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Tangled, a review by Dragonfire

Tangled

I have been wanting to see Tangled for a long time.  I really liked it and think it is one of the better animated movies I've seen in a while.  I've thought that Disney should do a Rapunzel movie for years. 

This is another one in 3D.  The 3D show time ended up being the most convenient for me to go to.  The 3D is subtle in many scenes, but it is very well done.  There is an amazing scene that utilizes the 3D later in the movie involving floating objects.  I'm glad I saw it in 3D.  I think it will still be enjoyable in 2D.  The animation overall is very well done.  It is computer animation, but it is done in a way to look more like hand drawn animation, especially with how the characters look.  The animation is beautiful and Rapunzel's hair looks very impressive. 

The movie is a bit predictable, though there are a few surprises that I didn't expect.  It has been a while since I last read the original story, so I couldn't remember the specifics.  I do think the movie is pretty funny at times, especially when Maximus - a unique horse - is around.  The trailers played up the more lighthearted moments of the movie, but there is much more depth to the story.  The songs are good, though not as strong as some from earlier Disney animated movies.  I liked the characters and the voices all work for them.

I loved Tangled and will definitely be adding the movie to my collection once it is out.

I did get a review posted on Epinions after seeing it in the theater.

Tangled

(From Tangled on January 2nd, 2011)

Stargate: The Director's Cut, a review by Jon

Stargate: The Director's Cut
3 out of 5

In 1928, an ancient Egyptian artefact covered in strange symbols is excavated at the foot of the Great Pyramids. Decades later the American Government recruits the help of Egyptologist Dr Daniel Jackson (James Spader) to decode the secret of these symbols. He reveals the key to a "stargate", an intergalactic portal to the far side of the known universe. Jackson is joined by a crack military unit led by Colonel O'Neill (Kurt Russel) on a voyage of discovery.

A typical Devlin/Emmerich movie, all waffle and no substance, but also lacks the epic scale and sheer awesome audacity of their later Independence Day or Day After Tomorrow. Everything is bombastic and overdone. It could have been vastly improved by cutting out most of the cliched crap involving the natives and letting Kurt Russell be Kurt Russell instead of hamstringing his character with baggage. James Spader's good though, Mili Avital is gorgeous*, and the Ra God-squad are impressive. The whole thing bats along being inoffensively fun. It just wouldn't hurt to skip a couple of middle chapters.

This is the "Director's Cut". Not a whole lot of difference and the quality of the additional footage is frequently terrible. A half-arsed release of a half-arsed film. Shame because the story is a cracker and sets-up a great TV series. Haven't seen many myself but they seemed to learn from the mistakes. That said the canon becomes very confusing across several mediums, all of which Devlin seems to ignore, going so far as to announce a sequel in 2006 that would pick up at the end of this film and ignore everything else. Russell and Spader were to return in a planned trilogy.

Devlin, your film's shit. Leave it alone and let the telly boys have their fun because they know what they're doing and actually understand things called "plot" and "character".


*-Along with Natalie Portman, proving that Israel is thus far a seemingly untapped world of totty possibilities!

(From Jon's Random Reviews on January 29th, 2009)

Angel Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Connor has found a way back into this world but now he is a teenager under the name of Steven, a name Holtz gave him. Now he tries to find his way through this new world.

My Opinion: They screwed up with the fighting logic in this one and I simply can't let go of something like this. First Connor/Steven fights against Angel, Groo and Gunn and he doesn't look overburdened. Then he jumps off a bridge, 20, maybe 30 meters into the deep. But shortly after that he has a problem to handle four muggers from the streets. Such a thing rankles me over an entire episode.

Synopsis: Holtz has also returned into our dimension and Steven regards him as his real father. But Holtz sends Steven to Angel, to learn from him.

My Opinion: Even in dying Holtz is still perfidious. In any case, father and son fight very well together - yet I fail to understand why they've change the camera work (e.g. bullet-time) in the middle of the series.

Synopsis: Steven has only ostensibly returned to his father because he assumes that Angel has killed Holtz. Lorne doesn't trus Connor/Steven and has also taken a job in another city. Groo leaves Cordelia because he sees that she loves Angel. And Cordelia and Angel want to admit to each other that they love one another.

My Opinion: Wow. This group has fallen apart. Not only are they scatterd into all horizontal directions but also into heaven and hell. Cordelia's ascension into another plane of existence strongly reminded me of Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1's fifth (sixth?) season. If they are remotely similar then we won't have seen the last of her.

The Season - My Opinion: This season was like a roller coaster. Darla returns pregnant. Holtz hunts them. Connor is "born". Connor is lost in a hell dimension and returns. And in the middle of it is always Wolfram & Hart. Yes, that was exciting.

(From Angel Marathon on February 22nd, 2008)