With 2011 essentially half over, I decided to look back at the movies I’ve reviewed thus far. Typically, I only review movies that are new in theaters but there are a few more that snuck in there from 2010 as well.
Will any movies in 2011 crack my Power Rankings? Time will tell but until then…
When someone tells you that a movie is absolutely incredible you’re probably more willing to give it a shot. When EVERYONE tells you it’s amazing it’s almost impossible to resist. Especially if you trust their opinions.
The same can be said when someone despises a movie. You’re probably still willing to sit through it but there’s almost no chance you will if EVERYONE hates it right?
I do my best to ignore bad reviews and focus more on whether or not I genuinely want to see a movie. I definitely wanted to see Green Lantern but did the movie defy my lowered expectations?
THE GREEN LANTERN WAS PRETTY DISAPPOINTING
Nope.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how nice it would be if we had a summer movie season free of flops. The streak definitely didn’t last long as Green Lantern is my first official flop of the season.
What went wrong? To be honest, there was a lot I actually liked about the movie. The sequences on the Lantern’s home planet of Oa were really interesting albeit cartoony. I went in not knowing a great deal about Green Lantern’s mythology. It’s incredibly complex and extremely cool but it took them an eternity to set things up. Green Lantern had to be a challenging story to adapt. How do you introduce such a complex back story without sacrificing the action audiences have come to expect in a summer movie.
I believe this is the movie’s greatest failure.
The story is well told but it takes more than an hour before we get to see Green Lantern in action. The movie disappointed me further because once the action arrived, it really wasn’t all that great. I’m torn because Ryan Reynold’s Hal Jordan hasn’t truly grasped his true power yet. I completely understand that his journey towards becoming a hero is the spine of the story but we really only get about 10 minutes of full tilt Lantern action. Had the film delivered a more satisfying finale, I think a lot of critics would have been a little more lenient with their scathing reviews. This was the downside to Ang Lee’s Hulk as well.
Ryan Reynold’s does his best to bring the fake looking CG suit to life but I found myself wondering when the big time action would kick in. A lot of that probably had to do with Hector Hammond, the film’s human ‘villain’.
I’ll get to ‘big baddie’ Parallax in a moment but Hector Hammond really bugged me. All he seemed to do was scream in pain before we cut away to more of Hal Jordan’s personal struggle to overcome fear. He didn’t really cause that much action at all.
When the time came for Mr. Hammond to be unleashed he really didn’t do that much and was ‘dealt’ with pretty easily in the end. The real threat was Parallax but he only shows up once every 30 minutes or so to remind us he exists.
Look at how bad ass he looks? I expected more.
Let him destroy a couple chunks of a city! Make him more of a threat to Hal Jordan. After spending so much time setting up an epic encounter with such a powerful villain, I was willing to give the movie a positive review if it delivered. It didn’t. The final battle was short and relatively painless for the Green Lantern.
It’s unfortunate. I had the same complaint about the first Iron Man as well. That final battle wasn’t the greatest.
IS THERE A POSITIVE?
In the end, it just took way to long before we saw the Green Lantern reach his potential. It’s really just a full length origin story. In a way, I don’t blame the filmmakers. There is so much mythology to cover and it could have been a complete mess if they didn’t treat it properly. Overall, I thought they did a great job setting up The Green Lantern Core and Oa.
But having so much story to tell ultimately took over what could have been a huge popcorn summer smash.
However, I also think that with all the back story out of the way, they can truly knock a sequel out of the park. I’ll be willing to give it a shot. Why not! I may not have liked this movie but I did like the world… You never know…
Editor’s Note: Eric is a producer/director and co-owner of 17 West Productions. Visit his website here for more on his work.
I’ve been collecting films for well over 10 years. I started with VHS in high school before moving onto DVDs and of course Blu-ray. I had amassed a huge collection of movies basically making my living room a video store. A few months ago, I made it my goal to finally watch those classic films that every serious cinefile should see.
Movies that scarred me for life is all about the movies that keep you up at night. The horrors you just can’t seem to get out of your head. But beyond the monsters, ghosts, slashers and aliens, there are also the cringe worthy films you wish you never saw. Movies that made you wish you had the lost two hours of your life back. There are tons of ways a movie can scar you for life. This series will look at 12 of my personal favorites.
Gremlins 1 & 2
I’m was terrified of Stripe!
At least I was long ago… Look at that picture! He has a gun!
Gremlins is a classic that I now look back on fondly. Every so often, I’ll put in the DVD and I’m instantly reminded of how awesome and bad ass Gizmo is. However, shortly after I stop laughing at ‘bright light, bright light!’, I remember how scared I once was.
I used to imagine those late night snackers popping out of every corner of my house… And promptly run away. There’s something creepy about mischievous and intelligent monsters. They make plans! They cause havoc! They steal plows! They sing karaoke!
In all seriousness, I really did hate the thought of Stripe hatching somewhere in my bedroom. I wouldn’t have fed him after midnight but he would have found a way.
Because Furry Stripe is still kind of an ass.
GREMLINS WERE IN MY BASEMENT… FOR SURE.
One way or another, I felt destined to encounter the leader of a Gremlins batch some day. I hope I’m not alone in this but you know that chilling feeling you get when you are in a basement and suddenly you rush up the stairs to escape? Stripe caused many, MANY sprints up the stairs in my childhood home.
I’d reach the top of the stairs and realize that I left a light on. Worst. Day. Ever. I’d have to slowly creep back down the stairs wondering what will jump out at me next. (I had a vivid imagination as a kid.)
It got worse when Stripe became a spider in the sequel!
I sat down last week to write a couple scenes I may include in a feature I’ve been working on the last little while. The idea blossomed into a short screenplay idea that could serve as a sequel for the story. It was an interesting take on the the concept I created but the more I developed it, the more it didn’t fit with the overall style I wanted to achieve.
Still, the character is both interesting and tragic so I wanted to write the short. It’s one of those stories that, if done right, could be cool. However, there is a fine line between cool and cheesy in this case so I had to be careful. That was last week.
I still haven’t written the short.
A part of me hesitated because I hadn’t really broken ground on this new world I’m exploring. My feature is still a month or so away from PAGE ONE but still I found myself intimidated. Even though the current story is a short that’s merely set in the world of my feature, I still wanted it to be perfect.
It was my first opportunity to nail an introduction to a reality I’m very excited to write about. I’ve stared at the blank page on a number of occasions trying to figure out the best way to get going. I think a lot of writer’s find themselves stuck on page one because you desperately want it to be amazing. That first paragraph is written, deleted, written, erased, written, overwritten, overridden, deleted again and restarted. At least in my case it is…
I put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to the opening sentence. It sets the tone for your script. True, I’m only working on a short screenplay but the FIRST sentence is crucial especially since every sentence is crucial.
The same thing happens to me every time I start a new script. I shouldn’t be surprised by now. I know PAGE ONE is coming. Even if I ignore it and walk away. It’s still going to be waiting for me when I get back.
So I decided to try something else.
JUST LIKE A BAND AID… RIGHT OFF!
Why wait? Clearly my feature screenplay is influencing this ‘prequel’ idea so why not write the first page of my feature? If I’m so worried about how the universe will be introduced then why not write it.
That’s when my imagination really fired up and I felt inspired. I was about to start my new feature. Officially. I hadn’t planned on starting it until well into the summer but there I was writing my first sentence, my first line of dialogue, my first page.
When I finished the scene, I immediately felt like it could be better but the idea was there. At this early stage, it’s the IDEA that takes priority. I can improve the language as the screenplay evolves. That first page also gave me a fresh take on the short I want to write. Suddenly, it all made sense. Maybe this short screenplay idea has a place in my feature after all? Maybe it fits. Sometimes, working on a separate idea will feed another.
That was my first hint that my new world is coming to life and that’s a pretty exciting feeling.
