May 20, 2016May 4, 2016 atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: Watership Down

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If, like me, you’ve never seen or particularly heard of this movie; it’s about a young rabbit named Fiver who has a vision of his warren being in great danger and and he tries to get everyone to leave. Only a few end up following him and the rest of the movie is this small group trying to find a new home.

With that synopsis, I can see how parents would just pop this in thinking it’s a cute, fun little animated feature. NOPE! There’s some pretty nightmarish imagery! There’s blood, gore, death, and it barely flinches. I hope I don’t spoil too much when I say there’s train tracks involved and I flinched but thankfully the movie spared me there.

I generally enjoy when a movie doesn’t pander or talk down to children but this is a movie where a parent should know what’s in it and decide based on their individual kid. I personally would rather not sit my kid down to watch it; it’s pretty dark and violent. But I’m glad I saw it. It made me want to read the book.

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May 13, 2016April 23, 2016 atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: “Justice League vs. Teen Titans”

I guess this technically doesn’t count as a ‘finally’ watched it since this isn’t an old movie I should have watched but it is something that I’ve been waiting to get my hot little hands on and it’s my blog, so there!

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In this movie, Robin (Damien) is sent to train with the Teen Titans and while he’s gone, Raven’s father Trigon sends demons to possess the Justice League. Before they can take down Trigon, the Teen Titans have to take down some of the greatest heroes in the world.

I seriously believe this movie was made to give Teen Titans a chance to shine where Teen Titans Go is such a massive fail. The animation is fantastic, the voice acting is on point and all the characters are interesting and fun to watch. Seeing the Titans at different ages – including an adult Starfire – was an experience. It was like finishing the Teen Titans show then coming back to see how they’ve grown since then and starring in this new adventure. The story is cool and you can tell the people that made this meant to make a good movie and not just fart out another straight to DVD release to make a quick buck. I could see myself watching this multiple times and this finally cleansed my brain after that Monster Mayhem crap. More movies like this please!

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May 6, 2016April 19, 2016 atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: “Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem”

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I’ve been trying to make sure I watch all or most of these direct to DVD DC movies but I’d avoided this one for a long time. My kid convinced me to borrow a copy and I see my instincts were correct to steer clear of it.

The Joker has a computer virus and it shuts down the city. Batman and company have to go save things and I just never got invested. Everything about this just grated on me. The setting is like a funhouse mirror version of the Batman Beyond universe, the puns are cringe worthy, the jokes are horrible, and even for a kid’s movie, this felt pandering and tiresome. I laughed once and that was when Joker kissed Solomon Grundy (ehrmahgerd, spoilers) and that was more out of ridiculousness than humor. The only other time I laughed was at the end when I asked if my kid liked it and… This is an actual quote: “It made me feel like this >does Running Man< It was action packed.”

That assessment is technically correct. A lot of stuff happens. That’s the best impression I can give you. The voice acting is ok, the animation style my annoy my eyes but it was cleanly done. I just couldn’t get into this one as much as I could Public Enemies or Crisis On Two Earths. Monster Mayhem made me long for the days of Batman: The Animated Series. I wanted to go back and watch Joker Fish so bad…

Anyways, I did it and now I don’t have to do it anymore! Yay! I’m sure there are other DC movies I haven’t seen and I’ll work on digging them up. Another movie will be up next Friday!

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April 22, 2016April 28, 2016 atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: REC 3

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Like the others, this movie follows an outbreak where the people are trapped inside with the infected. This time, it happens at a wedding and the bride and groom keep trying to get to one another.

I can see why they picked a wedding for this part as these days, everyone has some sort of recording device at an event like this. It wouldn’t be just the professional photographer’s point of view. However, midway through the movie, it switches to third-person! Just out of nowhere; as if telling the story from first-person would be too hard after that so they gave up. And when I say gave up, I mean in every aspect. This movie just descends into the typical horror movie tropes with all the generic stupidity that makes you want to scream at the screen. An hour in all I cared about was when I was going to get the chainsaw I was promised on the cover but by the time I got it, it didn’t feel as if the movie earned it.

Despite the practical effects not being too bad, I felt so disappointed by this movie. The first two held together so well that this one feels like a cop out. It’s just not as tense and scary as the first two and it just gave in to all the typical zombie tropes of any other formulaic movie.

And this may be a bit spoiler-ish but my final word is… RIP; Sponge John. You were absolutely my favorite thing about this movie.

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April 15, 2016April 19, 2016 atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: REC 2

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I never really have much faith in horror movie sequels but… Wow. REC 2 is just amazing. I watched REC a while ago and when they heard they made more, I jumped at the chance to see it.

This film picks up pretty much where the first left off, with a backup team going in on the same mysterious emergency call. They go in with who they think is a doctor to find a cure for whatever contagion is in the building and face the horrors within the doomed building.

Holy shit, this movie is creepy. It’s well written, well paced, and the ending was satisfying. These movies really do follow the ‘less is more’ track and it makes for a really tense movie. It was almost as good as the first but it certainly didn’t take a giant step back like some other sequels. People make derpy decisions, sometimes the camera work can make you a little dizzy, and the twist as to what the infection is had me rolling my eyes a little but I can’t say it ruined the movie for me. But obviously, don’t watch this one before you watch REC.

There is a third and fourth movie and I really wonder if they can keep up the quality. I’ll be reviewing those in the coming weeks.

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April 8, 2016April 5, 2016 atthequillsmercy

Finally Watched It: The Seventh Seal

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Rather than summarize the movie, I’m just gonna talk about what I thought of it (since summaries of movies are just ridiculously all over the internet). Here’s the IMDB link if you’re interested. I also didn’t read any interpretations.

I found this movie to be pretty cool! In my opinion, the whole thing boils down to the “heroes” of the story being murderers, admitted rapists, and thieves. The kind are regarded as fools just because they paint their faces and dance while the layman laugh at the pain of others. I see this movie as an indictment of fanaticism, fear, and cruelty among humanity with death being the only equalizer.

For me, that meaning came into my head when someone said: “It is pointless.” It’s all pointless. Every character is trying to find God (in the Church, in the Crusades) but the only people who seem happiest are the ones who aren’t actively looking: The acting troupe family. They are so happy singing, laughing, entertaining others, and playing with their baby boy. That’s all they need from life; which was so sweet to me. Death will come to them in time; as it comes to everyone, but in the meantime, they are joyful people who share their joy with others without judgment. So, I’m glad I took the time to watch this movie.

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April 5, 2016April 19, 2016 atthequillsmercy

New Series: Finally Watched It.

I very often hear names of movies from friends, family, or patrons at my library that I absolutely have to see. Usually it’s a classic but not always. So, I’ve decided to make a list and blog about what I think about the films. I am going to try and do this weekly but I make no promises as if a film is not kid-friendly, I’ll have to hide it from my little monkey.

Eventually, I will be open to suggestions but for now, the rules are as follows: