Shmee.Me

February 19, 2016February 19, 2016

Blade Runner 2 Gets A Release Date, But Why?

Blade Runner 2 is coming out January 12, 2018, but why do we need one? I didn’t always like Blade Runner, but now that I finally get it I am sort of upset they are making a sequel. I mean Blade Runner was so influential it changed the way we see the future. Not only in our minds, but almost every movie that takes place in a technologically advanced future copies its style in at least some way. I am not sure that a sequel will be able to add anything to its story or lore in any meaningful way. It is bound to be a disappointment.

Blade Runner may have been one of the few movies that got better with re-edits, but it was always still the same movie, just a slight different view of it. A sequel will have to come up with something totally new while not trampling all over the movie that came before it, and I am not sure that will be possible. For one thing it is going to answer the question of whether Rick Deckard is a Replicant or not, and that alone will make the first movie less fun because arguing about that fact is one of the reasons Blade Runner is still talked about today.

Blade Runner 2 is now officially happening, and I am very grumpy about it. All I can do is hope that it is good, but the track record of movies that make sequels decades after the original is less than stellar. Granted I will probably see it, so I am part of the problem, but sometimes I wish they would let classic Sci-Fi movies be. They aren’t going to get any better than perfect.

February 18, 2016February 18, 2016

Of Course Warner Brothers Is Worried About Batman V Superman!

So the good folks over at HitFix posted a story about the people at DC Films/Warner Brothers being worried about how Batman v Superman is going to do, and what they are going to do if it fails. My response? Of course they are! This film cost well over $200 Million to make plus marketing, so it probably needs to make at least $1 Billion worldwide to see a profit, but there is more at stake than that. If this movie is successful there will be a multitude of other films to follow it up, but if it fails then what? They will have to cancel or move dozens of tent-pole films around, all costing well over $100 Million each. It would be a massive loss to the studio and no number of new Harry Potterverse films will fill that void.

If I was an investor in Warner Brothers I would be worried too, and I would be upset if the people running the studios weren’t planning for the worst. This movie will either be a major win or a massive loss. There isn’t a lot of in between for them. For the record, I am hoping this movie is going to be great. I will be there Thursday night ready to see DC’s big three on screen for the first time. Even if the movie is bad it will be an event worth seeing! Maybe I will see you there. For all you Warner Brothers executives, do what you can to stay calm, maybe take up yoga, it is going to be a rough month for you guys.

February 10, 2016

And Now How Star Wars: The Force Awakens Should Have Ended!

This wasn’t one of their better episodes, but I have nothing to talk about today and it did bring up some good points. If you are one of the three people in the Unites States that hasn’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens you should know that this video contains major spoilers. Like you know … how the movie ends. Enjoy!

January 22, 2016January 22, 2016

Why Even Make An Avatar 2?

Now don’t get me wrong Fox has 2.8 Billion reasons to make Avatar 2, but it seems like James Cameron can’t find one. Sure he keeps talking about the Avatar sequels, but he hasn’t really moved on them. Now we are learning that Avatar 2 will not make it in time for its Christmas 2017 projected release date. Some are saying this is because Disney has scared him off by moving Star Wars VIII to Christmas, but we all know this is just because James Cameron has decided he needs a little more time.

James Cameron is free to do what he likes, but I think he should just let Avatar go. It was a landmark film when it came out, and it showed us what 3D digital filmography could do, but it hasn’t aged well. Unlike most films I am not talking about the special effects, I am talking about the story. Fern Gully/Dances with Wolves in space was thrilling and a great way to show off the technology, but the universe around it was ho-hum, and since it has been so long between sequels any great love people had for it is decaying. If he could have gotten this movie out three or four years ago, maybe, but it has already been seven years since Avatar came out, and every year that passes it moves further out of the public consciousness.

I think he should just let Avatar be the great film that it was and move on. He clearly has other things that he feels more passionate about, and that is what he should do. If we do get an Avatar 2 at some point it will not be a labor of love, but an obligation that was fulfilled several years too late, and that would do a great disservice to a wonderful film and its fans.

January 12, 2016January 12, 2016

The Hateful Eight Were Just A Little Too Hateful!

The Hateful Eight was just a too much Quentin Tarantino: It was too long; It was too wordy, and too gory. It went out of its way to offend to me with Quentin’s signature wink and smile. I am not saying it was all bad. As a mater of fact I liked quite a lot of it, but Tarantino needs just needs someone to tell him, “enough”.

The Hateful Eight kicks off with bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) getting a lift out of a blizzard from fellow bounty hunter John ‘The Hangman’ Ruth (Kurt Russell) who is transporting an outlaw (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Red Rock, Wyoming to hang. They are forced to wait out the storm in Minnie’s Haberdashery with five other unsavory characters, and all sorts of unpleasantness takes place.

This is a classic Tarantino setup. You get a great cast of characters in a tight spot and then let them chew on Tarantino’s crazy dialog. The problem is that this movie is three hours long, and the whole plot is that one or more of these fellas is more of a dirt-bag than he is letting on. That is a lot of dialog. So to spice things up Quentin tries to shock you with moments of gratuitous violence or hateful speech. I am not saying there isn’t a time and place for people using the ‘n’ word, but in the Hateful Eight it is said almost gleefully. It is clearly being used for effect and not for historical accuracy.

The actors for the most part are all Tarantino alums. They are all in the Hateful Eight because they know how to deliver Quentin’s lines the way he wants them delivered. They also are what makes this film at all watchable. If it was anyone else in this movie, I may have been tempted to walk out. This cast knows how to not only read the script but let you know that they are in on Tarantino’s long dirty joke. They say their lines with that perfect half-smile that keeps this film from being overly grim.

Quentin Tarantino is great at making his characters talk around in whimsical little vile circles, but he needs to know when to stop. At some point the movie needs to stop circling and move forward. If the Hateful Eight would have been two hours long it probably would have been one of his best films, but as it stands now it ranks among his worst. Which is still a pretty good pile to be on the bottom of. If you really like Quentin Tarantino, you will probably find a lot to enjoy with the Hateful Eight. If not, this is probably not the movie for you.