Some Mini Reviews
Life in the Oh Zee, Yo
I’d like to say that Tin Man’s biggest problem is that it tries too hard to be hip and nextgen, but sadly this is only one of its many problems. No, the biggest problem is that it tries to be too much of just about everything. It’s like someone took any Disney movie, Firefly, Blade Runner, and a dash of Star Wars, threw it in a blender, and then threw out everything that is endearing about the original story. Visually, Zooey Deschanel (who was great in Almost Famous) is the perfect Dorothy. Er, “D. G.” in Tin Man speak, because, you know, full names are reserved for the lah-hoosers. But whether it’s a lack of direction or just a bad script, calling Deschanel’s performance “lackluster” would be an insult to those without luster everywhere. The same can be said for everyone else, including the title character, the Tin Man. Alan Cumming as “Glitch” (the scarecrow archetype) does better, but it’s not enough to save this disaster. From Munchkins who are possibly even more insulting than the original Munchkins, to Toto who is Uncle Remus reborn, to what-the-fuck-flying-cleavage-monkeys, Tin Man seems to have had lofty goals and great intentions but only manages to land a house on Frank L. Baum’s original masterpiece.
And Polar Bears, Oh My
I managed to score a free advance peek at The Golden Compass, and still wanted to ask for a refund. Occasionally intriguing, it’s ultimately uninspiring and generic. Too much in-your-face CGI polar bears and…well CGI just about everything else that’s either not nailed down or not human, not enough character in the characters, and a storyline that only occasionally makes sense. What really kills this movie though is pacing. It’s slow, expository, and often listless. If you’re a holiday movie completest, then I suppose you’ll have to see this movie. Otherwise, save your money for Hellboy 2 or The Dark Knight. They might suck too, but at least you won’t need that extra gigantic Mountain Dew to keep you awake.
I Can Has More BSG Pls?
Ron Moore and crew gives us hope that the bulk of the previous season’s mystical acid trip story arc really was a fluke. Battlestar Galactica: Razor picks up where the Pegasus saga left off, and fills in all the delicious details. It’s old school new BSG (does that even make sense?) at its best, and pulls us back into the horrors and difficult choices that made the first season of BSG so powerful. Michelle Forbes reprises her role as the frackin bad-ass Admiral Cain, and much of the Galactica cast are back too. But this time around it’s all about the Caining. Admiral Cain is such a strong character, it was hard to let her go the first time, and even harder to let her go the second time. She’s sympathetic, tragically flawed, with more dimensions than you can shake something multi-dimensional at. (Note to J. K. Rowling: this is how you make someone’s sexual orientation relevant to the goddamned story.) Razor does a masterful job of making us love and hate her even more than we did before, and clears up some of the fuzzier and unexplored details from the original 2-part episode. The visuals are fantastic, the story is so much more than just a “prequel,” and the interplay and conflict between characters leaves you wanting more.
Also, if you’re a fan of the original 1970’s series, there’s a couple surprises in Razor just for you. If you missed it, it’s out on DVD right now. Have someone stick it in your stocking.
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December 6th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Did I already mentionned that I loved the way you write?
I’m not a natural born english speaker, though, but your words are just some kind of healing potions for the bad mood.
Milady, please accept a kindly offered internet.
Drench my thirst of ya words
Did I say anything about the post itself? Nope, cuz’ it’s good.
I can has more Amber pls?
December 6th, 2007 at 9:36 am
You’re too kind, thanks.
December 6th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I actually disagree about Tin Man. Many times I did find Zooey’s perfomance quite terrible but other then that I enjoyed a lot about Tin Man. I still haven’t seen the last hour of the final part, but from what my wife says there are quite a few nods to the books, probably moreso then the original movie did as the land of Oz was implied to be fictional in that.
The terrible name games like D.G. and the “Outer Zone” really pissed me off, but DG is better if you realize that she’s not actually Dorothy and the series is not retelling the same story as the movie but is on a different timeline entirely.
Supposedly there are nods and ties into the book Wicked, also.
December 6th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Okay, I completely missed the whole “Dorothy” connection. What was the deal with black and white Dorothy? Is she somehow imprisoned in black and white other-universe Kansas or what? Is “The O.Z.” Oz?
The nods were cute, and it was fun to watch for them. The “have a heart” comments at/by the Tin Man started to grate after awhile (yeah, we get it), and some were so forced that they fell completely flat. “I am the great and terrible…Mystic Man!” Er…yeah, you need a better agent M.M. Other references, like “lions and tigers and bears” were cute. I was hoping to hear the evil witch say “what a world,” but it was not to be.
I think Tin Man would have made a better movie on its own, without any connection to The Wizard of Oz, although I still think it was marred by atrocious acting and terrible dialogue. Still, compared to most other SciFi original movies, I’ll agree it was one of the better ones. Not that that’s a real high bar to hurdle.
December 6th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I was very impressed with the way Razor used Cain’s sexual orientation. It made her actions later (in earlier episodes) make much more sense and seem more sane, if no less bad. She was deeply hurt and, as unprofessional as that is, let that affect her job performance. That’s a very human thing to have happen. I love it.
Too often, a character being gay is thrown in and either doesn’t actually mean anything and is never an issue or else is SUCH a thing that it’s juvenile and hyper-sexualized. Bleh!
So yeah. Impressed with teh Razor. Now. Why the frack isn’t it out in HD? Bah! Glad to see you’re back from your “strike”, Amber.
December 6th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
When I heard the electrofunk “by your command” it made me weep with joy.
Too bad about Golden Compass. The previews look good. Watched 10 minutes ot Tin Man and got bored. played Halo 3 instead.
December 6th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Razor was spectacular. I agree 100% with Amber’s comments. I also loved the line, “I _am_ Cain’s legacy.” Very Christian-ethos. Seeing Adama in the prime of his youth was cool, too.
> Why the frack isn’t it out in HD?
Google “Razor 720p torrent”
December 6th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
At least the monkeys weren’t flying out of her ass. But maybe that would have made it a bit more interesting.
December 6th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I liked Razor a lot. I had essentially given up on the show, since the last season seemed to consist of love triangles, ten minute speeches, and watching the Adamas ball their eyes out. By the end, Baltar was the only one I could tolerate.
But, after watching Razor, I’ve got some hope in the show again. I hope they keep this up, because it’d be a shame to lose the show over filler episodes and unnecessary drama.
The concept of Tin Man has lowered my faith in humanity a bit. And, as for The Golden Compass, I normally like anything that causes Christians to protest but this sort of sounded like a mess, from what I’ve been reading.
December 6th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I watched the first installment of “Tin Man” and I think your review is dead on. I think the base idea had to be good, but the final product, the delivery, and the (lack of) acting just killed it for me. I don’t consider stories so sacred that you can’t revisit them and present them in new and unique ways, but you should make sure that the thing that makes your new version unique is not a heavy sprinkling of suck on top.
I’m glad the Golden Compass is a stinker, now I don’t have to see it!
December 7th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Has anyone read the Golden Compass? I have not, and I wonder if the book(s) are good or not. I’m sort of sad that the movie is not good. A friend of mine works for a CGI company that did parts of the movie (apparently not the polar bears). However, he’s worked on plenty of bad movies… and plenty of good ones. Meh. Anyway… book, anyone?
December 7th, 2007 at 9:02 am
I read it about 5 years ago. The book is called “Northern Lights” in the U.K. and “The Golden Compass” in the U.S. I thought it was pretty average. Pullman isn’t a very strong writer. He has some interesting ideas but the book is kind of weak. But that’s just me. I tend to expect a lot from the fantasy books I read.
December 9th, 2007 at 1:53 am
I got Tin Man recorded since …well, since it was on TV. Still haven’t decided whether or not I dare to watch it. Probably just scared that at some point OZibit tries to pimp the Tin Man or something.
I have seen the golden compass and also thought that the movie was running at what felt half speed. The CGI everywhere wasn’t so much my problem as it created a nice world to see. If the world in itself is fictional I don’t mind if it looks a bit strange. I also noted the holes in the story which made me decide to read the books like 20 minutes into the movie when I had like the fourth urge to shout at someone to stop the movie and explain the missing parts. It felt like watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which, in my opinion, feels very much like a two hours ‘Previously seen on Harry Potter’ summary of the book. Just here I had read the books and knew what was going on.
In general:
Thanks so much for your work. I love the way you write and it often makes my day.
I am no native english and learn a lot from reading and your blog taught me some nice ways of phrasing one thing or another.
December 9th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Well, I feel like I might be the only one who actually liked Golden Compass. I thought that it stayed pretty close to the book, although a lot of the explanations for how things work were left out (as happens quite a bit in book to movie conversions).
I thought that the actors in it gave good performances, especially Nicole Kidmen and Daniel Craig. Ironically, I thought the main character, Lyra, didn’t do as good a job as she could and was constantly upstaged by the supporting characters. Sam Elliot is one of my favorite actors, by the way, and I have yet to be disappointed by anything he’s done.
The Bears were very good CGI in my opinion, although they almost seem to be too much of the movie. There are quite a few “Jesus Christ it’s a Bear, get in the car!” moments in the movie, which are enjoyable if you can get in the mood of things.
Honestly, I was overall pleased with the translation to screen, and am looking forward to the Subtle Knife.
December 10th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Ben — I loved the first book. I like Lyra’s world a lot. The rest of the series, though… meh. The movie had a lot of pacing and plotting problems, generally from being too short to do the material justice. You’d think, that after LoTR, studios would have learned that you need a goodly chunk of time to make a proper adaption of a fantasy novel. There’s too much world-building going on in most of them to squeeze them into a measly 1.5hr timeslot and still keep a true essence of the story.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
I liked The Golden Compass, too. Yes, it was paced slowly, but not so much that I got bored. There is a lot of story to absorb, so it required a lot of attention. I thought they did a good job breaking up the exposition with the action sequences. And the bear fight is just cool.
Take this for what it’s worth: The 6 or 7 year old boy sitting next to me did not move. His attention was on the screen the whole time.