First up, is Pan's Labyrinth, a movie that received much critical acclaim, and extremely well-liked by a lot of people that I've talked to.
I didn't like it.
Honestly, it wasn't terrible. It wasn't even bad. I could see why people would like it a lot. It just wasn't my sort of movie. I'm not a big fan of the fantasy genre, at least fantasy movies like this one. I'm picky about them, I guess. I didn't really like Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, Princess Mononoke, etc. (I think I'm more into the sci/fi-nerdcore side of fantasy, like Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.) I really didn't like the character of the faun. He was just too creepy for me. I thought that the gore, though relevant in spots, was a little too over-the-top and sometimes unnecessary. The plotlines that I was interested in weren't as developed as the ones I didn't care about. But, I can see how people would really like this movie, I don't want to totally trash it. I just want to explain my position. So it gets 3 Flenker Thumbs-Up (one being AI, 5 being Trading Places).
The next movie that I saw was Knocked Up. I caught a matinee of it yesterday with a couple of friends. Now I was a fan of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, so I kind of new what to expect. And while this wasn't that creative or inventive of a movie, I definitely enjoyed it. I thought it was pretty hilarious, the kind of movie that I appreciate on occasion, where I can just sit back and laugh. There were a few parts (none that I can think of specifically right now, of course) where I was the only one laughing at something maybe a little more subtle than the rest of the movie (I of course, get all kinds of humor, nothing passes me by. Especially sarcasm.) but for the most part it's pretty straight-forward, jokes about beards, masturbating, and a pretty good "Gabe Ruth" joke. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes funny stuff. It gets four-and-a-half Flenker Thumbs-Up.
Now I'm not saying that I think Knocked Up is a better piece of cinematic work than Pan's Labyrinth, I'm just saying that I enjoyed it much more, whatever that's worth. Apparently, it's worth one-and-a-half Flenker's.
7 comments:
I guess if you don't like fantasy you then won't like Pan's Labyrinth. I hope I didn't pump it up too much. As for the faun being creepy well he was supposed to be. I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.
mr t - I don't think that you pumped it up too much to me. And I know the faun was supposed to be creepy, and it came off well. I'm just saying that I generally don't like characters like that in any movie, they really kind of freak me out. I also don't like puppets. I had nightmares about the puppet show in The Sound of Music. Seriously. I can see how you like it, it was a very well-done movie, shot beautifully. It was just not my style.
Your fear of puppets weirds me out. Like, who's scared of puppets? Seriously? And not only that...yeah...who's scared of puppets? I could understand being scared of scary puppets, but the the puppets in The Sound of Music? COME ON. =)
First, isn't 'over the top' pretty much the same as 'unnecessary'?? As far as placing it into the general fantasy genre- you already know what I have to say about that. The only redeeming quality of the Labyrinth is Bowie's package and I refuse to see Dark Crystal, etc. Boo hiss to you for reducing this film to that level!
P.S. I googled murder and my fist tastes like rainbow.
It's your thumbs-up and you can do it any way you want.
So there.
h - My fear of puppets isn't any stranger than your fear of Kevin Bacon.
marin - I wouldn't say that "over the top" and "unnecessary" are synonymous. Like the part where the captain is dealing with the farmers is over the top, but not unnecessary, it showed how brutal he could be. The leg part, though, I felt was unnecessary.
Also, I think I laughed the hardest at "I googled murder" and the whole scene with the chairs in Vegas. Those were both pretty awesome.
whiskey - Thank you!
i'm laughing my head off at the half-a-thumb up.
Post a Comment