Sort by
Listing Movies
Display Movies
Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Twice the awesomeness.
Filmmaker(s): Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five - Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu? He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

Seeing Inside I’ve been in China for a month, discovering calligraphic cinematic principles. I had a chance to see this film while there and note two remarkable aspects. The first is that while this is wholly an American film in its obsession with fathers, character sculpting and...


Published February 14, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Live Forever Or Die Trying.
Filmmaker(s): Rob Marshall

Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past, and he's not sure if it's love -- or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard, Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.

New Ships The franchise has shifted. The ‘first trilogy‘ was visually-centred. It was quite literally a ride, allowing Depp room to creatively be silly. Some of the cinematic stretch was significant, and I still remember the Shackleford reference fondly. This is something entirely different. Sure, it...


Published February 14, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
Marwencol (2010)
When his world was stolen, Mark Hogancamp made a world of his own.
Filmmaker(s): Jeff Malmberg

After a vicious attack leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark Hogancamp seeks recovery in "Marwencol", a 1/6th scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard.

Exposed Cathouse Tortures I saw this with a science documentary that bothered me because instead of giving us the worthwhile narrative of the actual events, it invented a narrative of ‘discovery‘ that was bogus and which occluded the cool stuff. This film settled me because it is...


Published February 14, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Thor (2011)
Courage is immortal.
Filmmaker(s): Kenneth Branagh

Against his father Odin's will, The Mighty Thor - a powerful but arrogant warrior god - recklessly reignites an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

Shakespeare, Shouted I continue to maintain that the least imaginative and cinematically effective production group is not Michael Bay‘s, Jerry Bruckheimer‘s, or that gleeful combination of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. It is Marvel, who time after time think a hard punch is an effective punch,...


Published February 14, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Troll Hunter (2010)
You'll believe it when you see it!
Filmmaker(s): André Øvredal

A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.

Petrified and Exploding Legacy Wow. This is yet another folding of a movie being made into the movie we see, but with the deliberate dissonance of ‘Blair Witch.‘ The game in such things is to play off the difference among layers. Blair did that well, I think. It...


Published February 10, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Super 8 (2011)
It Arrives.
Filmmaker(s): J.J. Abrams

In 1979 Ohio, several youngsters are making a zombie movie with a Super-8 camera. In the midst of filming, the friends witness a horrifying train derailment and are lucky to escape with their lives. They soon discover that the catastrophe was no accident, as a series of unexplained events and disappearances soon follows. Deputy Jackson Lamb, the father of one of the kids, searches for the terrifying truth behind the crash.

Reborn Another primary layering. This time the idea is to start with a horror subgenre and grow inside it. This is virtually set in the fifties (though literally in 1979). It has the military conspiracy, the small town at risk, the alien monster, the lone cop...


Published February 10, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
The Tree of Life (2011)
Nothing stands still.
Filmmaker(s): Terrence Malick

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Connected Paths I’ve been studying Chinese calligraphy in the context of the cinematic life. 1300 years ago, Chinese poet-theorists had the notion that layered expression, perhaps with four layers or more, was the purest expression possible. The first of these layers come with the ideograms: you...


Published February 10, 2024
| Categorised as Fours, IMDB Comments |
Tagged: , ,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
It all ends.
Filmmaker(s): David Yates

Harry, Ron and Hermione continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.

Jarndyce and Jarndyce I have read only a small portion from the books, but enough to understand the woman‘s approach. I have, however, attentively watched all the films. This comment applies to the entire saga with some attention to the final two. Charles Dickens invented a style...


Published February 10, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Rango (2011)
Heroes come in all different colors.
Filmmaker(s): Gore Verbinski

When Rango, a lost family pet, accidentally winds up in the gritty, gun-slinging town of Dirt, the less-than-courageous lizard suddenly finds he stands out. Welcomed as the last hope the town has been waiting for, new Sheriff Rango is forced to play his new role to the hilt.

Corpus It is possible to decorate something ugly with beauty. It will still be essentially ugly, but have some attraction. Likewise, it is possible to have an ordinary movie, borrowing from others in an ordinary way, but to have some clever elaborative filmmaking. Verbinski is something of...


Published February 10, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
Happythankyoumoreplease (2010)
Go Get Yourself Loved
Filmmaker(s): Josh Radnor

Captures a generational moment - young people on the cusp of truly growing up, tiring of their reflexive cynicism, each in their own ways struggling to connect and define what it means to love and be loved. Six New Yorkers juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood. Sam Wexler is a struggling writer who's having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam's life revolves around his friends — Annie, whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie and Mary Catherine, a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi, a cabaret singer who catches Sam's eye.

Shorted Out If you live the life in films that I do, you will be offended when a filmmaker takes his responsibilities lightly. That is what I felt when watching this. The writer of the thing has made himself the central character: a writer who has...


Published February 10, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
preloader image