allowed on screen or given the opportunity to open her mouth.