Shmee.Me

December 2, 2013December 2, 2013

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Burns Bright!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is Lionsgate’s 2013 sequel to the 2012 film The Hunger Games, and it does everything that a sequel should: It builds on and makes better just about every part of the first movie. I was a little worried when they started production without a finished script and a new director Francis Lawrence, but my concerns were apparently unfounded.

The story picks up fairly soon after the first movie with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) back home after their survival of the last Hunger Games. They are trying to adjust to their new lives as Victors, when they are swept away on a tour of the districts. Tensions are running high in Panem and the people see Katniss as a symbol of hope against the tyranny leveled against them by The Capitol. Can Katniss keep her family safe as the 75th Hunger Games and 3rd Quarter Quell (Every 25th Hunger Games) approach?

Jennifer Lawrence is amazing in this film. It would be so easy to play Katniss as a mopey jerk, but she brings so much more emotion to this role it is just wonderful. Josh Hutcherson must have gotten an acting coach because he has gotten much better. He gave Peeta a little more life this time, and since Peeta is such a Boy Scout any nuance that he can be given the better. The other actors all breathed a little more life in to their characters this time around as well which made this world much more believable.

Francis Lawrence thankfully erased all the shaky camera work from the first movie, so for that reason alone it was worth changing up the directors. He also used his much larger budget well. The special effects and the editing were great, the world of Panem seemed like a real place. This is one of the rare movies that didn’t feel a little too long, or like they skipped too much of the story to tighten up the running time. I hope that they tie Francis Lawrence up for the next two movies.

If you liked the first movie than you will love this movie, but even if you were not a big fan of The Hunger Games you should still put this movie on your watch list. It is not only one of the biggest hits of this year, but it is one of the best films of the year too. I can only hope that they can keep the quality up for the next two movies, because if they can we are in for a real treat.

November 28, 2013

Chill Out With Frozen!

Frozen is Walt Disney Animation Studio’s latest movie, and yet another princess movie from the company known for princess movies. Luckily for us they have gotten very good at making them because Frozen is excellent. The movie was written and directed by Jennifer Lee, and co-directed by Chris Buck.

The story is about two young princesses: Elsa (Idina Menzel) who has magical powers over ice and snow, and the other Anna (Kristen Bell) who is normal yet fun loving. The family tries to keep Elsa’s powers a secret, but she looses her control over them and encases the fictional Arendelle in magical winter. It is up to Anna and her friends to help Elsa and save Arendelle.

Jennifer Lee also wrote Wreck-It Ralph, and it shows. Despite the seriousness of the story it is incredibly goofy. Sven the reindeer, and Olaf(Josh Gad) the magical snowman provide most of the laughs, though all the characters get their slapstick moments, but they do in it a way that adds to movie. Judging by the trailers, I did not expect that to be the case.

The music is in this movie is wonderful, especially the numbers by Elsa, which is good because there are a lot of them. This is the most musical Disney movie in a long time, but I think that was smart. It brings Disney back to its roots, and if the movie house is going to bare Walt’s name, it should do that once and awhile.

The voice actors are all excellent, but the sisters really shine. Kristen Bell plays the wide eyed Anna perfectly, as a young girl that is excited to get out of the castle, but still determined to save her sister. Idina Menzel is great as the confused and conflicted Elsa who just wants the people she loves to be safe, and she is a wonderful singer! I wasn’t sure about the magical snowman going in, but Josh Gad brought him to life, and the movie would have been dull without him.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I really liked Frozen. Pixar is the studio people always expect make great movies, but lately Walt Disney Animation Studios has been making better ones. If you are looking for a family film to watch over the Thanksgiving weekend, look no further then Frozen.

November 27, 2013November 27, 2013

Free To Play Ruins Star Wars: Tiny Death Star!

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star is created by NimbleBit the same people that made the very successful Tiny Tower. It is published by Disney Mobile and Lucas Arts. It is out for pretty much every major platform, but I would advise against it.

The game starts off well with Emperor Palpatine telling Darth Vader his new plan to finance the Death Star by getting people to move in, pay rent, and buy stuff. It is very funny and it fills in one of the major plot holes of Star Wars: “How the heck could they pay for the Death Star?”

The writing is fantastic and funny. It pokes fun at Star Wars, but with more than a little love. It also has a great look, and characters from the Star Wars Universe have never been cuter. All of them are in this game with their own little cut scenes.

After that it quickly goes down hill. Like many RTS type games, you are in charge of planning out the apartments and stores for the people known as Bitzens, but the rates that these things build or restock is ridiculously slow unless you spend Imperial Bucks which of course can be paid for with real bucks. Also if you want things to run well you need to hire VIPs which again you can pay for will real money.

If they balanced this game well it would have been worth quite a few dollars, but in its current state it is unplayable unless you pay, and once you start paying there is no telling how much it will cost. With the Star Wars license, geeks like me would have paid for a good game, but to be nickel and dimed every three seconds is just too much. If they come out with well balanced flat fee game, I would recommend it, but not as it is.

November 26, 2013November 26, 2013

Yes I Am Promoting Bing Rewards!

I generally don’t promote services like Bing Rewards very often because they are lame and annoying, but I thought I would mention it because Microsoft does pay your to use their search engine. Not a lot, but enough that it got me to use Bing for at least part of the day. You can earn up to fifteen points a day by searching on the site, and you can redeem the points for things like Amazon gift cards. Once you are a full member you can get a $5 gift card for 475 points, so a point is worth right about a penny.

The real reason I am doing this is because for every member I get signed up I get 200 points. A lot of people I know hate Bing, but still use this program because they like free stuff as much as I do, so what they do is they have a favorites folder with 30 Bing searches in it, and they just open them all and get their points in like a second. I can’t officially support that since it breaks the terms of service, but it works.

If this is some thing you are interested in click here, and I promise I won’t do too many more posts like this in the future. My lust for free stuff compels me!

November 25, 2013November 25, 2013

Figuring Out Cloud Atlas!

Cloud Atlas is a 2012 movie that was Produced, Written, and Directed by the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer. It is based off of the 2004 novel of the same name. It is a very polarizing movie that ended up being on a lot of best and worst movie lists. I guess I am one of the rare viewers to fall in the middle.

The movie features six stories with the same actors playing different characters in each.

1849:

A young planation owner on his voyage back from the pacific islands.

1931:

A young man seeking his fame and fortune working with a famous composer in hopes to publish his own symphony.

1973:

A journalist investigates a new nuclear power plant.

2012:

A man is trapped in a nursing home.

2144:

The story of an arrested fabricated fast food worker.

2321:

In a future dystopian world the human race is struggling to survive.

All the stories work together in various ways. I will not give them away here considering that is part of the fun trying to figure out how they all fit together, but part of the problem is that not all of the stories are as interesting as each other, so you find yourself disappointed when it cuts to one of the lesser stories. But I would say four out of the six are very good.

The point of this movie is to track the changes of the human soul in different times and circumstances, and I am not sure that I got that out of it, but I did see a lot of humans overcoming horrible events. Which is interesting and at times gripping.

The cast is very good, but when you have Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant and many more that is to be expected. Tom Hanks recently said that this movie recharged him so that he could do Captain Phillips and Saving Mr. Banks, and it is one of the movies he is most proud of.

The special effects are for the most part very good with the main exception being some of the makeup. With people changing race and gender a few times some of the makeup can be a little dodgy, but it does help you figure out who’s who. The vistas of Neo Seoul and the far future as well as the sets from the past all look great.

This is one of those movies that I was not so sure about when I watched it, but as I think back on it, I like it more and more. At least the Wachowskis never do anything normal or boring. If you have time and are looking for something a bit different then Cloud Atlas might be it.