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ManOWar003
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Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)
A case study for why no one should adapt an Alan Moore work to the screen.
Wow, what a disappointment.
I was really looking forward to this animated adaptation. What I saw was muted, uneven and, frankly, boring. I really wanted to like this one, but it fell flat on the floor. Not hard, but it just kind of rolled over and sighed.
We had a 10 minute intro of Mark Hamill talking about his voice-over career, and how he was finally wrangled into doing the Joker one last time (I'm sure $$$ had something to do with it too, although I don't believe he mentioned that outright). Then we get a half-hour Batgirl story, followed by a straight up flat retelling of The Killing Joke.
Now, I like Batgirl. I appreciate that they had a Batgirl story to give her somewhere to go. But she's the protagonist to start things off. A movie shouldn't then shift gears into a Joker origin story. If they do, it should be clever and with real purpose- this wasn't the case at all with Batman: The Killing Joke. A Batgirl story slapped onto the front serves neither story.
The voice performances were subpar, but I feel that they were held back, so not entirely their fault. Probably due to the animation constraints. Let Mark Hamill really do his thing, and nobody can keep up. The flashbacks to pre-Joker were slow, flat and didn't build up properly to give him his ""one really bad day". #Jokerfail
There were some nice things I liked, but these actually had nothing to do with The Killing Joke portion. All Batgirl, her relationship with Bruce Wayne/Batman, and her storyline of becoming Oracle.
So, yeah. Batgirl: The Killing Joke. Not sure if it was laziness due to the built-in fanbase, or if they really missed the mark in editing, but it was hard to find something redeeming in the theater last night.
I did get to tell the millennial in front of me to put away his cell phone, though. But that was the only really rewarding thing I came away with from the theater.
UFO Hunters (2008)
Definitely Watchable
I do agree with some of the sentiments of the other comments here for "UFO Hunters". But, dammit, I like this show.
I've always been a sucker for "In Search Of...", "Unsolved Mysteries" and the like. Not because I wholly believe the material presented, but for the shear presentation of it all.
As far as "UFO Hunters" goes, it seems that the third season has taken a hat, drawn little pieces of paper with locations and/or historical references written on them, then tacked the "UFO" acronym onto it. Ta da! "Nazi UFO's"! I am glad, though, that the show is not airing on the "Sci-Fi" Channel, not to say that putting it on the History Channel suddenly gives "UFO Hunters" automatic credence. I do find that most of the experiments and analysis are done in earnest. Kevin, if I remember correctly, is the new science team member. I loved his reactions in his first episode listening to Bill automatically jump to wild possibilities. And that's what it's all about; the possibilities. He has since backed off a bit in his skepticism, and I'd like to see him take a stronger opposing stance. Here's hoping...
Is this a documentary in the strictest sense? Probably not. Any apparent "written scenes" are done so for clarity's sake. Bill can be ridiculous in his assertions, like the uncle who drops by and tries to convince you to invest in his gambling machine business. His exuberance and passion about the subject, though, makes for some good television. And I appreciate the continued mystery, the new analysis of old cases and even the "let downs" at discovering that a rumor is probably untrue.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
I really wanted to like this movie...
...but I could not bring myself to get past certain plot elements in order to do so.
The performances were great; the ensemble work was the best thing about this film. Greg Kinnear as a manic self-help guru wanna-be heads the household filled with misfits. Alan Arkin plays Grandpa with no filter on his mouth, but he makes an endearing old man addicted to sniffing heroin. Oddly enough, he is the best friend to his granddaughter (Abigail Breslin's Olive). Their relationship is a special one, and he is her only real voice of reason, as well as her "pageant-coach".
This is really where the appeal stops for me. I appreciate plot devices that really tear a family apart and put them back together, but this time it felt very contrived.
**SPOLIER** I felt taken out of the film after Grandpa overdoses and dies, specifically the "body-snatching scene" at the hospital. This absolutely did not work for me. As an obstacle to the family's journey, this felt more akin to something along the lines of a National Lampoon device. The movie felt cheapened because of the stupidity and mania of the family tossing Grampa's body in the back of the VW van and taking off in order to get to the pageant in California that day. Even worse, the family gets stopped by a patrolman on the highway- again, stupidity is the order of the day. The cop is very serious about checking out rear of the van, but melts when some porno magazines (bought the previous day by Steve Carrell's Frank) fall out. Forgetting all about his probable-cause search, the cop let's the family go in a bout of cheerful lechery, despite the big white sheet covering the form of a human figure. Again, a cheap way and useless scene to try and infuse some tension. It didn't fit, and it wasn't the least bit funny. I expected better; much better. The pageant itself was mildly entertaining, but not enough to save this film from the strange mediocrity that it puts itself into.
All in all, this film, in my opinion, should not have been nominated for Best Picture in the first place. What carries it are the performances (these nominations I don't dispute at all- Abigail and Alan do nicely); the only redeeming factors of "Little Miss Sunshine". I am all for weird plot twists and horribly uncomfortable situations in films, but the writing of "Little Miss Sunshine" leaves little room and balance for anything worth being considered redeeming.
5 out of 10