Movie Review: Pacific Rim

Here is my review of Pacific Rim from GetGlue, redefined: 

When news of this film began circulating, I immediately wanted to see it. Not only is it right up my alley (as the novels I'm writing involve robots among other things) but Guillermo del Toro was behind it. When the trailer hit, I was sold. It looked so epic, & it didn't even try to hide the fact that they were trying to be epic, with the trailer's tagline "Go big or go extinct." - They definitely went big with this movie, & I'm sure its effects will not go extinct any time soon.

This movie is essentially "Godzilla" meets "Power Rangers" but 100 times more epic than both of them put together. The graphics are top of the line, delivering spectacular eye candy that you can't help but marvel at, & the score (composed by Ramin Djawadi) creates a beautifully heroic backdrop for the story & the events that unfold. I also loved how the song in the end credits (written for the film & titled "Drift") goes perfectly with the film score. It's this kind of attention to detail I love about films such as After Earth & Sucker Punch, & I feel like this movie is in the same elite category. Parents should know that the human violence in this movie is very minimal & there is absolutely no sexual content, making it a great movie for the whole family.

There is one image from this film that sticks out more than anything to me, of a little girl walking alone through a decimated city. It's such an iconic image of the destruction & chaos we sometimes find ourselves in, & what happens afterwards is a symbol of hope. It says to the viewer that no matter how dark things may seem, there is always hope. Lots of little messages like that run through this movie's veins, but I think the main message is unity. 

The Jaegers need 2 people to operate them, & in order to do this, they have to be completely in sync. I think the song in the end credits says it best when it says "United we can never fall." - It's the oldest trick in the book (united we stand, divided we fall), but somewhere along the way, humanity has begun to lose its grasp of the concept of unity. We can accomplish so much more together than we can apart. We can defeat greater challenges together than we can alone. I think that's what this movie tries to communicate, & it pulls it off well. & did I mention beautifully? See it on the big screen. You will not regret it. 

If you haven't seen the trailer, marvel here: 

Random Review: M. Night Shyamalan

My review of M. Night Shyamalan from Get Glue: 

In my opinion, M. Night Shyamalan is the greatest writer/director that ever lived. All of his films are so intricate & captivating, & I can't understand why so many people don't like him & his films. 

From "The Sixth Sense" to "The Village" Night is a genius when it comes to the twist ending, & this is the trait for which he is most well-known. Then there are films like "Signs" & "Lady In The Water" that produce a strange new outlook on the world. He is so good at instilling magic & faith & hope into the viewer's soul. & that is hard to do through film.

Night is reportedly a joy to work with as well, which makes for a happy cast & crew, which in turn makes for a wonderful film. He is still fairly young & already has an impressive resume of films, & I can't wait to see what he does next!

 
Night has inspired me so much over the years, & I don't think he's going to stop any time soon! He is & will always be my hero :)

And here's my review of Night's movie "The Village" also from Get Glue:

 This film beautifully depicts love in its truest most innocent form, & says something profound about human nature. I truly believe The Village has one of the best scripts ever written, with beautiful quotes, such as my favorite: 

"The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe." 

With gorgeous & haunting cinematography, a mind blowing twist, & amazing performances by Joaquin Phoenix (also in Night's film "Signs"), Bryce Dallas Howard (also in Night's film "Lady In The Water"), William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody & more, this film is a diamond in the rough. 

Many people were too small minded to enjoy the film & pick up on the moral of the story: you can take people out of the darkness but you can't take the darkness out of people. I love it. I even made a music video of it years ago. Here it is: 

And don't worry, there are no spoilers in the video, in fact, it's more like a trailer than anything, and people who have seen the video who haven't seen the movie have told me it made them want to see it. So even if you haven't seen it, you should have no reason not to watch the video. ;)

Night's most recent masterpiece is a film called "After Earth" which I finally got to see recently. Here's my review of it from Get Glue: 

I was so excited when I heard Shyamalan was making a new movie, but I was even more excited when I heard what it was about! I love scifi as well as anything post-apocalyptic, & After Earth combines the 2!

Others, however, weren't so excited. They still don't trust Night as a filmmaker. But I happily ignored the critics & saw it anyway, counting the minutes till it started & doing my little chair dance when it finally began.

Even though I sort of expected it to be great, I was still absolutely blown away. I was tearing up within the first 10 minutes! Night has done it again. In fact, I think he's even surpassed his other films with this one. Not only is it visually stimulating & absolutely gorgeous, but it has great acting from Will Smith & his son Jaden, & a great story with a great message: Danger is real, but fear is a choice. Among others.

We all need to see this. Absolutely see it. The critics are just mentally challenged, as usual. Best movie I've seen in a long time...

Here is the amazing trailer: 

I could go on and on, and rant about how much I love Night's other movies as well, but I've ranted enough. I apologize if it was a bit repetitive, but that's the beauty of copy and paste. ;) Needless to say, I love this man's work, and I hope he continues to amaze and inspire us with his creative mind for many years to come!

This has been a (not so random) review, from your friendly neighborhood Kylie Kerosene. Stay epic, and be the lightning. ;)

Random Review: Looper

My husband Evol Eric knew how excited I was to see Looper. Frankly, everyone did. I had made it blatantly obvious since the first time I saw the trailer. So, on September 29th, after some lunch and some Halloween shopping (during which I bought the hat in the picture below), Eric surprised me with a date to see the movie. Needless to say, I was pretty happy. ;) 

Here's my review of Looper from Get Glue:

When I saw the trailer for Looper in theaters, I was so impressed and excited that I did a little dance in my chair when the trailer ended. That's the only time that's ever happened! So naturally, I had to see it. And today, I have.

I was hoping Looper wouldn't disappoint, and it definitely didn't. Everything from the acting to the special effects to the writing to the score was so amazing and well done.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a stellar job handling the lead role, as expected, and Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt were really good in it as well. The prosthetics on Joseph (applied to make him look like Bruce Willis who plays the older version of him) were very well done too. He looks so different in this film, and it was executed so well that you almost forget it's not his real face. 

 In my opinion, there could have been a little more back-story on some of the aspects in the film, but other than that, it was a really good film, with stunning visual effects, heart wrenching acting, good writing and some cool twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat, really cool action sequences, and a score that sets a hypnotic and futuristic mood for the film.

If you love science fiction and action, or if you're just a fan of good movies, I definitely recommend it!

 I leave you with the infamous trailer:

 I rest my case.