Tuesday, December 20, 2011

I Chipwrecked All Over The Movie Screen, Sorry Guys

Hello, everyone!

I suppose by now you're all sitting comfortably in your homes with a piping cup of tea by a fire reading your Christmas stories and spinning your dreidels and singing Kwanzaa songs. But I, being a heathen and a soulless man-fellow, have arisen from the dead to bring you a movie review. And oh, is it just in time for the season to be jolly... it's so bad even Santa will want to cry.


Witness the above and weep with me.

Chipwrecked is good in one respect; it's got the Chipmunks! How incredible is it that in today's world we can digitally render Alvin, Simon, and Theodore into reality? How titillatingly tubular that we can incorporate the virtual with the practical? ...Well, not really. This kind of animation isn't new anymore; and even though it's still cool to watch this magic in action, it's nothing to flip any lids about.

The problem with Chipwrecked is that it totally bastardizes the Chipmunks. Their mischievousness takes a back seat to pop culture references and covers of recent hits, making this movie seem more like a long episode of Glee than anything. The story is so plot-driven that instead of the characters I knew and loved in my childhood, we're left with one-dimensional cardboard cutouts of them. Odd, since the movie's being shown in 3D. I would have expected different. And then there's the Chipettes. They sexed up the Chipettes. How could you do that to anyone anywhere ever.

See, Chipwrecked is family-comedy schlock 101. It's got corny jokes, cheap plot devices, a light-hearted story, loud noises, bright colors, and the music is so poppy and sweet that your ears feel sticky. You want a good fam-com? Go see The Muppets. Or take your kids to see Breaking Dawn. (Jeebus, I can't believe I'm recommending that.) But at least with Breaking Dawn, you're taking your kids to see a film instead of 80 minutes of vapid saccharine.

That's really all I have to say on the matter. Peace out, Hanukkah-scouts.

~Will

Sunday, December 18, 2011

This is the end

Hey guys! I guess this will be my last post here since the class is over now. It will be a short post but I hope it makes you guys think a little. I wanted to be a TV-R major for one reason and one reason alone...okay two reasons, one: Befriend the guy who voices Spongebob. In all seriousness I was attracted to this major because I wanted to entertain with my projects, I make sure that at least one person in the audience is enjoying themselves. It helps me with coming up with ideas and writing scripts, if I do not find it entertaining then everyone else won't either.



So my fellow classmates my question is this, why are you here?

And to keep it on a semi-light mood here is a funny video about Pokemon.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

In the spirit of all Trailers

In the spirit of all this trailer creating process! (and because I'm happy this project is over) I decided to dedicate my last post to some of my favorite trailers!

My first favorite trailer is for David Fincher's Social Network:




I have to be honest, when I first heard that a movie about Facebook was coming out, I wasn't that excited. What made me go see this movie was the trailer. First of all, it uses a cover of Creep by Radiohead, as their score. Not Radiohead's best song, but it fits the concept and creates the perfect mood to catch the audience's attention (given that most of us have heard this song before). I also loved that they used a choral version of the song instead of the original one. Second, this trailer does a pretty good job introducing the conflict of the movie without giving away the whole plot. Finally, the shots and lighting are both interesting and as dramatic as they need to be.




Yes, I know this trailer is in french..... But I still love it. I first saw this because I had to watch a list of trailers in french for one of my classes. Believe me, I don't understand most of the stuff these people are saying, but it is awesome that a trailer you can't understand the words of can be so captivating. The music for this trailer is excellent. The switch in tempo and melody really gives you a taste of the different moods of this movie. It also does a great job connecting you with the characters. Every time I watch this trailer I feel compelled to watch the movie again! I also decided to upload this version, because I think the american version of the trailer is not as exciting as this one.


I remember when I first saw this, I thought "This movie is going to be epic!" I have no idea how many times I've watched this trailer, but I still get excited every time I watch this. The editing for this is excellent. I love how at the beginning they fade in and out different shots. This technique gave a certain rhythm that totally changes as you move on, especially at the end where all the cuts are fast. The editing, along with the music and voice overs work really well together. The only word to describe this trailer is epic!








Finally, the Inception movie trailer. I like this because it's pretty similar to the Batman trailer in technique (of course both movies are from the one and only Christopher Nolan). This trailer not only gives you whole picture of the movie, but also focuses in the main conflicts of the characters (especially Leonardo Dicaprio's character). I think the Batman trailer also does this. The Inception trailer also does a great job introducing the audience to the world of the movie, in order to hook them and make them go see it.


These are only a few of my favorite trailers! I also want to take this opportunity to express that it was a great semester. And that I enjoyed working with such a talented class! Hopefully I'll see you guys next semester, and if I don't I wish you the best luck!!!!

New Girl


The New Girl is one of the new comedies to premiere this fall on Fox. This show first piqued my interest because its stars Zooey Deschanel of whom I am a big fan. Deschanel plays a quirky woman names Jess whose in her mid to late 20's whose life is uprooted when she finds her live in boyfriend in bed with another woman. Jess ends up moving into apartment with 3 guys who are not used to having a quirky girl like that around the house. In the pilot episode we see Jess clash with the guys especially Nick who seems most annoyed by Jess's presence. However eventually they start warming up to her and now in its 9th episode we have seen these character relationships develop and we see how much they care about each other. Even though this show is a comedy we do have serious moments where we learn about the characters. Even its most hilarious moments are used to develop characters. That is something that many shows today are lacking. There are so many shoes with one dimensional characters who never really get to be developed. But in its short time on air we have so many well rounded characters who I don't mind investing 30 minutes on.