alecton99 Reviews

The French Guy (2005)

Wow!

[10/10 · 16 November 2005]

I've seen this movie twice now. The film starts off peaceful, slow and awkward, but it's only a few minutes into the movie in which you start to realize: "What have I and the main character gotten into?".

The film takes on from that epiphany and does not stop, it's a constant feeling of anticipation, fear, irony, all mixed in with black humor.

A true masterpiece in my opinion, not only is the photography well done, hazy, bright; like you just woke up from a big operation; it also takes you into the recovering brain of this confused and well meaning character, with strange solutions to strange situations, her illogical logic made me really get into her head and... in a way understand what she "tried" to do.

The film is very resourceful also, I just realized that most of the movie takes place inside the home of the character Charles, and you never get bored or tune out.

I highly recommend it, try and get a hold of it or look for it in festival circuits, it truly is worth your while.

The Night of the Headless Horseman (1999 TV Movie)

Decent TV special animation.

[7/10 · 6 October 2005]

The dialog and "acting" was pretty normal, and what one would expect out of a close adaptation from Washington Irving's book. I liked it, specially Ichabod's voice, it's supposed to be that way I think, somewhat pretentious and assuming because his character is that way, he's a schoolmaster! I admit, the animation could have been better, but as an animator myself (since 1998), I can tell you firsthand that this is not a cheap production, and it seems to me that this was done under a year, which would mean to me that they really did a great job at rendering all that in less than 365 days. All the digital characters were from actual performers done with motion capture, so... trust me, this was not your typical kid with a new computer. This was a heavy project, and I watch it very often, I taped it on it's first airing and I was not disappointed, you'd think that if I we're a sleepy hollow fanatic I'd get my hopes up and be disappointed, but... I am a Sleepy Hollow fanatic, and this TV special did meet my requirements for entertaining storytelling. I just forget about the occasional jerkiness (it was 1999 for god's sake), and enjoy the ambiance it creates.

P.S. You gotta give them credit for the scenery, the sound and the hair... the HAIR!!! And most of all, for the story adaptation itself.

California's Gold (1991–2012)

I never get tired of this show

[2 October 2005]

I've been watching this show since I was 16 years old, I'm 22 now. I don't actually live in California, but the show is so well done that the wide angles, the correct iris apertures, even the audio really makes you feel like you're on a school trip everyday going to a different place.

Huell Howser has really made his homework on informing the world about the interesting overlooked places in California.

What I like most about the show, is that Huell acts as if he was a typical tourist, like most of us, and asks the exact questions we would ask, I always like the modern and practical perspective he gives to the show. That element of surprise he gives to the places he visits really gives a punch to the real amazement I would have if I'd be visiting there.

Huell Howser!! You Rock!!!!!!!

The Ewok Adventure (1984 TV Movie)

Mediocre Film-making

[4/10 · 29 June 2005]

It's not the worst, but it's certainly close. I bought the Double Feature DVD, and... to my horror... It was one of the worst movies I have ever seen(yes... even Direct to TV movies).

It is very slowly paced, which only degrades the storytelling because it is a good story once you RETELL it in another medium, this slow pacing makes the movie seem to have almost no noticeable conflict in objectives and obstacles, it has vague character definition and you barely get involved with the characters, acting is as bad as it can get: When Cindel faints in a scene it seems like she just turned her head down so the director could yell cut; in another scene, Mace yells at some of the Ewoks, he screams at them, but the camera keeps rolling for seconds with the ewoks standing there doing nothing, which made him look less menacing (also badly paced).

The casting was surely to blame for the bad acting performances. With the exception of wicket (Warwick Davis).

The only upside may be the visual effects of 1985, which were not cheap, but not too expensive either. I checked out the DVD on my 27" TV and my PC monitor... the transfer is so incredibly pristine, it looks even sharper than other recent PAN&SCAN titles (and I mean recent). I'm guessing some enhancement was done, but not any I could notice (again, this is just a guess). The compression of the DVD is also the best I've ever seen (Attack of the Clones being in first place, Jurassic Park pan&scan being the last).

On the Other hand, the sound is strangely low, you have to turn up the volume various times during the movie, I do not know why, but I doubt it's from the source.

The technical aspects of the movie are very respectable, but the pacing and acting were completely overlooked at the time of production. The story is good (it would make a great kid's book), but the magic of film editing didn't do it's magic here.